"Sew" What?

Since when do I sew? Apparently it is my new hobby. I just got the bug one day. I have sewn before, but I have never been officially "taught" how, I just kind of figure things out on my own. Which in translation means- don't look to close. I saw some vintage aprons online one day, and I thought, "hmmmm...I think I could sew those." So I tried. Anyone who knows how to sew knows this is a very simple project. Not that impressive. I found this cute fabric at Deseret Book for 1/2 off, and I just had to try. I thought these would be great friend gifts for christmas. My mom has been working on a family cookbook and these would compliment it perfectly. So if you're reading this, you might now know what you are getting for christmas. I am having a great time testing my abilites and unpicking seam after seam after seam. The first apron I made had slight gathering at the waist. That would be fine except for I have always been gifted in the hip area. Ruffles + Hips = Bigger hips. Not good. I absolutly love the fabric though. Next, I tried one for Courtney. She wants to sew them for her girlfriends for christmas too. I left out the gathers and I did long ties so you could tie it around front or in back. I liked it much better. I don't dig the fabric Courtney picked out, so I'm anxious to try one on some cuter fabric. I have three other sewing projects I am working on...so stay tuned!

Sinful

Here is my latest culinary experiment. I am ashamed to say that I have never made a cheesecake. I really wanted to try my hand at it. I found this recipe online, and went for it. This particular cheesecake had a lot of ingredients and took a bit more work, but it was well worth it. It turned out marvelous. I took it to a primary meeting, and it was a huge hit! Someone even said it tasted like a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. Once again, not one of my healthiest recipes. For some reason, if I make a treat I don't have to eat it, I am just satisfied to try the recipe and send the end results away, but I do feel the need to taste it first to see if it is good enough to send away. Sort of a double edged sword. I will post some healthier recipes soon.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup butter, melted
50 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
3 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered English toffee
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered toffee, chopped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine wafer crumbs, powdered sugar and cocoa with the melted margarine. Mix well. Press onto the bottom and half-way up the side of 10 inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow to cool.
Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a saucepan over low heat, melt the caramels together with the chocolate chips and evaporated milk stir until smooth and pour into crust.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and flour; beat until smooth. Add eggs, then yolks, one at a time. Blend in heavy cream and vanilla. Add 3 cut up candy bars to mixture. Pour over caramel and toffee layers. Wrap outside of pan with foil.
Set in a large pan that has been filled with 1 inch of hot water. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes; reduce oven to 250 degrees and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn off oven and let sit for 1 hour. Remove from water. Chill overnight in the refrigerator. Top with 2 more Heath Bar candy bars that have been chopped. Drizzle with remaining chocolate and caramel.

Trading Faces

I got to go back in time tonight. Back to "mutual" (it's not even called that anymore) and back to the early 90's. Courtney took me to her young women's activity, where we got to apply each others make-up. Courtney went first and did a great job on my make-up. I was next--I just couldn't let this opportunity pass. Earlier in the day I was on a mission, a mission to find blue mascara. This proved extremely difficult to find hmmmmm....I wonder why. After ransacking the make-up isles of several stores I came upon cobalt blue mascara! Jackpot! I also purchased aqua eyeliner, and purple and pink eyeshadow. I am ashamed to say, my pulse quickened, and lots of "rad" memories came flooding back. So when it was my turn to apply Courtney's make-up, I turned her away from the mirror and took her back in time. There were muffled giggles, a few gasps, and a surprised audience of teenagers. Courtney knew something was up, she was excited. I continued to apply. Remember? Half pink, half purple on the eyelids. Aqua liner, cobalt blue mascara, and florescent pink lips. Ring any bells? We all have similar make-up mishaps. Admit it.















