March Reads

12) Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand *****

Ah. May. Zing. That is all. Okay, not really. I loved this story. It was fun, sad, inspiring, heartfelt. Everything you want a good story to be. Read it. Be prepared to cry. Be prepared to be astonished. Be prepared to be proud. It's all that and a bag of chips!

13) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith ****

Ha! Ha! Ha! I am not an Austenite by any sense of the word and have offended more than one in my lifetime by referring to Pride and Prejudice as a ridiculous farce of Elizabethan England. This just added a whole new level. I listened to the audiobook which was a great decision as the narrator was a soft spoken British woman with quite the lovely accent... and then she'd get all intense with each passing zombie. Pretty funny!

14) The Saturday Afternoon Big Tent Wedding by Alexander McCall Smith ****

This is the latest in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books. I enjoy the little mysteries the main characters have to solve and their laid back African ways. They always have the most interesting adventures in the little white van and on the streets of Gaborone (pronounce Ha-bore-oh-knee). These are great brain candy books. 

15) Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World by Rita Golden Gelman****

This reminds me of Kid President's Pep Talk - Stop being boring! Imagine getting rid of most everything you own and just leaving. Going on adventures. That's what this woman did and I am amazed. After a marriage goes wrong, she sets out to rediscover the world she loves. She travels to South America, Israel, Indonesia, Bali, Canada, and Thailand... Just to name a few places.  But no matter where she goes, she discovers that a sense of belonging doesn't happen with things, it happens with communication. Despite the obvious language barriers, we all have the same human desire to belong, to share, to trust, to love. And at least for her, that's what being a nomad is all about. Maybe I need to give it a whirl!!

16) The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly***
I've never read anything by Michael Connelly before, but I love mysteries. I found myself shouting at the cd player, "No! Don't go in there!" or, "What?? How could you believe that?" It was a fun mystery that made me want to stay in the car longer than I really needed to be. So I guess that's a good sign of a good book. Side note... in Stake Conference a couple weeks ago, the youth speaker talked about building 'safety walls' in regards to the media. She mentioned having some personal standards to live by... such as if a song is about an inappropriate topic you turn it off, or if a book has more than three swear words you quit reading it, etc. Anyway this book wouldn't pass her test by any means... but her whole idea has got me thinking. One day I was thinking that I need to make sure the environments I spend my time in are wholesome and clean. And then I realized if I did that, I'd have to quit my job. Fail. 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Honey Glazed Ham

Happy Easter, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Easter Bunny managed to find Jessica and me and dumped a bunch of chocolate all over the place! Luckily, we managed to wade ourselves through the chocolate coma enough to cook some real food. 



Ingredients: 
2.5 - 3.5 ham (bone-in, boneless, sliced, whatever) 
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar 
1/8 cup honey
1/8 cup butter, melted 
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar  
1 teaspoon ground thyme  

Directions: 
Unwrap ham, and discard flavor packet. Put ham into slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, honey, butter, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, and thyme. Pour mixture evenly over the ham. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours, or until heated through. 

Verdict: 
This is actually a half recipe. The original recipe, which I stole from Stephanie O'Dea, is for a giant ham that will feed a small country. And here's a tip for you... when halving a recipe, remember to halve the whole thing. Not that I would know from experience or anything, but let's just say this ham was a little tangy from sitting in some extra cider vinegar. The lover of all things vinegar that I am, that worked for me, but I could see why some others might not dig it. Then again, too bad for them... more for me. Anyway.... I like that this ham wasn't too sweet. I think that's one of the reasons I don't like some hams. They taste like candy. Not cool. So this one was the right amount of tang with the right amount of sweet.... a little bit of Easter heaven!

But at the end of the day, Easter's not about the bunny.... nor about the ham. Here's what it's really about!!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Thanks to Sarah for my super cute Easter dress!!!

