RS Christmas Dinner

Here is a list of the books that were given at the RS Dinner and Book Exchange:

• Capture the Castle
• Defined by Christ
• Heaven is for Real
• Fire of the Covenant
• The Help
• I Am a Mother - by Jane Clayton
• Christ - by Karl Block
• The Perfect Recipe
• Excuse Me Your Life Is Waiting
• The Night Before Christmas
• The Great & The Terrible
• The Brothers - by Chris Stewart
• A Tip in the Right Direction
• House Keeping - by Marilyn Robinson
• Penny's Christmas Jar Miracle
• Our Best Bites - Mormon Moms in the Kitchen
• A Forever Love
• Cats Cradle - by Chieko N Okazaki
• To the Rescue - A Biography of Thomas S Monson
• The Colossal Cookie Cookbook
• G-ma's Best Loved Recipes
• That Went Well - by Teryl Dougan
• Christmas in Mitford
• What's Age Got to Do With It - Living Your Happiest & Healthiest Life

Tuscan Tomatoe Soup

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Onion - diced small

3 14oz cans dices tomatoes

2 cups Chicken Stock

1 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream

1 cup Basil Pesto

Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat oil in medium large soup pot.  Add onion and cook over moderately low heat until completely translucent.  Add tomatoes and allow to warm to a simmer.  Add chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer and allow to simmer 15 min to allow for interchange of flavors.

Add whipping cream.  Add pesto.

Blend to desired consistency in a food processor or blender.  Can reserve a little bit of the soup un-blended so there are some chunks.  Add salt and pepper.

Opptional:  Add tomato soup can and can of tomatoes

Mom's Clam Chowder

1 c. onions, finely chopped

1 c. diced celery (3 stalks)

2 c. finely diced potatoes (2 med.)

4 cans (6 1/2 oz. each) minced clams & juice

3/4 c. butter

3/4 c. flour

1 quart half 'n half

1 1/2 tsp. salt

few grains pepper

2 tbs. red wine vinegar

Drain juice from clams and pour over vegetables in a very small saucepan; add enough water to barely cover, and simmer, covered, over medium heat until barely tender (10-15 min.)

In the meantime, melt butter, add flour and blend; cook, stirring constantly. Add cream all at once and cook and stir with wire whip until smooth and thick. Add undrained vegetables, clams and vinegar, and heat through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Peppermint Candy Brownies

Find the recipe on OurBestBites.com 

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/12/peppermint-candy-cane-brownies/

Marilyn's Bookshelf

November 2011

Dougan, Terrell, That Went Well: Adventures in Caring for My Sister

      I met Terrell in Junior League many years ago.  She has been active in Salt Lake in volunteer work and is a journalist.  Terrell’s sister, Irene, was born six years her junior, in a long and arduous birth which may have contributed to her mental disability.  Although she cannot read or write, she is somewhat independent if living with a care-giver or in a group home.  Terrell is absolutely honest in her frustration with not only Irene, but also the care-givers, the programs of one sort or another, with funding for help, with those who meet and react to Irene in various ways.  She tells of hysterical experiences and tragic ones, of situations that would drive her to sleepless nights and tears, and wondering how in the world she would continue to deal with Irene (parents now are long gone).  But help always seems to arrive at just the right moment, and even though Terrell is a lapsed Mormon (her own admission), she is grateful to her higher power for many blessings which come in strange ways, like an uncle who offered to buy Irene a house for Irene and her care-giver, so that Irene would be closer to Terrell and in her own house.  Quite an amazing story, written from the heart.

