The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,518 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—7,301 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ

For this week’s Make It Easy/Relaxation Merit Badge, I was eager to tackle the Intermediate Level. Although with this badge, I suppose the phrase “tackle it” is a bit of a misnomer. I eased into the Intermediate Level, took some deep, cleansing breaths in the general direction of Level Two, and made my way there at the speed of snail.

And I’m off like a herd of turtles!

Okay, okay, I’m exaggerating. We all remember how easily Level One did NOT come to me. Who knew relaxing could be so difficult? I started with five minutes, working my way up to the coup de grace, 15 whole minutes of relaxing! Every day! For two weeks!

My mind was blown. This is tougher than it sounds. Don’t believe me? Try it. But start with the Beginning Level, my little chickadees. Ready for Level Two, you are not. Teach you, I will.

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The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,344 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—7,177 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

This week is very special. I have TWO Merit Badge Awardees of the week. And to top it off, they’re sisters! How cool is that? Siblings working together on Sisterhood Merit Badges.

I am pleased to announce that Lily and Alice Holland (Young Cultivators of Suzanne Holland #828) have earned a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning their Expert Level Icing on the Cake Merit Badge!

Lily: “With my sister and mom, I picked out a recipe to follow for the cake and icing. My sister and I agreed that we wanted to be sure and use lots of our own chicken eggs.

We drew up designs for our cakes and took a list of ingredients to the store. We purchased the ingredients that we needed and came home to begin baking.

My mom and sister and I used all of our fresh ingredients to make our yummy cakes. We mixed them together carefully in my mom’s big mixer. It is so much fun cooking in my mom’s kitchen.

The cakes turned out perfect. We will let them cool and then carefully cut the tops off for a nice fit. Now they are ready to decorate.

Mine was decorated different from my sister’s. I couldn’t wait to eat mine and I cut it straight away. I decorated it mostly with nuts and some dried fruit. I used the same yummy buttercream icing.

This is my favorite cake. I really like to cook. My mom lets us get in the kitchen and cook all the time. We just need to clean up after ourselves.”

Alice: “I worked with my mom and sister to decide on a cake recipe and what kind of fruits and nuts I wanted on my cake. We have chickens, so I knew I wanted to use a cake recipe that used lots of eggs. I found one that both my sister and I liked.

We made a list and went to the store to purchase the ingredients we did not have on hand.

Using our chickens’ eggs and only the freshest ingredients, my mom, sister, and I started making our cakes. It is a lot of fun baking in my mom’s kitchen. She has great equipment and plenty of room.

The cakes turned out perfect. Now we have to let them cool. Trim the tops, and then ice and decorate after letting them cool. We trimmed the tops so they would sit straight when stacked and then we began icing. We used a buttercream icing made with real butter. It was soooo good.

I decorated mine with my own design that I had drawn out. I used nuts and dried fruit. It was a really yummy cake and my family said they loved it.”

The Young Cultivator (kids 6-13) and Farmerette (teens 13-17) programs are free for kids to earn Merit Badges as long as they are mentored by a Farmgirl Sisterhood member. Go to our Merit Badge Website, or e-mail meritbadges@maryjanesfarm.org for more information.