When I was little we would pose in our new Easter dresses by Grandma Taylor's lilac bushes. It's been so cold in NC lately that very few things are blooming. Just this week, the Bradford Pear tress finally bloomed. They give a whole new image to the song "Popcorn Popping." See....

But I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane nonetheless and pose by my own flowerless bushes. 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Cream Corn and Roasted Red Pepper

Sometimes I'm in a hurry. And sometimes I don't read very well. So when those two things combine, sometimes the results are disastrous. Luckily, today was not one of those times. 

Ingredients: 

3 packages (9-10oz) frozen whole kernel corn in butter sauce

1 jar (12 oz) roasted red sweet peppers, drained and chopped

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion

2 cups milk

2 envelopes (.9 - 1.25 oz) hollandaise sauce mix

More green onion if you want

Directions:

Combine corn, peppers,  and green onion. In a measuring cup, whisk sauce mix into milk. Add sauce to cooker, stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours (or high for 3 to 4). Stir before serving. If desired, garnish with additional green onion slices. 

Verdict:

I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients. I didn't pay attention and only had one hollandaise sauce packet. I forgot to add the green onions. I only used one cup of milk as I had only the packet of sauce. I didn't stir to combine. But I think these things worked out to my advantage. It may have been better with two packages of the sauce mixture, but I wouldn't have used the extra milk as I think it would have been too soupy.... it was soupy as it was. It tasted great though. It makes a lot, so unless you have 7 kids at home, I'd make this only for a potluck or the like (which I did!). 

By the way, this recipe came from a Better Homes and Gardens online article about slow cooker side dishes.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Corned Beef and Cabbage

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Ingredients:

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into sticks

10 baby red potatoes, halved

1 onion, peeled, cut into bit-sized pieces

4 cups water

1 (4lb) corned beef brisket with spice packet

1/2 head cabbage, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Put carrots, potatoes, and onion in bottom of slow cooker. Put the brisket on top and pour in enough liquid so that 1/2 to 3/4 of the crock is full. Sprinkle on the spices from the packet, cover, and cook on low for 8 hours. Add the cabbage and cook one hour more.

Verdict:

Delicioso!!! So 4 cups water didn't give it enough juice, so I threw in a bit of Sprite. Then, there was no room in the inn.... like at all... I actually had to put a cast iron pan on top to hold the lid down. So when it came down to cooking the cabbage, I ended up just boiling it in some of the juices from the crock pot. Which was the best decision ever!!!! It was so good! 

I couldn't find a copy of Waking Ned Devine, so I convinced Katie Baker to watch the Saint with me (not Irish, but does involve a saint (loosely) so I went with it)! And even though my boys in blue didn't win their game, my dinner was festive!

Slow Cooker Sunday: Porcupine Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup minded onion

1/4 cup minced green bell pepper

1/4 cup uncooked long grain white rice

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 pound 80% lean ground beef

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 

Directions:

In large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and pepper and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Removed from skillet and place in large bowl; let cook about 15 minutes. Add rice, egg, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Add beef and mix just until combined. Form into 20 meatballs. In same skillet, brown meatballs on all sides, just a few minutes total. Place in 3-4 quart slow cooker. Place tomato sauce, ketchup, and oregano into skillet; bring to a simmer, scraping up all the flavor bits. Pour over meatballs. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until meatballs are thoroughly cooked. Served with potatoes or rice.

Verdict:

My mom makes porcupine meatballs that are oh so good. I remember many an argument ensuing about who would get the leftovers for breakfast. Anyway, I've tried to make them. They are never the same. She once told me that she didn't actually measure the amount of milk given in the recipe, but rather just filled the can, so I tried that. Fail. They still aren't as good. So needless to say, I was skeptical about this recipe. 

These are in line with my other attempts at porcupine meatballs. They are good, but they are not Mom's. The ones on top still were not quite done after 8 hours (which makes them perfect for the lunch box leftovers). The tomato sauce mixture on top looked a little burnt, but it wasn't. Some of the rice was crunchy, some of it wasn't. So yeah.... there you go.

