Eddie's new favorite pictures!

Sandy Nov. 19, 1964
Two months before my 3rd birthday.

I found these pictures and Eddie just cracks up. He says I look very mischevious! He also loves the shoes!!! I think I look like a dwarf with that big ol' head!!!!

Another Turkey Day Has Come and Gone!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!This is Eddie's new Thanksgiving hat!
Isn't he adorable?
Now he's washing our turkey to get him ready to cook!

We no longer stuff our turkey with dressing/stuffing. Instead we stuff him with carrots, celery, onions and herbs: rosemary, thyme and sage. The sage we grew in our own garden. I also threw in a lemon this year too! And I brushed the bird with butter! I also lay him on a bed of carrots, celery and onions. He cooked quicker than what we were led to believe, so we'll shorten it by at least an hour next time!

These are the potatoes leaching! We leach them to get some of the potassium out. They're a little better for my Mom that way!

I was inpired by the food network this year. I took something I saw on one of the challenges and created my own new dressing/stuffing item. This is the goo for the stuffing simmering on the stove.

This is the bread waiting to be goo-ed! The little bowl is for Eddie's private dressing. I make him his own without vegies in it!!!

My great idea this year, was to make STUFFINS! Yep! That's right! STUFFINS!

I took some of the stuffing and greased a cupcake tray and made individual STUFFINS! I love the crunchy top of Stuffing, but I also like the soft wet stuff too, so this is a way to get both! They're crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Taste delicious with gravy!!!

I think they went over very well! I think I will do this next year. I developed the idea after seeing a chef making individual crocks of stuffing on a food challenge. I thought, "HEY! That's a great idea! What if I put the stuffing in a cupcake pan?! Eveyone could have there own little stuffing muffin." Hense...STUFFINS!

Did the Easter Bunny come to your Thanksgiving?

He came to ours and brought his brother!!!

The bunnies are from next door. They keep escaping!!! They like our yard. More stuff to eat! Yes! We were bad and threw them carrots and celery!

Patricia and Elizabeth came over for dinner. Patricia made the yams and she brought some delicious baked beans. Cheese and crackers and Guacamole were also provided!!!

They were good!

This is what part of the spred looked like! We had: Turkey, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing with onions and celery, Stuffing without vegies, STUFFINS, Yams, Baked Beans, Green Beans with bacon and almonds, Grandma's cranberry jello salad, Waldorf Salad, Homemade Lion House Rolls, butter, cheese, crackers, guacamole, chips, grapes, berries, pickles, olives, cranberry sauce, Pumpkin pie, Lemon Pie, Apple Pie and cool whip! The turkey was delicious. Moist even though it over cooked a little. Eddie's mashed potatoes were delicious! Everything tasted great!

There were 10 people at our Thanksgiving Feast! 4 Missionaries: Elder Choi - Korea, Elder Pennington - West Virginia, Elder Ball, Chihuahua, Mexico, Elder Wilkins, Arizona, Patricia and Elizabeth, Bubba, Mom, Eddie and myself! Good company and great food!!!

Yes, I look pretty haggered! I've been cooking for two days! Thanksgiving is officially over....Now for Christmas!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Baking Day

So today was baking day! I've wanted to attempt to make Lion House Rolls for the longest time. Today, I finally did! Okay, the first pan of them had problems. I made two different batches. Each batch took two sheets. On the first batch we did the quick rise method by putting the dough in the oven to rise with a pan of warm water and the oven having been warmed up. After rising and then being rolled out...we put one tray back in the oven to rise and one on the table. Well, the one in the oven really swelled and the saran wrap stuck to it and so our first pan of Lion House Rolls are more like Lion House crackers! I think they still taste good!This is another sheet of them before they started to rise!
This is the finished project! We only lost one half of a batch to crackers. I think they'll taste good with soup or as turkey sandwich bread!
I was so happy the rest of the first batch and the second batch actually look, more or less, like the real Lion House rolls! They sure smell good. We've only tasted the "crackers!" I'll let you know how they taste tomorrow.

One batch only make 12 to 18 rolls! That's why we made two batches! The second batch we just let rise normally and it did swell! ha ha ha!

I thought you might like to see one up close!
I can't wait to sink my teeth into this tomorrow!

I also made pies! Two pumpkin and one lemon minus the meringue. I hate meringue! Patricia brought a frozen dutch apple pie last week so we cooked it up too!

