Sunday thoughts

"We do not go to Sabbath meetings to be entertained or even soley to be instructed.  We go to worship the Lord.  If the service is a failure to you, you must have failed.  No one can worship for you; you must do your own waiting upon the Lord."  Spencer W. Kimball

Saturday is a special day

It's the day we get ready for Sunday.  Do you remember that primary song.  Boy, I sure do.  My Mom was THE primary leader at the time and she made us sing it over and over.  I think it was to pound in our head that we needed to clean the house and put our clothes away and get our chores done.  We kids were definitely not "saints" at this.  Ralph would attest that I am stil not good at it.

"Saturday is a special day,

It's the day we get ready for Sunday;

We clean the house and we shop at the store,

so we won't have to work until Monday;

We brush our clothes and we shine our shoes,

And we call it our"get-the-work-done" day;

Then we trim our nails and we shampoo our hair,

so we can be ready for Sunday!"

Music by Chester W Hill

Lyrics by Rita S Robinson

Anyway I find myself once again facing Saturday and wondering if I should sit on the couch all day and watch Basketball, Foodnetwork and the HGTV channel or get my butt moving so I don't keep having to look at the dust and piles waiting to be taken care of.

I am trying to find a happy medium.  I have been somewhat productive.  Bread dough in the fridge, proofing, laundry folded, St Patricks day decor taken down, Easter stuff ready to go out as soon as the dusting and vacuuming are done.  I still have bathrooms to do - ick - my least favorite next to laundry.  Hopefully I will have enough time this evening to play with some paper, ink and stamps.  I have a few primary things to work on...two of my teachers are moving.  We have quite a bit of turnover in our ward, but as long as they keep moving in as they move out I am ok.

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday -
Ta Ta for now
 

A direct hit to the funny bone

I don't know about you, but I am always in need of a good laugh.  Last week a friend of mine sent me a link to this video on youtube.  I don't know why I thought it was funny, but I still do.  I thought I would share it with you.



Another funny program I have been introduced to is called Top Gear.  My preference is the British version shown on BBC America.   I am not really into cars, but these guys are hilarious.
I am including a clip from one of my favorites. The three guys are challenged to buy a car and make it amphibious. I know the clip is a little long, but so worth watching.



These guys truly know their cars, know how to have fun, and have a seriously funny sense of humor.  Highly recommended for a laugh.

Ta Ta for now

Did I say stress eating?

HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY

After a hard day at work it is such a relief to come home and hang with my boys.  Riley greeted me last night at the door with his usual enthusiasm and then we ventured upstairs to find Ralph.  He was at the computer looking at soft pretzel recipes. We have never made them before, but decided to give them a try.  Ralph took the reigns on this one and we were quite pleased how they turned out.  We will do some tweaking, a bit chewier and maybe thinner.  If you have done this and have tips/secrets please feel free to share.  They were so tasty as they came out of the oven brushed with butter, flake salt and pepper.  We dipped them in a of mustard.  Riley even liked them - at least the buttery part with no mustard.

INGREDIENTS:

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/8 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F

/45 degrees C)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup bread flour
2 oz butter

3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45

degrees C)

3 tablespoons baking soda

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt

1.  In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast, brown sugar and salt in 1 1/2 cups warm water and butter. Stir in flour, and knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover, and let rise for one hour

2.  Combine 3 cups warm water and baking soda in an quart sauce pan - bring to a boil and then turn stove off.

3.  After dough has risen, cut into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 3 foot rope, pencil thin or thinner. Twist into a pretzel shape, and drop into the boiling baking soda solution for 30 seconds. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets, and let rise 15 to 20 minutes

4.  Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with coarse salt, garlic salt or cinnamon sugar.

I should go to the gym and work off the carbs, but then again...maybe I will have another pretzel.

Ta Ta for now

I finally found it

So...I don't need a ground hog to tell me spring is on it's way...my allergies are taking care of that.  I did finally go and see and ENT specialist.  After a CT scan they found I had a small sinus infection and I go in for further allergy testing next week.  I am so ready to be done with the sneezy runny nose.

Life has been insanely crazy.  Lets just say, my mind has been so full of things going on that don't necessarily need to be shared here, thus my lack of posting.  I will say that along with the stress comes stress eating.  We have really tried to not keep junk around the house to eat, so therefore we have come up with our own creations to satisfy the stress monster.  