December 2011

Dallas, Sandra, Tallgrass,    

      Authored by an East High graduate in the class of some of my colleagiate friends, this is the story of the Stroud family who live in the small town of the imaginary town of Ellis, Colorado.  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, many Japanese internment camps were created across America to house those of Japanese descent.  Tallgrass, a Japanese internment camp, situated just beyond the Stoud farm, was based on an actual internment camp in Colorado.  Dallas creates an intriguing tale of how many families in this small town become embroiled in the uncalled-for hatred of any and all Japanese.  The Strouds take a different view.  After a murder of a young girl in town, many in the town attribute the heinous crime to one of the residents of Tallgrass.  Rennie Stroud, fourteen years old, is the main character in the book, but we quickly become involved with many of the townspeople and many of the Japanese as well.  We learn that this is a complicated business.

SUPER- Super Saturday

What a SUPER activity!! Thanks to all who came and helped and participated.

Pie Social

A fun social with pies and spouses.

And the winner is.... Each of the men won a prize for their delicious pies!

The Bishop looked more like the Pope!

Thanks for the fun social and yummy pies!!

Albion Basin Hike

A beautiful hike up Albion Basin.

Sharon conquers the mountain!

Marilyn's Bookshelf

October 2011

Creek. Ann Howard, The Magic of Ordinary Days    

     An arranged marriage in 1944?  But that is the premise of the novel, as Olivia Dunne (Livvy) greets her husband-to-be for the first time on the day of her marriage in a small farming community in Colorado.  This all occurs on the backdrop of the ending years of World War II.  Livvy, who has grown up in Denver and has always pursued knowledge with a vengeance, finds herself married to a kind but silent farmer, Ray Singleton, in the middle of nowhere.  But there is a surprise that we learn about Livvy, which drives the rest of the novel. While living on the farm, Livvy meets two Japanese/American sisters who are living with their interned Japanese parents in a nearby internment camp.  They have much in common, but the sisters unwittingly involve Livvy in a precarious situation involving two German POWs from a nearby prison camp.  However, the most poignant part of the book is the evolution of the tenuous relationship between Livvy and her husband Ray.  Ray, so caring and shy, never pushes, never oversteps the thin line between them.  As he says to her finally, he will wait long enough for her to forgive herself.  I read it in a day.

Marilyn's Book Shelf

September 2011

Henry, Sue, Murder on the Iditarod Trail

                 The mystery and romantic elements are fairly predictable, but the information about the Alaskan Iditarod race is fascinating.  For those of us who just think a driver/musher hops on the sled and travels for over a thousand miles, we are greatly mistaken.  The amount of training, race-specific breeding of dogs, regulations for the race, checkpoints, required gear to be carried on the sleds, length of rest stops for drivers and dogs, is information that most of us have never heard.  Reading this mystery is probably more interesting than simply reading something about the race itself.  Actually, I couldn’t put it down.

Marilyn's Book Shelf

August 2011

Binchy, Maeve, The Lilac Bus

This would be a lovely, gentle novel for a lazy summer in August. Maeve Binchy writes mostly of Ireland, and there is little to dislike about her novels. Every Friday night, in this one, eight very different individuals board the bus from Dublin to their home town of Rathdoon, Ireland, to spend the weekend. Binchy spins a tale for each. Although their tales are quite separate, because Rathdoon is so small, their paths inevitably cross. Quite charming.

Marilyn's Bookshelf

July 2011

Stockett, Kathryn, The Help (June 2011)

            Although I am usually a little skeptical of so-called best-sellers, this novel is excellent.  Set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s, the novel portrays the relationships between white female employers and their black maids.  We are introduced to a culture that, in the sixties,  still resonates with discrimination and retaliation for blacks no matter how small the implication of wrongdoing.  Skeeter, a white woman recently graduated from college with a passion for writing, decides to elicit the help of one of the black maids, Abilene, in describing this tenuous relationship between employers and maids.  Skeeter has an interest from a New York publisher but must find at least twelve black maids to cooperate and give her their stories.  Although she promises anonymity to each of the maids, there is a very real threat if it is discovered that any of the maids is one of the characters in the book. The threat could be loss of a job or the distinct possibility of violence to any of the black families, of course from sources unknown.  As a sub-text is the relationship between Skeeter and her old-school mother whose main purpose is to see Skeeter married to someone of “class,” and while she tries to make over her daughter, Skeeter forges her own course in life and eventually takes a job in New York after her book is published.  Stockett was raised in Mississippi, so she speaks from personal knowledge.  However, she herself admits that it can never be assumed that a white writer can actually speak for the black point of view.  I would imagine that unless you had some experience in the South, this story would seem incomprehensible.  As it is, it gives us a glimpse into a part of the history of the United State of which we should all be ashamed.

