Two Quarts of Cream..

I bought two quarts of cream recently because it was buy one get one free and now I don't know what to do with all this cream since I don't have an ice cream maker. I've been looking through my "to try" recipes to find the ones that call for cream since I do not buy it very often. Today I made a Coconut and Blueberry Slice; it was originally supposed to be coconut and passion fruit, but I am not a big fan of passion fruit. In the picture on the recipe it looks a bit like blueberries and blueberries go well with lemon so I opted for the substitution. This dessert is sweet, mild, and creamy. A great teatime snack I'm sure, or for a late night treat, but I don't thinks it's an after dinner type dessert. It needs a nice accompaniment like Chamomile tisane to compliment it.
Superman and I babysat our nephew tonight so his parents could have a date night. It was nice to have him over. I love to watch my husband with children; Superman is so loving and playful, he is so conscientious about what is safe or fun for the baby. It's sweet.

Last weekend I finished making the Baby Shower invitations my sister-in-law requested for the shower she is hosting next weekend. We don't know what the gender is yet so I tried to make them as gender neutral as possible. I made 64! Whew!
I love Suzi's Zoo. This is the only Suzi's Zoo stamp I have, but I would love to build a collection of them. I think maybe when I have children of my own I might go with this theme.
I am such a preparedness nut that I want to read all the books and build a collection of educational material so that I'll be all ready when I do start to have kids. Am I the only one like this?
I have several books to read before I'll feel ready, but I figure I'll probably get to read a lot while I'm pregnant too. I'm sure it won't happen for at least a while longer anyway.

Last time I made zucchini bread I used a recipe out of my ward cookbook and neither my husband nor I thought it was very special. So last week I decided to give it one more try before I gave it up all together. I found a recipe from a blog that looked good and I used it. It called for a cup of oil; which sounded pretty gross to me, so I used a half cup of oil and a half cup of apple sauce. I used a bundt pan since I didn't have two bread pans. It turned out pretty good so I won't give up on making zucchini bread all together.
My sweet Hubby took me shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond to use a gift card he bought me about a year ago. He hates shopping so it was really sweet of him to come with me. I bought some silicone hot mits and this set: hot mit, pot holder, and dish towel. I love it! I think strawberries are so cute and fun to decorate with and I love sage green. I am slowly building myself a home piece by piece. I think I'll buy some nice white dinner napkins with the rest of my gift card. I've heard that white dinner napkins and table cloth are ideal because you can bleach them and keep them looking bright and nice. I look forward to entertaining once I have my own home. :)

Plumbing Lessons and Independence Day

Last week Superman's brother came over and helped us repair their mother's water sprinkler system.
This was the problem. A root from the pine tree grew up under a pipe and dislodged it, so we had to re-route the pipes around the tree roots.
First, Superman cut down the lower limbs of the pine tree the previous week and while they finished digging the ditch, I helped dig a little, and filled the recycling can with the left over branches. Then the guys cut into the pipes and we started attaching new pipes around the tree and away from further root interference.

I did these pipes myself!
It went really fast with all three of us working at it. I think once the ditch was dug, it took us less than an hour. My hubby filled the dirt back in later. I'm so excited I learned to do some plumbing! It's not as complicated as I thought, but I can definitely see how it could be difficult on a much bigger project.

For Independence Day Superman and I went to his friend's house and had a barbecue with him and his fiance, and we all went to see Star Trek afterward. It was fun and the movie was good. Happy Fourth of July!

Heritage and Old Fashioned Values

Today I was going through a box of my grandmother's old recipe collection. As I was looking through the cardboard box full of newspaper clipped recipes, books, notepaper, and cards I realized, my grandmother must have liked cooking. She must have always been looking for better recipes and new things to try to have such a large collection. This is an interest that we share and it is fun to realize that we have something in common. I didn't know my grandmother very well, although she died when I was seventeen and old enough for that kind of relationship. She was always very quiet and solemnly attended to her duties as wife, mother, and grandmother. It's peculiar how you can get to know a person better just by rifling through some of her old private things.
I know Grandma was always very well kempt, and she was very particular about her appearance. She always looked perfect and smelled freshly perfumed. ( I have a bottle of perfume that she used to wear, but she wore many scents over the years.) One particular perfume she wore was my favorite, but I never found out what it was. It made her smell like peaches and cream. Grandma had a soft cheek that was comforting when she gave me hugs, and it was all the sweeter when it was wet with tears. She was most always pleasant, but when she was angry you knew it, although she said very little. My grandmother always waited on her family hand and foot and never complained about it. She was a good cook and very precise about it too. No matter what she was cooking or baking, she always used a knife to measure to exactness. She was an old fashioned lady and loved her family with all her heart.
I have heard so many interesting stories about my grandmother. She worked at a candy store once and has been known to make some of the best candy there is. Now, I have her recipes and I intend to do justice by them. I plan to break out her candy recipes and try them all, and then I will teach my daughters in their turn, to make candy like their great grandmother.
Among the recipes and cook books in that dusty box I also found this:
"A clean kitchen is a good feeling." That is just my sentiment. Having a clean organized kitchen and home makes me feel good. It makes me feel successful and comfortable when all is in it place and has an appearance of newness.
Those were the good old values when a woman's work was clear to her. She knew she was too make her home comfortable and comely, to be frugal and resourceful, to be cheerful and supportive, and to nurture the children and bring them up respectably while caring for her own appearance. That's the kind of woman my grandmother was, and my mother is, and that's the kind of woman I want to be. It's easy to become distracted from priorities these days. Living expenses are so high that a family needs two incomes just to get by. Then there are the fashions and fads of outside influences; telling every woman, they must appear a certain way, and they must not be overshadowed by their husband's successes or in caring for children. All the time feeling torn about not having time for household responsibilities or the upbringing of children. It's a good time to look to my heritage at the successful women of my family. The mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers and other great women I have known in my life who have shed the demands of the outside world. To be comely instead of trendy, to be responsible instead of spontaneous, to be frugal instead of impulsive, to be a mother and wife instead of popular. It is a sacrifice, but the best things in life always require a sacrifice and are always worth it.
I love Sister Margaret D. Nadauld's talk she gave in 2000 entitled The Joy of Womanhood, she said, "Daughters of God know that it is the nurturing nature of women that can bring everlasting blessings, and they live to cultivate this divine attribute. Surely when a woman reverences motherhood, her children will arise up and call her blessed (see Prov. 31:28).
Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity." This was one of the last talks I heard as a Young Woman before beginning Relief Society. I remember feeling so inspired to a nobler cause of the kind of woman I wanted to become. Years later after trudging thickly through modern influences I find I still have the same priorities as I did then, and now is the time to put them into practice. How exciting!

Morning Epiphanies

So last night I was looking for a recipe to use up some cream I bought on sale and instead I found this recipe: Strawberry Coffee Cake . It looked wonderful so I thought it would be nice for breakfast the next day and made it that night.

When I woke this morning it was all cooled and waiting for me to dig in. :) Isn't that a lovely good mornin'?

I love coffee cake in the morning with a great tisane like chamomile, or roastaroma. Mmmm reminds me of those winter Saturday mornings when I'd wake up and smell the cinnamon and the aroma of the tisane. I'd skip across the frozen floors into the kitchen and jumping into a chair, wrestle my icey toes into the warm nooks behind my knees. I'd then devour the steaming drink and cake that warms you to the soul and pulls that satisfied sigh most comfortably out of you, "Hhmmmm." That's living! Mother's are wonderful people for providing those unforgettable moments, not knowing what an epiphany they just created for their greedy little darlings.