Jim Poole, Lead Pastor Renaissance Vineyard Church
Sloppy Jim
If I’m eating out, my fave date night spot is Assaggi Bistro. The owners are hospitable and the prices are right. Starters are bread with oil. A bottle of the Lebanese red wine. And I love the gnocchi for my main dish. Espresso and a dessert to share are not uncommon.

If it’s family dinner at home and I’m cooking, top of the list is Sloppy Jim. This is a variation on the sloppy joe recipe my grandma taught me growing up as a kid, renamed, since “Sloppy Granny” doesn’t quite sound appetizing! This recipe has plenty of flexibility for your preference.

Sloppy Jim
INGREDIENTS:
• Worcestershire sauce
• mustard
• garlic powder
• ketchup
• oregano
• basil
• Italian seasoning • seasoned salt
• minced onions (optional)
I start with a pound of ground turkey or beef, browned in a cast iron skillet over medium heat with Worcestershire sauce. Once browned I add large amounts of ketchup and small amounts of mustard to form the sauce, with some extra Worcestershire sauce to taste. I let this reduce, adding in dashes of oregano, garlic powder, basil, Italian seasoning, and seasoned salt to taste. Minced onions are also a possibility. Once the flavor is right, I turn the heat to low, cover and simmer until the taste and temperature are right. Sloppy Jim works equally well over spaghetti, or buns for a more traditional approach. I’ll often serve with fries, green beans, asparagus, even sometimes a summertime corn on the cob.

Andy LeCureaux Hazel Park City Council
Granny Smith Apple Kimchi
One of my most enjoyable dishes came from Mabel Grey in Hazel Park. A Granny Smith apple sliced (sweet), covered in chef’s Kimchi sauce (spicy), with pork belly strips. A few other ingredients but those are the main ones.

Erik Tungate, Oak Park City Manager
Dirt
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 bag Oreo cookies
• 1/2 stick softened margarine
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 6 ounces instant vanilla pudding
• 3 1/2 cups milk
Crush one bag of Oreo cookies. Combine 1/2 stick of softened margarine, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 8 ounces cream cheese. Combine 6 ounces of instant vanilla pudding and 3 1/2 cups of milk. Add 1 cup of Oreo crumbs to pudding. Combined pudding and cream cheese mixture. Add 12 ounces of whipped topping. Layer in order, end with Oreo crumbs on top: Oreo crumbs/mixture/Oreo crumbs/mixture.

Raylon Leaks May, Ferndale City Council
Banana Pudding
INGREDIENTS:
• 2 boxes of instant, vanilla Jello pudding (3.4 oz boxes).
• 1 box of vanilla wafers
• 1 large tub of Cool Whip
• 6 medium bananas, sliced
• Whole, skim or 2 % milk is fine
• 8 X 9 rectangular baking dish or disposable aluminum pan
Take about 5 vanilla wafers and crush them up in a bag. Prepare instant pudding as directed on boxes and pour into the pan. Place sliced bananas, in row formation, in the pudding. Place whole vanilla wafers on top of the bananas and keep interchanging between bananas and wafers, layer style and until the bananas and wafers are no longer able to be covered by the pudding. Spread a layer of Cool Whip over the pudding, completely covering the pudding. Sprinkle vanilla wafer crumbs on top of the cool whip. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours, allowing wafers to soften.

Chow 2019 : Colton Dale, OP Community Engagement Pumpkin Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tspn baking soda
• 1 tspn baking powder
• 1 tspn cinnamon
• 1 tspn pmkin pie spice
• 1/2 tspn nutmeg
• 1/2 tspn salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup pure pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
Combine wet ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Refrigerate dough for 4 hours. Scoop into one inch balls and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375F degrees for 11-13 minutes.