I turned Court to the mirror.
Courtney: gasp "Mom, I look good!"
Mom: "What?"
Courtney:"Look how long my eyelashes are."
Mom: "What?"
Mom: "You do understand you will never leave the house like this--Don't you?"
Courtney: dejected "yes mom"
Mom:"This did not go as planned."
I guess a 12 year old is a 12 year old, even when it comes to blue mascara. Let's be honest, what were we thinking in the early 90's? Needless to day this was a fun activity, and a priceless opportunity to spend time with my only daughter. I really love that girl, she has been a source of laughter, fun, goodness, and pleasure her whole life. I enjoy her so much and I feel so blessed to be her mom! Court you are so RAD!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

And we did! All of my sister-in-laws on Carter's side (and his mom) came to St. George for a "girls only weekend". This was pretty amazing considering 11 out of 12 were able to make the trip. Gaylee came from Alaska, Barb from Washington, Emmalee from Logan, and every one else from Utah County northward. They arrived in a very large, very white van. Now, you should know that where we live when 12 women and 3 babies file out of a van it can only mean one thing--Polygamists! That's right, there were 12 of us in all--quite a sight. Our first night together we met at Olive Garden and stuffed ourselves full of delicious food, and good conversation. It was so fun to see the newest Cluff babies (although they are never the newest Cluff babies for long!). After dinner we went back to the condo for a rousing game of BINGO. How can BINGO be rousing you ask? If you include cute fall prizes! Those Cluff sisters can be competitive, I guess it's because they were raised with so many brothers! We had a great time playing together and catching up. The next morning they went to breakfast and got pedicures, I met up with them later for some shopping. Later that evening we met for dinner and went to Tuachan to see "My Fair Lady." All I can say is, it's a good thing I knew my way to Tuachan, I got us there plenty early for the show! ;) Hee Hee! I was so fun to see everyone again. I slept at home and had to get my kids to school, so I'm sure there are many gaps to fill in. It was a really fun weekend. Thanks Pam for providing such a fun weekend filled with good memories for us!

For Ashley

My little sister Ashley has been pestering me to post the latest recipes that I've tried. If I had a fast metabolism,(or better self-control) I would try a new recipe or two every day.
Creamy, Tomato Basil Soup

INGREDIENTS
4 tomatoes - peeled, seeded and diced
4 cups tomato juice
14 leaves fresh basil
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste



DIRECTIONS
Place tomatoes and juice in a stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, and return the puree to the stock pot.
Place the pot over medium heat, and stir in the heavy cream and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Do not boil.

*This soup is soooo good, although it is definitely not a low-fat recipe. I am working on slimming it down. It is a nice one to take to someone who needs a meal.
I added cheese filled tortellini (because it didn't have enough calories to start with)! The recipe for the focaccia is at the very bottom of the blog.


Cream Filled Cupcakes

For this recipe I just kind of faked it. Because I also like fast, and easy recipes, I used a chocolate cake mix for the cupcakes. After they were completely cooled I used a pastry bag with a large tip to pipe a mixture of homemade frosting and sweetened whipping cream into the middles. You could also add some cream cheese. I then frosted the tops with homemade chocolate frosting and piped the white swirls. Next time I make these I want to try topping these with ganache, they would look more professional. These were a huge hit with both the adults and the kids.

And The Grand Total is.....

260! That is the number of kids in our primary. Granted, 50 of those are nursery, but over 200 in primary is just too many. Especially when there are 4-5 new kids a week. Do not be mistaken, I LOVE primary. The best part about it is the kids. I love the interaction, the funny things they say, and most of all, their tender little testimonies. Oh, yes even a three year old can have a testimony, and they do! The part that is hard about primary, is figuring out how to manage a group this size, find teachers, scout leaders, activity day leaders, music people etc, etc, etc. And what about staying within a budget that was formulated by last years presidency for a much smaller primary? Not to mention THE PRIMARY PROGRAM! Needless to say not every one will have a speaking part. I think instead of sitting all the kids on the stage, we will have the congregation sit on the stage and the primary can perform in the pews. Ha! I serve with phenomenal people, and I am constantly in awe of their endless abilities and willingness to serve, in a place where it is not always noticed or appreciated. I experience tender mercies from the Lord daily, and somehow everything important gets done and things just come together. At some point the ward will have to split--right? Right? Let's be honest, no matter how many kids there are--there is no place I would rather be.

A Great Boy!

