Thanksgiving

A Perfect Day

Don't you love those days when you get done with them and you think to yourself...."I could totally do that day again"  It involved Stamping, Eating, Football and hanging with some of my favorite people.

Let me share the details.

My stampin club met in the morning for our last get together of the year.  By the way...we are starting a new year and anyone that wants to get together with us is welcome.  You get a chance to host a get together and reap the benefits of hosting a party - Free Stamps, ink, paper, punches etc. 
We started out making cookies with the cookie stamps Stampin UP is now selling - they are so cute and the cookies are tasty!  It comes with a jack-o-lantern, heart and snowflake, plus a couple of recipes.  One for shortbread and one for sugar cookies.  Don't they look good?

These are the three cards we made with the group  - None of the ideas were originally mine - but I say why reinvent the wheel - when someone already has.  As as side note...I haven't posted all the details.  If you are interested in duplicating these - contact me.

Decorating the tree - We made the plaid background paper with the striped embossing folder.  Once again...If you need instructions, contact me and I will provide you with detailed instructions.  This was my favorite card of the class.  (I love anything plaid!)

Christmas from the heart -

This card was easy and just fun.  We used the pennant punch and stamp set to create the trees.  I wish Stampin UP  still sold their gingham ribbon.  I think red gingham would have been perfect. 

This card just pops with the red and green colors.  We used the stocking punch and some cute little jingles bells.  Just a classic looking card.

This card was a sample - Also used the stocking punch.  I saw this idea on pinterest and had to duplicate it.  Put a few touches of my own on it.  I love to watch figure skating.  I always wanted to learn to skate so I could be just like them.  We were never close enough to a place to skate and I am severely challenged when it comes to skating of any kind.  Just ask my friends who tried to teach me to rollerblade.

Jeff and Connie had invited us to go to lunch with them - so we wrapped up with the stamping, which turned out to be at Connies, so we left and picked Ralph up.  We headed to the Grand America for a lunch buffet in the garden cafe.  To sum it up...Wow, you know...I could totally live the 5 star hotel life style.  The food was great, company was better and I ate to stuffing point and them some.  My stomach always seems to have less room for all the goodies my eyes want to eat.  After we finished, the waitress brought out a special treat for us.  Connie had mentioned to the waitress what a great experience they had the last time they had come.  To provide an equally great experience, the waitress brought out two boxes that look like this. 

This was the surprise that we found inside the box.  The chocolate smelled so good. We decided to save it for when we weren't so full and could enjoy the delightful treat.

Wouldn't that be fun to be a chocolatier and make these kinds of treats.  I can't wait to dig in.

After lunch, we wandered around the hotel and admired the beautiful furniture and fun shops.  We wandered into their pastry shop just to see the beatiful handwork and finery.  I saw this glass pumpkin and mentioned how much I liked it.  Next thing I know Connie puts a bag in my hand.  I love it!!!  We were spoiled rotton.  Isn't it great to have such good friends.  I can't wait to go back and see the toy store they were in the process of remodeling.  We took a peak in behind the curtain draped over the door way.  It looked like a lot of fun.

We came home and rested a bit before heading out into the snow to watch a football game.  It snowed the whole first quarter... they had a whole entourage of snow shovelers that would run out onto the field during every timeout and scraped where the lines were and the numbers.  It was cold but so worth it. 

This photo was taken by SL Trib - John White IV (guy with the ball) is a rockstar!  It has been fun to hear the commentary from both teams and their fans.  Score  31-6.  I love football season.

We came home, warmed up and enjoyed the rest of the evening watching football before bed.

Once again I could not have asked for a more perfect day

Ta Ta for now

Wrap it up and a recipe

I've been kind of absent lately because life gets busy and I get lazy and those two combined does not a blog post make.  It also doesn't help that the coldest corner of the house is where the computer is set up. So...because it has been a while - you are in for a long post.

Here are the samples of what I made for my wrap it up swap...

None of these ideas are my original ideas. 

