Exercises For The Soul

I have decided to discoontinue Exercises For the Soul, family home evening lesson because I see lots of FHE helps both online and in the Ensign. I am sure there are others too. Besides, you know the needs of your family better than I. One daughter had each family member write their own persoonal creed after teaching them about a personal creed. (See R.S. manuel about George Albert Smith 2012. The important thing is that you HAVE FHE.

ORANGE-CARROT COOKIES

These sound disgustingly healthy but are surprisingly delicious. I had never thought of them as an Easter cookie but Kristen is going to take some to a family gathering. They turn out a pastel apricot color and I had never made the association between bunnies and carrots in the cookies. I am including the recipe as well as a recipe for an easy spring salad which Josie calls Orange Fluff and which we are making this week.

Orange-Carrot Cookies

1 c. shotening
3/4 c. sugar
1 c. cooked, mashed carrots (We cooked our own carrots but in the past I've bought cooked carrots in a can. The carrots need to be mashed like mashed potatoes so we had to cook them a little longer than I normally would.)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Cream shotening and sugar until fluffly. Add mashed carrots, egg and vanilla. Mix well. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and add to carrot mixture; mix well. Drop batter by large tspn-fulls on greased baking sheet. Bake in moderate (350) oven about 15 min. Makes 5 dozen. While cookies are warm, frost with Golden Glow frosting. (Included below)

Golden Glow Frosting

Combine juice of 1/2 orange, grated rind of 1 orange, 1 T. butter or margarine and 1 c. confectioner's sugar.


Orange Salad (Orange Fluff)

1 reg. size orange jello
1 pint cottage cheese
1 can mandarin oranges, well drained
8 oz. cool whip
Sprinkle Jello over cottage and mix well. Add oranges and stir in Cool Whip. Allow to set up in fridge. ( You can add other items as desired such as colored mini marshmallows or other fruit. You can also use other flavors of Jello. I have had green Jello with canned pineapple.)
This salad is easy and makes a good addition to a meal.

Banana Nut Cake

This week Keistin and I made Banana Cake. I always liked this cake when Mom made it because the flavors were a little different than the usual, especialy when made with Richmond Frostibg which is included below.

Banana Nut Cake

2 1/2 c. flour
1 2/3 c. sugar
1 1/4 tsp. double action baking powder (I just used what I had in the cupboard.)
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2/3 c. high grade shortening (or margarine)
2/3 c. buttermilk (Ralph accidentally got a carton of low-fat milk so we made our own sour milk by adding either 1 T. of lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of milk..)
1 1/4 c. mashed bananas
1/2 c. beaten eggs (about 2 large eggs)
2/3 c. chopped walnuts (optional but I love nuts so I always add them)

Sift together dry ingredients. Add shortening, 1/2 0f the buttermilk and mashed banamas. Beat vigorously with a spoon for 2 min. or mix with electric mixer on med. speed for 2 min. Add remaining buttermilk and bananas. Beat 2 more min. Fold in chopped nuts. Pour batter into tworound prepared pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 min.(45 min. for oblong pan.)

Richmond Frosting

Mix:
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 T. cornstarch
2 T. cocoa
dash of salt
Add 1/2 c. boiling water. Cook and stir until thickens. Add 1 1/2 T. butter and vanilla.(Mom used rum flavoring which gave it that unique flavor.)
Pour on cake while hot.

UPDATE

For some reason I can't access my e-mail but I can get on my blog so I will just spend my time posting there. Over the President's Day weekend we went up to the cabin in Island Park. Sara and Jay's family came too plus he invited all his brothers and sister's families, We opened up great-grandma's cabin next door and Emily and Chad's cabin behind us and had a good family time. Luckily there is ample snow in Island Park since we have hardly any in Rexburg. The kids enjoyed playing with cousins all day in the snow. They slept good at night. I'm glad my ears still work. Even though I was pretty much a lump on the couch I enjoyed hearing the family conversations. (At times there were 10 adults and 30 kids which made it a little difficult to hear.) All in all it was a great 3 days.
This week Kristen and I are making home made butter out of whipping cream like I used to in kindergarten. I won't include instructions as I have already done so awhile back. Last week we made 2 easy fudge sauces. With these you always have a simple dessert on hand for your family or for company. You can pour it over any flavor of ice cream, pound cake or whatever you want.

HOT FUDGE SAUCE

3 1/2 oz.baking chocolate or 3 heaping T. Cocoa (I use Hersheys baking Cocoa)
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch
dash salt
1/2 c. cream or evaporated milk ( I rarely have cream so always use evaporated milk.)
2 tsp. vanilla
In double boiler or heavy saucepan melt butter (and chocolate if using the chunk kind). Mix in sugar, cornstarch, salt, (and cocoa if using the powdered kind) that have been sifted together. Blend in cream. Cook over medium heat and stir 5 min. or until thick. Add vanilla.
Makes 1 1/2 cups.

