2' F

You can't tell by their faces how cold it is outside. We all went outside for a few minutes while we waited for Ehre 's bus. I am so grateful this morning that there was a 2 hour delay. Kids had fun that's what counts.

Cream of Broccoli Soup...sounds Great!

I am going to make this for Jeff's birthday dinner with some european hard rolls  so yummy esp when today its about 2' outside with the wind.

Ann

Cream of Broccoli Soup (Easy)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup cream, heavy, light or
• 1 onion, chopped
• half-n-half
• 1 russet potato, peeled and chop
• Nutmeg, to taste
• 6 cups canned chicken stock, warmed
• Salt
• 3 cups chopped broccoli florets and stems
• Pepper

Directions

In a large pot, melt butter and cook onion until tender over medium high heat. Add potato and toss to coat with butter. Add hot stock and bring to a simmer. Stir in broccoli and return to a simmer. When potato and broccoli are tender, puree in batches in a blender or food processor. Return to pot and add cream. Season to taste and serve warm

Crusty European-Style Hard Rolls

These rolls have a delicious crackly/crunchy crust, partly the result of allowing them to proof in the refrigerator, partly from an egg white wash applied just prior to baking. Light and airy, they're delicious with dinner. Or serve them with at breakfast, with butter and preserves, as they do in Europe. Notice that this recipe includes just over 1/4 teaspoon yeast. Why so little? Because of the extra-long fermentation, key to developing the rolls' flavor. As the dough rests, the yeast will continue to multiply; thus there's no need to "front-load" with lots of yeast initially. Starter 1/2 cup cool water 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast Dough all of the starter 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1 cup lukewarm water 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast Egg wash 1 large egg white mixed with 1/2 cup cool water Directions 1) To make the starter: Mix the starter ingredients together until smooth, cover, and let rest at room temperature overnight. 2) Combine all of the dough ingredients and mix and knead them together — by hand, mixer or bread machine — until you've made a soft, somewhat smooth dough; it should be cohesive, but the surface may still be a bit rough. It may also stick to the bowl just the tiniest bit. 3) Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 3 hours, gently deflating it and turning it over after 1 hour, and again after 2 hours. 4) Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface. Divide it into 12 pieces, shape the pieces into balls, and firm them up by rolling them under your lightly cupped fingers. 5) Place the rolls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover them, and let them rise for 1 to 2 hours, until they're puffy, though not doubled in size. They'll flatten out a bit as they rise; that's OK. 6) Cover the rolls, and refrigerate them for 2 to 3 hours. Towards the end of the rolls' chill, preheat the oven to 425°F. 7) Whisk together the egg white and water until frothy. Remove the rolls from the refrigerator, and brush them with the wash; you won't use it all up. Again, don't be discouraged if the rolls seem a bit flat; they'll pick up when the hit the oven's heat. 8) Slash a 1/4" deep cut across the top of each roll. Immediately put the rolls into the oven. 9) Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're a deep golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack. Or, for best crunch, open the oven door, and allow the rolls to cool in the turned-off, open-door oven. Yield: 12 small rolls.

Recipe summary Hands-on time: 10 mins. to 20 mins. Baking time: 20 mins. to 25 mins. Total time: 15 hrs 30 mins. to 21 hrs 45 mins. Yield: 12 small rolls Tips from our bakers For larger rolls, divide the dough into 8 pieces, rather than 12. Bake for a minute or two longer.

Not much....

... but it is starting to feel like January.

Urim and Thummin Treats

Use this treat to help take the mystery out of the Urim and Thummim, to help explain what it looked like, and to show how Joseph Smith used it.

Story: Joseph Smith History 1:35
The Angel Moroni told Joseph Smith about two stones in silver bowes fastened to a breastplate, which was hidden with the gold plates in the Hill Cumorah. This ws called the Urim and Thumminm and was used by Joseph Smith for translating the gold paltes into a language we can read and understand.
Discussion Questions:
1. What does the Urim and Thummim look like?
2. What did Joseph Smith use the Urim and Thummim to do?

