Lot's and lot's of Christmas Treats!

This morning a funny thing happened. I went to the barn to build up a fire so the water troughs wouldn't freeze and some how I ended up having a fire ball come back at me out of the wood burner when I tried to light the wood with a propane torch. I hate the smell of burned hair, especially when it is my own! I may be making a trip to Salt Lake soon to see if my hair lady can fix the front parts that were singed. On the positive side of things, I won't have to pluck my eye brows or nose hairs for a while and maybe Santa will bring me some false eye lashes until my real ones grow back.

WoW! The past three weeks have been an absolute whirlwind! I finally have a moment to sit down and think. It seems like we have had a party of some kind almost every night and I have tons of wonderful recipes to share!

Thanksgiving at the cabin was a lot of fun. There was plenty of snow to snowmobile and to go sledding. We had my mom, Darren's mom and his brothers family up for turkey dinner. My mom has always made this red pepper dip that I didn't think I liked, but I discovered I love it! I took this to our bunco party last week and everyone keeps asking me about it,so here is the recipe:

Red Pepper Dip

Cut up four large red peppers and put into a blender. Add 1/2t. salt and mix well then let sit for an hour. Pour this into a sauce pan and add 1C. sugar, 3/4C. apple cider vinegar and some red food coloring until it is a pretty red color. Simmer on low for one to two hours until it cooks down and gets thick. Cool then pour over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers.

We brought my Mom out to Vernal with us so she could hear Brayden and I talk in Sacrament meeting about our Africa trip and so she could go to the Tree's for Charity Gala with us. She loved the party! Who knew Vernal could be so fun? Then she watched the kids while Darren and I went to California for a few days for business. My sister Pam and her family came out the following weekend to pick her up. They stayed for a few days and we rode horses, watched movies, played games and the boys went pheasant hunting. It was Brayden's first time and he had so much fun! It's always fun with Uncle Robby though!

Pam brought out some cookies with her - I thought they were her yummy chocolate chip cookies until I tasted them. Instead she had added chocolate covered pomegranates into the mix. I found a new favorite!

Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Cookies

Mix and set aside 2 1/4C. flour, 1t. salt and 1t. baking soda. In a separate bowl, cream together 1C. shortening, 3/4C. sugar, 3/4C. brown sugar, 2 eggs and 1t. hot water. Add the dry mix to this then add 2C. oatmeal, 1t. vanilla and 2C. chocolate pomegranates cut in half. Bake at 375* for 10 minutes.

Last week we had our monthly bunco party. The Dastrup's brought this homemade eggnog that was to die for! I'm sure there are a thousand calories in this, but it sure was good!

Egg Nog

Combine two eggs, well beaten, one can sweetened condensed milk, 1t. vanilla and
1/4t. salt. Gradually add one quart of milk, then gently fold in one cup heavy whipping cream - whipped. Sprinkle with nutmeg and chill two hours before serving.

On Friday night, we had our annual work Christmas party at our house. Our secretary, Tiff, brought this fruit salad that everyone was raving over.

Tiff's Fruit Salad

Combine one large tub of cool whip with the powder from a small package of your favorite instant pudding - (she used pina colada flavored pudding,) then drain the juice off of your favorite canned fruit - but save 1T. of the syrup and stir it into the coolwhip with the fruit,(she used Mandarin oranges). Chill covered before serving.

Last Sunday I pretty much got a whole new Young Women's board so we had our first board meeting this week and I gave everyone a bag of this carmel popcorn. It is one of my favorites recipes that I have found so far.

Carmel Popcorn

Pop two bags of popcorn. In a a pan, melt 1C. butter then add 2C. brown sugar, 1/2C. corn syrup and 1t. salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly then boil without stirring for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 1t. vanilla and 1/2t. baking soda. Gradually pour this over the popcorn while stirring so it is well coated. For crunchier carmel popcorn, spread this on a baking sheet and cook at 250* for 30 minutes. Stirring every ten minutes.

Speaking of popcorn, Darren's Mom, Kay, sent out some chocolate covered popcorn after Thanksgiving that I had been addicted to all week.

Chocolate Covered Popcorn

Melt 6 ounces of white chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. (Watch closely - stirring every 30 seconds if you melt it in the microwave.)
Pop two bags of popcorn in the microwave. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the popped popcorn, gently stir. Then sprinkle red and green candy sprinkles and gently stir. Cool in the refrigerator then put into little cellophane bags to give as gifts.

Kay put added a little surprise in the middle of her popcorn bags. A medium sized pretzel stick with the end dipped in carmel and then dipped in white chocolate.
Her carmel recipe is the best - so I am sure this is what she used for this treat.

Kay's Carmels

Melt 1C. butter in a heavy sauce pan. Then add 1 pound of brown sugar and a dash of salt. Stir in 1C. light corn syrup. Gradually add one - 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk. Cook over medium heat for 12 - 15 minutes stirring occasionally until it reaches the firm ball stage or 245* on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in 1t. vanilla. Pour into a buttered 9 inch square pan. Cool and cut into squares.

Kay put a small square of carmel on the end of the pretzel stick then dipped it into the melted white chocolate.

On Sunday, I took some of my favorite Peanut Butter Blossom cookies to my Laurels. I know I have posted this recipe before, but Becky Dastrup asked for it again, so here it is:

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Combine 1/2C. peanut butter, 1/2C. butter, 1/2C. sugar and 1/2C. brown sugar. Then add 1 egg, 2T. milk, 1t. vanilla, 1 3/4C. flour, 1t. baking soda and 1/2t. salt.
Mix well then roll dough in small balls and then roll in a bowl of white sugar. Set on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350*.

As soon as you pull them out of the oven, top with an unwrapped chocolate kiss, half of an unwrapped peanut butter cup or several plain M&M's.

It seems like all I have done this week is eat and eat and eat some more. It looks like the next two weeks will be the same so I have just given up on my diet and decided not to fight it until the new year. It's impossible when all of my neighbors and friends keep bringing over yummy treats!

Charo's Tree

Yeah! Charo's tree is finally done! I have been working on it for a couple of weeks and it just didn't seem quite right. I kept adding a little here and a little there, but I still wasn't convinced it was a great tree. Finally I decided to go to the Galleries to find a tree skirt, (I bought the material to try to sew one, but decided it just wasn't going to happen,) and to see if they had anything wonderful that would make the tree amazing. Thank goodness I ran into Raelynn McCormick. I didn't know she worked there but she was an angel sent to rescue me. She volunteered to bring a sack full of ideas and try to help me after she got off work. Ten minutes after she got to my house the tree looked amazing! She was a whirlwind sticking picks with colorful balls on it here and there and adding a few sparkly snowflakes and BAM! I now have the most beautiful tree I have ever seen.

Raelynn is my new hero! Some how she managed to work all day, fix my tree and then that night had a beautiful cake with marzipan autumn leaves for decorations for her boys to take to the appreciation dinner for mutual.

Tonight I was so proud of my tree and feeling good when Darren said, "Weren't there lights on the top of the tree?" You've got to be kidding me! It is all decorated, everything is wired on and the top strand of lights quit working. That means I will have to undecorate to fix them or put a new strand on. It will never look quite the way Raelynn had it if I have to undo it. I might just have to bribe her to come back and help me fix it!

All of a sudden I am very sad about having to move the tree out of my house to the display area next Wednesday for the public viewing. I have kind of grown attached to it. It is such a happy tree! I love looking at the little huts and banana leaf people while I work on my computer. It makes me happy to think about the friends I made in Africa. The only thing that makes giving it away a little easier is that the money from the sale of it will hopefully help build a new school for the school mates of the little twelve year old boy that died while we were in Kenya.

Now I need to add the thing I am grateful for today to add to my countdown to Thanksgiving. I am grateful for an amazing husband who figured out what was wrong with my washing machine so I didn't have to pay a repair man $400 just to tell me some weed trimmer line, and some other garbage was blocking the drain!

The only thing is now I don't have an excuse for not doing the laundry because the machine is fixed!

