Chicken and dumplings

Tgis morning Stephanie and I made Cicken and Dumplings. They are not my favorite thing to eat but Ralph loves them and iit is nice to know what they are when you sing "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain". I think most of my family has the recipe but I will include it here. You start out by making your favorite chicken soup recipe.

Basic Dumpliings

2 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk gradually and mix well with a fork. With a Tablespoon, ( a regular spoon from your table service is fine) and divide into 10-12 portions. Drop dough portions in bubbly, hot stew. Cook for 12-15 min. with the lid on the pot. Serve dumplings with stew.

Exercises For The Soul - Judging Others

This is probably the trait I have had to work on the most. I have inckuded two of my learning experiences.



My mother's experience: We moved to a new ward and my mother noticed a sister on the front row of the chapel. She was there every Sunday with a whole row of little kids that she wrestled all through church. Finally she would pull a clean disposable diaper out of her bag and fan herself until the end of the meeting. My mother told us how nuch she admired that sister for coming to church every week even though her husband didn't support her. It turned out she was the Bishop's wife.



My experience: After the temple was built in Rexburg, they had a cultural celebration to celebrate the opening of the Tenple. They did a dance with irrigation pipes. I thought it just showed what a "hick" farming community we lived in. A while afterward we went to church in West Yellowstone, MT while staying at our cabin nearby. The speaker was the West Yellowstone Fire Chief who reminisced about the great fire of 1988? in the Park and its direction towards the little city of West Yellowstone. They knew it was coming but didn't know what to do. I remember being at Grandma and Grandpa's cabin in Island Park and seeing the orange glow over the mountains. Finally they dynamited a big pond in the Madison river for water and all the farmers from down in the valley brought up their irrigation pipes. They saved the town of West Yellowstone from burning down and changed the way I felt about irrigation pipes.

Activity: Before FHE hide pieces of wrapped candy inside wadded up pieces paper and place around the room so it looks like garbage. Encourage family members to look inside the crumpled paper until the candy is found and allow the candy to be eaten.

Explain: Sometimes something or someone looks like garbage. If we will allow ourselves to investigate further, we might change our judgements and find the hidden goodness inside.

( The candy can be FHE refreshments)

Person of the week: Jessica Kern for being nice to younger cousins even though she may have preferred older kids her own age.
Scripture: John

Pumpkin Muffin omission

I forgot to include one item that makes the pumpkin muffins taste just like the pumpkin bread at Great Harvest. I add a package of chocolate chips before I bake them. I like semi-sweet ones and Ralph likes milk chocolate. Both are good so it jusy depends on your own preference. I made a double batch andwe have been enjoying pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins all week.

Janet;s Pumpkin Muffins

Both Ralph and I got a nasty virus at the first of January so everything got put on hold for awhile but both of us are feeling better now and it is time to play "catch-up".
I have a new girl to help me as Hailey has decided to devote full time to her two children. She still brings up dinner once a week and I still enjoy her association. The new girl is Hailey's friend, Stephanie. She has a different personality but is very nice and I like her a lot. She wants to cook together too so this week we made Pumokin muffins. This is a recipe I got from another teacher.

JANET'S PUMPKIN MUFFINS

2/3 c. sgortening or oil
2 2/3 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin (l lb.)
2/3 c. water
3 1/3 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp.cloves

Bake at 350 degrees 25 min. in cupcake pans or 70 min. in 2 loaf pans






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Jesus' Birthday Cake

When my children were small I wanted them to remember the real reason we celebrated Christmas. So I made a bundt cake for our Christmas Eve dinner and I put a large (taper) candle in the middle. I had some other objectives too. I wanted a tradition from Ralph's side of the family so I used a recipe from his grandmother, Sara Ellsworth Madsen. Also, I don't like traditional fruitcakes so this is my alternative.

Grndma Kern's Christmas Cake

1/2 c, butter (1 square)
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 c. cold applessauce ( 1 303 can)
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. powdered clove
1 c. raisins
1 c. walnuts, cut in pieces
marascino cherries to taste and as you can afford them
dash of salt

Cream butter, and add sugar gradually. Add egg and beat thoroughly. Add applesauce. Add flour sifted with other dry ingredients. Add raisins and nuts. Add cherries (drained) and mix well. Bake 50 minutes in a 375 degree oven.
(Ralph's mom added extra honey but I never have.)

