What have I done with my life?

I saw this on Brittany Rodgers' blog, and I thought it was pretty cool. So I'm going to post it here; the things I've done are bolded. 

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band 

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford

7. Been to Disneyland (& World)

8. Climbed a mountain 

9. Held a praying mantis 

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you are not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language (sign language, but not very fluently)

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michaelangelo's David

41. Sang Karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful in person

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (as long as Burger King counts!)

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported by ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. visited the Great Wall of China

57. Taken a martial arts class

58. Started a business

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout cookies

62. Gone Whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London

77. Broken a bone (just a toe though)

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book (I have helped edit several though)

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper 

85. Swam in the ocean

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 

88. Had Chickenpox

89. Saved someone's life (does giving it count? I've done that twice... :))

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Fallen madly in love (I added that one on my own.) :)

Pretty cool list, huh? Life is good.

Earthquake Cake--Natural Disasters Never Tasted So Good!

This recipe is for a really fun cake called "Earthquake Cake." I think it's named that for the super-bumpy texture it has once it's baked. I baked it for a book club meeting and served it again at a church function, and everyone loved it! So without further ado, here's the REALLY SIMPLE recipe. 

Earthquake Cake

1 c. flaked coconut

1 c. chocolate chips

1 c. nuts (I used pecans, the recipe calls for walnuts)

1 box German chocolate cake mix (and whatever the mix calls for)

1 8-oz. package cream

 cheese (room temperature)

2-1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 stick butter or margarine (also room temperature)

1 tsp. vanilla

Sprinkle coconut, chocolate chips, and nuts on the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan. Follow direction

s on box of cake mix to prepare batter. Pour batter over the chocolate chipmixture. For cream cheese filling, beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy. Add powdered sugar about 1/2 c. at a time and beat until creamy. Add vanilla and mix thoroughly. Drop 

cream cheese mixture by heaping spoonfulls over cake batter. Swirl the cream cheese through the cake using a knife. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until cake is set and cream cheese isn't too gooey. (I actually baked mine f

or more than 40 minutes, but the recipe said 30-40, so maybe my oven is just slow.)

Super Easy Cookie Idea

Hey all! Just so you know, I'm probably the worst blogger ever. I really don't post often enough, and it's never even regular. So sorry! 

Anyhow, today's post is for all of you who love fresh hot cookies, hate premade grocery-store dough, have trouble not eating the whole batch at once when you do make them, have cookies go stale because you don't eat them fast enough, or who don't have enough time to make a batch from scratch every time the craving hits. So: want delicious, oven-fresh cookies any time you want them without all the work of a brand new batch? 

Try this. Make a batch of cookie dough (or two, or however much you want to store). Form the dough into one-inch balls and flatten into circles (on average they're about 1/2 inch thick). Spread the dough discs on a cookie sheet (It doesn't matter how close together they are. You're not cooking them yet.) and place the pan in your freezer. Once the dough is frozen solid, take the

cookies and place them in a resealable freezer bag. 

Now, all you have to do to get those fresh, hot cookies you've been craving is to place them on a cookie sheet and stick 'em in the oven. No thawing, no mixing, no mess. 

I'm including a recipe for some amazing chocolate chip cookies:

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1 c. butter 

1 c. white sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. unbleached flour

2 1/2 c. oat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

12 oz. milk chocolate chips

1-1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine flours, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and combine well. Add chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes if fresh, about 12 if frozen.

The Plan of Salvation

I think today I'm going to do a personal post. This weekend Mike and I went to a funeral for a little boy only 2 months younger than our darling Lucy, and it was one of those opportunities to think about what it is we truly believe.

