Mercy River

I know I've been "gone" for a long time. Stomach flu had a big part to play in my absence. Finally feeling better, and just in time for Time Out For Women, I recorded Mercy River singing their version of Bye, Bye, Bye. Please forgive the terrible camera shake! The actual song starts just after the two minute mark.

It was worth the price of the ticket just to get this on film.

Temptation!

I'm going to post something here and let you all decide for yourselves whether you will be tempted or not. I will admit to you all...with my husband by my side, we did watch.

http://simplyjunehaskell.blogspot.com/2012/09/downton-abbey-first-full-episode-of.html

Laura, don't be mad. We can still have the party when you get here!

Sugar and Spice Cookies

I am visiting teaching companions with my sister. Those are the perks of living in the same ward, and strong-arming the R.S. President to leave it the way I had it when I was released from being the R.S. President. Anyway, my sister always sets up the appointments and all I have to do is show up. She asked me to make a treat for one of the ladies who is having a birthday on Tuesday. I knew she liked sugar cookies so I started with that.

Then I whipped up some pumpkin cream cheese frosting and dusted it with a little more cinnamon. 

But this isn't a very appealing way to deliver the cookies! 

I went to the craft closet, thinking I would have to put some decorations on these boxes I had in there, only to find I'd already done it and forgot that I'd done it! Nice!

Sugar Cookies (adapted from Our Best Bites)

1 cup butter (no substitutions)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 egg, extra large

2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond extract)

3 cups flour (16 ounces by weight)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 T milk (if necessary)

Cream butter and sugars together for three minutes. Add egg and extract(s) and blend well. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt together and slowly add to the butter mixture. Beat just until it all comes together. If it looks a little dry, add the milk. 

Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper set on a baking sheet, and then pop it into the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the baking sheet and press your cookie cutter straight into the dough while it's still on the parchment paper. Weed the dough (pull up the unused dough), leaving the cut out shapes on the paper and bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on how soft or crisp you like your cookies. 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup butter (that's 1/2 of a stick)
4 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for dusting
Beat the butter and cream cheese for two minutes, then add the vanilla. Next, add the powdered sugar, the pumpkin pie spice and the 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Beat until it is blended together. Frost cooled cookies and then use the finest mesh strainer you can find to sprinkle a little more cinnamon onto the frosted cookie.

Pumpkin Trio

The latest from Burton Avenue. Seriously, my crafty friends, have you hooked up with her blog yet?

If you've been by my house lately, do you think I've gone a little overkill on the Halloween decorations outside?

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Monday I went from soap making to soup making. I had talked to my very sick sister (enough already- get better!) and she said they had made OBB's chicken and wild rice soup and it was delicious.  I was planning to make soup that day anyway so I switched from chicken and dumplings to this soup.

Bud said it was "really very good." That's a huge compliment as he doesn't often comment on what he's eating.  

This recipe is in Our Best Bites new cookbook, Savoring the Seasons. You've already got your copy, right? Turn to page 146 and get cooking! For those of you living under a rock and don't have a copy, I'll write it down for you.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
5 T butter, divided
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic (I used about 1 1/2 tsp of pre-minced)
1 cup chopped carrots (that's 2 carrots)
2 cups roughly chopped baby bella mushrooms
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (see note below)
1 (12-ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts (I left this out, not a big fan)
8 cups chicken broth (or 8 cups water and 2 T plus 2 tsp chicken base)
1 cup wild rice
2 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk
Melt 1 T butter in a large stockpot over medium heat, then add the onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, celery and poultry seasoning. Sauté until the onion is tender (about five minutes). Add artichoke hearts and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about an hour. When the rice is tender, remove from the heat and add the pepper. Taste it to see if it needs the 1/2 tsp salt and add if desired.
When the soup has about 10 minutes left to cook, melt the remaining 4 T butter in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and make a roux. Slowly add in the milk, about 1/2 cup at a time to prevent lumps (you have to whisk quickly and keep whisking until all the milk is added). Add this to the soup and stir until combined. Simmer a few more minutes until it is slightly thickened.
Note: I didn't have any poultry seasoning! I was shocked. Good thing Google is my friend.
Homemade Poultry Seasoning from Food.com
2 tsp ground sage
1 1/2 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp ground marjoram
3/4 tsp ground rosemary
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
Mix all the ingredients together and store leftovers in a Ziplock baggie.

Sometimes I am a dork. I bought two boxes of Rice-a-Roni long grain and wild rice mix. I knew I didn't want to use the seasoning, so I didn't open the little package that came in the box. Then I wondered where all the wild rice was, because there was only white rice in the package. I thought that if I only wanted white rice I wouldn't have bought the two boxes of Rice-a-Roni! After dinner, I realized the wild rice and seasonings were both in the little package, not just the seasonings alone. See? I'm a dork.

