Blessings

We just had the best Sunday for a long time.  Sunday morning at 9am sharp the entire Clawson extended family and a lot of Garner extended family descended on the Paradise chapel to help out in giving our little Jane a name and a blessing.  For those of you who aren't Mormon let me give you a little run down.  When a child is born, sometime during their first few months of life they are given a special blessing by a worthy priesthood bearer (Jimmy doing the honors for Jane) and also pronouncing their name to be recorded down for all posterity:)  It's a wonderful blessing actually that a father or grandfather gives the new babe.  It gives them a good start.  Blessing of health, happiness, love, and doing good throughout the baby's life are usually what are asked for.  James also thanked the Lord for sending Jane to our family.  It was short and sweet and Jane was surrounded by so many handsome men during the blessing.  I believe there were 12-15 striking men who helped out.

Beautiful setting, beautiful day for a beautiful little girl.

When my dad sat down after the blessing he leaned over to me and commented on Jane during the blessing.  The sweet little girl was being held up by all these men with the biggest smile on her face.  My dad said she looked as if she was ready to burst into laughter.   She seemed completely aware of what was going on and was basking in the blessing and love she was feeling.  For those of you who know, a lot of times the baby is sleeping or fussy, but not Jane!  She enjoyed every minute of the blessing and seemed truly happy to be apart of this world.  Her smile was the talk of the day.

Isn't that smile contagious?

I am smitten with this child.  I have been with all of them, but Jane is such a little ray of sunshine in our family at this stage of our lives.   I love watching the older kids love her.  Jed is not a love-y type kid, but when it comes to Jane he melts.  All the others love her immensely as well.  And best of all, I love watching James with one of his babies.  He is so fun to watch as he  coos and snuggles, and talks to a sweet baby.  Jane adores James and her eyes light up when he talks to her.

So I guess I just feel blessed.  Blessed to have Jane and the family I do.  The day was beautiful, the weather couldn't have been nicer, and the food.  Well let's just say I could live on Susan's Mint Brownies every day of my life!  They really made the day perfect:)  Blessing were abundant and I am truly thankful.

Summer Storms

Bear Lake sunrise.  8/18/2011.  Overlooking the lake, to the East just above Ideal Beach.

I don't think there is anything more wonderful than watching a thunderstorm roll in.  I remember the summer I started dating James there seemed to be quite a few of these summer storms and we would sit on my front porch watching them roll in from the west.  I could watch that for hours.  There are a few storms that have really stuck in my mind though.  Usually it involves James, porches, blankets and the most beautiful skies imaginable.  It's the blue sky that gives way to a purple-y darkness.  I call it periwinkle and I think it's the most gorgeous color the Lord gave us.

Bear Lake is one place that has spectacular storms roll in.  I've spent many beautiful days at the beach only to have the infamous Bear Lake storm roll in late in the afternoon.  Usually it comes in from the north and you can see the dark ominous clouds way before the drops start.  It's beautiful!

Last Sat. morning one of those wonderful storms rolled in to Bear Lake at about 6am.  James rolled over in bed and suggested we go watch the fireworks.  I love him for that.  Always willing to sit on the porch and admire a show.  The lightning was incredible.  Amazing actually.  It was striking all around us.  For two hours almost we watched from our front porch as the most spectaculars storm raged.  Eventually we were joined by a few kids and a grandma and grandpa.  Josh was witness to the storm too.  It was fantastic.  A storm that will be remembered for a long time.  The picture is of the sunrise that morning.  It was better than any sunset in Hawaii I have ever seen.  These are the moments that you know there is a God who loves you.  He sends you these great gifts if you'll just take the time to experience them.  I'm grateful I was witness to this beautiful morning.  It will go down as one of my favorites.

Fruits of My Labors

An evening spent picking beans in the garden with the redhead.  Love that kid!

