What's Cooking in Region 1 - June 2003
by Marghretta McBean
Hello, hello! As your RVC-elect (this is being written in mid-June), Connecticut and Western Massachusetts Mensa has the [dubious] honour of printing my first column. It's a little difficult writing about a job which you don't yet actually hold, so I'll take this opportunity to talk about the just completed national election.
I would first like to thank all of you who voted; you are to be commended for exercising your Mensa "civic duty". For those of you who think your vote doesn't matter - it does! I won this election by only 10 votes; Region 3's won by just eight. All of the RVC elections had relatively small margins of victory (or defeat, depending on your perspective).
With roughly 5% of members voting in our region, I hope that I can somehow move the other 95% of you to be a bit more involved in Mensa's future. The new AMC (American Mensa Committee - the national board of directors) will have a lot of newbies like myself. Hopefully we will bring fresh insights and new energies to it.
On a personal note, our Region 1 has made a bit of Mensa history, I believe. I am the first Black to be elected to national office in the 43 year old history of American Mensa. Dr. Jean Becker, our president, Pam Donohoo, our Executive Director, and I all share the same birthday, May 7th (Taurus rules!)
While campaigning, I was asked several times about my position on chocolate. Honestly! While not a chocoholic (as many Mensans seem to be), I enjoy dark, bittersweet chocolate, plain or with fruit fillings. Here's a recipe from my catering company that you might enjoy:
(C3)2 - Chocolate Cranberry Cashew Squares
1 ¼ lb. bittersweet chocolate, broken into small squares
1 cups dried cranberries
1 cups roasted salted cashews
- Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth
- While chocolate is melting, line bottom and sides of an 8"x8" pan with foil, leaving a 2" overhang. Lightly oil foil.
- Remove chocolate from heat and stir in fruit and nuts. Spread evenly in pan. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
- Lift candy out from pan using overhanging foil and place on cutting board. Peel off foil and cut candy with heavy knife into 36 1 ½ " x 1 ½ " pieces.