The First Great Commandment

Today's lesson source is, in my opinion, best viewed, rather than read. 

What does love look/feel like? 

How do you know if someone loves you?

All This:

Elder Holland takes literary liberty and paraphrases the story of the eleven Apostles after the death of Jesus. What now, they ask? They look to Peter, their senior. Not understanding that the work must go on, or perhaps not knowing how to make the work happen, he says to the others, "I go a-fishing." Six of the others join him. But the fishing is terrible. They catch nothing. Their Master is gone. Can things get much worse? I imagine that Peter and the other Apostles are very much in the mind set I have come to know as the Dark Place.

But then they hear someone calling from shore, asking how the fishing had gone. Great! Now we have to tell whomever this is that our night was terrible. We're no good at what we used to do. The man on the shore tells them to cast their net to the right side of the boat. They come up with a net full of fish and finally recognize that it is The Lord who has been speaking!

What a joyful reunion! They have their Master back, the nets are full, and dinner is served! But then, Elder Holland explains, "Peter had an exchange with the Savior that I consider the crucial turning point of the apostolic ministry generally, and certainly for Peter personally, moving this great rock of a man to a majestic life of devoted service and leadership. Looking at their battered little boats, their frayed nets, and a stunning pile of 153 fish, Jesus said to His senior Apostle, “Peter, do you love me more than you love all this?” Peter said, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.”

With greater emphasis and perhaps growing concern on Peter's part, The Lord asks this question twice more. And with each asking, Peter answers yet again in the affirmative.

What are the crucial turning points in your life? The points where you can't turn back from what you now know. Points where you learned a truth beyond doubt. Points where you showed The Lord you loved Him more than "all this."

What is "all this" for you?

At least one commandment:

My beloved brothers and sisters, I am not certain just what our experience will be on Judgment Day, but I will be very surprised if at some point in that conversation, God does not ask us exactly what Christ asked Peter: “Did you love me?” I think He will want to know if in our very mortal, very inadequate, and sometimes childish grasp of things, did we at least understand one commandment, the first and greatest commandment of them all—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” And if at such a moment we can stammer out, “Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,” then He may remind us that the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty. 

How do we show our Love (loyalty) to the Lord?

"If ye love me, keep my commandments," Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can't quit and we can't go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before. The Crucifixion, Atonement, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ mark the beginning of a Christian life, not the end of it. It was the truth, this reality, that allowed a handful of Galilean fishermen-turned-again-Apostles without "a single synagogue or sword" to leave those nets a second time and go on to shape the history of the world in which we now live. 

While we may have not seen the living Son of the living God in the flesh, what encounters have we had with Him?

Is loyalty to the Savior and loyalty to the Church the same thing?

What love looks like - discipleship: 
"What I need, Peter, are disciples - and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of the Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me."

The invitations:

To those who have not yet joined with us in the great final cause of Christ, we say, "Please come."

To those who were once with us but have retreated, preferring to pick and choose a few cultural hors d'oeuvres from the smorgasbord of the Restoration and leave the rest of the feast, I say that I fear you face a lot of long nights and empty nets. 

The call is to come back, to stay true, to love God, and to lend a hand. 

What cultural hors d'oeuvres do you choose - are you missing out on the feast? 

What can you do today, this week, this month, this year... to come back, stay true, love God, and/or lend a hand?

The blessing:

"And having set our "hand to the plough," we will never look back until this work is finished and love of God and neighbor rules the world."

Slow Cooker Sunday: Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

I'm crashing the single ward's break the fast tonight. The theme is "Utah food." Oh boy. I have a feeling that there will be lots of jello. But a slow cooker, to me, is very Utah-ish, too. Tater tot casserole also reminds me of Utah, though it's definitely not just there. So I combined the two and found a recipe for slow cooker tater tot casserole. Bam! This week's recipe comes from The Country Cook. 