Santa face made with Stampin Up Punches

These are hostess ding dongs with a face.  Reminds me of Mike Wazowski from Montsters INC. 

made them for all the nieces and nephews for Halloween - they never came by.  We delivered them the next weekend.

Peppermint patties with a Christmas Touch

I know...some of you are thinking - why go to the effort for a peppermint patty or candy.  I say...why not?  Wouldn't you rather get these than just a few silver wrapped patties?

In our house Ralph always makes the chili.  Warm, spicy chili made with dried beans, meat and all the spices. I admire the way he can just pull things off the shelf and make them taste good. I like chili...not too spicy and definitely chunky, but have never made it myself.  I have seen lots of recipes touting their claim to be the best.  After seeing this particular recipe on Jaimie cooks it up (see side bar on blogs I follow) I knew I had to give it a try.  I made this for our ward party trunk or treat. (5.5 gallons)  Got LOADS of compliments - best chili they ever had.

When I made it for Ralph and I, I made my favorite cornbread recipe,(posted here) cut a piece and placed it in a bowl.  I then poured chili over the top.  It was so yummy.  You probably already have a favorite chili recipe, but I thought I would share mine.
Here is the recipe in its original format - my changes are noted



Chili picture from Jamie cooks it up

 Three Bean Chili 
1 onion
1 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
1 garlic clove
1/2 pound ground beef  (we like stew meat- but this prolongs the cooking process)
1  15 oz can pinto beans
1  15 oz can light red kidney beans
1  15 oz can dark red kidney beans
1  14 oz can Mexican flavored stewed tomatoes (if you buy them diced you can skip step 3)
1  6 oz can tomato paste (we only used 1/2 can)
3/4 t chili powder (we used a lot more)
1 T brown sugar (gives it a slight sweet flavor - ralph prefers less - I like it how it is.  Blame it on my sweet tooth)
2 t beef bullion
We added some ground cumin to taste
salt and pepper

1. Put your ground beef in a hot skillet and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Let it get nice and browned.
2. While your meat is cooking chop up your veggies.
3. Take your can of Stewed Tomatoes and give them a little chop. Don't try and pour them out onto a cutting board. That kind of mess will urge you to use swear words you never knew you wanted to say. Just stick a handy pair of kitchen scissors into the can and snip away.
4. Grab a large soup pot. Open up your can of beans, but don't drain them. You want those juices. Add the beans and all of the other ingredients to your soup pot. Stir it all around to incorporate all the goods.
5. Let the chili simmer for 30 minutes. Give it a little taste and add more salt and pepper if you would like.

Mom is coming for a visit next week.  We purchased tickets to go to Time Out for Women - sponsored by Deseret Book.  It starts Friday evening and goes through Saturday - late afternoon.  Even though it can be construed as a complete DB advertisement, the time spent with Mom and the messages given make it worth sitting through a push to buy church books.  We will miss our sweet friend Mar.  It won't be the same without her.

We have a home football game tomorrow - supposed to rain and snow all day.  Guess I am out to purchase an inexpensive rain poncho.  It seems like there is always one game we sit through it the rain - One of these days, it might be worth the investment to purchase one of these...Warm, cozy, and it keeps the rain out.  Lets just hope the cold and wet keeps UCLA off their game.  GO UTES!

I am teaching my stamping club class tomorrow as well.  I am having a hard time choosing which cards to demo...and which ones to use as samples.  We might have more than 3 projects.  I will post pictures later.

Ta Ta for now

Cut Loose

When I saw that they were remaking Footloose, I thought it will never be as good as the first.  Why waste your time.  The 1984 movie is a classic!  I saw some of the reviews for the new one and got curious enough that I called up one of my friends to go with me (I knew Ralph would NEVER go) 

Yes, I caved and saw the new Footloose movie.

