{"id":42262,"date":"2013-11-30T00:09:16","date_gmt":"2013-11-30T08:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=42262"},"modified":"2013-11-30T00:09:16","modified_gmt":"2013-11-30T08:09:16","slug":"unprocessed-kitchen-merit-badge-expert-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/42262","title":{"rendered":"Unprocessed Kitchen Merit Badge, Expert Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our<\/span> Sisterhood Merit Badge program<\/a>, now with 5,558 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20147,822 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wondering who I am? I\u2019m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my<\/span> former life<\/a> \u2026\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For this week\u2019s Farm Kitchen\/Unprocessed Kitchen Merit Badge<\/a>, I was upping the ante and earning Level III. That\u2019s right. The sequel to end all sequels. The coup de grace. The ending of a delicious trilogy.<\/p>\n

The advanced EXPERT\u00a0Level.<\/p>\n

Gosh, I gave myself chills. I haven\u2019t been so excited since the shoe sale at the outlet mall.<\/p>\n

And if I thought Levels One and Two were fun, I was in for a real treat with the final installment. A dinner party. Who gets a badge for a dinner party? Farmgirls, that\u2019s who. You could say it rocks to be us.<\/p>\n

But not just any dinner party, of course: an Unprocessed Dinner Party. And when I say, dinner, I of course mean, dessert.<\/p>\n

Evidently, my friends have sweet teeth beyond compare. The point of this party (besides having a blast, naturally) was to introduce them to unprocessed foods, find out their weaknesses, and then help them brainstorm ways to make those unhealthy treats into\u00a0wholesome foods.<\/p>\n

Real foods.<\/p>\n

No food-like<\/i> ingredients here.<\/p>\n

No unpronounceable ingredients. (Although I have a heck of a time pronouncing acai and\/or quinoa).<\/p>\n

No 37 lists of chemicals in one, single, solitary slice of bread, no siree.<\/p>\n

No pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, preservatives, food colors, additives, or otherwise frightening additions.<\/p>\n

Just, plain, amazing, mouth-watering food.<\/i> The kind that makes you weak in the knees and breathless. The kind that fills your house with a salivating inducing aroma. The kind that …<\/p>\n

Whew! Is it getting hot in here or is it just my dark chocolate lava cake heating up the kitchen? Let me just use my cocktail napkin to fan my face for a sec here. That\u2019s better. Onto the list my pals and I came up with!<\/p>\n