I have this wonderful recipe for Pumpkin Spice Pie. If you can find the pumpkin spice flavored pudding it is yummy, but it is hard to find sometimes - especially in a small town.

Michelle's Pumpkin Spice Pie

Beat 2C. cold milk with 2 packages (4oz. size) of pumpkin spice flavored instant pudding. Then add in 1/4t. cinnamon with a whisk until blended well. Spread 1 1/2C. into the bottom of a graham pie crust. Then add 1 1/2C. whipped topping to the remaining pudding mixture and stir gently. Spoon this over the layer in the crust then top with more whipped topping. Refrigerate for one hour then serve.

Gratitude List and a Turkey Tip

I usually try to do a gratitude count down of what I am thankful for twelve days before Thanksgiving - but since it has been a little crazy around here lately, I am starting a few days late.

#12 - I am grateful for the sunshine - to warm up these cold days!

#11 - I am grateful for a new vacuum cleaner that works great to clean up all the dirt that comes in on the dogs feet - (The sunshine I was grateful for in #12 melts the frost every morning and creates mud!)

#10 - I am grateful I can manually tell my washing machine to spin and then drain because it quit doing that on it's own.

#9 - I am grateful for three amazing children who are hard workers without me even telling them to be. Last night Alex spent almost three hours, washing, waxing and detailing his Dad's truck because he wanted to do something nice for him. WOW!

#8 - I'm grateful for good friends who bring me treats when they know I am struggling. (Hint, hint)

Tonight for mutual we are having our annual gratitude dinner for the grandparents in our ward. I'm not excited because the young men have decided to serve clam chowder which I am not a big fan of. But it will be fun to meet with the youth and the elderly and talk about what we are grateful for, but what happened to the turkey?

A few years ago, I experimented with rubbing mayonnaise all over my turkey before I cooked it and then once again about half way through the cooking time. It turned out so moist I do it every time now. (It also works great on chicken - except when you bar-b-que because it falls down into the flames - igniting them and charring the meat - I won't do that one again!)

You can also season the mayo before rubbing it on. Here is what I like to do:
Put some mayo in a bowl and stir in some seasoned salt OR lemon pepper and a little lemon juice works great too. Using a paper towel rub it all over the meat then cook like you normally would.

Lilly

I forgot to mention we got a new family member two weeks ago. She is an eight year old border collie named Lilly. One of our neighbors has been struggling with her allergies and asthma and suddenly became really allergic to Lilly. So Lilly came to live at my house. She is very loyal and after the first few days, has realized this is her home and hasn't tried to go back to the neighbors house.

Lilly definitely fits in at our house as a ranch dog. She herds the horses like a pro and chases the deer off wonderfully. All I need to do now is teach her to pick up the paper in the morning and she will be able to earn all the extra dog food we have been going through.

Of course it isn't all good. Yesterday, she and Kody also decided to chase my neighbors chickens out of our yard as well. I heard all kinds of noise going on outside and when I looked, all I could see was a TON of chicken feathers flying around. When I finally got the dogs to come back to me, I saw two frantic chickens sprinting back to the neighbors yard. Thank goodness there wasn't a death just a few bald spots!

Darren went to Lake Powell to winterize the house boat. Sadly, I guess that means winter is really here. The boys helped me put up and decorate the Christmas tree yesterday. It seems a little early to all of us, but we had to move the tree's in the storage room so we could put away the screens and patio furniture so it seemed like the right thing to do, plus I have to keep up with the Dastrups, Alexanders and Laris families! They still one uped me when they turned on their Christmas lights on outside their houses last weekend.
Maybe next weekend we can remedy that!

It has turned cold and windy here. That always makes me want to eat more - like I'm preparing to hibernate or something. This morning I was craving biscuits and gravy. That never happens unless it is cold outside.

Sausage Biscuits and Gravy

Cook one package of sausage then blend in 1/4C. flour and 2 1/2C. milk. Cook, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens and comes to a boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper then serve over warm buttermilk biscuits.

A New Favorite Soup

Last week Darren ran into one of our old neighbors who was looking for a place to keep three of his horses for a month until he can move them up to Wyoming. I have a huge field so we told him to bring them up. I have fallen in love with one of them. He is a big black gelding. I forgot to ask what his name is, so I just call him Zeus. He is a movie star. His owner said he was in one of the "Work and the Glory" movies as well as a civil war enactment movie that he couldn't remember the name of.

I don't need one more horse, in fact I'm trying to downsize, but he is amazing!

I came up with a new twist for my hamburger soup this week. We were going to eat it for left overs on one of our busy nights but I didn't think we had enough for my growing boys to get full some extra ingredients to make Cheeseburger soup. It was so yummy!

I know I have posted my hamburger soup before but I have no idea where so here it is again - the just add the last few ingredients to change it into cheeseburger soup.

Hamburger Soup

Brown one pound of hamburger, then add 1/2C. chopped onions, 1tsp. garlic, 6C. water, some sliced carrots and celery (I like to use the leafy tops for more flavor), and 2 sliced potatoes. Then add 1tsp. season salt and 6 beef bullion cubes.
Simmer for several hours.
For Cheeseburger soup, add one can of Campbell's Nacho Cheese Soup and one small block of Velvetta Cheese. Right before serving stir in 2C. sour cream.

A Chicken Knocking On My Door

Our friends the Hansens came out to stay with us on Friday night. They said they were coming out to get some locks from Darren for a little business they have set up, but I think it was really so their sixteen year old daughter could see my seventeen year old son. We stayed up late Friday watching movies and laughing. Then Saturday we rode horses, went for rides in the Razor and went up to see some petroglyphs.

Saturday night, I heard a big bang on my back sliding door and my kids all started laughing. Evidently one of our neighbors chickens was pecking on the glass. It was cold outside and I don't blame her - it looked nice and cozy in my family room with the fire going!

I picked her up and got in the car to drive her back over to the neighbors house. My friend said she couldn't believe I took a chicken for a ride in the Cadillac. It was windy and cold outside, what was I supposed to do? The worst part was the stupid chicken peed on me! I should have just plucked her right there and made this Swiss cheese chicken recipe!

Place 8 defrosted chicken breasts into a greased casserole dish. Place one slice of Swiss cheese on top of each breast. In a bowl, mix 3 cups of chicken stuffing with one can of cream of mushroom soup and one can of milk. Pour this over the top of the chicken and sprinkle with little bits of butter. Bake 90 minutes at 325*.

Wrestling Sharks

Wow! Where has the last month gone? We went to the Bahamas for a fun family trip in the middle of October and it has been a whirlwind since we got back. I think I'm going to go back and just sit on the beach, listen to the waves crash and watch my boys snorkel for hours.

This is a picture of a shark wrangler we met. He is a very brave but stupid man - he lures the sharks in with a fish head on the end of a rope and then pulls it up to him and wrestles it so tourists can take pictures. We have enough sharks to wrestle in our daily lives - why in the world would you want to do this as an occupation?

Darren was put in as the first counselor in our Bishopric a few days after we got home and the new Bishop asked me to stay on as the young women's president. If this week is any indication of how these two callings are going work together.... we aren't going to have a minute to sit down and relax!

Sunday was full of meetings and trying to finish getting Brayden's Eagle scout paperwork signed. Monday Dar went to Salt Lake for a water association meeting for the cabin while I spent most of the day wiring on the decorations for my tree for the Trees for Charity gala. Tuesday was a presidency meeting, trying to juggle orthodontist appointments, homework, homemaking(or whatever it is called now), planning the ward Christmas party and Bishopric visits.

Yesterday I had to to to the local TV station to have a video made for the Tree's for Charity tree explaining my charity - Koins for Kenya.
Plus, last night we had our Young Women's in Excellence Night so I spent a good portion of the day helping decorate and get ready for the big night. It turned out wonderful - thanks to some very talented ladies that serve with me. I gave a talk about a French painter named George Sueret who came up with a technique called Petite Point. He made amazing masterpieces by placing individual dots of color on a canvas.

