Remembering the "Keys" to success~

As many of you know, I have been doing Weight Watchers for 18 months now. I have really grown to love the ladies that are there every single week to cheer me up, cheer me on and remind me that "I can do it". They have become my friends and well as my teachers. The program here in Duchesne has officially been terminated for "lack of people". When they started the program here, we had quite a few signed up and coming. But over the year and 1/2 that its been here, there have been those that have come and gone, come back again and then those that we saw once and never saw again. I wished they could keep the program going, but I understand that if there isn't an intrest, they can't afford to keep it up and running. So as for now, I will have to travel to Altamont or Roosevelt to attend the meetings and weigh in every week. I wanted to say "Thank You" to my devoted WW leaders so I decided to make a crafty little key holder (to remind them of all the "KEYS" to weight loss that they taught me..LOL). I thought that I could just whip these things right out...boy was I wrong. They took some time, in fact about 6-8 hours with all the drying time too. But it was worth it, I know they put in alot of time on my behalf and I really apprecitate them....THANKS so much, Barb, Kathy and Peggy. I will miss your smiling faces, your encouragement and your great pep talks. Hopefully I can remember everything I was taught and keep plugging along.

Who doesn't love PIE!

I love Banana Cream Pie! (Really...I just love pie of all kinds!!!) BUT not the kind that you make with a boxed pudding mix and I don't love the banana's in it unless they are fresh and haven't gotten brown, so in other words...it has to be HOMEMADE AND... FRESH! The best Banana Cream Pie that I have ever eaten is at the Frontier Grill in Roosevelt (I haven't been there in a couple of years...since the new owners took over... so I don't know what it tastes like now but it use to be super good there) I have tried recipe after recipe trying to make a "mock version" and this is the closest that I have come up with. I make these usually once a year, on Thanksgiving, but for some reason I made several of them the other day....YUM! They hit the spot!!!! I get requests to make them all the time, but they are a little time consuming to make, so I usually don't do it.

Never Fail- Homemade Pie Crust

4 c. flour

1 T. sugar

2 t. salt

1 3/4 c. shortening

1 T. vinegar

1 egg

1/2 c. cold water

Mix flour, sugar, and salt. Add shortening, and mix with a fork or pastry cutter until ingredients are crumbly. Beat together egg, vinegar, and water. Make a small "hole" in your flour mixture and pour the wet mixture in, stirring with a fork to moisten ingredients. Make 3 balls of dough and roll it out by placing 1 ball at a time, in between 2 pieces of wax paper, until flat. Put into pie pan and cook at 375 for 10-12 minutes for a cream pie shell or 45-50 minutes for a double fruit pie shell.

Basic Cream Pie Filling

2/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

2 c. milk (2% milk)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 T. butter or margarine

1 t. vanilla

1-2 cups whipped topping or make your own whipped cream (I like the homemade the best)

to top your pie with.

Mix sugar, flour, and salt in a 2 qt. saucepan. Add milk gradually, stirring to blend thoroughly. bring to a full boil over MEDIUM heat. (don't hurry this process or it will scorch and leave brown flakes in your custard mix) Stir constantly. Remove from heat and let stand, covered for 5 minutes. Add some of the hot mixture to the eggs, gradually, then add to cooked mixture. Bring again to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook 1 minute longer. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Cool for 5 minutes, then pour into cooled pie shell. Just before serving top with whipped cream. Keep pie refrigerated.

*This cream pie filling takes some time, but it is SOOOO worth it!!!

*for Chocolate Cream Pie just add 2/3 c. chocolate chips when you add the butter and vanilla

*for Coconut cream pie filling, add 1/2 c. flaked coconut to filling before you pour it into pie shell. I've tried both and they are really good!

A little work, but well worth it!

One of my families favorite meals is, Navajo Taco's. I don't make them very often because I don't particularly like to make the scones...(mainly, I just don't like to smell like a short order cook...BUT alas~ the things that we will do for the ones that we love!) I found a new scone recipe that tastes very similar to the scones covered in honey butter that I relish (so messy and delicious) when I go to some of those little "Mom and Pop Cafes". These Scones are really good and taste even better with the homemade Honey Butter that I made to go with them.

