GARDINER – Nancy Weeks has an obvious fondness for children. She welcomes many into her home through her work with the Maine Trailriders Horse Club and the Litchfield, Loose Shoe 4-H. And, she hosts sleepovers for her grandchildren and club children.

“I can have as many as five or six kids working all the way around the kitchen island,” said Weeks. “I set them all up making pizzas. There’s flour all over, and they love having their own pile of dough.”

She enjoys giving children a sense of accomplishment. “I teach them to be creative and self-sufficient – that you don’t have to go to the store (to buy prepared food), and that it’s cheaper, too.”

Weeks believes that through activities like cooking, children develop friendships and grow up in a “good environment.”

Weeks has cooked for at least 13 years at weekend horse camps and earned many faithful fans. Just ask Lisa Davis, leader of the Muddy Spurs 4-H in Sabbatus, whose daughters have become “Nancy followers.” If Weeks is cooking at a particular horse camp, they try to attend, Davis affirmed.

“The meals were out of this world and came second only to the desserts. Everything was homemade and made you wish you could eat more,” Davis said of Weeks’ cooking for 20-plus 4-H kids and their parents. “All of her breakfasts are made to order: omelets, pancakes, French toast, eggs – anything you wish,” raved Davis.

To cook for the Litchfield Horse Camp, Maine 4-H Days, Skowhegan Horse Camp, Eastern States Try-Outs, and benefit suppers and fundraisers for the Maine Trail Riders, Weeks converted an enclosed box-style snowmobile trailer into a kitchen on wheels – complete with a refrigerator and grill.

Weeks said her role model for cooking is Maine cookbook author Marjorie Standish. “In high school, I had to do a biography on someone and I had the opportunity to interview Marjorie Standish in her home. She autographed my cookbook, and I cherish it.”

Weeks and her husband, Dick, enjoy spending time with their two stepchildren and five grandchildren. “The thing I enjoy the most is doing something you love with someone you love. Grandchildren are perfect for that,” she said.

Weeks recalls watching her grandmother make fresh Riz rolls, or yeast rolls. “When I was a kid, we’d go to visit and we’d have them fresh everyday. Now, it’s interesting to watch the grandchildren watch me roll them out – they like to mimic me with the rolling.”

A property appraiser for the Maine Revenue Service, Weeks also serves on the board of directors for Friends of Becoming an Outdoor Woman, a group that promotes women in outdoor activities.

Riz (yeast) rolls

Ingredients:

¾ cup shortening, melted

2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ cup warm water

2 eggs

¾ cup sugar

7 cups flour

Method:

Place melted shortening in a large bowl. Add water and salt. Stir until cool to touch.

In a separate bowl, dissolve dry yeast and sugar in ¼ cup warm water. Yeast should start to rise. Add yeast mixture to shortening mixture and mix. Use your empty yeast bowl to beat eggs and sugar. Combine with above mixture. Add flour and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

When ready to make rolls, turn onto floured surface. Knead 5 minutes. Add a little more flour if dough gets sticky. Shape golf-size balls of dough into rolls and place in a greased pan. (Weeks likes to use glass so she can see how brown they are getting when they cook.) Cover with clean dish cloth and let rise until double in size (30 to 60 minutes, depending on room temperature).

Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 25 minutes. Makes two to three dozen rolls, depending on size.

Ginger cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar

¼ cup molasses

¾ cup shortening

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt (optional)

Small dish with ½ cup sugar for rolling balls of dough

Method:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit. Beat together sugar, molasses, shortening, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Add to the first mixture and mix thoroughly. Roll a rounded tablespoon-size ball of dough in your hands and drop into a dish of sugar. Turn dough to coat with sugar and place on ungreased Teflon cookie sheet. Leave room on your pan because they will spread as they bake. Bake for 7 minutes in preheated oven. Cool on wire rack. Makes two dozen.

Chinese ramen noodle salad

Ingredients:

½ stick margarine, melted

1 package crushed ramen noodles with seasoning packet

1 cup sliced almonds

½ cup sunflower seeds

1 head romaine lettuce, in bite-size pieces

½ pound shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix

½ cup sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup vinegar (Weeks uses balsamic)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Method:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit. Combine melted margarine, crushed ramen noodles with seasoning packet, almonds and sunflower seeds. Spread onto ungreased baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until slightly browned.Cool completely Add romaine lettuce and shredded cabbage. Make a dressing of sugar, oil, vinegar and soy sauce. Add to salad just before serving.