Packages!

Getting a package in the mail is always fun, even if you know whats inside!   A few weeks ago I bought a $10 Groupon for a $20 Barnes and Nobles gift card; and I knew EXACTLY what I wanted!

I just had to get the Our Best Bites Cookbook!  Its fabulous!   Every recipe has a picture, there are tutorials for complicated things like, rollover ingredient helps for when you only use a partial of something and its spiral bound so it lays flat.  I abosolutely love this cookbook!

I also got the new Men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD - It's Fabulous as well!  If you are looking for a new church CD, this one is a great one.  I didn't know how I would like a CD of just the men, but it was awesome!!

What's for dinner?

On a typical Sunday, Adam doesn't get done with his church meetings until around 4:00 (church services end at 2:00).   Because of this, I usually have lots of time to prepare dinner without being rushed.    That doesn't mean I always feel like preparing an elaborate meal, but at least I have the time to do it if I want!

A few Sundays ago I was feeling extra adventurous and decided to make Spaghetti.  That probably sounds pretty normal except that I made everything homemade!    Homemade spaghetti sauce that simmered for a few hours, homemade meatballs, homemade noodles (yes you read right, homemade noodles!) and homemade french bread!

If you've never made homemade french bread you must!  It is sooo good and taste just like the store, but fresher of course!   This is the recipe I use:
http://morganmoore.typepad.com/one_more_moore/2010/02/comfort-food.html

We've played with the pasta attachment on our Kitchen aid a few times and mostly it was a mess and lots of work.   Well this time I decided to closely read reviews of people who said they liked it and finally figured out my problem!  My dough was waaaaay to sticky!  I am so used to making breads that I figured that is what it should be like.  Nope, its very crumbly and barely stays together in a ball.   When its drier it goes through the machine beautifully and the noddles dont' stick together when they come out the other end. I actually followed the recipe from the Kitchenaid more closely and it worked!  So excited to have finally found the trick!

It was a fun meal and I was so proud that I could make all that from scratch.

Melanie's Reception

I recently helped frost about 300 cupcakes for Adam's Cousin Melanie's reception.  Her colors were light pastels.

Oh the Places You'll Go!

Last Wednesday we celebrated New Beginnings for the Young Women.    If you aren't familiar, New Beginnings is a Program in our Church that is held annually to orientate the girls to the Personal Progress program and other Young Women activities.   Personal Progress is a program that the Young Women work on that helps them develop increased Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity and Virtue.

Our theme for this year was Dr Suess's Oh The Places You'll Go!   It was so fun to plan and all the sisters serving in Young Women's had such awesome talents that pulled together an amazing night!!

I was in charge of the refreshments

One of the sisters Photoshoped all the girls in places they could go or the things they could be

We had a table full of colorful Kool-Aid

The girls and leaders sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go"

We also used Oh the Places You'll go combined with the YW Values to come up with a Skit to introduce all the values and how they would help you in the places you would go.  It was soo cute!

And this is what the cake looked like when you cut into it!

Girls Camp Fundraiser



At the end of Januruary we held our fundraiser for Girls Camp.   We planned a waffle bar breakfast and also had a silent auction.   While I wasn't able to help out on the actual day of the fundraiser, I was in charge of the fresh squeezed orange juice!   Adam and Isaac picked a BUNCH of oranges of their parents trees in Mesa.

Then for mutual we cleaned, cut and juiced them all!

The girls were a big help and we juice a full fridge full that night!!!

The fundraiser was a success and the girls did such a good job earning their way to camp!