Every Photo Tells a Story: 2007

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Rexburg LDS Temple Open House Begins

Saturday, December 29, 2007 was the first day of the Rexburg LDS Temple Open House. It was a cold, overcast, snowy day, but our hearts were warm as we considered the blessings of having a temple in our midst.

No tours are given on Sundays. Today was a beautiful, clear day. I like this close up of Angel Moroni sounding his trumpet. We are excited to take family and friends to see the temple before it is dedicated February 3rd. For more information visit http://www.lds.org/temple/main/0,11204,1912-1-588-2,00.html.

Friday, December 21, 2007

The A-K Christmas Cookies are Here!

Each year our dear friends, whom we no longer live near, still UPS us a plate of their Christmas cookies. I just counted 15 varieties on the plate!!! They have been baking one type a night since early December. Then they freeze them and finally arrange them nicely on a plate and deliver them. Our family always anxiously awaits their arrival and love this tradition.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Don't get saucy with me!

Our kids didn't know what it meant when Dad told one of them, "Don't get saucy with me." I said that a sauce adds flavor or spice to something bland like pasta, rice, potatoes, etc. Well, I was in the middle of making Alfredo sauce for the first time. Last night we had spinach ravioli, which we boiled and served marinara sauce over. We boiled way too much, so we had ravioli for leftovers today, but wanted a different sauce.

One of ours made the observation that whatever has sauce has more calories. She is so right and is on a sauce strike, but our pickiest eater loved it!

You've probably made it hundreds of times, but since I had never made Alfredo sauce, a quick google search showed me the basic ingredients and directions over and over again listed below.

Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cup grated *Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper

I melted the butter and milk in a frying pan, then removed it from the heat and added the cheese, salt and pepper. *We didn't have enough parmesan cheese on hand, so I used shredded mozzarella and some swiss cheese.

Our vegetable was asparagus and the sauce even tasted great over it, as did the toasted bread the rest of us dunked into olive oil.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Merry Christmas Tree!

We'd never taken our kids to cut down our own Christmas tree before, so on the advice of another family, who'd done it, we decided it would be fun. Later we found a few others in our neighborhood who have had this tradition, or have now started it as well. I think we've started a Christmas tradition as you can see and read about below:

Merry Christmas Tree!

Dashing through the snow
In a Ford 150 sleigh
O'er the steep hill we go
Sliding all the way
Through the forest we sing
Making kids spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and bring
A Christmas tree home tonight
Oh!
Jingle Bells,
Christmas tree smells!
It's snowing all the way
What fun it is our 12 footer fits
In our Ford 150 sleigh, Hey!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Old World Fresh Apple Butter Cake Tastes Great

Using the same castle mold I bought at Wal-Mart, I made this recipe, for our sister-in-law's birthday. I was worried the apples, may leave holes in the turrets, but it came out perfectly again. Also, I really recommend Pam with Flour.

Categories: Desserts

Title: Old World Fresh Apple Butter Cake

Description:
My Mother made this every fall during apple harvest time. It is often my choice for my birthday cake.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups peeled grated apples
2 cups chopped walnuts

Directions:
In a bowl, beat butter and sugar until well mixed. Gradually add the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in vanilla. Fold in apples and walnuts.

Pour into a greased tube pan or bundt pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Glaze if desired. I don't. I did sprinkle powdered sugar on it, so the castle looked like it had freshly fallen snow on it.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Baked Bars for FHE treat

My sister-in-law was talking about some yummy bars she made for her Dad's visit on Sunday, so I tried them last night for our FHE treat. Here is her recipe:

Baked Bars

1 1/2 packages crushed graham crackers

1 cube melted butter
IN a 9x13 melt the butter as the oven warms up.
Pat down crackers when butter is melted. (no need to mix)
Pour one can of sweetened condensed milk over (leaving 1/2 inch on the sides)
Sprinkle 1/2 cup crushed walnuts,
1/2 cup toasted (or not- it will become toasted in the oven) coconut,
1/2 package chocolate chips,
1/2 package of butterscotch chips.
Bake 350 for approx. 25 min. until the milk is bubbling up between the chips and nuts.
Cut and serve with ice cream or cool in fridge and cut for bars when hardened.