Marilyn's Bookshelf

June 2011

Thayne, Emma Lou Warner, The Place of Knowing

Anything written by beloved Utah author Emma Lou is a gift. We’ve been waiting for a long time for this one.  Several years ago, I bought a copy on CD, read by the author herself, but until last month, it was not in print.  Emma Lou tells us of a terrible accident in which she basically had a near-death experience.  In the process, she leads us through many observations about life and learning.  She tells us, “To make an event a reality, I have to write it down.” With her gorgeous poetic prose, Emma Lou shares with the reader many personal stories of her own and interactions with some of her myriad number of friends.  Above all, we come away with a sense of the reality of how our lives affect who we are, a deep sense of peace, and an abiding faith in a loving God.  Although you might want to get this from the library, I suspect that you’ll want your own copy to underline and cherish.  You’ll probably want several to give as gifts

Humanitarian Projects Delivered!!

   We finally delivered 100 baby dolls and their blankets to the Humanitarian Center.  We hope we make some little girls happy!  We also dropped off 20 quilts. With all of the recent disasters, the quilts will be very useful to someone who has probably lost everything.  Good Work Sisters!! 

Marilyn's Bookshelf

du Maurier, Daphne, Rebecca

If you’ve never read any of du Mauier’s novels, of course the one you should start with is Rebecca, a great summer read.  The great stone house of Manderley on the Cornish coast of England sets the scene for the novel, as the second Mrs. DeWinter enters the scene with her new husband, Maxim.  Unfortunately, Housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, who has served the first Mrs. DeWinter is not at all happy with the arrival of the new wife.  As this tale unfolds, we are swept into phantoms of the past which wind a spell around the reader.  Du Maurier is a master of her craft as she takes us into the past with the life of Rebecca – truths and untruths.  You may just get hooked and decide to read others of the author, like Jamaica Inn, Frenchman’s Creek,or My Cousin Rachel.

Blogging and Brunch

Frances taught us how to blog today! Thanks Frances!!
Jill made us a fabulous Quiche today! Thanks Jill!!
Thanks to everyone else who came to learn how to blog
and for the yummy food.

QUICHE
1- 9" unbakes pie crust
1 cup 4 oz. shredded swiss cheese
6 slices bacon- cooked and crumbled
3/4 cup ham- minced
2 green onions chopped
1/2 green pepper diced
3 eggs- beaten
1 cup light cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
Bake crust for 5 minutes at 425 degrees. Remove. Set oven to 325 degrees.
Put cheese, bacon, ham,in crust.  Sprinkle onion and pepper on top.
Mix eggs, cream, salt, mustard in blender or beater.
Pour mix over other ingredients in crust.
Bake at 325 for 45 minutes (Knofe clean test)
Stand 10 minutes before cutting

Manti...A turkish Style Ravioli

Ingredients:
1 Qt. Middle East Yogurt
5 Lg. garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 Lb. lamb (lean, ground)
1 small shallot finely chopped
1 tsp. Italian parsley finely chopped
2 pkg. wonton wrappers (3x3 square)
2 large eggs lightly beaten
1/4  lb. butter
1 tsp. paprika (fresh, fresh!)
1/2 cup Italian parsley chopped

Method:
Crush the garlic with the salt into a paste, mix it into the yogurt and set the mixture aside.

Gring the lamb, chopped shallots, chopped parsley, a pinch of salt and fresh cracked pepper together and keep cold.  Get a large pot of water boiling on the stove at this point.