Recipe:
Graham Cracker for each serving
1/4 c Chocolate Chips for each serving
2 Lg marshmallows for each serving
Peanut butter

Spread a thin layer of peanut butter over the grahm cracker. Add chocolate chips in rows to create decorations ont eh "breastplate." Put one large marshmallow on each half of graham cracker for each part of the Urim and Thummim stones. Cook in microwave oven for about 35 seconds, or until the marshmallows are toasted.
To cook in conventional oven: put on cookie sheet and bake at 500' for about 3 minutes. Be sure to watch closely and take out when toasty and brown!

Tower of Babel Cake

Just as the wicked people of Babel built a tower to try to get to heaven, so will you build a "tower" with pieces of Devils Food Cake.

Story: Ether 1 :33 and Genesis 11. Jared and his brother lived in a place called Babel. Many wicked people also lived there. The wicked people built a tower, called the Tower of Babel, to get to heaven. This made the Lord Angry.

The Lord changed the language of the wicked people so that they all used  different words. They couldn't understand each other.

The brother of Jared was a good man who obeyed the Lord. He prayed and asked the Lord not to change the language of his family and friends, who were called Jaredites. The Lord didn't change their language because they were righteous and because Jared had prayed to Him.

Discussion Questions:
1. Why did the wicked peopel fo Babel build a twoer?
2. HOw do you tihnk the Lord felt about this?
3. How do we get to Heaven?
4. What did the Lord do to the wicked people?
5. Who was righteous and living in Babel?

Recipe:
(Use a Devils Food Cake mix and frosting)

Have family members wash thier hands, tehn give them several pieces of cake and put the frosting bowl where everyone can reach it. Place a cookie sheet in the middle of the group, and have each family member stack one piece of cake on top of another to build your own "tower," adding frosting between each layer. Tell the story of the "tower of Babel," and when your own tower collapses, gather up the pieces and eat as you tell the rest of the story.

Brother of Jared Thumbprint Stone Cookies

With these cookies, you can show what can happen if you have faith. When the brother of Jared gathered the small, white stones, he had faith enough to see the finger of the Lord as He touched them, making them glow to give the Jaredites light for their long journey.

Story:  Ether 1:38-6:12. The Lord told the Jaredites He woudl lead them to a promised land, so they left their homes, gathered their animals, and went to the sea. For a long time, the brother of Jared didn't pray. Jesus told him to repent and pray often, so he repented and Jesus forgave him.

Jesus then told the brother of Jared to build some boats to take them to the promised land. He obeyed, and the Jaredites built eight small boats that were shaped like a dish on all sides, according to the directions given to them by the Lord. When the boats were finished the brother of Jared told Jesus there was no light in the boats to see as they were traveling. Jesus told him to think of a way to bring light into the boats.

The brother of Jared thought and thought, then gathered 16 small , white stones. He took the stones to the top of a mountain and prayed, asking Jesus to touch these stones with His finger to make them shine. Jesus reached out His finger and touched the stones to make them shine. The brother of Jared had faith in Jesus Christ, so he saw Jesus' finger. Because he had great faith, he saw that Jesus had a body.

The brother of Jared put two stones in each boat for light.  The Jaredites climbed in the boats, and after many days, they arrived int eh promised land. They thanked the Lord for helping them arrive safely.

Discussion Questions:
1. What did the Lord tell the brother of Jared to do?
2. What did the brother of Jared to wrong that Jesus Christ told him to repent of?
3. How did the brother of Jared get light into the boats?
4. What did the people do when they arrived in the promised land?

Recipe:
1 c butter
1/3 c granulated sugar
2 t vanilla
2 c flour
1/4 c powdered sugar
1 can prepared lemon pie filling

Beat butter for 30 seconds; add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla and 2 tsp. water. Beat well. Stir in flour. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place on an uncreased cookie sheet. Press down centers with thumb. Bake in a 325' oven about 18 minutes. Cool completely . Gently shake a few cookies at a time in a bag with powdered sugar. Fill hollow  with prepared lemon pie filling. Makes 36.

Sacred Grove Gumdrop Trees

I received a free book from a friend with lots of Book of Mormon Treat lessons, and so I thought it would be fun to pass one on each week.

This treat represents that sacred place where Joseph Smith knelt and asked which church was the correct one. In the grove, Joseph Smith saw and talked with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.