Heavenly Father sent us to earth as a blank canvas and each time we do something good we get a dot. The young women value colors help illustrate this. When you pay your tithing you get a white dot for faith. When you read your scriptures you get a gold dot for virtue. If you serve someone else, you get a yellow dot for doing good works. If you choose to go to church on Sunday instead to the lake you get an orange dot for choice and accountability. All of these dots add up and eventually make an amazing person who learns that they are a child of God with a divine purpose in life.
Each person has a great potential to create a masterpiece to present to our Heavenly Father when we return home to him. It went right along with doing personal progress.

Tonight is the Young Women's Stake Axillary training meeting for both Dar and I and then Saturday is an all day event of the World Wide Training for both of us and ward temple night that evening.

AHHHHH! I have had to be creative to do the cooking this week. We have eaten a lot of left overs and Papa Murphy take and bake pizzas.

On Tuesday night at the homemaking night, I ate some yummy chicken chili which was requested by Melissa Holfeltz to post on my blog. I still haven't been able to get the recipe from Julie Stewart but I definitely will get it and share Melissa.! I found this recipe that is similar to her's:

White Chicken Chili

Heat 2T. vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir 1C. chopped onion until tender. Mix in 3 cloves of garlic, crushed, 1 -4oz. can of chopped green chili peppers, 2t. cumin and 1t. cayenne pepper. (You can add
1 -4oz. can of diced jalapeno peppers if you want it spicier.) Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in 2 - 14.5oz. cans of chicken broth, 3C. chopped, cooked chicken breasts and 3 - 15oz. cans of white beans that have been put through the blender with their liquid. Simmer about 15 minutes then add in 1 package of cream cheese that has been chopped into chunks along with 1T. lime juice.
Remove from heat and stir in 1C. shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Serve warm.

It has been so cold and snowy, soup is all I want to eat now.

What Happened To Halloween?

I am seriously contemplating writing Vernal City a letter to ask them what they are doing. Today when I was driving downtown, the city workers were putting up Christmas decorations. What happened to Halloween?

Every spring, Vernal city plants a ton of planters along main street full of petunias Since we have have such a warm fall, the flowers are still in full bloom. So, right next to the pots of bright pink flowers there are now Christmas decorations. Kind of a funny combination right before Halloween!

Last weekend was a fun filled weekend with my family. I went into Salt Lake to celebrate my niece, Nicole's birthday and then drove back in Friday night so I could be there for my other niece, Tiffany's, wedding. My kids were elated to be able to spend time with their cousins. Ken and my nine year old nephew had a blast dancing at the wedding. It was funny to see Ken doing, "the sprinkler," and "the lawn mower." They had a blast dancing with their Grandma - (who also loves to dance, they must of inherited that gene from her.) I know it is something they will remember forever!

Right after the wedding ceremony, a bunch of waiters were walking around serving appetizers before dinner. They were good, but none were as good as my sister-in-law, Jenny's stuffed mushrooms that she always serves for Christmas. (All the Christmas decorations made me think about them!)

Jen's Stuffed Mushrooms

Wash one package of mushrooms and remove the stems. Brown a package of sausage and combine with one block of cream cheese. Stuff the mushrooms with this mixtures and place top side down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 350*.

Inspiring Weekend To Recharge The Old Batteries

Dar and I spent a wonderful couples weekend at Powell. The weather was amazing! The water was a tad bit chilly, but when the temperatures got up into the 90's, it felt good. It was so nice to sit and read a book in the sun. I can't even remember the last time I was able to do that. I read Volume I of the, "Discourses President Gordon B. Hinckley." He was such an amazing man. I love to read books that leave me wanting to be better and renew my desire to help others and that is what this book did for me.

Saturday and Sunday we watched general conference. My presidency had given the young women in my ward the assignment to watch and write down their favorite quote so we can make a special gift for our bishop. I had so many favorite quotes it is going to be hard to choose one! Some of my favorites included: "Honor is the rich soil where the seed of faith thrives," by D. Todd Christofferson. Or Richard G. Scott's statement, "Nobility of character...gives life direction." I also liked Richard G. Scott's quote, "We become what we want to be by being what we want to become."

I love hearing President Monson speak. He talked about gratitude and said, "To live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven." But my favorite speaker was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. The main theme of his talk was to SIMPLIFY, which I need to do desperately. President Uchtdorf is a retired pilot and his comments always relate to flying. He said when you experience turbulence, reduce your speed. Just like when you come to speed bumps, slow down a little so you can steady the course because that is when the adversary likes to hit you. I resolved that I am going to try to follow his advice to, "slow down a little and focus on the significant." I'm going to have to start next week because this week is going to be full of trying to get ready for my nieces wedding and then a fun family vacation. Hmmmm....Maybe after the holidays???!!!!

It was an uplifting, inspiring weekend, but I'm glad to be home with my boys. On the last night we were at Powell, we decided to use up all of our left overs from the weekend. We came up with a wonderful recipe that I call, farmers stir fry, because it came from everything home grown on my farm.

Farmers Stir Fry

In a large pan, cook four diced potatoes (we used white and red from our garden)in
4T. butter for about 10 minutes then add some fresh green beans, fresh pea pods, and diced zucchini and cook for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes start to soften up a bit. Season with some Jamaican me crazy season salt or any other season salt, some pepper,onion powder and garlic salt. Then add in some left over grilled steak (from Rosie the cow)that has been diced, and cook for another 5 minutes just to warm the steak up.

Hot Toppings

Last night we decided to go to the lake at the last minute for family home evening. It was a hot day and the lake was smooth as glass and looking very inviting from my window. We found the Baum family there with some of the Cummings. Ken immediately wanted to get on Russ's boat so he could have tube wars. So we exchanged a few kids and played for an hour until the sun went down. Darren was water skiing and sprayed their whole boat with his big wake. It was hilarious!

Tomorrow night I am having all of the mutual girls come to my house to eat ice cream and have a game night. My assignment was the ice cream toppings. For some reason, Walmart was out of almost all of the good ice cream toppings so I decided I would come home and make my own. Homemade is better anyways.

Hot Caramel Sauce

In a small pan, melt 1/2C. butter. Then add 1C. brown sugar and whisk until it is thick (about 2 minutes), then whisk in 2/3C. heavy whipping cream and whisk for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 1t. vanilla. Serve hot and store in the fridge.

Hot Fudge Sauce

In a large sauce pan, combine 2C. semisweet chocolate chips and 1C. butter. Stir until melted and combined. Gradually add 4C. powdered sugar and 2 2/3C. evaporated milk. Increase the heat and boil cook stirring constant. Remove from the heat and stir in 1t. vanilla and 1/8t. salt.
Serve warm and store in fridge.

Don't Try This At Home!

We had a whirlwind weekend with our friends so I am exhausted! Friday night we loaded up the horses and went for a fun ride up by the dam at Flaming Gorge with the Labrums. The views were spectacular, but we were riding mostly in the pine trees so we didn't get to enjoy the autumn colors. Renegade had thrown a shoe and I didn't realize it until right before we left so I put a boot on her. She kept stumbling with it on and almost went all the way down and scraped her nose. Poor thing! After that we went to the Flaming Gorge lodge and I had the best chicken friend chicken. If only I could make it like they can!

Saturday, our friends from high school, Matt and Tracy Hansen came and stayed with us on their way home from watching their oldest daughter, Ellie play softball in Rangly, Colorado. We had tons of fun riding the horses. We even got Matt on a horse. He was swearing the whole time because he was so scared whenever Ellie came along side and made his horse run. It was hilarious! Cute Ellie was still wearing her softball uniform from her games, it was quite a sight to see!

Darren took Matt on a wild ride in the razor to see the petroglyphs up the canyon, they came back with huge smiles covered in dust. The weather was perfect for sitting out on the porch laughing and talking for hours. Alex took Ellie, who is sixteen, to a bonfire with a bunch of his friends. Afterwards, he received a bunch of texts from the guys asking if Alex could get them her phone number for them. Ellie and Alex hit it off pretty good and spent the evening texting each other.

I tried to make a funeral potato casserole for dinner Saturday using zucchini instead of potatoes. I would highly NOT RECOMMEND trying this because there was too much moisture from the zucchini and it was more like cheesy zucchini soup. Next time I will probably just add 2C. of zucchini into the potatoes.