I've been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints my whole life. From the time I was 3 I've been taught the Plan of Salvation. This is what we call God's plan for us. We believe that before we came to Earth, we existed as spirits with our Father in Heaven. He told us of His plan for us to come to earth, receive bodies, and be tested. He told us that He would send us a Savior, even Jesus Christ, who would pay the price of our sins; thus if we lived righteously and repented of our sins, we could be forgiven and return to our Father's presence to live for eternity with our families. Because there must be opposition in all things, there was another plan brought forth by our brother Lucifer. He had a plan that would ensure that everyone would return, but it required us to forfeit our agency. At that point in our premortal existence, God the Father allowed us to choose: agency with the possibility of not being able to return to our Father's presence, or no agency. We know what happened--those who chose Lucifer's plan were cast out, Lucifer became Satan, and the hosts that followed him became devils to persuade men to be miserable as they are. Those who chose the Father's plan were sent to Earth, to receive bodies and be tested.

We believe that this mortal existence is a time for us to be tested. We believe that there are certain things we must accomplish in this life in order for us to return to God's presence: we must be baptized and make certain covenants (or promises) in the temple. When we die, we are sent to a spirit world, which is divided into two sections: spirit paradise, where dwell those who led righteous lives, and spirit prison, where dwell those who were wicked. We believe that those in the spirit world are continuously striving to teach the true gospel, watch over the living, and rest from mortal cares as we prepare for the next step, which is resurrection and judgment. At this point, following judgment, we believe we are sent to one of four places: the celestial kingdom, which is where God the Father dwells, the terrestial kingdom, which is where good people who have not accepted the true gospel or temple covenants go, and the telestial kingdom, which is where those who refused to repent or lived wicked lives go. The fourth place is called outer darkness, and is reserved for only the vilest of sinners.

I know this is a lot to take in, and it's only a basic summary of this truly glorious plan, but as I've pondered on life and death this week, it's been on my mind a lot. It's tragic when children die. It doesn't seem right that someone so innocent and pure would have to leave this earth so early, and leaving us with broken hearts as we lose so many opportunities and miss the lost person so terribly. What a comfort it is to know, though, that there IS life after this! Not only that, but if we are sealed together as families in the temple, those lost children, mothers, fathers, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. will be ours again! In the Kingdom of God, we WILL be families again. So even though we still have to live out the rest of our mortal lives without the beloved lost member, we have all of eternity to celebrate a joyful reunion. And I KNOW that eternity will be a lot longer than we're here on earth. To me it's comforting to know that death is not the end--merely the beginning of a much grander existence, free from hurt, pain, tiredness, sin... and what could be better than that?

If there were one thing I could tell everyone I know, it would be that our Savior lives. I know that Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of everyone who has ever lived on this earth, and that if we will but accept his atonement, live righteously, and repent of the inevitable mistakes, we will be blessed beyond any mortal imagination. I am so thankful that I have been sealed to my family. I know that when we leave this mortal stage, we will still be a family.

And that is good news.

For more information on the LDS (or Mormon) church, visit www.mormon.org, or www.lds.org

Banana Split Cake

Summer finally came to the state of Utah! It seems like Mother Nature is dragging her heels changing seasons around here... Winter lasted until April, and now here we are in the middle of June just drying out from the spring rain.

This year, I feel very blessed to have a real honest-to-goodness air conditioner--it's the first year since 2001 that I've been in control of the temperature in my house. But even still, summer is hot, and it can be a challenge to cook your food without cooking yourself. We wind up firing up the grill quite a bit, and meal salads become a staple. So what do you do when someone in the family has a birthday and wants cake? Slave away in the kitchen with a roasting oven? Never! Try this delicious recipe for banana split cake! It doesn't have ice cream in it, so you don't need to worry about it melting all over the place if you have an outdoor party. As a warning, the recipe calls for raw eggs, but you can use a pasteurized egg product instead if you want. The buttery layer just melts in your mouth... it is so delicious!

Banana Split Cake

The recipe is huge, but it halves easily.

1 stick (½ c.) butter or margarine
2 c. cinnamon graham cracker crumbs
2 sticks (1 c.) butter, softened to room temperature—Must be butter!
2 c. powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 bananas, sliced
1/3 pint strawberries, sliced
1 can crushed pineapple, drained well
1 tub (13 oz.) cool whip
chocolate syrup, chopped maraschino cherries, chopped nuts

1. Melt 1 stick butter in a 9x13 pan. Pat graham cracker crumbs to form a crust. Bake the crust for 6 or so minutes (until it starts to brown) at 350. Be sure to COOL THE CRUST COMPLETELY before you spread the next layer over it, or the butter will melt and you'll have to start over.