I love my garden.  Next to my husband, my children, my dogs, my home, my family, my friends and neighbors, my garden is truly loved.  I pray for things in my garden, and yes, the prayers work.  I'm afraid this year though in all the hub-a-balloo of birthing babies, and nursing babies, and loving new babies, some things in my garden just didn't get the right start.  Cantaloupe won't be a staple from the garden this year, and I noticed that the new lawnmower in the family dismembered my cucumber plants.  And the tomatoes........well let's just say I may never get a ripe one this year, but at least I have plenty bottled from last year.  But the garden is beautiful still.  I have to admit that a lot of the reason I plant a garden is asthetics.  It's all about how it looks as I sit in my bathroom and admire it out the window.  The rows have to have texture, and be placed in certain order.  I love the tall lines of onions, the frilly wisps of fennel, and the beautiful color of giant Zinnias right down the middle of the garden.  Sometimes I don't even harvest something because I don't want to ruin how the garden looks.  I walk around the garden every day and admire the fruits of my labor.

As a kid I remember going to Bear Lake every year with my family and staying in Fish Haven.  I think it's the cutest little town, and there must have been a million little old grandma's who lived there who loved their gardens.  I loved driving through town and admiring each perfectly manicured garden.  Tall rows of corn, sprawling squash, and tons of raspberry bushes.  It all seemed so idealic to me, and it inspired me to do the same.

Every year I plant a huge row of pole beans right down the middle of the garden.  Why pole beans instead of bush?  Bush beans produce all in one big bang, but they're harder to pick, and they don't look as cute as the wall of bean vines that wind themselves up a fence.  A bean fence is just absolutely perfect down the center of my garden.  I LOVE the look, but the consequences are a load of beans.  So far I've picked quite a few 5 gallon buckets of beans.  Many get cooked with new potatoes, and bacon, but the majority have turned into Dilly Beans this year.  A lovely neighbor gave me the recipe a few years back and the fam and I decided this years harvest would be devoted to Dilly Beans.  Dilly Beans are better than pickles, and finger licking good.  They are easy to make, and don't take a lot of time, or even a pressure canner.  They're simple and delicious, and we love eating them by the bottle full.  The recipe is from the "Good Book" of canning.  The Ball Blue Book.  So it's safe and approved by the canning god's, and my neighbor Beanie.  (She's the canning god around Paradise.)  So when life hands you beans here's something a little different to make, but I promise you will be pleased with the outcome.  Especially come Christmas when you add these beans to a lovely relish tray, but let's not talk about Christmas............yet.

Dilly Beans

recipe courtesy of the Ball Blue Book of Canning

2 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed
4 cloves garlic, peeled
8 sprigs fresh dill weed or 1 t. dill seed and 1 t. dill weed in each bottle
1/4 c. salt
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
Directions

Cut green beans to fit inside pint canning jars.
Pack the beans into four hot, sterilized pint jars. Place 1 clove garlic and 2 sprigs dill weed in each jar, against the glass.
In a large saucepan over high heat, bring vinegar,  water, and salt to a boil. Pour over beans.
Fit the jars with lids and rings and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

The Bird

I don't mean to be crude or rude, or vulgar, but I have to admit that every time I walked out my door to my garden I was met with the sight of this lovely Blue Spruce giving me the bird.   Can you see it?  Seriously, every day I got a little tickle inside when I saw this tree.  I do believe the Lord has a HUGE sense of humor:)  Don't you think?

The tree has now straightened out its finger into a more appropriate pose, and is growing happily.  It sure made me happy.

Male or Female?

*Warning this may be a little scandalous for those of you with tender hearts, but you'll probably be the ones who get the biggest kick out of it.  You know who you are!  Those who are so good, but deep down inside you like a little sassiness.   This post is for you!*

So what is it male or female?  Which would you prefer?  I know I always go for the males if given a choice.  Years ago when my Jimmy worked at the Great Harvest Bread on 25th St. in Ogden he was working the counter bimbo shift when an older woman came in and asked for a male cinnamon roll.  A male cinnamon roll James questioned.  "Yah, you know the one with the nuts!"  The woman replied.  James blushed, and felt like he was almost sexually harassed.    It takes a lot for Jimmy to blush, but this little woman accomplished that.  It's been male or female at our house ever since.   Always with a giggle of course.

I love male fudge, but my Jimmy seems to like female fudge.  I love male cookies, and of course J love female cookies.  Maybe it's just our genetic background.  I love James and he loves me.  So this morning being the wonderful muther I am, I made cinnamon rolls for my little clan.  I made the first dozen female, and the second dozen male.  In reality I should have only made one male cinnamon since the family seems to prefer females.  So I have an entire pan to myself.  I'm eating for 2 now though, so I figure I might as well do it right.  