This Smells Good!

You probably think I'm baking something, but I'm not. What smells so good? Laundry soap!
I pinned a "recipe" for homemade laundry soap onto my Pinterest board awhile ago and have been eager to try it out. I've been on the search for Zote soap ever since and I'll save you some trouble and just tell you that I found it at Lowe's Walmart Target Big Lots, at the huge cost of 90¢ a bar (so of course I bought 8 bars)! I found the "recipe" here.

The list of participants

This pesky guy was hard to find! 

I had to slice it in half to put it in my food processor, but it cut like butter. 

Into the food processor it goes, using the fine shred blade. 

I put it into an old (and I mean OLD, this was from July of '73 when my dad filled it with wheat!) plastic bucket. 

Here it is all stirred up. 

I was told to put it back in the Purex container, and yes, it looks cute in there, but the Zote soap doesn't come out of the hole easily. Spare yourself the trouble and put it back in the Oxi Clean bucket! 

I found all the ingredients for this at Walmart, except for the Zote soap. I know, Walmart is your least favorite place to shop, but sometimes it just gets the job done. I layered the ingredients a little bit to make mixing it easier. I also put the lid on the bucket and rolled it around, but eventually I just stuck my hand in there to really mix it up. After all, it's only soap. If you use your food processor to grate the soap, make sure you wash it really well afterwards! It is supposed to last for-ev-er. I washed one load of whites last night. There was no static cling and they were clean and smelled nice (I thought they might smell a little stronger, but they didn't). But if I can wash clothes for mere pennies, count me in.

Now You Can Eat Twice As Much!

I've posted my caramel popcorn recipe on here before, but I now have a new and improved recipe that uses half the butter so you can eat twice as much!

"Diet" Caramel Popcorn
1 cup popcorn kernels, popped
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 T vanilla extract
Pre-heat oven to 275°F. Pop the popcorn and remove any un-popped kernels. Spray a large pan (I use my turkey roasting pan) with non-stick spray. Place popcorn in sprayed pan. Set aside. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and then add the brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat while stirring constantly. Once mixture boils, stop stirring and boil for four minutes. Remove syrup from heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. Pour syrup over popcorn and stir until well coated. Place coated popcorn in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every ten minutes.
Remove from oven and dump the popcorn onto parchment or wax paper. Spread the popcorn out so it isn't all clumped together. Let popcorn cool and eat away!  I promise you won't miss the extra stick of butter or the extra calories!

Halloween Cards

I learned how to make a cascading card for card group this month. While watching General Conference this weekend, I took my new-found skill and made some Halloween cards for my grandchildren. I only made four (one per family), so I'll send one to the four corners of the United States and call it good.

Here you can see a little better how it expands. 

Here's the side view...so you can see the sides! Crazy how that works, huh? 

Family Crafting

I saw a project online and knew I wanted to make it! If you haven't tapped in to Burton Avenue's blog yet, you've been missing out!
I looked at Lowe's for suitable wood. Nothing. After girl's lunch out on Tuesday, Cheryl and I swung by The Wood Connection and bingo! Found my wood. The problem was the individual sticks were too long (but that meant I only had to buy half as many!). I enlisted a helper!

Measuring 

Cutting

Fixing the point (I liked it more pointy than how it came)

And while you're at it...I have all these blocks that need to be cut! 

Burton Ave used the stencil approach to make their street signs. 

So I tried it their way. Here's the black paint smeared over the stencil. 

Fail. It leaked under the tape. 

So, since I originally cut out the words using red vinyl, I had to go back to square one and re-cut in black vinyl so I could just slap the vinyl on the wood rather than painting in the negative space.

The original directions nailed their boards into place. I wanted to be able to remove my signs from the post that was holding them so I could store it more easily. I decided magnets was the way to go. I glued (E6000) the magnets to the sign and to the post.  When the glue was set, I sprayed it with a coat of sealer. When I picked it all up, I realized magnets might not have been the best idea after all. One bump and all the boards came crashing down. I might have to remove the magnets and apply velcro instead (velcro was my original idea anyway). We shall see how well it holds up. 

OBB's Kickoff

Last month I was able to sneak away from my missionary assignment long enough to go to Our Best Bites kickoff extraordinaire. They had samples of lots of the recipes in their new book.

Here are the busy bees in the kitchen keeping the samples stocked while Kate and Sara sign books. 

It took about 20 minutes of waiting in line for my turn. 

Do you guys know Shelley Smith from The House of Smiths? 

She was so sweet to chat with me while I waited in line. She wasn't in line herself, she was just keeping me company while I waited. She's very effervescent! 

At last it was my turn. Kate wrote a sweet note in my book. 

And here is Kate's little guy, Will. I think he was underwhelmed by the whole ordeal. 

This is who I had with me the last time I went to Gygi's. I wish they were with me this time too!