A Taste of HomeFamily recipes tell our life's best stories.Sometimes, all it takes is a taste of home to unlock the warm, familiar feelings of being with loved ones. We continue to savor each bite of grandmas famous casserole as if it were the first time.These special recipes are the ones we save over the years. Whether scribbled down on a piece of torn notebook paper or recited by memory, every family seems to have their favorite go-to meals.Its what inspired Gulf Coast Village, a continuing care community in Cape Coral, to publish their own best crowd-pleasing dishes and dessert recipes from senior residents.Its a piece of their past written down on paper, Bill Djerf said, an independent living resident at Gulf Coast Village. Its a recipe that warms their heart and brings back good memories.Djerf is a firm believer that the way to a persons heart is through their stomach.When he mentioned the idea of collecting recipes for a community cookbook, the residents, staff members and volunteers were excited to share their most cherished family meals.Younger staff and volunteers would sometimes say, this looks so good, or Id like to cook this, Djerf adds. The older residents would then tell them about their family recipe they used to bake all the time that they learned from their mother.In a matter of months ,Djerf and a small team gathered up 230 recipes and sent them to get published as their first Gulf Coast Village cookbook.When life gives you lemons, make lemon meringue pieLemon Meringue Pie | Resident Dewie Robinson1 9 pastry pie shell 2 cup Boiling water1 cup Sugar 3 Egg yolks, beaten6 Tbsp Corn starch 1 Tbsp Butter1 Tbsp Flour 1 tsp Lemon peel ,grated tsp Salt 3 Tbsp Lemon juiceMeringue3 Egg whites 6 Tbsp SugarGood food has a way of bringing people together. We can feel immersed in exciting, new cultures or transported back to our fondest memories.The best cookbooks are exactly the same. They can be our life manuals.Inside Gulf Coast Villages cookbook, Our Favorite Recipes ,people find more than just delicious homecooked meals."I sold several books just because of the helpful hints in each section, said Djerf. I sold one to a lady who said she doesn't cook, but she liked the helpful hints so much that she bought it for that.Between more than 100 pages of unique appetizers, dishes and desserts, each section is divided by a list of helpful tips.For the main dish recipes section, the helpful hints include one pound of boneless chicken equals approximately three cups and scaling a fish is easier if vinegar is rubbed on the scales first."A lot of gals say they bought it for their granddaughters and great granddaughters for the recipes, helpful hints and bonus pages in the back, which cover tips for things like baking bread, added Djerf.The last eight pages of the cookbook cover important pantry basics as well as tips for cooking measurements, terms and napkin folding.Food for ThoughtIcing will remain where you put it if you sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar first.- Baking Perfect CakesFrom creating a community-inspired cookbook to popular resident cooking classes, its safe to say food plays a big part in life at Gulf Coast Village.But creating the ultimate senior living experience is more than just food. Its focusing on the unique, special needs of each individual.That's where the Gulf Coast Village Foundation comes in. Grouped into four areas of need general, benevolent ,educational and spiritual each fund of the foundation helps improve the lives of residents within the senior community.The foundation provides a lot of things here for Gulf Coast Village. Just to name a few, they've bought specialized equipment for the care center, stuff for the gym and they just remodeled our caf, statesDjerf.Proceeds from each $15 cookbook goes towards the Gulf Coast Village Foundation and providing the best quality of life for older adults in Southwest Florida.To purchase the Gulf Coast Village cookbook, visit gulfcoastvillage.com.

There is something quite magical about the metamorphosis of butterflies - each captivating stage that transforms a curious caterpillar into a Monarch butterfly with bright, golden wings.At Palmview, a specialized assisted living community in Cape Coral, these butterflies have become a source of joy for more than 45 memory support residents over the age of 62.Since the pandemic, Palmviews Memory Support team saw the need for more engaging and uplifting activities for residents.In October, Palmview created a special environment that would liven up seating areas on the memory support floor. Specifically, a few spacious terraces that residents use to enjoy a warm coastal breeze.By January, memory support welcomed a new bocce ball court, putting green, and Palmview-favorite Monarch butterfly garden.What started off with the scattering of eggs on two milkweed plants is now a thriving garden with caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies expanding across the terrace."They'll be all around my head," joked 94-year-old Bella Kontinos, a memory support resident. "The butterflies, I just love them. I really do."Bella moved to Palmview in December and has not stopped finding ways to help wherever she can. With her infectious energy and willingness to help, the garden has quickly flourished to life.In the last several months, team members and residents have poured time and resources into the project, caring for their tiny tenants in all stages of transformation."One day, I looked down and I couldn't believe it. It was double the size," recalled Bella about the monarch caterpillars. "It's wonderful. It really is."To share more of these moments, staff has started to transfer chrysalises into terrariums to place throughout memory support hallways and bedrooms.In a matter of 7 to 9 days, residents are enchanted by a breathtaking butterfly emerging from its cocoon, which then gets released onto the terrace garden.With new special memories created on the memory floor, many residents find joy in recalling pastimes of family gardens and butterflies from childhood.Overall, the therapeutic experience has inspired new hope for assisted senior living. A hope that residents see the beauty in their own lifelong transformation for a better, enriched life at Palmview.About the AuthorBarry Sonustun is the memory support program manager at Gulf Coast Village, Cape Corals premier continuing care retirement community, and spearheaded the efforts for a new bocce ball court, putting green, butterfly garden and other enrichment activities at Palmview.Submitted By: Palmview at Gulf Coast Village- click for more information*