Yes you heard me right. We're having baby #5.  Jed will be 16 and Seth will be 8.  Laugh your guts out if you must.  I know I did when I found out that my friend Merideth was expecting, Tesha was having twins again, and Rachel was having #6.   I have to remember there is a bigger picture out there, and sometimes my plans don't fall quite in line with the eternal perspective.   Hence my lack of blogging the last few months.  I have to admit food has been my worst enemy.  It stinks, it smells, it lingers, and it stays on my loved ones breath for ever.  I wanted to barf at the slightest hint of garlic, bread, bacon........ even my favorite Chicken Enchilada soup.  My entire church smelled like garlic one Sunday.  I told James I was never going back, but I tell him that all the time.  I always go back.  But I'm feeling better now.  I haven't cried in 2 weeks, and I'm finely getting used to the fact that we aren't done.  My mother has been giddy, and my sister-in-law Katie is expecting too.  I'm not alone!!  My sister Hollie told me that I've always wanted and needed a 5th, but I was just too afraid to ask.  I believe her.  Heavenly Father knew he had to get this baby here by miraculous means, and he did.    

So I'm finely back to cooking.  Just in time for the holidays.  James was squeezing me last night in bed and told me how glad he was to have his Lisa back.  12 weeks of not feeling good is hard on loved ones, and I missed myself too, but I'm back.  I'll try to keep the posts coming, but for now I hope you enjoy the delicious male cinnamon rolls.  Happy gestation!!

My Favorite Roll Recipe

2 1/8 cups warm water

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup white sugar

6 cups bread flour

raisins and nuts optional for cinnamon rolls

Directions

In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, salt, oil, sugar, and 3 cups flour. Mix thoroughly, and let sponge rise until doubled in size.

Gradually add about 3 cups flour, kneading until smooth. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn several times to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.

Punch down the dough, let it rest a few minutes. Divide dough into 2 equal parts. Shape into loaves, and place in three 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch greased bread pans.  Or divide dough into 2 and roll out for cinnamon rolls.  It makes about 2 dozen cinnamon rolls or orange rolls.   Let rise until almost doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 45 minutes for loaves or 20-25 mins for cinnamon rolls.

Cream Cheese Frosting 

 1 8 oz. package Cream Cheese

1 cube butter

powdered sugar 

1/2 t. cinnamon 

milk to thin

Beat ingredients together until smooth and creamy.  Spread over warm cinnamon rolls.

The Circle of Life

The circle of life continues today.   I'm am attending my second official DUP meeting.  I am officially a Daughter of the Utah Pioneers.   It's true!  I signed up.  I even tried to recruit a friend but she in her kindest of rejection voices pretty much told me Heck no!  Oh well, I go alone with all of my fellow DUPPERS.  Actually it is quite fun.  Interesting too.

For years I have been one of a few ladies in Paradise that put on a monthly luncheon for all the widows in our little town.  I loved the job!   I will never forget the story that my favorite Marie told me the first time I met her.  She told me how she met her husband in a train station in Missouri during WWII. A few months later she was headed for Utah with her new husband.  She had enough money sewn into her purse lining for a bus ticket home if, when she got here, her husband already had a few wives.  I laughed my guts out.   Marie became one of my favorite friends instantly.  She died last Dec. at the age of 90.  I will miss her cute Southern accent, and witty sense of humor.

Slowly over the years, most of these woman have died and we found that our little group of "Golden Girls" had dwindled and we were feeding more "help" than widows.  Last Jan. we sadly stopped the monthly golden girl luncheons.  I will always love these little old ladies.  I have lost a dear friend each time one has passed on.  I will miss our lunches together.  This is where DUP comes in.  It is filling my need for older ladies.  Some are a bit older, and a hoot to listen to!  But for the most part they are regular Paradise women that I love.  Not Golden Girls by any means yet, but still wonderful.

So now I've moved on into the shoes of my Grandma Barker, and mother dearest.  They are DUPPERS too.  I think my granny was the secratary for her unit for 250 years.  Truly!  My mom signed up not to many years ago and is now in charge of the lesson each month.  I just go and enjoy.  I am on the luncheon committee this month, and boy did I use up a lot of my Bountiful Basket goodies.  I made a yummy Minestrone Soup and the best Everything Salad.  I am using my Persimmons in the salad.   I'll try to make my Utah Pioneers proud today.  I know Marie would like what I fixed.