I keep thinking about the yummy dinner Friday night so I found this recipe for the chicken fried chicken - hopefully it will be as good as the one I had at the lodge!

Chicken Fried Chicken

Beat together 1 egg and 1/2C. milk and set aside. Then mix together 1/2t. salt,
1/4t. paprika and 1/4t. pepper and sprinkle on both side of four boneless skinless chicken breasts.

Dredge the chicken breasts in a bowl filled with 2C. flour, shaking off the excess then dip it into the egg/milk mixture and back into the flour.

Heat some cooking oil that is a half an inch deep in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Place the chicken into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes until the chicken pieces are cooked through. Drain on paper towels.

Serve with this cream gravy recipe:

After the chicken is done, pour off all but about 2T. of the oil trying to save as many of the browned pits in the pan. Heat over medium heat. Sprinkle 3T. of the left over chicken flour into the hot oil. Stir with a wooden spoon, quickly, to brown. Gradually stir in 3/4C. milk and 3/4C. water, mixed together, stirring constantly and mashing out any lumps. Lower the heat and continue cooking until it reaches the desired consistency. Add some salt and pepper to taste.

Pucker Up!

We haven't seen our good friends, the Caldwells, for a long time so last night we went over to their house for dinner. Carrie is the most amazing cook I know so I was very excited to see what she had whipped up for us. Their front window was open as we walked up to the front door and I could smell Mexican food. Yeah! I love Mexican! She had asked me to bring over some tomatoes. Evidently they were pretty juicy ones because just as I walked into her kitchen with a brown paper sack full, the bottom fell out and we had tomatoes everywhere! Watch out! The Christensons are in the house! After we cleaned up the mess, we made taco salads and Carrie served us some Brazilian lemonade. Wow is all I can say! It was soooo.... good. While we looked at the house plans for their new house we ate homemade key lime pie. I'm not even going to attempt that one, but I know I can make the lemonade.

Brazilian Lemonade

In a blender, combine 5C. water, 1/2C. sugar, 3T. sweetened condensed milk and three limes. Then pour into a pitcher with cheese cloth on top to catch the limes. Serve over ice and pucker up!

Stir Fryin'

I love this weather! Warm during the day and cool at night. I wish it would stay this way all year.

My garden is overflowing with veggies! The other day I was excited to see the peas growing. I had about given up on them because they didn't get enough water while I was in Africa. One little row of green beans has been producing a basket full about every other day. So I decided to make stir fry with the fruits of my labor for dinner. It was so good - my family ate a huge pan full of it!

Cook two cups of sticky rice according to the directions and set aside.

Dice two steaks (whatever kind you like best) and place in a frying pan with 2T. oil. Cook until it is lightly browned. Add 2C. fresh green beans, 2C. fresh snap peas (still in the pods), 1/2 of a small onion diced, 1C. sliced carrots or matchstick carrots, 1T. garlic, 1T. Maggi Seasoning (I found this by the rice at the grocery store), and 2T. Cantonese Oyster Flavored Sauce, (this was also by the rice.) Simmer for 8 -10 minutes.

Serve this over the rice.

Raining Cats and Dogs

It was raining cats and dogs yesterday. That always means flooded apartments because the stairwells get full of water. It also means mud everywhere! I am surrounded by mud until we get the grass put in my back yard and the driveway paved. Hopefully this weekend we can get the sprinklers put in and solve the first problem. As for the driveway, maybe one day when the apartment business picks up we will be able to pave the road but until then it's just mud!

We played ultimate Frisbee in the rain for mutual last night. Everyone was having so much fun, no one really noticed how cold and wet they were. All three of my boys had a blast.

It was cold again this morning which makes me think it is soup season. Here is a great recipe for tortilla soup.

Boil three chicken breasts, remove them from the water and shred. In a large pot, add one can of Campbell's nacho cheese soup, one can of chicken broth, 3 cans of water, the shredded chicken, 1/2C. match stick carrots and 2C. salsa. Simmer for one hour then serve with grated cheddar cheese, crumbled tortilla chips, some guacamole and sour cream.

When life gives you lemons......

Brrrr.... it was cold this morning when I was out feeding. I have a big batch of pretty sunflowers growing by my house by they are starting to fade and die off. I fear winter is coming sooner than I would like! Time to shift gears and think about Christmas, winter vacations and bundling up.

How does that saying go, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Instead I think I will make this yummy recipe for lemon zucchini bread. (Yep, more zucchini recipes! Hey when you have zucchini growing like crazy and you are watching every dime, this is a great way to feed the family!) This is one of the recipes my nieces friend Ashley told me about at the wedding shower. I LOVE lemon so I can't wait to make it!

Lemon Zucchini Bread

Combine 4C. flour, one 3.4oz. box instant lemon pudding, 1 1/4C. sugar, 1 1/2t. baking soda and 1t. baking powder. Then, in a separate bowl, combine: 4 eggs, 1 1/4C. milk, 1C. vegetable oil, 3T. lemon juice and 1t. lemon extract. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet then add 2C. shredded zucchini and 2t. grated lemon peel.

Pour batter into greased bread pans and bake 350* for 50 to 55 minutes.

Pancake breakfast pockets, zucchini lasagna and potato cheese soup

While I was at my niece Tiffany's wedding shower, several people were talking about yummy recipes that I can't wait to try.

One of the gifts my niece got was a panini machine - (it's makes sandwiches). My sisters neighbor, Debbie Kwata, said she puts pancake batter in the bottom of the machine and then whatever toppings she likes on top like bacon, chocolate chips, or fruit and then bakes it in the machine so it turns out like a breakfast pocket. Why didn't they have those machines when I got married?

I had taken a bunch of zucchini in to Salt Lake for my family members and my nieces maid of honor, Ashley, told me about using it to make lasagna. She said instead of using noodles, slice the zucchini in thin strips along the whole length and then add your meat, sauce and cheese. I am always looking for another recipe to use up the zucchini!

I'm still waiting for a copy of the other recipes that were talked about during the party and I will definitely share them as they come my way.

Yesterday I went out into my garden to pick some veggies for dinner and I found a wonderful surprise - potatoes! I thought they hadn't grown because the last time I checked, there were only tiny potatoes. I didn't check the red potatoes and they are the ones that were blossoming! I felt like I was on a treasure hunt because each time I dug down I kept finding more and more potatoes!

I can't wait to use them to make this recipe for Potato Cheese Soup ~

Bake eight large potatoes until they are soft. Mash or cube them and set aside.

In a large pot, combine 2/3C. butter and 2/3C. flour to make a roux. Cook for 1 minutes then whisk in 2/3C. milk and 2/3C. chicken broth. Add salt and pepper, the potatoes, twelve strips of cooked bacon, crumbled and 8oz. shredded cheddar cheese.

At the very last minute, add in 1C. sour cream.

To reheat this add a little milk.

The Lion King

I had a very busy, but fun weekend. Friday morning I got a phone call from my friend Ashley. She said she had an extra ticket to see the Lion King which is playing at the Capital Theater in Salt Lake, and wondered if I would like to be her date that night. I have been dying to see this show so I jumped at the chance to go!

It was so fun! I loved the costumes and the music. Plus it was fun to get dressed up and have a girls night out.

The next day, I helped my twin sister and my Mom decorate and get ready for a wedding shower for my niece Tiffany who is getting married next month. We went with the theme of using her new last name, Hortin, and decorated with the letter "H" everywhere. It turned out darling. My sister is the queen of creative, so of course it was wonderful! It was really fun to see my cousin Annie and her two daughters who I haven't seen for several years.

Dar and I hurried and flew home so we could help with the end of youth conference for the youth in our ward. Ashley had come home that morning and single handedly decorated the gym to look like a cruise ship. She is amazing! It turned out so amazing! The kids had a great day with the Bishop and Kennedy even got a strike when they went bowling. Everyone cheered and he was giving high five's because he was so excited.

I wish I could have been there, but it was so fun to hear how happy he was.