Scones

1 qt. buttermilk

2 T. yeast dissolved in 1/2 c. luke warm water

3 T. sugar

2 beaten eggs

6 T oil (I used canola)

1 1/2 t. salt

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

10 2/3 c. flour

Mix all together in a large bowl. Knead thoroughly. No need to let it rise. Form scones and fry in a pan with HOT oil. Serve with Navajo Taco meat or with Honey Butter (recipe below).

Honey Butter

1 lb. butter (no substitutes)

1/2- 3/4 c. honey (depends on the consistency you want your honey butter to be)

Let butter sit out and get to room temperature, but not melted. Combine the butter and the honey and whip with a mixer until fully blended together. Serve. Enjoy...but store the leftovers in the refrigerator.

Not much happening out there!

Here it is the middle of June. The carrots look as though its the middle of May, the tomoto's look as though I just planted them last week and the peppers are all sorts of confused as to what they are supposed to be doing. Some of them are 4 inches high and are trying to grow peppers...I think they need to be a bit bigger to take on such a feat!...But it looks as though they are going to try their best to do what they are "supposed" to be doing~ which is produce vegetables. My zucchini is looking yellow and peaked and like they are going to kill over at any moment, which I thought was impossible, I didn't know you could kill zucchini. I think the only thing in my garden that has loved the rain, is the peas! They look great and have peas all over the vines. Won't be long and we will be eating them. The flowers seem to be loving the rain too. I am getting flowers in my yard that didn't bloom until the end of July last year...hope they continue to bloom until then. I am sure that my garden is no different than anyone elses around here...a little sad looking. Hopefully the weather is changing and the sun will straighten things out.

Worth the stop~

Even though Halle and I had been on a "Field Trip" of our own, all week long (Girls camp) and didn't get home until Thursday, we decided that we wanted to soak in the sun that Friday was offering and go on a field trip...(after all it was "Field Trip Friday" in our house). We were planning on having a picnic on our way to Provo to do a little shopping and have dinner with

Dayna (Jack couldn't come),

but we got away late and ended up eating before we left. BUT~ we stopped at one of my favorite spots in Daniels Canyon anyway, Whisky Springs. As a child we use to stop there for a potty break sometimes and I always thought it was so pretty.

I longed to get out and run around and enjoy it, but we never did. SO since I've had a family of my own, we make frequent stops there during the spring and summer months...and Friday was no different.

We got out and basked in the sunshine, walked in the grass, played in the water and hiked up

the trail... for what else?...but to take pictures! (I "had" to have pictures to go with my blog you know!) I love the trial there. Its so pretty. Its even peaceful there, even though the road is

right next to it, you don't hear the cars coming and going. We saw 5 little squirrels eating something out in the middle of the grass. They didn't seem to be bothered by us until I tried to walk up and get a good picture of them, then they ran under some bushes but still looked out to watch me. We stayed for about 45 minutes and then headed off to Provo. We shopped around for a bit and then we met Dayna at Cafe Rio for dinner. We got it to go and went on a picnic to the park. I love this time of year (when the weather is good), when we can picnic and just enjoy the beautiful greens and vibrant

colors. I love to hear the birds chirp and watch the clouds as they pass by. Really~ what isn't there to enjoy about summer!? We had a super time and the kids are already asking

"What are we going to do for "Field Trip Friday" this week? Guess I better come up with a plan, huh?!

A little mud never hurt anyone...or DID it!?