2. Combine 2 sticks butter, powdered sugar, and eggs in a mixer. Beat for about 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl occasionally, until mixture is fluffy. Spread over graham cracker crust. Partially freeze it by placing the pan in the freezer for about 30 minutes. You don't want it completely frozen though or the cake will be too hard to cut and eat. (If you want you could use real ice cream for this layer and bypass the raw eggs, but the buttery stuff is sooo delicious.)

3. Arrange sliced bananas over butter-sugar layer. Arrange sliced strawberries (I've used frozen strawberries before with this recipe. Fresh taste better, but you can use frozen if you either keep them frozen or thaw and partially drain them) over bananas. Spread crushed pineapple over strawberries.

4. Spread Cool Whip over fruit. Drizzle chocolate syrup on top and sprinkle with chopped cherries and nuts.

Enjoy!

Still cooking! Back with the best egg roll recipe!

Hi All!

I don't know exactly how this happened, but I somehow managed to forget about my poor little blog for almost 2 years. 2 years! Crazy. Anyway, I'm back now, and I don't plan to stay away that long again.

I do want to make a change though. In the past, this has been strictly recipes and tips, but I want to be able to blog about more than just cooking. So every once in a while, I plan to post about the garden I've recently started and about my kids, who are at the same time the craziest and most lovable people on earth. If the personal posts just aren't your thing, feel free to pass on by. And to my friends who are new to this blog, welcome! I hope you find something you like. If I've ever made something for you that you want the recipe for, feel free to request a post!

And now, on to the recipe. This particular egg roll recipe was given to me by my good friend and sort-of cousin, Brittany Rodgers. She made it for our family once, and I had to have the recipe! I've since made these egg rolls for many of our good friends, and almost all of them have requested it too. So without further ado:

Thai/Cambodian Egg Rolls
1 lb. spicy sausage
2-4 cloves garlic
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 clumps bean strands/threads*
1 package coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
fish sauce, to taste (usually 3-4 teaspoons)
soy sauce, to taste (usually 2 or 3 tablespoons)
sesame seed oil, to taste (usually 1-1/2 - 2 teaspoons)
2 packages egg roll wrappers (I think there are 20 per package)
1 egg
oil for frying
Spicy peanut dipping sauce (we use House of Tsang's Bangkok Padang Peanut Sauce)
1 head iceberg or green leaf lettuce

Brown onion, sausage, and garlic, breaking sausage into little pieces.

Meanwhile, place 2 clumps of bean threads in a bowl. Pour boiling water over the bean threads until they are submerged. When bean threads have finished soaking, they will be clear and should have the texture of cooked noodles--this should take about 10-15 minutes. It will say on the package. When they're done soaking, drain and cut them into smaller pieces.

After that is done, combine bean threads, sausage mixture, and coleslaw mix in a big bowl. I always add the fish sauce first so that I can "mix by smell"--you really don't want too much fish sauce. When you've added enough, it should smell slightly fishy. Then add the soy sauce and sesame seed oil to taste (or smell!).

Heat oil for frying in a large, heavy frying pan. Use enough oil that half the egg roll is submerged--about an inch and a half.

In a small bowl, slightly beat an egg. Wrap filling in egg roll wrap and seal with the egg. To do this, you place about 2 heaping tablespoons of mixture over the wrap diagonally, from corner to corner. Fold up the bottom corner so that it tucks in on the other side, then roll it up once tightly and fold in the corners. Brush egg onto the top corner and the rolled side, then tightly roll together and seal. This recipe makes around 35-40 egg rolls.

Make sure the oil is hot before you start frying, or you're just marinating your egg roll in grease. Gross. You can check by dropping a single piece of cabbage in the oil to see if it sizzles.

Fry egg rolls 4 or 5 at a time, depending on the size of your pan, until bubbly looking and golden.

Serve wrapped in lettuce leaves with spicy peanut dipping sauce.