Loved it!  Although the new Wren did well…nobody could fill the shoes of Kevin Bacon.  I thought Willard had the best lines  - so funny!  Julianne Hough did better than Lori Singer (didn’t ever really like her in that role) The music was changed up a bit – a little more country.  I prefer the original music as I am not a country music fan.  The dancing in the new one was what I describe as “more modern” and just leave it at that.  I think the 1984 version is better – I may be a little biased, the movie was from my era.  (that dates me) Overall I would give the 2011 version two thumbs up.   

I haven’t done a whole lot of crafting lately, too much going on.  I had a class scheduled for Nov 5 – titled Wrap it UP -  All the cute ways to present little gifts wrapped up in total cuteness.  This sample is of Peppermint patties all dolled with a couple of punches and and stamps.  Because honestly...half the excitement is how cute it is wrapped.



small sampling



We have a family baptism scheduled for the same day and I wouldn’t want to miss it, so this has been tabled for later. 

Nasty Cancer

On a more serious note, Ralph’s Mom has been diagnosed with cancer.  Long story short, she went through hours and hours of surgery yesterday to remove what turned out to be a cantaloupe sized tumor.  We are so glad and blessed that things went well.  We know the surgeons hands were guided every step of the way. She is a strong woman who is convinced she has things left to do on this earth.  It will be a long haul to get through the rest of this, but we will be with her every step of the way.

Ralph and I picked tomatoes and peppers last Saturday – kind of the last ones hanging on the vines.  We made 19 pints of hot red pepper salsa.  My niece originally gave us the recipe a few years ago.  It is a sweet hot salsa/relish.  We have tweaked it a bit and now it has become a staple on our shelves.  I love it served on eggs.

A garden update…We still have potatoes, carrots, beets and onions in the garden that will survive the “freeze”.  We have a row of peas that has been going gang busters – but who knows after last night if they survived.  I hope so.  I love fresh peas.  We had such a wet spring and the plants were so slow getting started, we feel lucky to have fresh produce so late in the fall.

We were able to catch up with some friends from our old stake last week.  We had dinner and played games.  I fell in love with a game called bananagrams.  You take a pile of letter tiles and making a crossword type shape using all your letters creating words.  Once all the letters are grabbed from the pile – the first one to use all their letters wins.  I think I won once and Ralph won all the rest.  It is not an expensive game - so while I was out shopping for a 8 year old boy birthday gift - I picked up a version for ourselves. 

  Well we are off to another visit at the hospital.  Ta Ta for now

Can you believe it???

Don’t fall over in disbelief.

I vowed that no matter what comes today . . . I would post something!

Last night Ralph and I were invited to attend a celebration of Korea to commemorate the Korean Culture Day here in Utah.  One of the members of our ward is the Vice President of the Korean American Federation of Utah.  They had a few extra tickets that we not being used by the sponsors so they passed them on to the Bishop and his wife.  We were lucky enough to be invited to go with them.

We went to an opening reception where they served pastries, asian pears, persimmons (i think), and a tteok which is a dough made from rice flour and water - steamed - then rolled out and filled with a sweet bean paste and sealed.  (not a favorite)  I would have been happier with a little bit of rice, kimchi,and soy sauce.

The performance was very impressive.  The bulk of the program was a performance titled - The Moon.  The way I understand it, it is a story told through dance tied to Budhism and the martial arts Tae Kwan Do.  The costumes were so colorful and bright and what I loved the most is that they were modest.  The women were graceful and beautiful.  The men showed us there physical strengths and muscle control.  I don't think any of the performers had an ounce of body fat on them.

Here is a picture of one of the dances.

The last 4 dances after intermission were more traditional.  Music was a little more twangy oriental, but the dances were once again performed with grace and beauty.

We got home around 9:30 and we were kind of hungry.  So we made a not so wise choice and headed to Carls Jr. to try their new burger.  It was pretty good.  We ended up staying up till just after midnight - making sure the dog did his evening business, digesting and watching a little HGTV.

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A random word when people either don't know what to say, don't care, can't answer a question or are to lazy to form a coherent english phrase.