Ingredients:
1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots
1 (3 oz.)bag bacon pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk salt & pepper, to taste

So cheesy! So good!

Directions: Spray crock with Pam or the like, or use a slow-cooker liner. Put 1/2 of the tater tots in the bottom.Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon and 1/3 of the cheese. Add the diced up chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon and 1/3 of the cheese. Top with the other half of the tater tots. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon and 1/3 of the cheese. Pour the milk over the whole concoction and cook on low for 4- 6 hours (making sure the chicken is cooked through).

Verdict:
Tasty. Tasty. This turned out pretty good. The tater tots kind of lose their shape, but they are mushed with cheese, so it makes it okay. The bacon is subtle and could probably go up a notch, but then again it was nice to not have an overpowering bacon taste. I'd make this again... If I weren't taking it to a potluck, and rather serving it as an entree at home, I'd make sure to serve it with a nice green salad. You know... Something to cut back all the bacony, cheesy calories. 

Kooky Faith? Perhaps. Who's to say?

Imagine you're in a temple session, or a worship service if you're not familiar with the LDS temple. It's been a regular service and things have gone as they typically do. Not unusual, but a more rare occurrence nonetheless, is a woman in a wheelchair that day. She is quiet and does the best she can with the motions of the service, but she does require assistance. She has a sweet spirit about her and an easy smile. All is well.

Then, towards the end, someone interrupts the service by rising to speak. A man speaks to the woman in the wheelchair. He asks her if she thought that if Jesus were there He would heal her. She answers in the affirmative. Then with a motion of power, he calls upon the Son and commands her to rise. She doesn't. With encouragement from those in charge, he returns to his seat. 

By this time the feeling in the room is that of tension. The normalcy has been completely disrupted. Eyes are looking at the floor. Faces are red and concerned. Heads are shaking. It's very, very quiet. 

The service continues and finishes as normal, but everyone knows it's not normal. There is a buzz. There is unease. There's a quiet rush to get out. 

My immediate reaction to this situation was, "What do we do? This is not in the handbook!" But the question the man asked was sweet, and I smiled. Then as the interruption went further I had a flood of simultaneous thoughts. One was on the same plane of what do we do, but that was quickly remedied by the person in charge. I had several more thoughts and questions flood my mind... some of which are very devil's advocatish, but still... I wondered... and now I divulge.

*****

Jesus had perfect faith. Because He was perfect. Therefore He was able to do all sorts of miracles. But there are other stories of those with perfect faith (at least for a moment)...Enoch, Moses, the brother of Jared, Nephi, the woman who heals the ox in Legacy. They all were able to call upon the power of God and make a miracle happen. Oh to have that kind of faith. 

In fact, one of the first thoughts that came to my mind in this situation was, "I wish I had your faith." This man clearly believed that his faith combined with the woman's would be able to heal her. Then I started thinking even more. What if the 30 other people in the room had the kind of faith he did. What if we had not been the doubting Thomas' of healing power? What miracle may we have seen? Who's to say what would have happened? Who's to say?

*****

I thought of what it must have been like to be in the temple of Jesus' day. Things are going along seemingly normal and this the man gets up and starts declaring that the menorah isn't the light we should look to, but that He is the light of the world. That He is the bread of life and will be sacrificed like the sacrifices offered by the Levites. Is he a complete radical? The short answer is, yes. Jesus was a complete radical. He questioned the rulers of the Jewish people, he threw people out of the temple, he broke a bunch of "laws", he performed miracles. He was so outside the norm. Now, granted, the norm was way off base from what Moses had outlined several thousands of years earlier. But still... the Jewish people had their way of doing things and this Jesus guy was totally rocking the boat. 

In relation to the situation I had just experienced, I wondered.... have we gotten too comfortable with the norm? Have we become a people that only believes in miracles if performed by people we know? Have we ceased to believe in miracles at all? (There's a warning about that in Mormon 9:19) What about our "normal" is even right anymore? I feel like Alma 5 can help inventory that question, but that's another discussion. But who's to say that 'kooky' is bad? Who's to say?