*Bean threads are the starch from beans that has been strung out to resemble noodles. They are available in some grocery stores and in specialty Asian stores. I buy mine at the Macey's grocery store in Orem... they don't have them at Macey's in Spanish Fork. I really don't think the recipe would be very good without them--they're worth the effort it takes to buy them.

Sourdough English Muffins

Bet you thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth, huh? Well, not exactly, but things have been a little busy and unfortunately I've been neglecting my blog. There is some rather fun news though. One is that my baby had his first birthday last month, and two is that my husband graduates from university in 3 weeks. Yay! We've got the housing bug bigtime--we can hardly wait to get into our own place. :)

I've been working with several recipes in the meantime, and I've had a lot of success with the originals. The one that I had the most fun with was the sourdough English muffin recipe, so I'll share that one with you first. I tried an English muffin recipe a few months ago, but it tasted so bland without the sourdough zing. So, I bought a start from my local grocery store (if yours doesn't carry packaged start, I'm including instructions for a basic start at the end of this post), found a better recipe, and voi la, perfect English muffins! And yes, you can make these sourdough English muffins entirely from food storage. Unlike most homemade breads, these muffins will keep for at least a week and still taste great.

Sourdough English Muffins
Makes at least 2 dozen (closer to 2-1/2 dozen)

Before you go to bed:
1 c. starter (if yours isn't bubbly enough, and you don't think it will raise bread, use 1 tsp. yeast in addition)
2 tbsp. honey
2 c. reconstituted powdered milk
4 c. all-purpose flour (or 2 c. a-p flour and 2 c. whole wheat flour)

Combine starter, honey, and milk in a large glass or plastic bowl. Stir in flour, 2 c. at a time, until well combined. There's no need to knead--you'll do that later. Spray a little cooking oil over the top of the dough so that it doesn't dry out overnight, cover with plastic wrap and a towel, and let rise overnight.

When you get up:
1 scant tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
1-2 c. all-purpose flour
Cornmeal

Stir down your dough. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the top, and combine. If the dough is too sticky for kneading, add 1/2 c. flour at this time and work in with a wooden spoon. Once your dough is cohesive enough, turn it out onto a floured board and work in as much flour as you need. When the dough no longer sticks to your hands, knead for five minutes. Pinching the dough should feel like pinching your earlobe.

Lightly flour board again and roll dough to 1/2 inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter or an upside down drinking glass to cut as many rounds as you can. Place cut dough onto a corn-meal-dusted baking sheet. Knead together remaining dough, roll out, cut, and repeat.

When all your muffins are cut, sprinkle the tops with cornmeal, cover with a towel, and allow to rise for about an hour.

Preheat a cast-iron skillet (a non-stick griddle works well too) with a tiny bit of butter over medium-low heat. When the butter sizzles, place as many muffins as will fit on your skillet. Pan-bake for about 4 minutes per side, TURNING ONLY ONCE. When you flip your muffins over, squash them a bit with the spatula so that they cook flatly on the second side.

To serve, insert two forks into the side edge of the muffin and pull the top and bottom apart. This creates the "nooks and crannies" that taste so good when filled with butter. Toast to desired blackness, and smother with butter. Mmmmm!

Original recipe can be found at http://www.sourdoughhome.com.

If you can't find a start, you can make one.
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. yeast
2 c. lukewarm water

Combine ingredients in a glass or plastic bowl and stir with a wooden or plastic spoon. Do not use metal anything when working with the starter. Once combined, the start should have the same consistency as pancake batter. If it's too runny, add more flour--if too thick, add water. Place a paper towel or piece of cheesecloth over your start and allow it to sit in a warm (about 85 degrees) place overnight. The next day, remove one cup of the liquid and replace with 1/2 c. water and 1/2 c. flour. This is called "feeding your start," and while it's out of the fridge, you'll need to do it every day. Once your start becomes bubbly and has a fermeted, sour odor, you can store it in the fridge and reduce feedings to once a week. The longer you leave it out of the fridge, though, the more flavor your start will develop. Every once in a while, you'll need to pour your start into a fresh container. I use a glass quart jar with a paper towel over the top.