Things that have made my summer (and most of them I didn't even plan!)

1. This trampoline:



Okay, this one I planned. When it arrived, I truly think I squealed louder than my kids. And clapped my hands, jumping up and down. I didn't even know then the, literally, hours my kids (and all the neighbors) would spend on this thing. There is NO downside. Exercise, entertainment, sleeping quarters...this trampoline has it all. Best money I've spent all year.

2.This activity (all Emma's idea).



Have your oldest, most responsible kid get all of your bikes, trikes, wagons, and scooters out of the garage. Have her call all of the neighbor kids over. Give her a bottle of dish soap (you'll never see a drop of it again, but it will be worth it.) Give her a hose and allow her to "clean" every piece of your equipment in your garage. Everyone was busy, wet and happy for at least an hour and your stuff looked shiny and new when they were done. Ingenious.

3. This drink


Meghann, my best food friend ever, gave me this mix for my birthday. It was amazing, especially after I figured out how to crush the ice to a molecular consistency. We ate the whole can in 4 days and then I called Meghann and she said it cost $16 at Williams-Sonoma and I really wished I hadn't given any of that liquid gold to my kids.

I have since spent every night perfecting Ilene's frozen hot chocolate recipe, to try to get it the closer to the Serendipity one. (Sorry, Ilene, yours was yummy, but too chocolatety for Ryan). This is what I've come up with:

Jessica's frozen hot chocolate

2.5 T. cocoa powder

3.5 T. good hot chocolate mix (love the LDS Cannery's mix)

1 T. Quik

6 T. sugar

1 T. malted milk powder (I don't even like malt flavoring, but it is essential in this recipe)

1/2 c. cream

1/2 c. milk

3 c. ice

Mix everything but the ice in a blender. Add ice. Blend, stir with spoon, blend again. Get that ice completely and totally pulverized. Serve in two tall glasses.

(But, for a splurge sometime, really....get the Serendipity brand).

4. This vest.


I made Seth put this on this morning, just for your viewing pleasure, beloved blog audience, and he will now ask me ALL DAY LONG when we are going swimming, no matter how many times I tell him we aren't. So I hope you are appreciative.

So I went to Target in California to get a swim vest for Seth. (side note: Ryan is opposed to floaty swim-aids. As a former swim teacher, he thinks it gets in the way of learning to swim...but since I have a million children now, I cannot be on top of Seth-with-no-life-saving-device.) This was the only one they had, so I bought it.

It is the best thing ever. It isn't super-floaty, so they have to do a lot of the work themselves. Seth kicks his legs, uses his arms, and can get anywhere in the pool, but is perfectly safe. I've never seen this type of vest before, but I love it.


So there. You have one month of summer left. Use these ideas and thank me later.

Some suggestions

Visit this:

http://aricandjessica.weebly.com/

This is my good friend Jessica A's adoption website. They are dying for a baby and apparently the way most couples get to adopt is because a friend of a friend knows someone who is thinking about placing their child for adoption.

They should definitely place with Aric and Jessica.

Rent this:

Totally scary and a little violent, but kept me guessing the whole time. And thinking about it for days afterward. Loved it.

Use this:

This is my favorite face tanner. They were out of it when I went to buy it this season and I got another brand and DO NOT like it as much. Except I think this picture says gel bronze and I hate bronzer, so I get the Clinique face tanner without bronzer. Totally natural look, no skin cancer.

Read this:

Of the books I've read in the past couple of months, I'd have to say this was my favorite. Kind of a slightly more adult, girlish Harry Potter--I thought it was a total page turner and have loved the sequels.

Watch this:

Quite possibly my favorite show of the year. And Ryan's. Don't tell him I told you.

Make this:

BBQ Chicken Salad

Layer:

romaine lettuce

tomatoes

green onions

heated black beans

monterey jack cheese

grilled chicken--

(I grill it with bbq sauce on it and then toss it with more)

ranch dressing

Serve with bread or whole wheat muffins and fruit. Easy, fast, yummy summer meal.

Anything else you need?

How to overcelebrate a minor holiday

1. Put little green footprints leading from the window to the landing on the stairs.

2. Fill a pot with gold foiled candy and rainbow Skittles, with a box of Lucky Charms.

3. Feel sorry for the teachers who have to deal with these kids on their breakfast sugar highs:

4. Dress your darling kids (and yourself, sorry Zeeny!) in lots o' green.

5. For dinner, invite friends to share in the feast of Corned Beef and Cabbage, Irish Soda Bread,

and Lime Jello with Gold Nuggets (pineapple chunks). (Click on the dishes for links to the recipes).