Yesterday morning we slept in and tried to recover from our whirlwind weekend. Dar and Bray made us breakfast. They came up with this fun idea instead of just making plain eggs, bacon and toast and it was yummy!

The Boyz Eggs in a basket

Take a piece of sourdough bread and rip some of the bread out to make a hole in the center. Butter both sides of the bread and place on a griddle. Then scramble an egg in a bowl add shredded cheese and crumbled, cooked bacon then pour into the center of the bread. Cook until the egg starts to set up and then flip it over.

I Can't Believe I Ate The Whole Thing

Yesterday, before Darren took Sabino to the airport to fly home to Peru, he and Clay took him the Park City ski resort to go down the Alpine slide. He said he hadn't ever done anything like that before and thought it was wonderful! Darren said even on the roller coaster slide, he went really fast the second time around. I'm so glad he got to have one last party before leaving!

On Monday, the queen of everything, Ashley Laris, brought me a treat so she wouldn't have to eat them. Thanks a lot Ash! I am on a new diet called the Fat Flush so I thought, I will just eat one. They were so yummy, they just melted in my mouth! I decided they were small, so I could probably eat one more. The next thing I knew, the whole plate was gone. I can't believe I ate the whole plate by myself! So much for the diet! Ashley said she got the recipe from Julie Peterson, but since she made them for me, I'm giving her the credit.

I have three ripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter, so guess what I am going to make today?

Banana Bars

Combine 1/2C. butter, 2C. sugar, 3 eggs, 3 mashed bananas, 1t. vanilla, 1t. baking soda, a pinch of salt and 2C. flour. Spread batter into a cake pan and bake at 350* for 25 minutes. Frost when cool and slice into small squares.

Frosting:
Beat 8 ounces of cream cheese with 1/2C. butter then add 4C. powdered sugar and 1t. vanilla. Add just enough milk to reach the consistency desired

Cow Pies

It's a sad day. Darren took my sweet Peruvian friend, Sabino, to Salt Lake so he could go home to Peru tomorrow and Rosie and Ruby are on their way to be butchered.

Darren wasn't going to tell me when this day was because he knew I would be sad. He said one day the cows would just disappear, but I found out. We were up at 4:30AM trying to load them into the horse trailer so he could take them. I put some corn into the trailer and Ruby hopped right in, but Rosie put up a fight. She was saying, "My momma told me about this day, I'm not going anywhere!" Sabino and one of Darren's other workers were helping us try to get them into the trailer. It was hilarious to watch them try to maneuver Rosie and then swearing because they stepped in a big, soft pile of cow poop. I'm sure Rosie was laughing saying, "Ha! I showed you!"

Yesterday I let the cows out to enjoy the pasture one last time and when I came out later, they had climbed under the fence and were laying in the round pen with the horses. Silly cows!

We had two pallets full of bags of steer compost sitting out by the pasture and Darren kept blaming the horses for knocking the bags off of the pallets and breaking them open. I found Rosie and Ruby playing in them the other day - it was like they were trying to put on their perfume!

After Rosie and Ruby were loaded up, Darren, Sabino and Clay were gathering up some last minute tools to take up to the cabin to fix a broken railing. I was seriously contemplating opening up the back door of the trailer and telling the cows to, "Run!" But Darren busted me and told me not to even think about it.

I just have to keep telling myself that my family is going to eat this winter and I can't be sad about that.

Yesterday, Darren made this yummy beef stew for us. With all this beef, we are going to be eating lots of it when the temperature is twenty below!

Rosie Stew

Cook four slices of bacon in a large stockpot until crisp.
Toss 1 1/2 pounds lean cut beef stew in 3T. flour, 1/2t. salt and 1/8t. pepper. Add to the bacon mixture. Then add 1T. olive oil, 8 ounces slices mushrooms, 1C. sliced celery, and 1 1/2C. chopped onions. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the beef is browned. Add 6C. beef broth and one bay leaf. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 45 minutes. Add 2 large potatoes sliced, 1/3C. pearl barley, 2C. sliced carrots and 1C. green peas. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for 25 minutes.

Stir in 2T. flour that has been blended with 2T. cold water to thicken the stew up. Cook, stirring until thickened and bubbly.

You could make this into a cow pie by putting this into a pie tin that was lined with the premade pie crust dough and then cover the top with the other piece of dough. When I make a chicken pot pie, I usually bake the crust at 350* for about five minutes before filling it and then slicing a few holes in the top of the crust before putting it back in the oven to cook for 30 to 40 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown.

Fall is definitely in the air

My house lies in the flight path of migrating geese so I can always tell when spring or winter are coming. This morning I heard a flock of geese honking as they flew over my house. I wanted to run out and tell them to turn around because it is too early to head south!

It was definitely cooler today and the wind has been blowing all day long.
This cooler weather always makes me feel like the little red hen, preparing for winter hibernation. I spent most of yesterday and all of today in the kitchen. So,
I'm pooped!

One batch of apple pie filling, one batch of salsa, one batch of peach pit jam, one batch of chocolate zucchini bread and one batch of chocolate zucchini pumpkin bread. But now I have to still make dinner! Over whelmed by the pile of zucchini still sitting on my kitchen counter, it is going to be a zucchini night! Lemon butter zucchini pasta with chicken and fried zucchini with a piece of chocolate zucchini bread or the pumpkin chocolate zucchini bread for dessert.

Lemon Butter Zucchini Pasta

Melt 2T. butter in a pan, add 1T. lemon juice, 1C. shredded zucchini, and garlic salt to taste. While this is cooking, boil a package of angel hair pasta according to the directions. Drain the pasta then add 1C. Parmesan cheese and toss in the zucchini mixture.

This tastes great with grilled chicken breasts that have been diced tossed in.

Hot Apple Pie!

Evidently planting all of those tomato plants last spring paid off. No one in Vernal was able to grow them this year because of something called, "blight." A couple of my plants, (the free one's from IFA) got it, but all of my Costco plants survived and thrived! So I have been able to share with all of my friends and neighbors.

Last weekend, Lori Johnson told me about this recipe for homemade apple pie filling. Apples were cheap at the grocery store today so I decided to try it. This is a huge deal for me because I haven't ever baked a pie before. Okay I cheated and used the premade pie crust, but still, I made the filling from scratch and even tried canning some of it. That's another thing I don't do, canning. In my view, it ends up taking too much time and money when you can go to the store and buy a can of the same thing for a dollar. But I decided to gave it a whirl anyway. After spending all afternoon peeling fourteen apples, I decided I was right about the too much time stuff, and then when I dipped my second jar into the cold bath after it had boiled for twenty five minutes, I heard a "crack" and watched in horror as the contents of the jar started leaking into the water from a break in the bottom. I have no idea what I did wrong, but obviously something didn't go quite right.

I had big aspirations to make peach pit jam and fresh salsa today, but this dampened my adventurous spirit and I just called it a day. The true test will come when my family tastes the apple pie if my time was really worth it.

Lori's Apple Pie Filling

Mix 5C. sugar, 1 heaping cup cornstarch, 1/2t. nutmeg, 5t. cinnamon, 1t. salt and
10C. water in a saucepan and cook until bubbly and thick. Remove from the heat and add 3T. of butter and 3T. lemon juice.

While this is cooking, prepare fourteen apples (5Lbs.) - by peeling, coring and dicing. Then put the apples into hot sterile jars and fill with the syrup mixture to within one inch from the top of the jar. Cold pack process for 25 minutes.

Makes 5 - 6 jars of pie filling.

To make the pie, put the filling into a ready made crust then sprinkle with a little sugar in the raw and bake at 400* for 50 minutes.

Cinderella Shopping

Today I took one of my young women dress shopping for a homecoming dress. Since I don't have any girls, this was a new adventure for me! She immediately informed me she is pretty picky - I told her, "in a small town, with a limited selection, you can't be picky!" We went to a second hand store called, Gweneviers Attic, and within two minutes she had on a beautiful grey colored dress with sequenced flowers on the bodice. It was amazing how well the dress fit her perfectly! Going into the store, I was pretty sure we were going to have to take whatever we found and make some kind of alterations, but this dress truly was meant to be hers! (Thank goodness because I am not a seamstress!) It came with some extra matching fabric that I am going to try to make a shrug so it is a little more modest.