On a lightly floured surface lay out about a dozen wonton skins.  Place "about" 1/2 teaspoon of the ground lamb in the middle of each wonton skins.  Dipping your finger (or a small brush) in the beaten egg, coat the perimeter of the skins.  Next you just fold corner to corner forming a triangle, pressing the edges firmly to seal.  Place the completed assemblies on a lightly floured cookie sheet and cover with wax paper.  Repeat the process with another twelve wonton skins until you get to the end of the second package.

Drop about two dozen Monty into the boiling water immediately reducing the heat to acheive a very light boil.  Cook for about four minutes.  Generally, the Monty will float to the surface when they are done.  Carefully scoop them out of the hot water and drain in a colander for a few minutes.  Meanwhile, cook your butter to a nice golden brown.

Place about a dozen Monty on a nine inch plate, spoon a generous amount of the garlic yogurt over the top, drizzle some hot browned butter over the top of that, give it a pinch of paprika and a generous pinch of chopped parsley. Top with a warm marinara sauce.

Cheers! From my family to yours, Chef Rick Raile

Marilyn's Bookshelf

Here’s one last book from the Canyon Readers’ selections from last year.

Enger, Leif, Peace Like a River

Jeremiah Land, a school janitor who harks back to the biblical Jeremiah in his absolute faith and trust in the Lord, is the midwestern father of three children.  After provocation, his 16-year-old son, Davy, shoots two intruders.  Reuben (Rube), the 11-year-old and narrator, a la Huck Finn, who also suffers from asthma, sees the unfolding of the events of this story through amazingly mature eyes.  His father, who claims no great powers, obviously is responsible for "miracles."  Precocious little sister, Swede, who writes western poetry, is the fourth of this strong, if unusual family.  The family "inherits" an Airstream trailer and hits off to search for brother Davy who has escaped from jail.  Their propitious meeting and extended stay with Roxanna turns out to feel like home.  The strength and integrity of Jeremiah dominates this novel.  He is torn between his love for Davy and his sense of right and wrong.  A great first novel from the author. 

Improving Relationships

April Sorbonne taught us an incredible class about relationship skills.  We learned how to determine whether others might see us as prickly and how we might react to other peoples quills.   Through the atonement we are able to "sharpen" our relationship skills and become a better person.

Take the test by Dr. John Lund and see how many quills you might have.



Am I A Porcupine? 
How Many Quills Do I Have?
(Have others said of you? 
Do they think this of you?)
T or F 1. You're a perfectionist!
T or F 2. You're a controlling person!
T or F 3. You're a highly critical person.
T or F 4. No one is ever good enough for you!
T or F 5. You hold grudges a long time.
T or F 6. You are stingy on compliments.
T or F 7. You're often blaming others.
T or F 8. You're impossible to please!
T or F 9. You withhold love as a punishment.
T or F 10. You can seldom give a compliment with out a "but.." following.
T or F 11. You are judgmental.
T or F 12. You are easily offended.
T or F 13. You often contradict others.
T or F 14. You frequently complain about what isn't being done.
T or F 15. You frequently interrupt and correct others.
T or F 16. You parent equals by telling them what they "should, need, and ought" to do.
T or F 17. You are mad, upset, mad or angry much of the time.
T or F 18. You react to others not doing what you want them to do by yelling, screaming, swearing, or name calling.
T or F 19. You make threats of divorce or abandonment.
T or F 20. You are rude, insensitive, curt, abrupt, and do not respect the opinions of others.
T or F 21. You see yourself as more hard working, or more responsible, or more capable, or more intelligent than others.
Total "True" Answers:______
Explanation for number of true answers:
0-3 Normal, but not necessarily healthy.
4-7 Critical and hard to live with.
8-12 Highly critical and non-accepting of others.
13-16 Definitely toxic and dangerous to the self-worth of all.
17-19 I foresee divorce, rebellion, rejection, and conflicted relationships.
20-21 You are suited for living alone on an island.