6. Make these ridiculous leprechaun ears (thanks, Betsy), so your kids can look like this:

7. Set the table in all the green WalMart has to offer

8. Since in the their sugar-induced coma your children probably learned nothing at school, provide them a "Charming Math" worksheet, where they go through bowls of Lucky Charms, sorting and adding all the marshmallow shapes they find.

9. Finish off your pointless holiday celebrating with this yummy treat: Pistachio Dessert:

10. Thank your mom for all these fun holiday traditions; ridiculous amount of work...fun memories for everyone.

Su-Monday Summary

(Phew! Raise your hands if you are happy not to see my big old feet every time you pull up our blog. Not a good time to miss a few days posting!)

Events of last week include:

Ryan being out of town all week

Which is weird, considering his job has been discontinued...they apparently still need him to go to conferences to see if their product is compatible with others? Despite arriving 9 minutes before his flight left, he was able to make it home for the second of:

Ryan's 5 birthday parties

That guy is such a prima donna. Party #1 happened in California with his parents and my dad and step-mom. Party #2:

involved me and the kids (and his favorite breakfast--for dinner--Caramel Peach French Toast (go to the link and add peach pie filling instead of apple pie filling), hashbrowns, bacon and fruit).

Party #3:

involved me and Ryan and Brian Regan, the comedian. We'd gotten tickets for the 29th and had a great time!

Party #4:

involved me and the kids and Ryan and a few families we are close to...and Chocolate Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue Pie and Cherry Pie.

Party #5:

involved the famous Daines and some yellow cake with chocolate frosting (I was done with fancy desserts by this point).

He got some socks (kids), a suit (Mom), a gift card (my mom), some workout clothes and a hose (my dad and Genie), a book (Daines) and this lovely shirt (the Albrechts--who have a thing for Ryan's biceps).

I got him nothing, because he forbade gift-buying until he's actually employed again. What a baby.

The Blue and Gold Cub Scout Banquet

Which I would not recommend attending withOUT your husband and WITH your 4 horribly, unruly kids, as it is impossible to navigate the potluck (woo hoo!), the CubCakes, the tempting-to-run-wild-through-hallways, and cups of water without serious disasters and wanting to KILL your children.

Here is the CubCake that won, courtesy of this same neighbor. Look closely for the rat droppings.

Emma's Third Basketball game

They might not ever come within 10 points of the opponent, but they sure are cute. And Emma's loving it!

A VERY crazy Sunday

that included Emma fasting THE FULL TIME, (and falling asleep on the floor from exhaustion (no joke!)), a YUMMY dinner at the Proudfoots, Ryan's new calling as Ward Clerk, and Seth's second degree burn from an iron turned on by un-named siblings (bawled for hours...awful! Today it's blistered into a 1 inch bubble on his hand and he just came downstairs telling me "Hey Mom, look! I got a ball!")

The End!

Boring Recipe Post

There are some people who do very funny and well-written recipe posts that other people read even if they don't like to cook.

This isn't a post like that.



Here's the link to the Macaroni and Cheese I made for Emma's birthday (and every other kid birthday we have). It's super healthy.


And this is how you make those super yummy, super easy, super Pretty Parfaits:

1. Make 1 box of white cake mix. Stir in pink/red food coloring and bake as directed. Cool.

2. Using the rim of one of your tall, clear glasses, cut circles in the cake.

3. Layer:

• cake
• thawed frozen raspberries (1-2 bags)


• raspberry sherbet


• vanilla ice cream

4. Repeat layers twice.

5. Top with whipped cream and red sprinkles.

This makes, probably, 6-8 tall parfaits. I have used this at girl baby showers and birthdays and people die over them.

(Again, I would LOVE to know if you've tried any of my recipes and if you liked them. It's good for my ego.)

Ryan's not going to like this...

but here are the recipes from the cookie plate. They are seriously all so yummy.

Romney Fudge (also the fudge on the back of the Marshmallow Creme jar)

3/4 c. butter
3 c. sugar
2/3 c. evaporated milk

Bring these to a boil on medium. Stir and boil for 5 minutes.

12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 jar Marshmallow creme
1 t. vanilla
1 c. nuts (I use pecans, because Ryan doesn't like walnuts...but walnuts are good!)