I used finely crushed peppermint sticks instead of butterscotch chips, since I was out of them. I served them hot with vanilla and chocolate ice cream. I think peppermint ice cream would have been dynamite on them drizzled with hershey's chocolate syrup. What do think?

This morning our kids each put one in their lunches for dessert.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardy Birthday Cake

Our son wanted a Harry Potter birthday party, so my latest entertaining was with several "first years" Friday. I used my mother's bundt cake recipe for the castle mold I purchased.

Here is the recipe,
1/2 lb. soft butter
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
crumble together
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
stir together
3 beaten eggs
1 can evaporated milk
2 tsp. almond or lemon extract

Beat well; grease and flour bundt pan well; Bake 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.

the mold,

the cake

and the final product with Professor Snape setting Hogwart's a blaze.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Just click here and bam the cookie recipes appear!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

It's "Spud Harvest" so it's time to glean, bake or mash, etc. some potatoes.

The kids are out of school for "Spud Harvest"! That's the name given to the time to harvest and the vacation from school to help with the harvest.

The "Activity Days" girls are out today "gleaning" the Bishop's spud fields. Last time they made bags they'll put the potatoes in to give to local needy families.

I have fond memories of this time of year working in the spud fields. I also remember going to the high school football games and buying piping hot "baked potatoes" at the concession stand. I like baked not steamed potatoes! When you wrap the potatoes in foil, they become steamed.

I like to wash the skins well, poke a couple of fork holes in each (You must poke each potato whether you bake or microwave them or they'll explode out of their skin) and sometimes roll them in salt. To me, the best way to bake potatoes is to bake them in a 400-425 degree oven for about an hour for 6 medium sized potatoes. Where I live you can buy a box of potatoes based on their size, so you can buy a box of 90s, 80, 60s, 50s, etc. The higher the number refers to how many potatoes fit in the box. I just heard another tip about baking potatoes. Put your potatoes in muffin tins, so that you can remove all of them from the oven at once by taking out the tin. Great idea!!

Baked potatoes can be served so many ways. Growing up my brother would empty the potato out of its skin, mash it down on his plate and smear butter and corn on top of it. If I only ate half of my baked potato, he'd ask me if he could eat the other half with the rest of his meal. I like to keep bake potatoes in their skin and even eat some of the skin -- this is why you wash it well.

Names of potatoes:

spuds:
In Dec 2006, I discussed spudnuts, delicious doughnuts made with potatoes, on this blog.

taters:
I love to order tater tots vs. fries to eat, when they are available.

murphies:
I understand that my paternal Grandfather used to call potatoes this, since potatoes supposedly came to America with the Irish.

tatties:
When my husband lived in Scotland, they used to boil turnips with their potatoes and call it "nips and tatties". I really like the taste of these mashed together. I use about 2/3 potatoes to 1/3 turnips. Another variation is to add carrots. We were at a friend's house for Sunday dinner and the husband was making mashed potatoes, but he threw in some dehydrated carrots from their food storage. This combination also tasted great.

My Father tells us cream was often their gravy for mashed potatoes, since it was readily available growing up on the ranch. I like to combine red potatoes with yellow or other potatoes in the same mashed potatoes too. What do I add, whatever I have on hand -- anything from real butter to butter buds, minced garlic or garlic salt, cream cheese sometimes but always milk (if you warm it, your potatoes won't cool off as quickly). Smashed potatoes versus whipped potatoes seem more satisfying to me.

peruna:
This is the Finnish word based on the fact that potatoes came from Peru.

papas:
This is Spanish for potatoes of course, but we call my Dad's mashed potatoes Papa's papas.

"Massilan Pojat" The Massila Boys -- When my Mother was young, her Mother always read to them while they ate. Sometimes she had a hard time getting them to eat. It become a tradition to here this story about 2 magpies stealing shiny jewelry from the neighbors window as her parents got them to eat their boiled potatoes. My maternal grandfather liked his "Massilan Pojat" or boiled potatoes with just a little bit of butter on top of each bite her ate. We still call them this.

Share how you like your potatoes.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

50 Inspirational Thoughts

Author Unknown to me
These 50 quotes are inspiring and I want to share them with you. Enjoy!

