Shouting Out for this Birthday

This girl makes me smile.  And today is her birthday.  So I'm sending her a BIG Happy Birthday Shout Out! 

Never stop smiling girl!!

Love.You.So.

End of the Day

Some days by the end of the day the thing I’m most thankful for is just getting to the end of it.

Wait! No you Weight!

Today my word is weight. Now wait don’t go thinking I want to talk about being overweight or how to lose weight or baby weight or any body weight for that matter.  Today it is all about cooking weight.  In a recent bread class I took we weighed everything.  The flour.  The water. The yeast. The starter. The salt.  I mean everything.  This approach was new to me.  I don’t know why I never had this knowledge before I just didn’t but now I do.  This “weighing way” is so much better.  You get accurate results every time.  So next time you make bread pull out your scale and put it to use.  It is the right way weigh to do it!

Egg Bread

So way back when, I blogged about making this bread.  But I never at least that I can remember actually posted the recipe for this goodness.  I love this bread because it is so easy to make and tastes terrific!  So be brave and try it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Egg Bread

Makes 2 Braided Loaves

Mix:

¼ Cup of Warm Water
2 Pkg. of Yeast

Set aside

Scaled 2 Cups of Milk*; let cool to lukewarm

Add the following to Milk:

2 Lightly Beaten Eggs

½ Stick Butter
3 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Salt
4 Cups of Flour
Yeast mixture
Mix for 10 minutes.

Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Add about 3 more cups of flour and mix well. Dough will be soft and somewhat sticky.  Put a little flour on your counter before turning out the dough; knead in to make dough workable and easy to handle.  Divide dough in half, and then divide each half into thirds and braid. Tuck under ends.

Let it rise for 20 minutes.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 425° for 15-20 minutes.  Will be golden brown on top. 

Optional: Brush the top with a little butter to make the crust soft

* When I use powdered milk I don’t scaled the milk. I don’t understand the whole “scaled the milk” process I just do it because that is what the original recipe said.

Rising Up

Fresh out of the oven!!

 

Lessons on Commitment

Years ago (30+) I was serving as a counselor in a Primary presidency.  The lessons I learned from the Primary President are still with me today.  One thing she said was we have to recognize that everyone’s commitment or testimony level is different.  Seems like a simple, understandable statement, but with that there are challenges that aren’t so simple and easy to live with.  It is a difficult symphony sometimes to play – when my commitment is at one level but those I’m working with are at another.

So where do I go with those who lack commitment or come to the group with little commitment.  Actually just recognizing that difference is an important part.  It is easy to become trapped by those with LCL (low commitment level).  They can drag you down and create hours of frustration.  Never a good thing.  So just knowing I’m at my best and hoping those around me will have the desire to rise up works for me because in the end that is all I can hope for.

Matthew 8:26

“And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.”

Nature’s Cleanser

Recent fires have changed the view of our landscape.

Eerie!!

Tomatoes

This time of year my favorite things are these red beauties, fresh from the garden.

And some of this crispy goodness.

Then putting them together.

For One Yummy Plate of Goodness!

Learning

I love learning.  I read recently this thought “educate yourself with the truth.”  I try each day to live in the truth and to learn something new along the way.  I love to read.  I love knowledge.  I’m thankful for the things I’ve learned in my life and opportunities to continue on the path of learning.  You can never learn enough!

Cute

My word today is cute.  In the dictionary you might find it defined this way: attractive, especially in a dainty way; pleasingly pretty.  Or appealing and delightful; charming.  All are good choices when defining cute. 

However, this is my definition:

So sorry did I embarrass you??

Happy Birthday Shout Out!

Love.This.Man!!

He

 
is
 
ALL
 
 Kinds of

Wonderful!!
Happy Birthday
Love you so!!