Take the pot off of the burner and add these ingredients. Stir until very combined. Pour into 9X13 and freeze (covered) until ready to serve.

Spritz--kind of like sugar cookies, but crisper

1 1/2 c. margarine (softened)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1 t. baking powder

3 3/4 c. flour

Mix all ingredients together. Get out a cookie press (see this link to see what I'm talking about). Press out your cookies and sprinkle with colored sprinkles. bake at 375 degrees for 7-10 minuntes. Makes 100 cookies, easy.

Christmas Crumb Bars--everyone's favorite, it seems. Tons of compliments this year.


1 lb. butter, softened
2 1/2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. Almond extract
2 t. baking powder
2 eggs
6 c. flour (divided)
about 20 oz. jar cherry jam (you could use other sour jams: raspberry, plum, currant but don't.)

Mix all ingredients except flour and jam. Add flour one cup at a time (roughly 5 c. ), until heavy and beginning to pull away from sides of bowl. Pat about 3/4 of the dough into a large cookie sheets (with sides), forming a crust around edges so jam doesn't leak out. Spread with jam. Add another cup or so of flour to make remaining dough really crumbly. Crumble it over the jam, then bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and cut into bars.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies--so good.

Click on this link to go to the Allrecipes.com for the recipe. Read the reviews...I always do. My only advice: do not overcook (it's hard to tell, because they are brown cookies).

And PLEASE...if you make these, or have made anything else I've suggested: LET ME KNOW. I would love to hear if you've made them and liked them!

Things you should try:

1. These pie recipes. (But make sure you use my crust, from the Lemon Meringue post). This will take you to Caramel Apple. And This will take you to Chocolate Silk (and make sure you beat the eggs as long as it says!).


2. These books.


Dream when you're feeling blue. It was predictable, kind of, but had really fleshed out characters, lots of interesting history, and was super clean.
















I hadn't read John Grisham in a while and just thought this was lots of fun.







My favorite of the last month. Not quite as amazing as Kite Runner, but really really good. And really gratitude inspiring.




















Oh my gosh. Best children's book ever. Please check it out, or buy it and read it and laugh.








3. This act of service.


Upon driving into our garage (after the 15 hour drive home) we noticed that my sister in law, Heather, who lives 2 miles away from us, and all of her fabulous kids, had left us a laundry basket filled with food on our doorstep. She knew we would arrive late Saturday, wouldn't want to shop that night and couldn't on Sunday and thought of some essentials we'd want on hand: eggs, milk, bread, muffin, cereal, OJ and hot chocolate. She also included an invite to Sunday dinner, which was yummy and fun. How thoughtful was that? WE LOVE THE DAINES.

Recipes as requested...

Since everyone was asking about the dinner-in-a-pumpkin, I thought I'd send along some recipes from Halloween Day...the pumpkin meal, the glazed carrots and, honestly, the best Lemon Meringue pie ever (Ryan's family LOVES this dish and I've tweaked it and tweaked it and this one is good...and the pie crust I use for everything...totally fool-proof and delicious).


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(AND, LORENA, I DID NOT KNOW YOU WANTED THIS FOR YOURSELF, I THOUGHT YOU WANTED ME TO POST ABOUT IT...APOLOGIES.)
Dinner in a Pumpkin
(this meal is not amazingly delicious, but it's good enough for the tradition of it. It has kind of an Asian-y thing going on with the soy sauce and the sprouts, etc.)

1 medium-large pumpkin (make sure it will fit in your oven and take out all oven racks except bottom one)
½ onion, chopped
2 T. vegetable oil
1 ½ to 2 lbs. ground beef
2 T. soy sauce (or to taste)
2 T. brown sugar
1 (4-oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 ½ C. COOKED rice
1 C. bean sprouts
1 (8 oz.) can sliced water chestnuts, drained

Cut off top of pumpkin & clean out thoroughly. Paint face on with permanent marker. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large skillet, sauté onions in oil till tender. Add meat & brown. Drain grease. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms, and soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add rice, bean sprouts, and water chestnuts. Spoon mixture into pumpkin shell. Replace top & place on baking sheet. Bake 1 hour.






Glazed Carrots
1 pound carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons butter, diced
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
1. Place carrots in a pot of salted water. Bring water to a boil, reduce heat to a high simmer and cook about 20 to 30 minutes. Do not cook the carrots to a mushy stage!
2. Drain the carrots, reduce the heat to its lowest possible setting and return the carrots to the pan. Stir in butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, until sugar is bubbly. Serve hot!