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their
journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God
never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get
busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is
up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no
for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years,
will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends
will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did
or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd

grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Tiger Ears

It's time for "our state fair, is the best state fair, don't miss it, don't even be late!" One of the favorite treats there is Tiger Ears, scones made large and thin and served with honey butter, sponsored by the local Boy Scouts. We planned to go on Saturday, but changed to going the following Saturday. We could hardly wait for the Tiger Ears, so we decided to make these "scones" ourselves. Ours weren't as large and thin, but the kids liked them better.

The recipe is from my cousin who says she uses this recipe for everything, but any bread recipe will do.

In mixing bowl:
Dissolve 3 cups warm water, 2 Tbs. dry yeast, 1 Tbs. sugar and let sit 5 minutes.
Add: 1/2 c sugar, 2 tsp. salt, 1/3 c. oil, 6-7 cups flour, knead 5 minutes with dough hook.

For SCONES: Increase sugar to 1 c. After turning onto floured board, pat 1/2" thick. Cut, stretch thin. Let rise 30 minutes. Fry in hot oil.

For LOAVES: Shape into 2 loaves. Let rise 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

For ROLLS: Do not punch down the dough after rising. Just turn onto floured board. Pat to 1" thick. Cut, stretch thin. Let rise 30 minutes. Fry in hot oil.

For CINNAMON ROLLS: Increase the sugar to 1 cup. After turning onto floured board, roll to 3' x 3' square. Spread with 1 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, lots of cinnamon, nuts and raisins, optional. Roll up, cut 1" thick and cut. Bake at 375 degrees 15-20 minutes. Cool some, frost with 1 cube magarine, 4 cups powdered sugar, 4-5 Tbs. milk, 1 Tbs. vanilla

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Things you can control

Have you heard that one CONTROLS out of fear? It's so stressful to control everything. Below is a list I got somewhere of things we can and cannot control, fear or not. Isn't fear just False Evidence Against Reality? Isn't the opposite of Fear FAITH? Stephen R. Covey http://www.franklincovey.com encourages one to work within our personal Circle of Influence not our Circles of Concern.

One Stress reducer is "Know Your Limits". Consider what you can and cannot control. Sometimes a reality check can show us whether we're causing ourself unnecessary stress, either through unrealistic expectations or feeling like everything is out of our control. It's been suggested printing these lists and posting them on our dashboard, the refrigerator, or anywhere you can read them over for a quick "reset."

Things You Can Control
• your reaction to others
• your to-do list (and the number of items on it)
• how your day is spent
• your goals
• how much time you're willing to spend on a particular project
• your self-esteem and self-worth
• how you treat others
• your exercise and eating habits
• the communication of your needs to others
• telling people when you're stressed out and need time alone or help with projects
• whether or how much you smoke or drink alcohol
• how old you act
• the way you raise your children

Things You Can't Control
• the age or stage of development your children are in
• the way you were raised
• whether the stoplight turns red or green
• how fast other cars are driving
• the number of hours in a day
• other people
• the timing of your teenager's mood swings or your toddler's temper tantrums
• your age
• when work or a project takes much longer than expected
• waiting for your doctor 30 minutes after your scheduled appointment
• a death, illness, or accident in the family
• the calendar (helpful to remember when holidays are approaching)
• being laid off from a job
• messes made right after you have cleaned the house

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Mountain Man Rendezvous

The annual Fort Henry Buckskinner's Mountain Man Rendezvous was held at Camp Henry this week. http://henrysforkcountry.com/full.php?sid=50 We've been attending for a number of years and enjoyed it again this year.
We enjoyed throwing the "hawk and knife",
throwing the "atlatl",
rescuing the "damsel in distress",
throwing the "buffalo chip",
watching the rifle shoots,
chasing candy shot from the "candy" cannon -- our kids were seen scrambling for candy on tv www.kifi.com,
playing "Lewis and Clark" on the raft -- the water was the lowest I've ever seen it,
tasting Grub's grub http://www.cityofashton.com/tom_mattingly.htm,
and attending council fire.

We didn't stay over, but went back up each day. Nor did we get to attend any trading blankets because of other activities we had. We made "fire bread" or fry bread (scones) for us to eat at home when the trader who usually sells them wasn't there this year.

Some of our purchases include a Bowie knife, a play bow and arrow, ermine and muskrat hides and a necklace from Jull, bracelets and pants from No Recoil, the annual trinket from Tinker, and ordered a sheath from Crazy Al, etc.

