Alison Haines presents a program on Cooking with Herbs and Spices at the North Chesterville Extension Homemakers meeting. Submitted photo

CHESTERVILLE — The North Chesterville Extension Homemakers met on Tuesday, January 28, at 6:30 p.m. in the Chesterville Town Office. President, Sue Gill, welcomed 11 members and 8 guests. Alison Haines presented a program involving a wide assortment of herbs and spices. Alison passed around several samples for people to see and smell while she spoke about the best way to store them. She stated they need to be in an air tight container and kept in a cool, dark place. They can actually last 2 years. She also explained what herbs or spices work best with different meats or vegetables. Aromatics can be used to make your house smell good as well as being used for cooking. She advised that you rub dry herbs in your hand before putting them in a recipe. This freshens the herb. She also suggested freezing fresh herbs that are leftover so they can be used again. She said the difference between ground spices or using seeds is a personal preference. It makes no difference in the recipe flavor. She brought a tea she had prepared which was passed around as she answered questions from the audience. Her program was very informative and well received.

The business meeting followed. Several topics were shared. The Franklin County Extension Homemakers Facial Tissue Campaign realized 450 boxes which were divided. Each elementary school in Franklin County received about 37 boxes.

The Franklin County Extension Homemakers Spring Meeting will be hosted by the Neighborhood group this year. It will be on May 16 at the Trinity Methodist Church. The theme is “Circle of Friends”. Each year, all six Extension groups choose a Rotary tree theme and make ornaments for it. This past year “Snowflakes and Stars” was chosen as the tree theme. It was auctioned for $350 for charity through the Rotary. We have already signed up to do it again. Members were asked to think of possible themes to bring to next month’s meeting. They will be taken to the Franklin County Extension Homemakers Advisory Board Meeting for consideration.

It was voted to make a donation of $300 to the Cheerleading Team. They will be competing in Florida. They also voted to purchase four new tables for the Chesterville Town Office.

Glenda Barker spoke about the upcoming Free Senior Citizen St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon. It will be held on Monday, March 16. The meal will be served at noon in the Chesterville Town Office. More information will be forthcoming.

Linda Gramlich spoke about the Bake Sale scheduled to coincide with voting at the Chesterville Town Office on Friday, March 20. It will begin at 2 p.m., and continue until the food runs out. We had voted a few years ago to adopt the Cape Cod Hill School in New Sharon. We have received a request for leggings and sweatpants for boys and girls sizes 5, 6, and 7. They also need children’s socks. Our members will donate these items for the school. Linda Gramlich passed out the 2020 Membership List, Program Planning, Homemaker Chatter, the new Handbook, and Volunteer Recording Sheet. Officers for 2020 are President-Susan Gill, Vice President-Josette Billian, Corresponding Secretary-Beckie Witham, Recording Secretary-Linda Gramlich, Treasurer-Sue Starrett, and Advisory Board Representative-Linda Gramlich

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 25th. We have changed the time to 6:00 p.m. to accommodate “Hot Foods to Share” which will actually be a pot luck supper. After eating, we will finalize the plans for the Free Senior Citizen St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon and Sue Starrett will lead us in making St. Patrick’s Day cards for the event. All meetings are free and the public is cordially invited to attend. FMI 778-3156. Please leave a message.