I love this quote I got from a friends blog. Carter and I often talk about how much harder it is to teach kids to work these days. We especially worry about our boys, as they will someday be providers for their families. It seems it is harder to teach them to work because most of us do not live on farms, or large pieces of land, we do not have animals and large crops to cultivate. I am not saying it is impossible to teach them how to work, just more difficult. Sometimes we have to be creative. Carter is especially good at having our kids work along side him. This is where, I believe, the most valuable teaching moments occur. Today I caught one such moment. Carter seized the opportunity to turn the small task of mowing our lawn over to Jack. The task didn't seem so small, as his little body struggled to push the loud monster over two weeks worth of jungle-like grass, he even broke a sweat. Don't get me wrong, Jack has several daily jobs. Some before school, including practicing the piano, and some after school. We are trying really hard to teach our kids to be independent, motivated, and reliable. Not an easy task! It was thoroughly rewarding to see the look on Jack's face as he surveyed his freshly cut masterpiece. He was very pleased, and so were his parents. Hopefully this good boy will grow into a great man!

Baking Obsession

It must be fall in the air, the kids going back to school, boredom, any number of reasons, but I have a small baking obsession. This is not good considering the low carb eating habits I am trying to develop. I just can't help it. I love, love, love to cook, especially bake. If I see a recipe in a book, online, in a store, I need to try it. If it doesn't turn out the first time, I have to try it again and again until I get it right. I always give away the final product. Needless to say, our neighbors don't complain. Maybe someday I will get to culinary school, and become a pastry chef, but until then here are some of the things I'm working on.

CARAMEL AND CHOCOLATE DIPPED PRETZELS

Making the Caramel


The Finished Product


BEST, BIG, FAT CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

These cookies are dropped on the cookie sheet by 1/4 cup fulls!

CRISPY, CREAMY DOUGHNUTS

Letting the doughnuts rise


The doughnuts cooling


The doughnuts being eaten

The Ugly Side of Life

Let's face it, not everything in life is pretty. I hesitated posting the latest happenings, but it did dominate most of our Labor day weekend, so here goes. A couple of weeks ago, I went to the dentist and discovered I needed a root canal (yeah!). But the dentist could not do it then because it was to infected. So he sent me home with an antibiotic, which I took, and scheduled the root canal for a couple of weeks later. Well on Saturday my tooth really started hurting, I took some pain killers the dentist gave me, which made me sooooo sick. This is very disappointing because I have never had difficulty with pain medication. And quite honestly I really enjoy a good narcotic after having a baby.(Sorry mom, no more grandchildren from this source). Well needless to say pain medication does not work if you throw it up. So I was in some excruciating pain and on top of this my cheek swelled up the size of a softball. I did not sleep well all weekend, and you know how the mind works in the middle of the night, I was completely convinced that the infection was spreading to my heart and slowly killing me. I am a fun sick person, just ask the most patient person in the world. Carter. I missed all of the fun neighborhood activities and life in general. You know I'm sick if I leave my poor counselors with 250 primary kids, which I did. We have an awesome neighbor who was thoughtful enough to come and give me a blessing last night and brought me some medicine that helps calm your stomach so I could take some pain medication. I went to the dentist first thing this morning and he took care of me too, so hopefully I will be functioning by after school. Needless to say, life is not always pretty, as evidenced by these disturbing pictures.

Bushels of Fun?!

Okay, so we are fortunate to live very near on the the largest peach orchards in the country. It belongs to the church, which means Carter spent many a early morning picking peaches with our ward members. He would make it a pint to take along the kids and teach them how to pick(aka work). Well after the picking, of course comes the canning at the cannery. When the cannery fills its welfare assignment then they offer the rest of the peaches to the public for $.45 a pound. So being a sucker for a good deal I promply purchased 75 pounds to can! These peaches were awesome, the size of softballs and so sweet. I did 45 bottles of peaches and 10 pints of peach raspberry jam. Deeelish! Thanks mom for passing on this valuable skill and sorry mom, I know I did not pack the jars tight enough. It really does feel good to spend a day being productive and homemakerish (yes that is a word)!