It's Fall Ya'll

Today my mom and I had intended on going to Crop girls to do the Crop Pink make n takes. When we got to the store there were way to many people so we decided to just shop and not wait in line to do the make n takes. As we shopped we came across these cute little wood pumpkins and decided to make that our project to do. So we came straight home and made them. It was fun, fast and cost only a few dollars per set of pumpkins !

oops !

This is what happens when you are in a big hurry to get to work on Monday morning!! See the cord hanging down with the red plastic piece? Well that is the emergency release cord... when you pull it the door is released all at once.

When I got in the truck all the windows were rolled down so I rolled them up and backed out... that emergency cord got caught in the shut window and as I backed out it pulled that cord and released the door onto the bed of the truck.

After I realized what had happened I called Kenny to tell me how to fix this... of course it couldn't happen on a day he was there. He directed me what to do and I finally got the door off the truck and headed off to work... late. Luckily there was no damage to the truck or the garage door.

A Turkey and a Birdie

We had a very full weekend starting at 4:20 AM Saturday morning! My dad and Kenny had a 6 AM tee time and I tagged along just for fun. It was SO SO SO much fun.

So for those of you who golfing novices like me par is when you get the ball in the hole in as many stokes as posted. Birdie is one less stroke than par and Eagle is 2 less stokes than par.

On the second hole my dad teed off and hit a nice ball into the air... and hit a bird mid flight!! We were all pretty shocked and amazed! So we just say he got a birdie-- ha ha

Kenny did SO well and got Par on hole 13 !! His first Par ever.

We enjoyed the cool weather (until about 8 AM), all the wildlife (rabbits, quail, lizards, hawks, squirrels, ducks etc), hunting for golf balls, driving the golf carts and laughing together.

After golf we grabbed some lunch at Red Robin with my parents and went home to take naps! Later we went to the Saturday night church service which was SO good by the way.

Sunday we had my parents , Kenny's mom and Nana over for a turkey dinner. We made a limited amount of the traditional fixins just mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls and some of our Taylor sweet corn. We deep fried the turkey! I borrowed a fryer from my friend at work and thought it would be fun to try out.

I had no idea how expensive the oil would be! We spent more money (over $40 ) on the oil than we did all the food! It was pretty nerve racking frying the turkey, but as usual Kenny did a wonderful job and it came out really tasty!

Corn Bread

I thought about sharing the recipes, but that probably isn't a great idea since these are all from a book and it has a copy write... you know? BUT I will tell you, you need to soak the cornmeal in buttermilk over night! and... there is Bacon on it.

I chose to start with cornbread, because it looks like the easiest recipe in the whole book.

It came out wonderfully- but not perfect and doesn't look like the picture at all!! My bacon kinda sunk into the batter and I didn't have as much to sprinkle on top because I didn't use the fatty part of the bacon... I am not sure if it was the soaking of the cornmeal or that I got to use some of my (freshly) frozen Taylor corn, but this cornbread has SO much flavor!

Note to self- leave just a little longer in the oven to brown...

Party Time

Yesterday we took our nephews to Matthew's (Blair's son) birthday party. Little Brian was really happy to see us, but Jake took a while to warm up to us (since we hadn't seen them in 6 weeks). We picked up my mom and visited a little with my dad- the boys were so happy to see their grandparents! It was cute. On the way out Blair's house Jacob fell asleep in the car... so he was a little cranky ... and threw a fit (full on screaming, threw himself on the ground etc) when we got to Blair's. He was pretty much cranky the whole time... I let him drink a whole orange soda which he thought was delicious. Little Brian is SO social and just disappeared into the crowd with the kids and had a blast.

Blair rented a sponge Bob bounce house which I thought the boys would just love since they love Sponge Bob and the bounce house type things... but I was wrong they hated it. We tried to make them go in and show them how fun it was... nope another fit. Little Brian ran off with his new friends and Jake cried.

Even thought it wasn't our favorite visit we still treasure any time we get with the boys.

Yeast vs. Salt

I just learned that salt will kill yeast! When mixing your ingredients you should either stir the salt into the flour and then stir in the yeast or add the salt and yeast to opposite sides of the mixing bowl. (page 57)

New Blog

I am not really sure anyone reads this blog, but I started a new blog... about my bread baking challenge. Check it out! http://breadertomorrow.blogspot.com/

New Blog

I am not really sure very many people read this blog, but I started a new blog... about my bread baking challenge. Check it out! http://breadertomorrow.blogspot.com/

The Start

Recently I saw the movie Julie and Julia and was truly inspired! The movie is about a woman who decided to cook her way through Julia Child's cookbook - Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The cookbook contained 524 challenging recipes and she gave herself 365 days to complete all of them. How challenging and fun! I immediately wanted to start a project just like this...

I went to the book store to check out the cook book and as I flipped through the pages I just thought... I just can't do this. Not only because of the complexity of the cooking, but because there were so many things my husband and I either couldn't or wouldn't eat. We are picky eaters and most recipe books include a seafood section (which is just not for us). Plus the cook book was $40... I carried it around with me as I wondered through the cooking section and came across some baking books... ah I was on the right track now. Breads, desserts, etc now that is more up our ally, although my husband doesn't like much chocolate.

Then I found it. The Bread Baker's Apprentice - Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread by Peter Reinhart. I flipped through the pages and knew, this was the book. This was the challenge I wanted to do and the book I wanted to bake through! We LOVE bread so this would be just perfect. Also, I already love to make bread and do it fairly well... PLUS I have most of the supplies. This book is not just any cookbook filled with recipes it actually is written by a teacher and includes a great tutorial. The book was $35 - yikes... but I had a nervous excitement creep over me- I can do this, I am going to do this!

