If you can, make this dish using fresh corn on the cob. If not, a decent version can be made using frozen corn.

Ingredients:

• 6 ears of corn or 2 large bags of frozen (Make sure to milk the cobs for the sauce!)
• 1 stick of organic butter, unsalted
• About ¼ cup organic flour
• 1 ½ cups of organic heavy whipping cream
• 2/3 cup organic chicken stock
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• Cayenne pepper to taste
• Smoked paprika
• Fresh dill
• Pink sea salt
• Fresh-grated nutmeg

Instructions:

1. In a large, nonstick skillet, melt butter and bring up heat until it is bubbling. Add in corn that has been cut off the cob.
2. Stir as needed to keep the corn from scorching. Then sprinkle the flour over the bubbling mixture, scraping with a nonstick spatula to keep from burning.
3. Add in the milk from the cob and stir.
4. Add in chicken stock and stir until incorporated.
5. Add in the wine and do the same.
6. Put down to low and cover for around 10 minutes until corn is tender.
7. Add in the spices
8. Then bring to a bubble and reduce…be careful not to let it get too thick!!
9. Finally, add in heavy cream, stir and bring to a bubble. Turn off heat, cover, and serve after letting it rest for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Mara’s Turkey Giblet Gravy

Ingredients

• Giblets and neck, saved from the uncooked turkey
• Drippings from roasted turkey
• 1/2 c.
• all-purpose flour (more if needed)
• 4 c.
• no-sodium chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth (more if needed)
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. First, take the giblets and neck from the raw turkey and cover them with water by 2 inches in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer it for 1 hour to both to cook the meat and to make a giblet broth for the gravy.
2. Remove the giblets and neck from the water (don’t worry; they’re supposed to look really grody) and set them aside. Keep the giblet broth in the saucepan for later.
3. When you’re ready to make the gravy, pour all the drippings from the turkey roasting pan into a bowl. Set the pan back onto the stove. Let the drippings sit and separate naturally, then use a ladle to carefully separate the fat from the liquid drippings (the fat will be on top, while the drippings will settle at the bottom).
4. Turn the heat to medium and add about 1 cup of the fat back into the roasting pan. Sprinkle the flour all over the fat and immediately begin whisking it around to make a paste. Add more flour or fat as needed to create the right consistency: You want the mixture to be a stirrable paste and not overly greasy. If it looks a little greasy, whisk in a little more flour. Once the paste/roux is the right consistency, whisk it slowly for a few minutes, allowing it to cook to a deep golden brown color. A nice brown roux is the secret to good gravy, baby!
5. Once the roux is ready, pour in 1 cup of the drippings (the stuff that separated from the fat earlier) and the chicken or turkey broth, whisking constantly. Then just let the gravy cook and thicken, whisking constantly for 5 to 8 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, use your fingers to remove as much of the neck meat as you can and chop up the giblets into fine pieces. Add as much of the meat to the gravy as you’d like: Add it all if you like a really chunky giblet gravy, add a little less if you like the gravy more smooth.
7. If the gravy seems too thick, add more broth and/or a little of the reserved giblet broth (the water used to cook the giblets.) Finally, season the gravy with a little bit of salt and plenty of black pepper! (Be sure to taste it and make sure the seasoning is perfect.) Serve the gravy piping hot at the table.

Note: You should be prepared to add more broth, so have extra on hand!

-Mara Bearse, Quality Assurance Director

“I have a large family and have always enjoyed the smell of good food in the house. Cornbread, turkey, ham, greens, Eggnog, Cool aid, and games played around the house. The Turkey football game in the morning and the NFL in the afternoon. Seeing family that you have not seen all year. It has always been a coming together of relatives and friends that span sex, race, generations, and country. However, Covid has brought a new limitation on family gatherings. What stands out to me most is the love that we shared with friends, neighbors, and family. Looking forward the values have not changed just how much I appreciate others.”

-Christopher Scott, Adult Development Center Program and Curriculum Manager

“One year my partner Rich (the guy from NASA) and I were visiting his sister Margareta’s family in LA.  The turkey was almost done, and Margareta opened the oven to check on it.  She pulled it out a little too far and plop…it landed on the floor!  We were all shocked and then laughed like crazy.  She quickly scooped it up, brushed it off, and declared it done.  It was the juiciest, tastiest Turkey ever!!  (wish I had a pic, but it all happened too fast!).

This year, I’m thankful as always for family, friends, and students near and far…and for keeping in touch via Zoom, FaceTime, Facebook, texts, and good old fashioned phone calls!”

-Lin Maxwell, Health, Wellness, and Yoga Instructor

“I am grateful for my family, my friends, my neighbors, the participants, and the great staff I have the privilege to work with! All of these people give me so much support during these crazy, unpredictable times…and give me a purpose/opportunity to be there for others.”