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Lemon Meringue Pie (see lovely picture in post below!)

Pie Crust:(this makes 3 crusts...so enough for one whole pie, plus a baked shell or cinnamon pie crust cookies, if you want to make your kids happy.)

3 c. flour

1t. salt

--Mix these together.

1 1/4 c. butter flavored Crisco
--cut this in with a pastry cutter or knives, till the chunks look like peas (maybe slightly bigger). I notice that if I cut it too finely that pie isn't flaky enough...it needs those chunks to turn into pockets as they bake and the shortening melts. Okay, moving on.

1 egg
1 T. vinegar (white or apple cider)
4 T. ice cold water
--Whisk these together. Pour into flour/shortening mixture and mix with a fork.


For the Lemon Meringue Pie, you need a baked crust, so roll out 1/3 of the dough. Place in pie plate and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.


Filling:

1 c. sugar

2 T. flour

4 T. cornstarch

1/4 t. salt

1 1/4 c. water

1/2 c. lemons (usually 3)

lemon zest...I usually zest 1-2 of the lemons before squeezing

4 egg yolks, beaten

2 T. butter


Meringue:


4 egg whites

6 T. white sugar

Directions:

(with this recipe, it goes really fast, so have all ingredients ready before you start!)In a saucepan, combine 1 c. sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt. Mix in water, juice and zest. Cook over medium high, stirring often, until is boils. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 c. hot sugar mixture. Whisk this mixture back into your saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thick. Pour filling into shell.

Then whip egg whites until very stiff (you cannot get a stiff egg white if any fats--like egg yolk--come into contact with the whites, so be very careful and rinse beater extremely well, if you've used it for anything else.). Add the 6 T. of sugar while you are beating the whites. Place on top of filling, sealing edges and making the meringue stand up in foamy waves (everyone is very impressed with this!). Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until the meringue begins to brown.



If you ever try these...let me know! (Okay, the meal in a pumpkin might take while, but I'll be waiting to here from you all next year!)

Ebleskivers

If you'll remember, we made Ebleskivers for Gabe's birthday. I had many comments asking what they were and some recipe requests. We made them last night for some good friends (purposely so I could take pictures and do a post, so you all should be very grateful).

They are a Danish pancake. My mom is half-Danish and she got this recipe from a friend (no great 100 years in my family story, sorry). We spell it with just an E, but it's also spelled, all foreign-like, with that AE that's stuck together (aebleskivers). It's requested on almost every birthday and a huge hit with people who've never tried them. I like to serve them with scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit.

First you need to buy a pan like this (this link goes to Target):

Then you add all the ingredients (see recipe at bottom of blog).

Heat the pan over med-low heat (but you'll need to mess with it, to get the right temperature).

Take a stick of butter and leaving the paper on, cut the top off. Dab the cube of butter into the holes in the hot pan.

.

Pour a big adult-spoonful of batter into the holes (fill them up).

After 1 minute, turn them onto their sides (I use a fork). Let that side cook. Turn twice more, rotating so they make balls.

They are the best fresh out of the pan, but you have to make a bunch before you can serve them to a group, so I just keep them in a warm oven while I cook enough.

The best part: Drizzle melted butter, sprinkle powdered sugar and pour syrup over the top. DO ALL 3...do not try to save calories or prevent diabetes. You have to have all to get the perfect yummy little paste in which you will dip the other 20 you eat. Ryan likes to add jam...I feel it disrupts the yummy buttery nutmeggy taste--but you should try to see what you think.

It is a lot of work, but so fun. And so good. And look at the happy faces of the people who eat them.

Recipe for: Danish Ebleskivers

Makes 50. Serves 4.

3 eggs separated

2 T. sugar

1/2 t. salt

2 t. vanilla

2 C. buttermilk

2 C. white flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

1 t. nutmeg

melted butter, powdered sugar, syrup

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Beat egg yolk, until light and lemon colored. Add sugar, salt, vanilla, and buttermilk. Mix well. Stir together flour, soda, powder, nutmeg. Add to egg mixture. Beat egg whites till stiff. Fold into batter. Place a small amount of butter in each cup of ebleskiver pan. Preheat burner to medium heat. Fill cup with batter. Cook over medium heat until bubbly. Turn with a fork a little at a time, until they become balls. Serve with melted butter, powdered sugar and syrup or jam.