Story: Joseph Smith History 1:5-20. When Joseph Smith was 14 years old, he did not know which church to join. One day as he was reading in the Bible, he read James 1:5, which said, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that give to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

This scripture touched him deeply, for he needed help from God to make the right choice. The next day he went into the woods near his home to pray, and he knelt down in a grove of trees to ask God what he should do. Suddenly, he saw a bright light, and in the light were Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father pointed to Jesus and said, "This is My Beloved Son," Joseph asked which church he should join. Jesus Christ told him not to join any of them. for none of the churches on the earth were correct.

The place where Joseph witnessed Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is known as the Sacred Grove.

Discussion Questions:
1. Why did Joseph Smith go into the woods to pray?
2. What happened?
3. What should you do if you need help making an important decision?
4. Have you ever prayed to know if the Church was true? (If you wish, share your experience of how you gained your testimony.)

Recipe:
4c original Cheerios
3 c. mini marshmallows
3 T butter
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t green food coloring
Small Candies

On low heat, stir marshmallows and butter in medium saucepan until marshmallows melt. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and food coloring, stirring until smooth. Add Cheerios and stir until all the cereal is coated with marshmallow mixture.

Coat hands with butter or nonstick cooking spray, or simply wet hands. Use about 2/3 cup for each tree. ON greased cookie sheet or waxed paper, shape each portion into a pine tree (triangle) shape. To decorate, stick red hots, chocolate chips, gumdrops or any other candies you desire onto the trees. Makes about 16 trees.

Gather everyone's tree around in a circle and read Joseph Smith's first vision as the treats cool.

Awesome Tutorial Site for Sewing Projects

I found this today, not only are the fabrics awesome, but the patterns are equally as impressive!

http://sew4home.com/projects?start=31

The first thing I want to do off this site is make a sewing machine cover and serger cover...but that will wait till after the move.

Birdsnest Necklace

New necklace

I've wanted to try this for a while,  next I'll make one with my kids birthstones.

Bday kisses!

Final image of bday cake for Ehre.

We had a wonderful dinner and evening with friends with so much yummy food! Ehre had a great time and thought that it was a great bday party.

Book of Mormon Challenge

For those of you that want to join us, we have a family challenge to read the whole Book of Mormon this year before December 20th, in preparation for Ehre's baptism. I'm inviting you because even if you are reading a different set of scriptures if you start now you won't have to read much each day in order to do both!  I've attached our rudementry schedule, let me know if you are hopping on the wagon! We just finished 1st Nephi 1  :)

Ann

Sick Elise update...

After a few phone calls to Jeff, my mom a nurse and finally my uncle who is a Dr., we took Elise into the urgent care. (Not the ER like the RN recommended). Am I the only one that avoids taking kids in because its expensive and I'd hate to be told "its nothing" and be sent home? Thanks to the phone calls and a fever that was staying at 103 I took Elise in and guess, what I wasn't paranoid or crazy, she has a bad L ear infection. So we just started a bunch of meds, and hopefully she'll be back on her feet soon, which is good because with Jeff spending every waking hour finishing his defense, I can't handle more than one sleepless night...even if she's cute!

oh brighter news, kind of... knowing how busy Jeff is going to be, we have extended my stay with the kids in Utah. We will stay an extra 3 days! (Which I am quite excited about!)
Ann

Sick Elise

Elise was a little grumpy during church but I assumed it was because we were all up late last night. She also felt a little warm but the chapel was roasting. She fell asleep  quickly in a friends arms in Sunday School...that never happens and then slept in my arms throughout RS...she still felt warm. We just got home and I took her temp 102.5. So she is now in Pj's back asleep in my arms. She isn't much of a cuddled so I think I will stay and enjoy holding her for a while. To all our friends whom partied with us, I am sorry if she has something contagious.

Now a one tier cake...

Jeff had a good idea salvage the top. No baverian cream in this but it will have to work.

Look...what to do?

Cake flop...sorry Ehre

I had a little more to finish and decided to take a break. On top if this cake I was making a royal icing tiara when u came back the whole thing was falling apart! Bummer!

Banana's

How many bunches of banana's does your family go through each week? We go through 2!

Baby hat

I finished a baby hat to go with the blanket and monogrammed the blanket as well. Now I just need to finish the blessing outfit...well one of them. My inlaws  sent me this cute black tux that he will be blessed in and then I will change him so I can keep the tux nice.