We also heard Many Strings singing, watched Dirty Rifle making baskets from pine needles, the skinning of a beaver and racoon, and several other traders making new items. We also enjoyed seeing many of the usual folk who come watch or participate. Saturday was a very busy day. It rained -- as it always does sometime -- on Wednesday during set up, but got drier and warmer each day. When we woke up Wednesday morning, the kids said, "It must be Mountain Man, because it's raining!"

We've had a wonderful few days. Mostly for me, it was so great to be in beautiful Henry's Meadow again!

Friday, June 1, 2007

May is so hectic!

It seems that the month of May gets more hectic each year. With it being the last month of school it means so many extra school and extracurricular activities e.g. plays, field trips, field days, softball/baseball practices and games, recitals, and then graduations for all ages, end of school parties, teacher gifts, etc. Although I enjoyed each of them, I was so happy when the last day of school came and went!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Ice Cream Cake

This year each of us had an ice cream cake on our birthday.

I've used 2 - 9" silicone rounds or my silicone bundt pan for the shapes so far. It takes a half gallon for each round or 2 quarts for the bundt pan. You can even use 2 flavors of ice cream. I let the ice cream begin to thaw enough to empty from the carton and dump into the pans. Then I press it down, place plastic wrap over them and immediately freeze them. When I'm ready to serve them, I get a nice cake plate out and easily peel off the silicone pan and place the cake on the cake plate. The upsides are 1) there's no need to take the time to make a cake and 2)you have so many flavors to choose from. The downsides of using these homemade ice cream cakes are: 1) it slides off easily, 2) you must serve it immediately when you get it out and you must immediately then refreeze the leftovers, and 3) when I use frosting for decorations or names, it too slides off easily as it begins to thaw. This time I used the sugar letters and drizzled chocolate sauce on instead and it stayed nicely. Decorations like candles, flags, etc. are easy to stick into an ice cream cake.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Milky Boots Finds a Good Home

We've found a home for Milky Boots in the next neighborhood. At least he's closer now, but they are moving out of state later this summer, so again, the kids are very sad about this. They worry if he's being taken care of or not since he's now a garage cat vs. house cat. Here's one last photo before he goes to his new owner. She's a cat lover thankfully.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

We heard and met Glenn Beck tonight!

We had a chance to hear Glenn Beck, #3 radio talk show host, speak and tell about his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His conversion story was incredible and if you know Glenn Beck -- entertaining. His acceptance of the atonement and dedication and devotion to his temple covenants -- a complete 180 for him are inspiring. You can find out more about him at www.glennbeck.com.

A friend sent me a link to an 8 minute interview about his conversion, which tells the short version. It's a great interview and a good one to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKtAPT9KEfM

As far as his radio talk show and CNN tv show, he says he is simply a seeker of truth regarding any issue and most recently issues like Muslims, global warming, the border and so on.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

A nice home for Shadow

Before the new kitten owners arrived to pick up Midnight Shadow Bear, we took a quick family portrait of them.

We'd hoped to keep the kittens in the neighborhood, but guess what -- the neighborhood is full of cats already! So with MUCH disappointment, weeping, wailing and gnashing of our children's teeth, we did find a nice home for the all black kitten named Midnight Shadow Bear today -- further away than we'd hoped --but to some real animals lovers who had recently lost their kitten. He's being renamed to Dante.

Every Photo Tells a Story

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Rexburg LDS Temple Open House Begins

Friday, December 21, 2007

The A-K Christmas Cookies are Here!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Don't get saucy with me!

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Merry Christmas Tree!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Old World Fresh Apple Butter Cake Tastes Great

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Baked Bars for FHE treat

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardy Birthday Cake

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Just click here and bam the cookie recipes appear!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

It's "Spud Harvest" so it's time to glean, bake or mash, etc. some potatoes.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

50 Inspirational Thoughts

Monday, September 10, 2007

Tiger Ears

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Things you can control

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Mountain Man Rendezvous

Friday, June 1, 2007

May is so hectic!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Ice Cream Cake

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Milky Boots Finds a Good Home

Sunday, April 15, 2007

We heard and met Glenn Beck tonight!

Sunday, March 25, 2007

A nice home for Shadow

Links

Blog Archive