With tears in her eyes, this cute girl told me it was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen! I told the store clerk we had to have it! Last week this cute girl told me she had been asked to the Homecoming dance, but didn't really want to go because she didn't have a dress to wear, nor the money to buy one. When I asked her what kind of dress she wanted, she told me, she wanted a "princess dress." I think we accomplished that today and I can't wait to see her with her hair and makeup done.

At our New Beginnings program for the young women in February, my friend Michelle, brought this fruit dip. Our theme was princesses so I call it Princess Fruit Dip.

Combine 1/2 of a large jar of marshmallow cream with 2/3 can of sweetened condensed milk, a tub of cool whip and 1t. vanilla. Blend well with a hand mixer then serve with pieces of cut up fruit.

Saddle Sores

We had a wonderful weekend of riding horses, watching movies with the boys and laughing with our friends. I'm always sad when Labor Day is over because that signals fall to start. Yesterday morning when we woke up, there was a layer of ice on the horses water buckets and we noticed a few leaves were starting to change colors as we drove home. My boys were all excited because that means the snowmobiling season is closer - but I'm just not ready yet!

We love to see our friends the Johnson's. They always make me feel better when something happens to me because they have an even better story! On Saturday, I was riding our thirty year old horse, Bear, and she slipped while we were trotting along and fell, smashing my leg against the metal ring that hooks the stirrups onto the saddle. Thank goodness all I got was a bad bruise! We started laughing about the time Rick got bucked off in a mud puddle and I felt much better!

We rode for hours every day enjoying the beautiful mountains above Park City, we were so busy catching up with Rick and Lori, we didn't even notice the saddle sores until the next day! While we were chatting, Lori told me about a yummy recipe for this zucchini soup she got from her mom, Leona. I still have quite a bit of zucchini to use up so I was thrilled to have a new recipe to try with it.

Leona's Zucchini Soup

In a saucepan, cut up 5-6 medium zucchini's into large cubes (leave the skin and seeds on). Add two cups of water and boil until soft (about 15 minutes). While that is boiling, saute 2 chopped up onions. Then put the onions and zucchini into the blender and blend until smooth. Put it back into the saucepan and add 2t. lemon pepper, 3T. chicken bullion, 1t. cumin, 1 quart half and half - do not boil. Add
1t. season salt, 1/2t. pepper and 1/2t. salt.

Procrastination Monkey

Living in a small, rural town has its advantages. When I lived in Salt Lake, if I would have heard a gun shot in my neighborhood during the middle of the night, I would have been scared to death. In Vernal when this happens at 3AM, I just roll over and think, "Must be the neighbor shooting at the coyotes I heard howling a while ago so they won't eat his chickens." Only in Vernal!

Monday night I finally convinced my oldest son to ask a cute girl to the homecoming dance before all the cute girls were gone. We tied some yellow balloons to an ape that walk and grunted with a note that said, "I will go bananas if you don't go to homecoming with me!" It was really cute!
As soon as he got home, she called Alex and told him she had already been asked the night before. I had to bite my tongue not to say - I told you so! So this cute girl told him to ask another girl and she came and got him and helped him ask her. Well, he found out the next day that girl had also already been asked. Two strikes you are out is his motto! Ouch!

I can't wait to ride horses with the Johnson's all weekend at the cabin. We have only taken the horses up to the cabin once this summer and I have really missed it!

To cheer Alex up, we told him he could take a couple of friends. His favorite thing to eat is chili cheese queso dip. So we are going to eat lot's of that.

Chili Cheese Queso Dip

Melt one block of Velvetta cheese in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add a can of chili and stir until it bubbles. Remove from the heat and add in 4T. sour cream. Then serve with tortilla chips.

Peaches & Pits

Every night we were in Africa, our group would get together and talk about our "peaches and pits" of the day. On the last night, one of the people in our group told us to all go home and "really process" what had happened during our trip and we would realize some amazing things. I have been so busy since coming home that I haven't really thought about it until I sat down and looked at all of the pictures that one of the amazing ladies in our group, Ingrid Van Leeuwen, collected from everyone and compiled onto eight disks. As I looked back through the pictures to print off what Brayden will need to get his Eagle Scout project accepted, I have been overwhelmed with a feeling of love for the African people - especially the children. Just seeing their faces again makes me want to go back and do something to help them. When I think of their smiling faces waving and yelling, "Jambo" as we drove past in our safari vans, my heart swells and I am filled with love for them.

Jamie, the group leader, and Ingrid, asked everyone in the group to send them our favorite "peaches" from the trip. I had so many it was hard to narrow them down into just a few, but if you go to this link, Ingrid posted my thoughts along with some pictures: http://koins4kenya.blogspot.com and look under: Sherries 2010 kenya reflections.

Speaking of peaches and pits, Darren's Grandma Lucy used to make the best peach pit jam. When I first heard the name I was a little skeptical to try it, but it is now one of my favorite recipes!

Peach Pit Jam

Use the pits only from a bushel of peaches. Cover them with water in a pan and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until the water is a dark color. Drain through a cheese clothe then add 1/4C. lemon juice, 1 pkg. pectin and 5C. sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil - stirring constantly for about 4 minutes (or longer if it doesn't seem thick and slide off of the spoon in sheets.) Remove from the heat and skim off any foam. Fill hot jars immediately.

Feels Like Fall

It's still August but it feels like fall. The nights are turning much cooler and this morning when I went to feed, there was a little steam coming from the animals. I am not ready for summer to be over! It seems like it took forever to get here - how can it be time for fall and then the brutal basin winter?

We had a massive rain/thunder/lightening storm last night. The whole house was shaking and Bray said he could barely see the barn light from the house because it was raining so hard.

While I was gone to Africa, Copper, my two year old horse, cut her leg really bad and had to have a cast on. We still don't know what could have cut her leg so bad. To make things worse, a couple of days latter, Darren found an even worse cut on the same leg, but above the cast. He started calling her the horse with no brains.

The vet has been having to come up twice a week to check her and I keep having to rewrap her leg on a daily basis because she keeps chewing and pulling the wrap off. It has been a full time job because I want her to be outside in the sunshine and fresh air, but it has been raining so much, I don't want her dressings to get wet - so I have been taking her in and out of the barn several times a day!

Last Friday the vet finally took off the final wrap and said she is okay to not have anything on her leg. While the vet was here, we asked him how we would know when the cows would be ready to go to slaughter. He pointed at Ruby and said, "That one is ready now, the other one probably has a week or two." What? I thought we had until November! I'm not ready to eat them yet! They have cute personalities and Ruby lets me rub her nose. They moo at me to give them corn - but that just fattens them up faster so I have been slowing down on their feed. (My husband doesn't know and would shoot me if he knew!)I know it's just part of life and we bought them to eat.

Yesterday, our neighbors, the Dastrups, had us over for dinner. They made turkey in a bucket and it was so good! Becky learned how to make it at girls camp from Glenda Rich a couple years ago.

This is how they made it:

Put sliced apples in the neck flap of a turkey and rub with salt and pepper. Then place the turkey breast side down on top of a metal bundt pan. Then, slide the pan over a metal pole that has been welded to a square so it stands straight up. Kelly tied the wings to the breast with string so they wouldn't touch the side of the bucket and burn. Then wrap the turkey with foil and then place a metal bucket over the top of the turkey. Set the turkey stand/bucket in a fire pit over hot coals. Kelly said he uses about a pound of coals per pound of turkey. Then let it cook for about three hours.

I'm not very good at explaining this whole process, but it was soooo... good and easy once I have the stand and bucket. Alex is taking welding this year at school, so now he has a new project to make for me!

For dessert, Becky made this yummy chocolate dessert.

Make a crust of crushed graham crackers and butter in the bottom of a cake pan. In a bowl, combine cream cheese and cool whip and layer this over the graham crust. Then place a layer of chocolate pudding and top with whipped cream. Refrigerate before serving.

