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.