Zach, the last one

Lilly and ZachLilly & Zach

I think I baby sat for Sister Whitlock since 2009. I just graduated from college and started working with children in my neighborhood and at the church. During the convocation that year and for the next seven years I had fun taking her children all over the city every time they visited New York. Now her baby, Zach is as a big boy. He’s in the second grade!  He is the only one who ask me if I can take him out.  All her kids grew up. I did too. Now, I get paid to do what I did for free and it’s not as fun.

Thanksgiving with the Taylors

This past November, instead of staying in Gloucester, we stayed in Norfolk, Virginia with the Taylors. It was a load of fun. If someone was not being pranked (perfume in pants and coats dipped in cold water ) then we were up at night racing around the block (that’s us in the photo at the top after having a ‘bathrobe race’ around the block – turned mini neighborhood tour ) or disputing whether we were listening to live music or  recorded tracks ( why would someone play a recorded track during a gospel jam?!)…or our face was being smothered in Nutella (as you can see me in the photo). No one got enough sleep yet, no one woke up grumpy (unless they found out that their car keys were missing and so was their car!). The food was great and so was their southern hospitality.

At the very end of the trip, my camera started acting funny and my photos came out funny looking. I have to put my camera in the shop.

 

Ashley, Ardas, Dannise , Lilly

IMG_0475

 

My best friend Ashley and her family came up from Memphis to New York for the 51st Holy Convocation. It was my first time meeting her little brother Ardas.

We are at a street fair in New York. Her lovely mother is smiling in the middle.

The 50th Holy Convocation Jubilee Cookbook

The Holy Convocation Jubilee Cookbook

The Following is some of the  introduction I wrote for the Jubilee Cookbook. They are still on sale at www.etsy.com.

From the sacrifice dinner to the Sunday dinner, food has become a part of the church’s history in fundamental ways.

From the Radio Helping Hand bake sells’ to the Young People Organization’s cook outs, food has helped the church to become a staple in the community.

From Western Beef and Family Dollar, to Jetro and Price Choice food has helped the community to make the right choice. Many saints have testified about their encounter with other saints in the food markets which eventually led them to hearing the Gospel.

From who’s cooking to what’s cooking, questions about food and the Holy Temple Church is never farfetched. It is normal to be asked if the church one attends is the one that sells food on the corner of East 180TH, just as it is normal to be asked if you attend the late Bishop Randolph Goodwin church.

From the late 1950’s, when the foundation of the Holy Temple Church began, until now, people have come from all across the world getting saved and eventually cooking for the church. So, it is no wonder that the church’s recipes are constantly passed down from the elderly saints to the young people, enforcing a greater sense of subculture-ness and family life into the church.

If one hasn’t tasted southern cooked food at home, there is a possibility one have tasted it at the church, if one hasn’t come across food from a local garden, there is a possibility one has eaten it at the church.

From the east coast to the west coast, the southern belt to the mid-west, the word of God has gone forth and brought people to the Headquarters’ temple. While the word and the true teachings of Jesus Christ have brought the people and kept the people spiritually, food has brought them together naturally.

The following recipes located in this book are some of the recipes that the saints have come across down through the years, either in the kitchen or at the dining table. Some of the recipes have been submitted by experienced cooks while others by experimental cooks but all are promising to be fulfilling.

Each submission is original and described in the cook’s best possible way.

May God forever bless your kitchen with his Love and your family’s laughter