First Day Of School

I'm torn today because I'm excited the boys are going back to school. But I'm sad because summer just flew by too fast. The saddest part about today is it is Alex's last "First Day Of School" since he is going to be a senior this year.

It's hard to believe this day is here! It seems like a year ago I was taking him to kindergarten and we were both crying and he was saying, "Why do I have to leave you and go to school?" I told him he had twelve more years of the first day of school, so he just had to be brave.

Last week, Brayden got his learners permit. Help us all - he is legal! That night we took him out for a little drive and we had a line of cars with someone honking behind us because he was driving so slow. He has driven around the farm and cabin for years so I was really surprised, but glad to see he was cautious. He drove us up to the bus stop this morning and proudly showed his friends his learners permit. That is a great first day of school thing to talk about!

Alex and his friends were driving an old Pontiac Vibe his Grandpa Bud had given him this weekend during a bad rain storm and some how ended up in the canal. Thank goodness no one got hurt and they spent an hour in the rain pulling it out with the backhoe. They had a great bonding experience and now a great story to tell their other friends on the first day of school.

I forgot how much I can get done when no one is home. By 9:00 AM, I had the final four dead pine trees (out of thirty) pulled, the holes filled and the drip system to them plugged.
Then I ventured out into the garden and found lots of tomatoes (which was no surprise considering how many plants we put in this year!) and zucchini. I want to make my sister, Pam's zucchini casserole. This recipe has won several blue ribbons at the state fair. She makes it for her family all the time - to the point where they are sick of it! Her middle daughter was admitted into graduate school because of an essay she wrote about not wanting to eat her mom's zucchini casserole anymore.
I love it though!

Pam's Zucchini Casserole

Open one package of Pillsbury crescent rolls and spread in the bottom of a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with 1/4C. Parmesan cheese and bake for 10 minutes at 350*.
Cook one package of sausage (or you can leave it out if you prefer).
In a bowl, combine 1C. sour cream, 2tsp. flour, salt and pepper. Then mix this with the meat.
In a separate bowl, combine 1/2C. chopped onions, 1C. sliced mushrooms and one can of marinated artichoke hearts. Cook in the microwave for about 2 minutes to soften them up. Add one medium zucchini that has been shredded or sliced to this mixture.
Then add to the meat combination.
Spread all of this over the baked crust and sprinkle with shredded Monterrey jack cheese.
Cover this with another package of crescent rolls and then sprinkle with 1/4C. Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350* or until the crust is light brown.

Squash Soup

Right before I went to Africa, my husband had to have his very first cavity filled. After forty three years, it's about time! He kept complaining about it and I didn't have much sympathy for him. But I do now! I spent the morning at the dentists office having a cavity filled. This isn't the first time I have had to sit in the hot seat. I have a mouth full of fillings, but I will never get used to the shot the dentist uses to numb my mouth or the sound of the drill grinding away on my tooth!

My jaw is so sore tonight because of the dang shot! All I want to eat is something really soft, like soup.

One night while we were in Africa, the cooks made this yummy squash soup. The expedition leader, Jamie Quesenberry, made this soup for the Kenyan Koins leader, Anthony Yama, when he visited the U.S. last October and he requested they make it while we were there because he liked it so much.

Jamie's Squash Soup

Boil a butternut squash and one onion, diced with a little bit of chicken stock and some garlic salt or powder until soft. Put this into a blender and mix with a little milk then add some nutmeg. Remove from the blender and add some mozzarella cheese. Jamie said this tastes great with some sour dough bread dipped in it.

African Potato Balls

While we were in Africa, the Koins for Kenya organization turned over four schools to the villagers which they helped fund. It was fun to drive into the villages because hundreds of smiling children would meet us and run along side the vans singing, "We would like to say welcome to you. Welcome, welcome here." We felt like rock stars with hundreds of adoring fans!

Once we got out of the vans they would grab our hands and lead us to see their new schools that their parents helped build. In one of the villages called, Dzavani, a school was donated called the Austin Frampton school. This was a very special school because a twenty year old man named Dallin Frampton who couldn't decided what to do with his life heard about Koins for Kenya and decided to raise the money to go to Africa and build a school in honor of his ten year old brother, Austin, who has Down's Syndrome.

Dallin went to Kenya in March and has lived there in the village in a mud hut he built with his pet monkey, Matow, and worked along side the villagers to build the new school. One of the things Dallin did to raise the $10,000.00 it cost to build the school, was to have a concert where he played his guitar and sang. One of his good friends named Sophie Rose Barton had the voice of an angel and helped him with the concert. She died this June up at Heber Valley Girls Camp, so the family helped Brayden brand a rose onto each one of the desks he made to go to that school.

It was a very emotional, special day for the Frampton family. Dallin especially had a hard time because the school children kept singing songs, saying, "Please don't leave," because they love him so much.

When we got back to the Koins Center that night, the cooks made us these yummy potato balls. I made them for my family and they loved them. We decided next time we are going to put eggs, sausage and cheese in them and make breakfast balls.

African Potato Balls

Grate some potatoes and make them into balls. You may need to add a tiny bit of water to make them stick together. Then poke a hole into the ball and add some cooked hamburger. Then seal up the hole and roll the ball in a bowl with a beaten egg. Add a little salt and some pepper then fry them in hot oil until they are golden brown.

My Inventor

Today is Brayden's fifteenth birthday. I didn't get to spend it with him because the boys are all floating down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River this week. I'm glad he is out having fun, but I sure miss him!

On Saturday, all of the boys were trying their hardest to talk me into going on the river trip with them. It is a fun trip for the boys....but I have had enough "camping" this summer to last me a year! Plus being wet and cold all day while fishing just doesn't appeal to me.

Darren's Grandpa and Uncle Burt were some of the first people to float that river so this has become a very special tradition for his family. They haven't drawn out to go the last three years, and they only got to go this year because they kept calling to see if there were any cancellations so I had to let them go.

It will be good camping experience for Kennedy. Although once they got up to Stanley he asked his Dad where the airport was so he could take him there and, "get him out of this place." I can't wait to hear the adventures they had on the river!

Brayden has always been my little inventor. Ever since he was little he has taken things apart and put them back together again to make something new. At the time it wasn't funny, but I laugh hysterically now when I think about all the times he put something into an outlet plug and zapped himself!

Bray likes to make new things with food too. One of my favorite "inventions" he came up with is his banana pomegranate lemonade smoothie.

Put one banana, 2C. pomegranate lemonade juice, 1C. milk, 1/4C. sugar, 1C. ice cubes and 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream into a blender and puree for two to three minutes until it is smooth.

Safari

Towards the end of our trip to Kenya, we went on a safari. It was a nice break to have a real shower, bed and bathroom!

We saw all kinds of animals. Our favorites were the lions, a mother cheetah and her cubs, giraffes, hippos, zebras, elephants, water buffalo, wild hogs, ostrich and gazelles.

At the hotel where we stayed, a couple of baboons were running all over the place causing havoc. One even jumped up on to a balcony where we were eating lunch and stole a roll off of a plate. It was hilarious!

We could see a watering hole from our room and it was so fun to watch the elephants come to drink. There was a viewing area right next to the watering hole so we got some amazing pictures.

Everyone was a little disappointed when we got to the hotel and there was more peilou and ugali, (that's what they eat in Africa, why did we expect anything else?)
I made both of these for a cultural night last Wednesday with a bunch of the young women in my ward. Some liked the peilou, but no one like the ugali so I won't give you the recipe for it.

Peilou

Heat about 2T. oil over medium high heat. Add one medium onion, finely chopped, 2 small cloves garlic (crushed), 1/2t. ground cinnamon, 1/4t. ginger, and a pinch of salt. Add some chicken broth and bring to a boil. Then add 2C. cooked white rice. Stir and add 4 1/2C. water. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to simmer for thirty minutes.

The villagers in Dzvani added cooked goat to our peilou (bones and all), but I added some baked chicken breasts that had been shredded to my batch.

