By Kevin Tatum, County Extension Coordinator
This week’s easy recipes comes from the UGA SNAP-ED’s Food Talk, Four Fruit Infused Water Recipes. The first recipe is for Peach Blueberry Water and the list of ingredients includes 8 cups cool water, 1 peach sliced, and ½ cup blueberries. For all four recipes, you would use 8 cups of cool water. For Cucumber Lemon Water, use ½ English cucumber, sliced, and 1 lemon, sliced. For Apple Cinnamon with Cider Vinegar, use 1 apple, sliced, 1 stick cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. For Watermelon Lime Water, use 1 cup cubed watermelon and 1 lime, sliced. The instructions are to 1.) Wash fruits and vegetables well before cutting. 2.) Fill a large pitcher with the water; add other ingredients. Put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to infuse the flavors. The longer it sits, the more flavorful the water. 3.) Pour into a glass filled with ice. Enjoy! Keep any leftovers in the refrigerator and use within 2 days.
For some great ideas in the kitchen, visit the UGA Extension’s “FoodTalk” website at https://foodtalk.org. It has great ideas on how to keep your family healthy by making nutritious food choices on a budget.
4-H Update
Each week, our state 4-H staff is reviewing the status of everything that is going on in the state and making a determination about upcoming 4-H events. It has already been decided to cancel or postpone all events and competitions for the month of May that involved people coming together. This means that the rescheduled Poultry Judging Contests, senior 4-H camp, Georgia Officer Training, and much more were either cancelled, postponed, or moved to an online format. There are still many factors being considered about summer 4-H camp. For one, we do not know when we will be able to assemble in large groups. We feel sure that we will not be able to do so in June, so plans are being put in place to possibly hold summer camp in July. This would mean a date change and will most likely affect some people from being able to attend. If camp has to be cancelled, we have been told that everyone will get a full refund of all funds paid in to the 4-H office.
With that being said, if you are signed up for one of our summer 4-H camps, please continue to submit your camp fees. If we end up not going to camp, we will be refunding all paid fees to the participant. If we do go to camp, your fees will still need to be turned in by May 1st.
With regards to camp, we will also have a virtual Cloverleaf 4-H Camp Orientation Meeting. It will be postponed from Monday, May 18, at 6 PM, to Monday, June 15, at 6 PM, so please save the new date on your calendar for this meeting. 4-H members attending camp and at least one of their parents will need to join in on the virtual meeting.
Can Tabs
Everyone is encouraged to collect can tabs off aluminum cans to support the Ronald McDonald House Charities project. These can tabs help provide money to the Ronald McDonald House for their operating fees.
The Ronald McDonald House Charities offer free or low cost housing and meals to families of children receiving medical attention at larger hospitals in Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Savannah. By donating can tabs, you are helping to provide housing and meals for families who are burdened by hospital bills and do not need the extra burden of housing and meals for the family staying at the hospital. Hopefully you will never have to use the Ronald McDonald House, but it is great that it is there in case you should ever need it. Please continue collecting can tabs through the current COVID-19 crisis and bring them to the Extension (4-H) office after social distancing restrictions have been lifted.
If you would like to learn how you can become more involved with the Coffee County 4-H program, please contact the Coffee County Extension office at (912) 384-1402 or visit our website at http://coffee4h.org.