“Stone Soup” is a popular fable about a village that claimed it had no food. One day a woman decided to take a caldron, fill it with water, put it over a hot burning fire and plop it in a stone. This woman stirred the pot of water and watched the steam rise as people in the village walked by and asked, “What are you making?” The woman replied, “stone soup.” She would then say that the soup would taste much better if there were maybe a carrot or two, a potato, onion, celery, etc. The moral of the story is that if we all work together, we can make stone soup to build and feed our community.

The Crest school was started in 1971 with the Crest essentials of: fun, community, work ethic and healthy relationships. Crest has about 115 students and caters to a full academic program. The students come from Mercer Island High School and are taught in a very private school setting. It offers small class sizes and personal instruction, with more one-on-one learning opportunities.

On Nov. 22, Crest has a day known as Crestgiving. Crestgiving was originally called “Stone Soup” for the very same reason as the fable. This is a student-driven day, filled by the student community. The day is filled with presenting a Thanksgiving dinner during the English block periods, 3-6. Every student needs to participate in some way. The school provides all the dinnerware, frozen peas and turkey breast. Crest even has food to share from its horticultural program. From home, the kids bring a traditional or family favorite food from their own Thanksgiving table. For many kids this is the only Thanksgiving dinner that they will receive or experience. Students who do not bring food to share are on clean-up duty. The day starts with the students sitting in a semicircle and each student talks about how they are feeling — somewhat like “highs and lows.” Then each student states what they are thankful for or what person has meant something special to them and why. The tables are set with crayons on them so that a student has the ability to doodle his thoughts if he is thinking of something to say. This is followed by a wonderful buffet meal, prepared by the students. On this day, I am told that the students love to reflect, laugh and be on their best behavior.

Unfortunately this year, I am unable to attend the Crestgiving, but I am hoping to next year. The school does have a scholarship fund that gets most of its funding from the Mercer Island Schools Foundation. If you are interested in making your own donation to the Crest General Scholarship fund, please contact Nancy Kidder at (206) 236-3390. The school’s annual horticulture sale is around May 5. This year, two sales are planned.

Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping

Makes 6 mini loaves or 3 7-by-3-inch loaves

Ingredients for bread:

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

4 eggs (or 1/4 cup ground fax seeds combined with 3/4 cup water for vegan/dairy-free)

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree

2/3 cup water

Streusel

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick), melted (or dairy free margarine for vegan/dairy-free)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and flour. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Add oil, apple sauce, sugars to bowl and mix until blended. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each egg. Stir in pumpkin until thoroughly combined. Mix in water.

Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans and set aside while you make the streusel topping.

To make the streusel:  In medium bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon together, whisking until thoroughly combined. Drizzle melted butter over the mixture and stir with a spoon until you have a mixture that resembles lumpy wet sand. Do not break up the clumps.

Add-ins: You may add 1/2 cup chocolate chips, nuts and raisins to the bread batter or streusel topping.

This bread freezes well.