So this is my challenge- 1 year to cook through all of the recipes in The BBA. There are about 50 recipes and I intend to cook all of the variations listed. It is not as lofty as Julie Powell and her 524 recipes, but I am excited... and nervous.

Labor Day

This is quickly turning into a food blog unintentionally! Monday Kenny made a delicious new recipe in the cock pot-

Jerre's Black Bean and Pork Tenderloin Slow Cooker Chili

INGREDIENTS

· 1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 2 inch strips

· 1 small onion, coarsely chopped

· 1 small red bell pepper, coarsely chopped

· 3 (15 ounce) cans black beans

· 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa

· 1/2 cup chicken broth

· 1 teaspoon dried oregano

· 1 teaspoon ground cumin

· 2 teaspoons chili powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine pork tenderloin, onion, red pepper, black beans, salsa, chicken broth, oregano, cumin, and chili powder in a slow cooker. Set to Low and cook for 8 to 10 hours.

2. Break up pieces of cooked pork to thicken the chili before serving.

We had my parents over for dinner to taste test it! Of course it was fabulous. Also,

Kenny has taken up golfing and him and my dad were practicing their putting

in the living room... as much as they could before the dogs would steal the golf balls! We had some of our canned peaches with our ice cream for dessert!

Utah Peaches

35 lbs of tree ripe peaches for $34.99, 5 dozen peaches, 6 quarts and 17 pints bottled, 5 hours, and one sticky kitchen = accomplishment!

My guy!

I snapped this picture on one of my breaks from the kitchen yesterday. Kenny changing the oil in our truck. Doesn't the truck look huge inside the garage! Kenny is so talented... I am super blessed.

Corn, Corn and more Corn!!

Since this was my first time making frozen and bottled corn and I bought 6 dozen ears I thought I would just try a bunch of differnt methods and receipes I found online they are--

# 1

8 c. corn
1 stick butter
2 c. water
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt

Cut corn off cob. Don't scrape, cut twice. Mix all ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often. Put in bags; cool and store in freezer.

# 2

8 c. corn
3/4 c. sugar
2 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Husk and clean corn. Cut corn off cob. Combine all ingredients. Boil for one minute. Completely cool before putting into freezing containers. Freeze.

#3-

Corn on the cob

Brine. Mix:

1 qt. water
1 tbsp. canning salt
3 tbsp. sugar

Blanch fresh sweet corn. Cut fresh corn off the cob. Pack into containers for freezing. Add 1/3 cup brine to each 1 pint corn.

#4- 3 dozen fresh corn ears

1 lb. butter
1 pt. half & half

Husk, silk, and wash the corn; cut from cob (electric knife works fine). Cut from cob and put in large roaster. Add the butter and half & half. Put in oven at 325 degrees for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven; cool by placing roaster in sink with cold water under it. When slightly cooled, package and freeze as quickly as possible. Makes 16-18 cups

Taylor Corn Festival

We (Kenny, my parents and I) left the house at 5:30 AM Saturday morning for our almost 400 mile round trip to Taylor Arizona for the annual Corn Festival . It rained, poured and drizzled on us most of the way up and for the majority of the morning, but we actually really enjoyed it. We don't get to see much rain and the cool weather was such a nice change from the heat!

We had fun shopping even in the rain and ended up getting some home made soaps, lotions and preserves.

We had a nice lunch under the shelter of the awnings and tried funnel cake and fried oreos~! They were pretty good. About that time Beverly & Lloyd got there and we walked around the fair a little longer.

After the fair we went and got our corn from a one of the local farmers. One of their neighbors had a bull from Africa

which of course we had to check out. Then we started our trek home, but we stopped at a bunch of places to take pictures, explore, shop etc.

It was such a great day!

( Bear Hunting! )

Totally and completely spoiled!

Last week my friend at work surprised me with a new Bible. She got it for me because I am starting a new Bible study by Beth Moore and she said I would really like having a Life Application Bible. It was really sweet of her and I do love it! And Kenny loved it so much I went and bought him one. We have been reading every night since!

Then out of no where my friend Carol made me this adorable Picnic quilt!! She included an Apron, the cutest salt n pepper shakers and a bowl with my picnic kit! It was for a pay it forward project she was doing. Luckeeee me!

You know its not about the stuff. Its the fact that people care enough to do little (in this case big) things for others just because. Both of these women are SO generous and they make me want to give too.

Funnies

This may only be funny to me, but I thought I would share anyway. I love love love smelly good lotions, Kenny does not. So he bought this plain, no fragrance, walmart brand lotion... and then I put this cute little cover on it... months ago~ I was cleaning the counter off this evening and I noticed the bottle was still full and asked him why he hadn't used any.... its girly. HA HA clear to me now, I mean its wearing a dress!

Date Night!

Tonight my loving husband took me on a fabulous surprise date. I don't have any pictures, but wanted to post about it just so I could remember. We went to Pei Wei for dinner- for the first time ever. It was such great food (even better company). I got the Pei Wei spicy chicken and let me tell you they put the spicy symbol next to that one for a reason! Kenny got the sweet & sour chicken and thought it was delicious. After dinner we went to see Julie & Julia which I have been wanting to see for weeks! It is a total chick flick and I am so happy I have a hubby who will go even if its not something he is interested in seeing. I loved the movie and it inspired me! I want to do something like that!! (in the movie Julie cooks thru and entire Julia Childs recipe book and blogs about it) I am not that into cooking, but I have other ideas... like my hiking book -- I could do all the hikes in it and blog about it OR maybe a cook book (not French cooking though) or a craft magazine... not sure but I will think of something... more to come on that.