On to a better note...I finally found a chocolate mint brownie recipe worth sharing and blogging about.  Our FHE group met this week and the theme of the party was Irish foods as in St Patricks day is right around the corner.  Now...to those of my friends who know I am a foodie, let me just preface that my FHE group are not real accomplished cooks, but we love getting together and eating anyway.  Ralph and I were assigned dessert.  What is Irish and dessert that I can feed a lot of people with... I know Irish mint brownies (Irish is a stretch.)  The brownies were dense and fudgie, the frosting and topping were smooth and buttery.  That may be because there is a lot of butter in them, but we all know that butter makes everything taste better right?
Here is the link recipe I found   Famous Mint Brownies

Chocolate Mint Brownies – (Recipe for 1 1/2 times is in parenthesis fills a texas sheetcake pan)

Whisk together:
1 c. melted butter (1 ½ c.)
½ c. cocoa powder (3/4 c.)

And then add:
2 c. sugar  (3 c.)
4 eggs beaten  (6)
1 tsp. vanilla (1 ½ tsp.)
½ tsp. salt (3/4 tsp.)

Mix well and then add:

1 ½ c. sifted flour  (2 ¼ c.)

Stir in by hand.  Do not over mix.

Pour into 9×13 pan sprayed with cooking spray.  If making 1 1/2 recipe pour into Baker’s Half Sheet (large cookie sheet.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes.  Cool for a few minutes and then place in freezer for 20 minutes.

While brownies are in the freezer make first layer of topping.

Mint frosting:
½ c. butter softened  (3/4 c.)
2 Tbsp. milk  (3 Tbsp.)
2 c. powdered sugar  (3 c.)
1 tsp. peppermint extract  ( 1 ½ tsp.)
green food coloring

Mix thoroughly.  Evenly frost brownies and put back in freezer for 20 minutes. Make chocolate ganache top layer.

Chocolate Ganache Topping:
½ c. butter  (3/4 c.)
1 ½ c. good semi sweet chocolate chips  (2 ¼ c.)

Melt and whisk together.  (I melt them together in a Pyrex measuring bowl in the microwave for one minute.  Be careful not to overheat.  It won’t look melted but once whisked it is.)  Drizzle warm chocolate over brownies and spread smooth with a spatula.  Put back in freezer for another 20 minutes.  Cut up into bars - a texas sheet cake makes 48 nice sized brownies. 

They really turn out like the picture and are so yummy.  It was a good thing they got mostly devoured at FHE or I would have eaten the whole pan. 

Ta Ta for now

14 years and counting

Happy Anniversary to the Love of My Life

Lady Bugs

Why Ladybugs?
1.  They are red - my favorite color although they do come in other colors.
2.  There is a cute saying about ladybugs
3.  They make me happy - they are good luck and eat alll the bad bugs.
4.  They are covered in spots and I love polka dots.
5.  I was my Dad's ladybug


One of my favorite chick flicks is Under The Tuscan Sun. The main charachter is frustrated with her life as things don't seem to be going her way. She consults with one of her friends and the clips included in the video below sum up the advice she gives and how things work out.

The scale is up, the bank account is down, a nose that won't stop running, and work stinks.  I think I am ready for some ladybugs in my life...so I guess what I need to do is buck up, stop wallowing and get moving.  I will say that having my Mom here for a visit was a great distraction and a fun time.

My bookgroup met last night at my home.  The book I chose was The agency: A spy in the house.  Of all the books I have ever chosen this was my least favorite.  I was expecting much more of a story.  Without going into great details - a street urchin turns spy after being helped by a girls boarding school/spy agency.  She has a great adventure... I just wish there were more details in how she actually was educated and trained.  I also wish there was more historical information given about the times. ie The Great Stink There were a lot of things that took place that didn't seem to coincide with the Victorian time setting.  Overall - it was a fun read.   The author has written a sequel, it would be interesting to see if she answers some of my questions and fills in some of the holes left in the first novel.

We capped the evening off with food  - as always.  I served Garys good baguette bread with a choice of toppings - hummus, bruschetta, mascarpone cheese, nutella, and raspberries.  It was very tasty and enjoyed by all.

 I love to host a get together.  I am thinking of a formal tea party/stamping activity.  I will keep you posted as to where that is headed.

Ta Ta for now.