Christmas Baking

Hailey and I made Nutmeg Logs this week. My mom got this recipe from Aunt Donna who called them Rum Logs but my mother thought it was important to change the name to Nutmeg Logs. They are different than most cookies and smell like Eggnog. Haiiley misunderstood me and put in 2 tsp. of Nutmeg instead of 2 tsp. of vanilla. They were a little heavy on the nutmeg for my taste but Hailey's father loved them. I guess the point is that you can adjust the recipe to your own taste.

NUTMEG LOGS

1 c. butter or margarine
1 egg
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. rum flavoring (imitation is o.k.)
3 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. (or what you like) nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream butter with flavoring. Gradually add sugar and continue creaming. Blend in egg. Sift flour with nutmeg and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix well. Shape pieces of dough by rolling into ropes on a sugared board, about 1/2 or 3/4 " in diameter. Cut in 3 inch lengths. Make 3 or 4 diagonal slash marks with a knife. Bake on greased cookie sheets in a 350 degree oven for about 12 - 15 minutes. These are pretty when drizzled with creamy white icing or melted chocolate.

Exercises For the Soul - Music

This is a busy time of year so this may be my only Blog until 2011. I am sure you are busy with your own family's traditions. Music has always been an integral part of my life - especially at Christmas. It became a part of our own family's Christmas even when Sara was too young to play the pipe chimes with the older kids on Christmas Eve. (So she wouldn't feel left out, we gave her a pipe chime and rubber spatula to hit it with.)
When my children were teenagers, one of them told me they were leading the singing in seminary. I asked if they knew how to lead the singing and they replied, " Oh, its easy. You just write your name in the air with your hand." Leading the singing is a skill that is often called upon. In Finland, a missionary led the singing in Sacrament meeting. I was accompanying on the piano. He led a 3/4 meter song with a 4/4 meter beat pattern. I was surprised at how difficult it was to play the hymn under these circumstances. I could not look at him at all.
This is why I chose this topic for the FHE lesson. You may want to spend more than one week practicing musical principles. Enjoy the Christmas season and Christmas music!

Scripture: For my soul dellighteth in the song of the heart; yea,the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me. (D&C 25 :12)

Sing; two or three of the family's favorite hymns or reverent Primary songs.
Ask: What feelings should we have when we worship? (love, reverence, faith, respect etc.)
Discuss: Why is music important in having these helping us have these feelings in our worship service?
We should sit quietly and listen to the prelude music to prepare to worship when we go to church. For many years I was the ward organist. Sometimes while I played the prelude music, it sounded like I was at a basketball game. I love basketball games, but going to church has a different purpose.

MUSIC HAS GREAT POWER TO AFFECT OUR LIVES

True story: I had a friend who grew up far out in the country south of Twin Falls. One day she and her sister decided to go home for a surprise visit. They were both married and had a baby with them.
When they were far out on a lonely dirt road their car quit and wouldn''t start. They didn't know what to do. They decided that my friend would start walking for help while her sister stayed in the car with the two babies even though it was starting to get dark. My friend walked and walked through the dark She was so tired and scared she wanted to give up. She even saw cougar tracks in the dirt road. At the time, she was Primary chorister and she decided to sing Primary songs. She was so tired she wanted to lay down by the side of the road but she didn't. She just kept singing every Primary song she knew and walking. Finally as it was starting to be morning she saw a farm house and they helped get the car started. It turns out my friend had walked over 20 miles.

LEADING THE SINGING

Practice leading the singing at home or you can practice quietly when you sing songs at church by leading the singing in your lap with your index finger. There are instructions in the back of the hymnbook. If you take piano lessons you already know about Time Signatures. The most common are 3/4 and 4/4. Some easy songs to practice are "Come Follow Me" for 3/4 Meter and "I Am a Child of God" in 4/4 meter. Both of these songs start on the downbeat. The first beat of each measure is slightly emphasized.
Other songs begin on the last beat or two of a preceding measure. It is important to start the beat pattern in the middle or end so that the first beat of the next measure coincides with the strong downbeat of the beat pattern. It is not hard but it does take practice.

Persons of the Week: Emily Manwaring and Ashtyn Hill for practicing hard, memorizing lines and giving outstanding performances in "Charlotte's Web" and "Music Man".