Out Of Africa

Africa was truly amazing but I am so glad to be home. It was one of the hardest, yet rewarding things I have ever done. It was so fun to spend time with Brayden. Being the middle child, he kind of gets lost in the mix sometimes. He took great care of me while we were gone and I adore him! I missed my other three boys tremendously.

The traveling was brutal! Delta canceled our flight from Salt Lake to Boston and so twenty of us were scrambling to find a way to get to Amsterdam to catch our connecting flight to Nairobi. Brayden and I ended up going to Portland and then had a ten hour flight to Amsterdam. It all ended up working out okay, but I was seriously contemplating what in the world I had done signing us up to go so far away, for so long with so many people we didn't even know. WHAT WAS I THINKING?

After two days and four flights, we were grateful to be able to stay in a hotel in Mombasa for a night. We woke up to the beautiful Indian ocean and a camel walking along the beach. We went into town with everyone to get supplies. I have been to third world countries before, but I was still in shock by all of the garbage just thrown everywhere and the goats and cows wandering down the middle of the busy streets.

We went to church in Mombasa. It was wonderful to be with such great people and share the same beliefs clear on the other side of the world! Then we loaded up and drove to where we would be staying for the next week, a little village called, Mynzeni. It took over an hour to drive there because the dirt roads are so horrible.
We stopped at the Mwache River along the way and took pictures. An old woman was washing clothes in the muddy water. A goat herder was guiding his goats to get a drink near her and down stream some boys were washing and a woman was filling her water bucket so she could take it home to her family. All this in the same dirty river. Dysentery is obviously a huge problem there.

As we drove along the road to the village we started to pass little mud huts with roofs covered with palm fronds. Children would run out and yell, "Jambo!" and smile and wave to us as we passed by. Once we reached the Koins center where we were staying, a ton of children ran to our vans and met us singing and welcoming us there.

Brayden worked hard building desks except on the days when they ran out of wood or the electricity went out so they couldn't use the power tools.

The Kenyan people had tried to make our accommodations so nice for us.
We slept in dorm rooms filled with bunk beds covered by mosquito nets. To shower, we went inside an open air wood frame draped with black plastic and used a measuring cup to scoop hot water that the cooks had boiled for us out of a big bucket. We had four Kenyan ladies who slept on mattresses in a small kitchen who cooked for us continually. We ate like kings compared to the villagers around us. They mostly eat corn cooked one way or another. It took some getting used to eating Ugali (corn flour with water)and peilou (rice with cinnamon and nutmeg), but the scones and chappati (like tortillas) with Nutella were our favorite! A cute girl named Kendy from our group stayed in Kenya to teach English to the school children until December. She is truly an amazing young woman because she isn't getting paid to be there. She emailed me this recipe for chappati and I can't wait to make it for my family. It is a real African recipe - no measurements, no temperatures, just wing it. Hakuna Matata (they really do say that a lot over there) - NO WORRIES!

Chappati

Take some wheat flour and add a little hot oil and just enough water to make a dough. Mix until with your hands until it is smooth. Then make little balls and roll them out thin to make tortillas. Cook on a hot, ungreased griddle until both sides are lightly cooked.

We just ate these plain some mornings or put the good European Nutella on top.

Finally!

Yesterday was a big day for Darren and Alex.

Alex finally got to go to the Salt Lake Auto Auction with his Dad to find a vehicle. Ever since he was a tiny little boy he has been asking when he could go to the auction. You have to be seventeen to get an entrance pass - so he finally got one! Going to the auction was like a kid in a candy store for Alex! He loves vehicles and there were so many to choose from - except the one he fell in love with, a Dodge truck, didn't run very good so he was bummed. He ended up not even buying a truck from the auction and got one from his Grandpa Bud, but still, he finally experienced the auction!

Darren went to the dentist yesterday and found out he had his first cavity ever and had to have it filled. As he was describing the pain as he got the shot in his mouth and complaining that the whole side of his mouth was numb, I was trying not to laugh because I have a whole mouth full of fillings so I have experienced the pain more times than I like to admit. Finally he knows the pain the rest of his family has experienced over the past twenty years!

Last night Brayden hung out with some of his friends and I feel so lucky we live where we do. First they went fishing in the irrigation pond, then they went to the canal and tried to catch frogs. With no success in doing that, they got out the pellet guns to do some practice shooting on the birds that are making a mess of my driveway. They ended the night by going up to the BLM land near our house and had an air soft war in the dark. When we lived in Salt Lake, these kind of activities never happened, we are so blessed!

At noon I am going to have a teddy bear picnic with a bunch of the young women in my ward and have them help me make friendship bracelets so I can take them to Africa to hand out then we will head to Salt Lake so we can catch our flight out tomorrow early for our big adventure - Finally! I am sure I will shed a few tears saying good bye to the horses, but I will really cry when I have to say good bye to my boys I'm leaving behind. Here is a recipe for Cry Baby Gingersnaps (that really is the name, I don't have a clue why!)Maybe a batch of these will make things easier!

Cry Baby Gingersnaps

Combine 1C. sugar, 3/4C. shortening, 1 egg, 4T. molasses until smooth. Then add 2C. flour, 2t. baking soda, 2t. cinnamon, 1t. ginger and 1t. cloves. Form into balls then roll in sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350* for 8 - 10 minutes.

Africa Here We Come!

I can hardly believe we leave for Africa tomorrow! It seems like we have spent countless hours preparing and it is finally here! We have four giant bags overflowing with items donated from our wonderful friends and neighbors. I'm sure the items they hold will make a difference in the lives of the Kenyan people.
I will miss my husband and the two boys I am leaving behind, but I am excited to go to Kenya with Brayden to help make a difference some how.

Everyone keeps asking me if I am nervous, but I am really not. I wish Dar and the other two boys were going with us, because I will miss them terribly but someone has to hold down the fort while we are gone!

I'm sure it will be a great adventure and I can't wait to share the exciting experiences we will have.

One last McDonald's Coke and a peanut butter kiss cookie - then we are off!

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Combine 1/2C. peanut butter, 1/2C. butter, 1/2C. sugar and 1/2C. brown sugar until creamy. Add one egg, 2T. milk, 1t. vanilla, 1 3/4C. flour, 1t. baking soda and 1/2t. salt.
Roll dough into small balls and then roll in a bowl of sugar until coated. Set on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350*.
As soon as you pull them out of the oven, top with an unwrapped Hershey's chocolate kiss or my favorite, half of an unwrapped Reese's peanut butter cup.

The Claw

We spent last week at Lake Powell with a bunch of our neighbors. We found the perfect little cove in Padre Bay so we had shade by five o'clock every evening. The water was the perfect temperature and the scenery was breath taking!

The Peterson's stayed on our houseboat with us and we had a great time! Their son Jordan had his hand in a cast because a beam fell on his index finger last week and severed the tendon. Alex was a good friend and helped him put saran wrap, and duct tape over the top of a rubber glove everytime he wanted to get into the water. Whenever Jordan crashed while wake boarding or surfing, the first thing that would pop out of the water was, "the claw" as we named it. It was hilarious!

We surfed, hiked, played games and just sat and floated in the cool water for hours while we laughed and talked. Mark told me he waved at my last week while I was working in my garden and he was moving his wheel line. He said he was surprised because I didn't answer back. When he looked a little closer, he realized he was saying good morning to my scarecrow. We had a good laugh off of that one!

Mark and Julie are amazing cooks, so we ate like kings everyday! Of course Julie made her famous chocolate pancakes with vanilla syrup -(I will definitely be getting that recipe!) The first night they made fajitas and we had so much left over, we ate it for dinner again on Saturday night with Darren's Dad and we still had some left over. I was going to throw it out because when we fly, I don't have room for a cooler, but one of Darren's Dad's friends wouldn't let me because it was so good.

Peterson's Fajitas

Cut up a bunch of chicken breasts and steak meat into thin strips and place in a big zip lock baggie. Add green peppers and onions, also sliced into thin strips. Then throw in some Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper and your favorite seasonings and then marinate all night.

Pour a little oil into a big pan add the fajitas and cook until the veggies are crisp tender. Serve on tortillas with your favorite toppings - shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa and guacamole.