We had a slight problem with pie dough. I used to make great crust, but I decided to use the recipe that came with the kitchen aid mixer. It turned out horrible...so we threw it away and ran to the store and Poppin' Fresh saved the day with Pillsbury pie crust! I haven't made pies in forever. Last time I bought Pillsbury pie crust it was folded in quarters and there were always thin spots where it had been folded. They got smart and now it's rolled! It's not the tastiest crust, but I like the pie filling and whip cream the best!!!!

We have everything chopped for the morning. That way we just have to wake up and cook! The Turkey has been bathing all day! He was frozen! Eddie, the former Meat Cutter, says frozen turkeys are fresher than fresh turkeys! If we had a zuccuzzi we would have soaked him in it with the jets running! It would make for great pictures!!! Hopefully we'll take pictures tomorrow and entertain you with our Thanksgiving Feast!

Fantasy Fudge from Grandma Vera Barrus Wanlass

Here is the recipe:
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup margarine or butter
2/3 cups evaporated milk
2 cups chocolate chips
1 7 oz. jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar, margarine/butter, and milk in pan bring to a rolling boil. (Do not cook on high to get it to boil! That was Eddie's idea!) Cook over medium heat. Stir constantly. Pull up a chair...it takes a while to get it to boil on medium heat....but that's how you don't get grainy fudge!!! Once it boils, boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Mixture scorches easily! Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Add marshmallow creme, stir until incoporated! Add nuts..stir until mixed well! Add the vanilla! I like this part because it makes the fudge shine!!! Beat until well blended! Pour into greased/buttered 9 X 13 pan. Let it cool! Cut into squares. Makes 3 pounds.

Making Fudge!

Last night we decided to make Fudge! I wanted to make something to get me in the holiday mood!
Eddie thought it took way too long to get the goo to boil. He wanted to put it on high! I said, "No! You'll scorch it!"

He got tired of stirring so I stirred until it boiled! He stirred for the end of the boiling process!

He's a good stirrer!

I took over when the chocolate chips and marshmallow creme went in. He just wasn't stirring fast or hard enough!

The finished project! DE-LI-CIOUS!!!!!!

A Quick Get-Away!

Eddie and I were able to escape this weekend and go to Utah for my cousins wedding.
We're both fighting colds, so we spent a lot of time sleeping!

The wedding was Saturday at 11:40 a.m. in the Salt Lake Temple. The weather was, as Eddie says, "Glorious!" It was crisp and a little chilly!

The reception that night was in Lindon. It was cute little farm!

Here's a picture of me and Auntie Dot. A picture of the proud parents of the Bride: Chris and Chris Adams
The Father of the Bride is also the photographer!!!!

He took some beautiful pictures of the bride!

I guess you can "get a man with a gun!"
I love this one they took at the Salt flats!
The Mother of the Groom made the wedding cake!
The beautiful bride: Jennifer!

She wore a beautiful dress. Her dress, the reception, everything was so Jennifer!

It was beautiful. I love when a wedding truly reflects the people getting married and isn't a cookie cutter wedding!

The back of Jennifer's dress. It was so pretty. She carried a black fan instead of flowers!

On this trip I got to meet Tessa Ann, the newest member of the family!

Dee, Becky, Tessa, Katy and Adam!
Even though it was much too short and Eddie and I felt much too awful, it was a good time. The flights were pretty smooth and the Lord blessed me with complete peace. That and the cool TVs on JetBlue really help my nerves!!!!
We should be staying put for the rest of the year.

Help!

I was asked on Sunday to teach a 20 minute craft or decoration for Christmas at a Relief Society enrichment activity. Does anybody have any ideas? It doesn't have to be something they can do there....It can just be an idea for them to do later! HELP!!!!!

Our 28th Temple

So yesterday we were blessed with the opportunity to attend our 28th Temple. (Eddie says we can't actually count it as our 28th Temple!) We got to go to the Re-dedication of the Mexico City Mexico Temple....at our Stake Center. Our ward had about 25 tickets. Some people didn't go because they thought there would be a language barrier. For a change we got to wear the headphones and only 4 of the talks were in Spanish.
Before the Re-dedication session started we got to see the different rooms in the temple while Mo Tab was singing. They weren't there, it was all pre-recorded. The temple is beautiful!

This is some of the wood working! It's just beautiful!