Chewy Macaroons
Ingredients:
3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine coconut, flour and salt.
3. Stir in vanilla and milk.
4. Drop from a tablespoon onto a greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 13 minutes or until golden brown.

*We made these delicious cookies for our treat after April's class.  A few tips when making these cookies:
1. They cook great on Parchment paper- no sticking!
2. You may need to add a little more coconut if the dough is too runny.
3. We made the cookies to be about 2 inches round- they took 25-30 minutes to cook.
4. For an extra treat- we melted chocolate chips them spread them on the bottom of the cookie! They can then be refrigerated to let the chocolate cool and harden.
ENJOY!!

Slow Cooker Recipes

Zesty Italian Crockpot Chicken

• 6-8 chicken breasts
• 4 tsp butter
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 - 8 oz pkg cream cheese
• 1 pkg dry Italian seasoning mix

Place chicken in slow cooker with butter.  Sprinkle Italian dressing over chicken.  When chicken is cooked, add the cream of chicken soup.  An hour prior to serving, stir and add cream cheese in cubes on top.  Cook on high, 4-6 hours.  Stir before serving.  Serve over rice.

Nutty Apple Streusel Dessert

• 6 cups sliced peeled tart apples
• 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup biscuit/baking mix

Topping:

• 1 cup biscuit/baking mix
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp cold butter
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds

In a large bowl, toss apples with cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg.  Place in a greased slow cooker.  In a mixing bowl, combine milk, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and baking mix; mix well.  Spoon over apples.
For topping, combine the biscuit mix and brown sugar in a bowl; cut in butter until crumbly.  Add almonds; sprinkle over the apples.
Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hrs or until the apples are tender.
Serve w/ Ice Cream or Whipping Cream.

Slow Cooker Tips and Tricks

1. If you lift the lid to peek, add 30 min to cooking time
2. Fresh herbs will lose flavor over cooking time = add during last hour of cooking (dried herb flavors intensify)
3. Fill slow cooker only 1/2 - 2/3 full, not to the top
4. Foods on bottom cook faster & will be more moist = place root veggies in first/at bottom
5. 2 hrs on low in slow cooker = 1 hr on high
6. Converting an oven recipe for the slow cooker:

• Slow cooker low = 200* in oven
• Slow cooker high = 300* in oven
• Use 1/3 to 1/2 the liquid called for in oven recipe (liquid will not boil away in slow cooker)

Marilyn's Bookshelf

January 2011

Doig, Ivan, The Whistling Season

            This title was on the reading list for the now-defunct Canyon Readers.  Since there were so few who read it, I decided to add it to the Book Shelf for this year’s reading fare.

            Widower Oliver Milliron, in the small town of Montana’s Marias Cooley, is raising three sons.  To an ad he places in the paper, Rose Morgan responds to act as housekeeper (“Can’t cook but doesn’t bite”), and she comes to far-away Montana. Into the bargain comes Morris Morgan, her scholarly brother.  At the unexpected departure of the local schoolteacher for their one-room schoolhouse, Morris is impressed into service, and what a teacher he is, taking anything and everything as a text for exciting, stimulating, and thought-provoking lessons, to which all eight grades are exposed.  Paul, Oliver’s oldest son is a bookish seventh-grader.  Morris eventually teaches him Latin, either before or after school in order to keep him engaged in learning.  The action of the novel is seen through Paul’s adult eyes as he remembers theses events in contemplation of a movement to close all rural schools.  As he is state school superintendent, we, as the reader, come to realize the value of one-room schooling.  We are introduced to a community of characters, including Brose Turley, the wolf hunter in the community who wreaks terror in the schoolroom and is the embodiment of the animals he hunts.  This book could be used as a textbook course on perfect novel writing.  What a treasure.

Cheers,

Marilyn