The second easy chocolate sauce is made in the microwave. Put in a small bowl about 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1 T. margarine and some evaporated milk ( I use just enough to come up to but not over the chocolate chips.) Heat in microwave on 50% and stir often until choc. chips are melted and other ingredients are incorporated.
Unfortunately, this is easy to do when you are home alone and you want something sweet and quick. You can cut it in half or more. Or you can make it for others too.

Exercises for the Soul - Joun Journal

In the last John Journal newsletter Uncle Hugo asked some questions and then mentioned several people by name to answer them. I was one of them. In the most recent edition of the John Journal I addressed them and I felt I needed to explain why I am a Mormon. This week, you can choose a variety of ways to use this as a springboard for your own family home evening, even if it is to have each family member write their own testimony.

Person of the week: Emily Manwaring - Recently her family and Chad and Emily's family visited us at the cabin. While we were there, Kennedy and a good friend had a disagreement. Kennedy could not be consoled. There were only the three of us in the cabin - Emily, Kennedy and grandma. (Blake and Josie had taken Jack to Rexburg to get his head stapled because he cut a big gash in it with a piece of metal.) Emily did wonderful things to try to help Kennedy and took care of her.




Last week Kristen and I made Porcupine meatballs. We heard lots of jokes about them being made out of porcupinne meat. (Actually their just made out of hamburger but are called Porcupine Meatballs because the rice in them sticks out like the quills on a porcupine. I think I have included this recipe before so I won't post it here. Call me if you need the recipe.-
This week we are making rolled sugar cookies for Valentine's Day. Any standard rolled sugar cookie recipe will work. You probably have your own favorites so I will not post this recipe either.

oregaoSplit Pea Soup

It has been awhile since I posted. Last week we had new carpet istalled in our dining room/family room and in the back laundry room. Ig took longer tp install than we had planned on. With everything out of the room, Ralph could not resist the chance to re-paint, re-finish a cabinet, and re-decorate. The result is a very nice looking room to spend time in. Kristen and I made Split-pea soup this week and I am going to include the recipe even though I think I have posted it before. January is a good soup month and this is a litte different kind of soup. Plus, it is one of our favorites.


SPLIT PEA SOUP

1 lb. split peas
2 quarts water
2 c. chopped carrots
2 c. chopped celery (including tops)
2 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. parsley flakes or 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
1 T. oregano leaves ot 1/4 tsp. ground, dried oregano
1 T.salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 Bay leaf
1 meaty hambone or hamhock. ( I used a small, leftover ham we bought for New Year's but never used.)
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 hour thirty minutes until soup has formed. (Soup will thicken as it cools.) Remove bay leaf and meat from to soup. Return bite-sized pieces of meat to soup. Good served with a roll or piece of bread and butter.








SPLIT PEA SOUP





1 lb. split peas ( Kristen's husband was teasing her about having to split all those peas. At least I think he was teasing. Just buy a bag of dried, split peas at the grocery store. )


2 quarts water


2 c. chopped carrots


2 c. chopped celery and celery tops


2 c. chopped onion


1/4 c. dried parsley or 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley


1 T.

Sloppy Joes

Recently we went to the cabin and bought a tub of barbecued flavored meat to take up for sandwiches. We did not like the taste of the sauce and it reminded me of the sauce mom used to makebfor sloppy joes. Kristen and I made it on last week's cooking day. I think I have posted it before but I will post it again below. This week Kristen and I are making fish cakes with creamed peas, a good recipe to have if you live in a landlocked like Idaho. You just mix a can of tuna with soft bread cubes, an egg and your choice of seasonings. I like dill. You should be able to spoon out about 2 T. each of mixture onto a hot greased skillet to fry fish cakes. Make creamed peas to spoon over the top when serving by making a white sauce and putting a generous amount of frozen peas in it.

BBQ Sauce for Sloppy Joes

2 T. butter
1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1/4" pieces)
1 clove of garlic ( I skip this often because I don't have it in the house at the time.)
1/2 c. chopped celery
3/4 c. water
1 c. ketchup
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 T. vinegar
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. brown sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard

Melt butter, add onions and cook until browned. Add remaining ingredients and cook 20 min. Makes about 2 1/4 cups or enough for 3 lbs. meat. ( I usually just brown hamburger and make the meat sauce with the hamburger in it. This week Ralph bought very lean meat and I didn't know it so I told Kristen to drain the fat off. It turned out drier than usual so I guess some of the hamburger fat is necessary to bring out the flavor.)