*****

I thought of the story when Jesus passes by a man who is blind. His disciples ask why he is blind. Was it because he sinned, or because his parents sinned. John 9:3 gives us Jesus' answer... "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." 

I thought about this story in relation to the woman in the wheelchair. I happen to know this woman, as she visits the temple frequently, and know that she has been wheelchair bound since her childhood. She has cerebral palsy and I'm sure her parents, other family, ward, and countless others have prayed for her recovery. I'm sure she has had many a priesthood blessing willing her body to function properly. But she's still wheelchair bound. I believe we all have the potential to have the works of God manifest in us, but who's to say what her manifestation is. Who's to say?

*****

Jesus tended to work with strangers. Granted, I think they became fast friends, but I'd also be a fast friend with someone who cured my of my life illness. Anyway... he didn't work with just family and friends. He didn't just work with the Jewish elite. He served among the poor, the widowed, the children. Because of this, He was questioned by the Pharisees and Sadducees where He got the authority to do what He did. Because of their hard hearts, he actually refused to answer them, but instead gave them the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21). Basically a man tells his two sons to go work in his vineyard. One says no, but then eventually goes. The other says yes, but then doesn't go. Which one should receive the reward?

Someone said that this man didn't have the authority to do what he did. Perhaps. I asked them, "Would you have a different point of view if the it had been the Prophet or one of the Apostles?" They have the same Priesthood. They are both worthy to enter the temple. I don't think this man was trying to exercise unrighteous dominion. I also think that the Lord often works his miracles through the 'stranger.' So who's to say that this man wasn't moved by the Spirit to do what he did? Furthermore, who's to say that he doesn't have the power and authority? Who's to say?

*****

Someone else said that it was neither the time or the place. Perhaps. Again, I thought of Jesus. He had received notice that his dear friend Lazarus was sick. Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, had sent word to Jesus to come... quickly. Jesus wasn't that far away... maybe four or five miles from Bethany. But yet he stayed where he was. Two days later Jesus sets out for Bethany.When Jesus finally gets there, Lazarus had been dead for four days. In Martha's mind the time and place for a miracle had come and gone. She tells the Savior as much in verse 21 of John 11. Jesus then goes on to tell Martha that her brother will live again. I can just see her, in her despair, shaking her head and saying, I know all that. I know he will rise again in the resurrection. Then Jesus goes on to teach her the point of his whole ministry. That He is the resurrection and the life. Mary has basically the same interaction before taking Jesus to the tomb where Lazarus had been laid. Through His tears, Jesus tells them to move back the stone and calls forth Lazarus. There is much rejoicing. (I butchered this story. Go read John 11. You'll feel better)

Back to my 2013 story. Wouldn't one think that the time and place for miracles would be in the temple? Perhaps. Actually, just that day, not three hours earlier, the counselor of the temple presidency reminded us ordinance workers that there are often miracles that occur in the temple. Especially after a specific ordinance.  Is it more than coincidental that this man rose after that specific ordinance? Perhaps. I really just don't know. I think miracles can happen all over the place, so who's to say that it wasn't the time or place? Who's to say?

*****

The rest of the story: After the session, news traveled fast. Before the door to the room had even closed behind me, another temple worker stopped me and said, I heard you had some kooky business in there. I looked at her and said, "Some might call it that. But I have no judgment." The woman in the wheelchair did not express any embarrassment or other ill. She was her usually smiling self. I know the member of the temple presidency spoke to the man, but I have no idea what was said. The officiator said the man had apologized to him. I just hope that this man doesn't feel uncomfortable in the temple in the future. 

At the end of the day, I still don't know what to think. I really don't know. I hold no judgment against him. I am actually grateful for the questions and thoughts that popped up. They've been good for me to think about. Perhaps for you, too.

It's official....

I'm going to Japan!

I'm so stinking excited I can't stand it!

Just thought I'd share!