Full Circle

My memory of vacations when I was younger was either a trip to Utah or camping.  Today I’ll talk about the latter; camping.  I wasn’t a fan as a child.  We were tent campers, which was about the only way one camped in my day.  It was dirty and the bathrooms gross.  Motorhomes hadn’t really come on the scene although trailers were somewhat common.  I remember once going with my dad to look at truck campers (I was in love) but he didn’t feel my love for said camper.  As I aged I became more of an ornery camper until finally I believe my parents couldn’t stand to camp with “crabby pants” any more so they just stopped going.  It took me many years to get over my "crabby pants" camping complex.  But over the years my camping life has come full circle.  Although I’m still not a fan of dirt and public bathrooms are just not for me.  I’ve gained a great love for the peace and serenity found while camping.  I love outdoor cooking, games with friends and walks with the dogs. Oh and it helps that we have a camper (with a bathroom) that is just perfect for us.  Seems everywhere we go we see these ginormous motorhomes that cost more than our house.  And we think wow wouldn’t that be something.  Then I go inside our tiny little camper and realize big is not better, it’s just big.  We have sufficient for our camping needs; room for us and the dogs.  I’ve come full circle in my camping life and I couldn’t be happier.

A weekend in Fort Bragg....
perfect place to beat the heat!!

Happy Birthday Shout Out!

Sending Happy Birthday Wishes to this Wonderful D.I.L!

Wishing you everything grand!!

Sending you much love!

Hugs

Sometimes you just have to hug something!

Visitors

Living as far away from a city of any size as we do, does have its downside. Although we love where we live, the "remoteness" does tend to limit the number of visitors we have.  Some might say "lucky you" but there are times when visitors are a welcome change.  We love company. This summer we have been blessed to have some great out of town visitors; with some of our favorite people. But it is not just the out-of-towners that are a favorite. Another favorite is when our local friends pop by to visit. That doesn't happen much in today's busy world, but for me it is really my favorite thing when we have friends stop by to say Hi!  Those really are my favorite!!

Positive Thinking

I believe in the power of Positive Thinking.  I know it works.  So I’m not a fan of jury duty; I appreciate our judicial system but I feel it is pretty flawed in a lot of ways but that is a post for another day.  What I want to write about today is the power of Positive Thinking.  Usually when I get a jury duty notice it is with a certain amount of dread; at least when it first arrives in the mail.  But after its arrival I turn on my PT knowing that sure I got the notice but when I call the night before my number won’t be picked.  Nine times out of ten this is what happens.  This time however my PT wasn’t going in that direction.  Not sure why.  It just wasn’t working for me, I wasn’t feeling it.  I knew I was going to have to go.  And sure enough when I called the day before my number was picked; leaving me feeling like hey what happened to the Positive Thinking.  I guess I just got a late start on it.  Then I got to thinking it is never too late to think positively.  And in fact I realized what was going to happen is, I would go to court and when we were all called into the courtroom the judge would say, “Thank you for coming here today but this case has just settled and you are all free to go.  And the best part your name will not be called for jury duty for another year!”  Well, guess what?  That is exactly how it happened.  I’m telling you people there is power in Positive Thinking.  It.Does.Work. And I’m thankful for it!

Looking Back

I wondered what I wrote about last August 15th, I was having a bit of "what word should I write about woes."  So I checked it out.  It was gossip I had written about and spoken about.  My message stands as good today, as it did then and it will stand good next year and the year after.  That word gossip is one big trouble maker.  And some days we need to be reminded of the damage it can cause.  So maybe today and all future August 15th we will call this "National Stamp Out Gossip Day!"  Don't forget to do your part!

Salty Goodness

Although I am a sweet fan, mostly all things chocolate, I really really love love all things savory.  So when this idea was shared with me I couldn’t resist trying it.  So simple and so good.

Take equal parts of this

Fresh Basil
And this

Kosher Salt

Blend them up in this

Food Processor
(Mine is a mini but you can use a big one!)

Spread out the goodness on a baking sheet. Throw it in the oven for 30 minutes or so on 225° - toss it around half way through the cooking process ‘cause you don’t want any sticking.  Turn off your oven and let it sit in there until your oven is cool to make sure it is all the way dried out.  Then give it another pulse pulse in your processor.  And this is the goodness you get!

Yummy Basil Salt!

That is even better when you sprinkle it on the likes of these!