It was a wonderful opportunity for us. Eddie had never been to a temple dedication, so he was very excited to be there. We also had Patricia with us. She was baptized in August! She loved it! I loved the choir! It was about 17 people! They opened with, "Let the Mountains Shout for Joy!" I didn't need any translation. That's the first song I ever sang in an "adult" stake conference choir! It was fun hearing it in Spanish!

It was a great experience to be united with our Mexican brothers and sisters both in our stake center and in Mexico City. President Monson was funny! In his talk, he told us that he wished he could speak Spanish and then he shared what he remembered from 7th grade Spanish. He rattled off the months of the year! As Pres. Monson said them in Spanish the interpreter said them in English! Then much to my delight!!! He said a few lines of the song I learned in 7th grade! Alla in el rancho grande!!!! Alla donde vi via! He even remembers the same lines I do. I was grateful he didn't finish with the last line! It talks about underwear!!!! He shared stories of LeGrand Richards too. It was a great service. So glad we were able to attend!

My New Favorite Recipe

Ground Turkey Meatloaf
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
1 (120 g) box turkey stuffing mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk or water
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
3 handfuls craisins

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well.
Transfer to a greased loaf pan,.
Bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.
Remove from heat and allow to rest for ten minutes before slicing.

I made this last Sunday. It was so delicious. We had it with mashed potatoes and green beans. It kinda tasted like thanksgiving! It was delicious. Of course Eddie had his own little meatloaf with just ground turkey, a torn up piece of bread, one egg, worcestershire sauce, and bread crumbs to soak up some of the egg, various seasonings...um....garlic, Mrs. Dash original, pepper.
He thought his was delicious too!!!

The original recipe was so tasty!!! Tastes just like candy! I added the craisins to the recipe. I thought it called for them, but it must have been another recipe. They added a delicious sweetness to the loaf!!!

Try it and let me know what you think!!!

Question

If Obama ran on a platform of change.....

Why is he surrounding himself with all the former Clinton-ites?

Change can happen....but what kind of change?

God Bless America.......we need it!

Back to the 1800's we go!

So I guess it's our turn to feel the persecution of the early saints. It's so depressing. I don't understand why a group can call one group "haters" and yet we're not the ones threatening to burn down temples, churches, etc. We're not the ones saying, "You better watch your back!" "If you're getting married in California, you better get more security and your flowers, tuxes and cakes may all be ruined in some way. If that isn't hate, then I don't know what is. I guess this is what the Bible means when it says, "by their fruits ye shall know them." Had things gone the other way and Prop 8 not passed.....would we be out in the streets protesting same-sex marriages, boycotting businesses that were against Prop 8, etc.? No, we would go on with our lives as we always do. Perhaps school classroom sizes would shrink, perhaps there would be a vast migration elsewhere., who knows, I'm sure in a coming day we will find out.

Before the election I told Eddie that if it did pass, we might know a season of peace, but only for a season. It would only be a matter of time until they get their way. And like the temper-tantrum throwing children they are....eventually I'm sure they will get their way....but that won't be enough. They will move on to other causes and issues that really give them nothing more than what they already have, but take away our freedoms and our peace and our security.
I find it fitting that tomorrow's RS & Priesthood lessons are on The Second Coming and Millenium. I think it all can't come soon enough! There still is a lot to happen before then and yet I do believe it's not as far off as we might like to think.
I suppose now I'm feeling it might not have been so hard to leave a home, a land or everything I love for a place of hopeful peace without persecution. Believe me, I look forward to the day when I can leave this place.
Funny thing, prophets have warned through the ages of the calamities that will befall us if we do not support the family and I do believe that destruction will come. While the true haters go on persecuting....who will be the first to run to their aid when such destruction hits? Yes, that's right...we will!
I guess if they can re-define Marriage....they can redefine Hate and Tolerance and Diversity.
I say if you're going to talk the talk, you best be learning how to walk the walk. So much for tolerance!

We had the Elders for dinner!

They tasted good! HA!

Actually, Eddie made his world famous French Toast!!!!

Elder Pennington did a great job of catching the toast as Eddie threw it off the griddle! It's become a tradition of sorts. I wasn't home the first time!
We love our Elders! Elder Beck from Utah, Elder Ball from Chihuahua, Mexico, Elder Pennington from West Virginia and Elder Choy from Korea. They are very fun and provide great opportunities for us to get out and serve. They also bring a wonderful spirit into our home!