-Peggy Hakanson, Instructor

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil for deep frying
2 c. Original Bisquick mix
3/4 c. Heavy Whipping Cream
1 egg
6 ears of corn, shucked and removed from the cobb OR 1 can (15.25 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
Optional: Chopped green chilies (we used fresh Jalapenos from the garden)

Steps:

1. In a heavy saucepan or fryer, heat 2-3 inches of oil to 375°F
2. In a medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, cold cream, and egg until blended
3. Stir in the corn and optional chilies
4. In the pre-heated saucepan or fryer, drop 2-3 Tbs of batter; fry for 2-3 minutes, turning as necessary, until well-browned
5. With a slotted spoon, remove the fritters from the oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat the process with the remaining batter
6. Top with condiments of your choice or serve on the side (optional)

Hello? Is it me you’re looking floor?

First up was new flooring throughout the center. It was a huge undertaking but we’re so happy to have the old dingy laminate tile flooring gone!

This project actually started back in January and completed right before shelter-in-place was implemented, so many of our participants haven’t had the chance to see the finished job. It’s even more beautiful in person – we can’t wait for you to see it!

Delivering professional shade

We have new blinds! Thanks to Ken for installing them across the center. They’ve already brightened up the place and will make it easier for us to control the ambient lighting during our in-person and online classes. Plus, they just look good.

Just roll with it

It’s amazing what a fresh coat of pain can do! Thanks to our busy staff for going around and doing touch-up work throughout the center. It takes a village to complete these much needed repairs and updates and we have the best darn village around!

Bringing the heat!

The largest projects we’ve tackled are new electrical, a new furnace, and a new ventilation system. The electrical upgrade was very needed and will help us as we move forward with both in-person and online classes. Our beautiful new furnace will allow us to keep the entire Center at a comfortable temperature through during winter.

The bathroom ventilation system is the last project and will be starting the first full week of July and will be completed slowly, so please bear with us!

Participants and staff from Harambee Community Services, California Autism Foundation, and Las Trampas joined Ability Now at the Summer Lovin’ Party. The morning started with a meet and greet ice-breaker for everyone, then moved to outside games on the lawn. However, the highlight of the day was the performance by The Advocates, a group of singers/performers with disabilities that perform all over California. Their 60 minute show drew applause and cheers throughout the entire performance. (Check out all the videos and pictures on our Facebook page!)

After a summer lunch of grilled burgers, potato salad, beans, and watermelon, guests and participants relaxed and enjoyed snow cones before they had to leave. At the end of the day, every participant expressed how much they enjoyed the Summer Lovin’ Party and are already asking if we can do it again next summer! A big thank you to the staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly the entire day to make sure everyone was having a good times, and a HUGE thank you to Jacob, who worked tirelessly to ensure the party was fun for everyone.

Mr. Paik started his career as a successful journalist at CBS and the Dong-A Ilbo, both major media companies in Korea. However, a major car accident in Scotland in 1998 changed his life forever. As his wife was getting a jacket out of the trunk of their car while parked on the side of the road, a car crashed into them. She lost her left leg in the accident. When they got back to South Korea, they realized the waiting lists for rehabilitation hospitals were long, and once admitted, the treatment was inadequate. That’s when he pledged to open a rehabilitation hospital for people living with a disability.

With the establishment of the Purme Foundation, he has opened a rehabilitation services center for children with disabilities, independent supportive living services for persons with disabilities, a dental clinic for people with disabilities, and a children’s rehabilitation clinic. In 2016, Mr. Paik established the Purme Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital, the first rehabilitation hospital for children in South Korea.

Mr. Paik is currently working on a book about the disability communities and has been touring other disability organizations. The biggest compliment we received from him was how happy all of our participants seemed to be, something he hadn’t observed in other organizations he had visited. We are so honored that Ability Now was part of Mr. Paik’s visits. We look forward to his book and his next visit.

ANBA is leading this group of providers located in California’s Alameda and Contra Costa Counties to develop a platform to improve the access to Person Centered Thinking and Planning for persons with communication challenges.  Communication challenges to be addressed include, but are not limited to, individuals with limited or no verbal communication capacity, visual impairment, hearing impairment, auditory processing, etc.  Service providers all over the state could benefit from additional tools and technology to better facilitate engagement and determination of personal choice and preference. This request for proposal is to cover the primary aspects of program management and website development. Please click on this RFP for the full scope of the project.

The window to accept RFPs has closed. Please check back for further updates.

Being person centered means treating others with dignity and respect and empowering them to set and reach their own personal goals. A person-centered approach recognizes the right of individuals to make informed choices, and take responsibility for those choices and related risks. It builds on the strengths, gifts, talents, skills, and contributions of the individual and those who know and care about the individual.

Ability Now is in the process of training four staff members to become trainers themselves and expects the tutelage to take a full year. When the training is complete, every staff member at Ability Now will be trained in the philosophy of person centered thinking and it will be applied in all of the organization’s programs and services.

Ability Now has always been progressive and person-centered, and our intake has always endorsed personal choice. However, this is huge shift for the disability community and we are honored to be part of this movement.