The Olympics

It would seem that every two years the world stops to get along and play sports.  The Olympics!  It is an age old tradition and I love it.  Where the best of the best compete for gold, silver and bronze.  1, 2, 3!!  I’m in awe of the dedication and determination of these athletes. Who day-in and day-out live and breathe their sport.  So amazing their commitment.  As the summer Olympics conclude I’m sad to see it go, but look forward to the winter Olympics in two years!

Five and Nine Hundred

Five years ago on this very day my mother left this earth for a greater destination.  She was a counter.  She loved all things numbers.  So it is only fitting that in the great spirit of counting that today would be my 900th post since I started blogging in the 9th month of 2008 on the 24th day.  It seems that the number nine in some fashion is popping up all over the place for me.  

• My dad died at 59 in the year of 1989
• On my next birthday I will be 59
• If you add up the numbers in my birth year or our address you get the number 19
• The number of years of marriage to date is 39
• My age at the time of my marriage 19
• My first child was born in the 9th month of the year
• I was 29 when my last child was born and now he is 29
• My two oldest granddaughters are 9
• My oldest son-in-love is almost 39
• We have had 9 dogs

And since today is Sunday this scripture in the 9th  Chapter and 9th verse of Proverbs seems fitting:

“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”

Noah

I could have been his wife!

Check it out

Excuse Me, My Food!

How'd you get up there?

Move over!

Noah do we have all the animals?

Turkey!

Who loves turkey legs? 

Who loves to go to the fair? 

That would be me!  And what I really love is turkey legs at the fair!  That's why I go to the fair to have my annual turkey leg.  Then we take a stroll through the animals and sometimes we go to the rodeo and of course there's always lots of other more than interesting people and things to see.  But this Friday after I get my turkey leg we will then spend the evening enjoying the bluesy music of Jim Belushi and the Sacred Heart Band.  It will be a perfect evening!!

This Blog of Good News

I'm thankful for blogging.  I love writing although I'm not that good at it, I enjoy it nonetheless.  This blog is great and it really is Good News!  Check it out.  It is full of goodness and if you ever need a boost she has never failed me and I know she won't fail you!!!

Brave

When we think of the word brave we might think of words like courageous - gallant - valiant - bold - plucky.  But when I think of brave I think of this. 

Use both hands please!!

Back to Eggs

Seriously who doesn't love eggs and all you can do with them. You can hard boil them. Soft boil them (2nd personal favorite). Scramble them. Poach them. And my personal favorite, fry them. I love a sunny side up egg. Runny yoke and just set white. I've struggled to perfect the perfect sunny side up egg until I found this little gem. It does the trick perfectly.

Forming the perfect egg!

See I told you perfect!

The Green Thing

Recently I received one of those emails that has most likely made its way around the world a time or two.   The gist of it was the environment and the concerns of this generation versus “past” generations!  The current generation feeling past generations didn't care enough to save the environment for future generations.  Saying we weren't "green" back then.  I take issue with that let's look back for a moment.

Back then, we returned milk bottles and soda bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.  So they really were recycled.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks.  This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn.  We used a push mower that ran on human power.

We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.

We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

Isn't it sad that the current generation laments how wasteful past generations were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Ecclesiastes 8:5

"Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment."

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPat

It's a Pug's Life

Her mornings start early.  After a sleepy ride to work she makes her rounds in the office and jumps into her bed under my desk for her morning nap.  She goes for a walk at 10:00 with her favorite pal Sniper (a Pomeranian); I might add she loves her friend but not the walk. After her morning walk it is back into her cave under my desk for more napping.  Around 2:30 or so she awakes and wants to go outside to do this.

Lay in the sun!

Recently she has started to explore...

She hops on the chair then onto the desk...

Can we go home now??



Tools of the Trade

This little guy has been with us for 25+ years and I love him and the job he does!  He is my most favorite!

Dining In

So back in the early days of the marriage (with children) it wasn’t always so economical to dine out on the anniversary so we would put the kiddos to bed and then commence to prepare a special late night meal just for two.  

It seems the question of the hour on an anniversary is always, “what are you doing for your anniversary?”  This year I was pleased to say go home and cook our favorite meal.  It was a delightful evening. 

I am so thankful for the experiences and the memories we’ve shared over the years.