As a teenager, I remember LIVING for each summer so that I could go to Girls Camp. I couldn't wait and I packed for weeks before the big day. I made sure that I had all of my clothes, my sleeping bag, my compass, my pocket knife and my bug repellant... and I checked everything off of my list. I had a great time each and every year. I have wonderful memories of those camps, with my friends and my leaders. We played some mean and awful practical jokes...(I feel bad about them now!) But we had some neat experiences there as well. Girls Camp was the highlight of my summer for alot of years. This year was Halle's first year at Girls Camp. She came home from church with her list of camping gear that she needed and started fretting about how she was going to get it all packed. And then she started stressing about "what if we don't have this or that." In the end she ended up with 2 LARGE garbage bags with her coat and sleeping bag in them, 1 duffle bag and a back pack. She was quite pleased that she got it all to fit???!!! WOW! She had a great time. I was one of the Stake Leaders this year and so I got to be there too. I didn't get to spend very much time with her, but I did pop in and out of her camp once in awhile and see how she was doing. We went up Timberlane (which is up Argyle Canyon/ Indian Canyon for those of you who know where that is). The road is straight clay...which when it gets wet...is slicker than snot (for real). Going up it was sunny and beautiful. The first day was wonderful. It sprinkled a bit here and there but it wasn't too bad. That night it started to pour. I think that it rained from 12:30am-5:00am. The Stake Leaders (me and 4 other ladies) camped in an A frame cabin, which was SO COLD, but at least it was dry. Several wards had tents that leaked and bedding was soaked. One group of girls actually came wandering over into our cabin when their tent flooded, so they would have a dry place to sleep. We woke up and had planned on going on the hike that day at 9:00 but didn't dare because of the mud. After the sun came up and things dried out a bit, we set off to hike. Which wasn't too muddy...much to my surprise. It wasn't too long after we got back that it started to rain and rain and rain. We were planning on having our spiritual fireside and testimony meeting that night around the camp fire but with all of the rain and the fact that it kept coming...we were a bit concerned. Not too long before it came time to set up for all of that- the rain STOPPED. The sun came up...and we were able to have our meetings as planned. IT turned out wonderfully. I think alot of the girls had their testimonies strengthened and had neat experiences that night ( I know that I did). Just before going to bed we were standing around the campfire and looked up to see the stars in the sky. We were all sure that the weather was going to hold out and we were going to be able to drive out the next day, with DRY, SAFE ROADS. I woke up at 5:30 and looked out the window...it was getting light and the sky was getting blue. I fell back to sleep, so very glad that the rain was gone. BUT... I woke up at 7:00am to the sound of pitter- patter on our tin roof from what else but... RAIN!!! POURING RAIN none the less!!! It poured and poured and poured. And then the fog set in too. We were all so wet, muddy and very cold. There were a couple of the men that came in on the roads that morning and said that there was NO WAY that we could get back out without chains. Of course none of us had any of those. Everyone just wanted to go home. We had had a great time, but we were tired of being wet, cold and muddy. Most of us didn't have a dry coat anymore, or a pair of dry shoes. After what seemed like a LONG time...we got word that someone in town was bringing up a Grader to grade the road so we could get out of the canyon. By 11:00 we sent the first group of cars down the mountain. I was petrified of driving on the roads...mud, slick and wet...don't mix with me. I had decided that Halle and I would stay up there until the weather cleared and the roads dried out, even if it was a day or two. We had enough food and we would stick it out. Because I wasn't going to drive on the roads, they really do terrify me (its not even a joke, they really do!) But prayers were answered and a member of our Stake Presidency drove me out of the canyon and down the muddy roads. I was so grateful and thankful that he was there and able to help me in my time of need. We all got home safe and sound, unloaded the car, washed the clothes and bedding and got a good "WARM" nights sleep. After all the rain and the cold and the stress of it all....Halle had a great time and can't wait for next years GIRLS CAMP!

A little color goes a long ways~

I didn't get any petunias this year and have regretted not having them. I love the way they smell and brightened up my yard. They have such vibrant colors and are nice to mix in with all of the green in my yard. But all is not lost....I was at Walmart last week and they were having a clearance on some of their potted plants...and I ran into one that I had never seen before. Its called a "Bougainvillea". Its such a pretty flowering vine. It will climb to be 6 feet tall and loves the sun. I grabbed 3 of them and thought I would plant them somewhere really sunny in my yard, but then the lady in the garden department told me that they won't come back next year because they only tolerate the cold up to 38 degree's...bummer! But she also told me- that I could plant them in a pot and let them grow and then bring them in when it gets cold. Then take them back outside next summer. I planted them as soon as I got home, set them on my porch and have loved them. The ONLY thing that worries me now is...they are supposed to have 8 hours of sunlight...and we haven't been getting 8 hours of anything but RaIn. And after having them out on the porch for a week, they are looking a little peeked. Hopefully next week the sun will be up and they will bounce right back...I can only HoPE!