Lisa's Minestrone Soup

8 c. chicken broth
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 T. fresh rosemary
2 potatoes chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
2 carrots chopped
1 c. fresh green beans snipped
1 bunch of kale chopped
1 15oz. can white bean rinsed and drained
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 fresh tomato chopped
8 oz. small pasta
salt and pepper to taste
1 large shredded chicken bossom

Bring all the ingredients together except for the pasta and bring to a boil.  Boil until potatoes are tender.  Add the pasta and cook another 10 mins.  Serve with a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and fresh pepper.  I also like to add fresh corn and edamames if I have them.

Everything Salad

Dressing

1/2 c. vinegar

1/2 c. sugar

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

1 c. oil

Mix together and pour over salad.  You can add variations to this dressing.  Add some raspberry jam, or use lime juice, lemon juice or orange juice for some of the vinegar.  Improvise.

Salad

Spring salad mix (I buy the big container at Sam's.  It will feed a crowd!)

1 green apple

1 red apple 

1 c. craisins

toasted nuts

shredded cheese of choice

I actually love to use pears instead of apples, but today I'm using a couple of persimmons, pears, blue cheese, dried blueberries, and sugared pecans.  To sugar your pecans I just place about 1 c. of nuts in a dry fry pan and add about 1/4-1/2 of sugar.  Turn on the heat and let the nuts sit until the sugar starts to carmelize.  Stir a lot so the nuts don't burn, but make sure most of the sugar is melted.  Pour the hot nuts onto a greased plate.  Immediately sprinkle with salt and a little chili powder.  Let cool and chop and place onto of the salad.  People love this salad.  It's always a huge hit!

Not Your Best Attempted Confection

See I'm sure he loves me despite, my failures.  Right?

"Oh Lis..........this is not your best attempted confection."  That was the comment I got from my most dearly beloved Jimmy Bob.  He said it with the most tenderness he could muster as he tried to gag down this mornings breakfast coffee cake.  Ok I probably should have named the confection SOS.  You know...........Poop On a Shingle.  I couldn't take offense.  I had actually asked him if he liked the before mentioned breakfast as I smuggly tried to swallow the dry piece of yuckiness.  Buttermilk syrup to the rescue, and all in the family were able to at least swallow most of the mess.  I know you're wondering how this could have happened at the Clawson home, but my dear loved ones let me just reassure you I have phenominal failures in the kitchen!  Quite frequently if you can believe it.  Just ask my Jimmy.  Actually don't.  He'll just tell you how wonderful I am, and thin, and how everything I do is touched with gold.  Let's just let him keep thinking this.  That's why I love him so much!

I wonder............does anyone else ever receive a comment like this?  Probably not.  Your husbands probably just swallow and smile.  I'll try to remember my Jimmy thinks I'm fabulous! Or maybe he'll just have a little Soft Soap in his toothbrush tonight:)

Good Gourds

Notice the controversial gourd photo above?

Pumpkin carving went on last night at my house.  We had all sorts of lovely pumpkin guts strewn all over the bridge, but 4 pumpkins were made into pleasant little Jack-O-Lanterns.  The red head begged for some roasted pumpkin seeds and being the wonderful mother I am, I indulged him.  Truth be told.......I love pumpkin seeds.  My mom used to make them all the time when I was a kid.  More times than not it wasn't actually pumpkin seeds, but Sweet Meat Squash seeds.  Same difference.  They are both just dang tasty.

Gourds this time of year brings up a little story that may be shocking to some.  It was a scandal around our neck of the woods a few years back.  6 years ago our family won the Cooking With Your Kids contest with the Food Network and a few weeks after the trip the local newspaper printed a story about us.  (Here is a link to the article.)   It was a full page article with a huge picture of our fam posing in our kitchen.  The kids loved it!  We didn't realize though what was hanging on our fridge in the background of the newspaper photo.  It was a picture from 14 years ago.  The one to the right with Jimmy holding the gourds.   Here it is.  If it's offensive.........I am sorry, but we've always thought it was dang funny as you can tell by the look on our faces. Therefore we hung it on our fridge.  It wasn't front and center by any means, but it was visible up in the corner of the newspaper photo.  Well a day after the Clawson family story ran, a call was made to the newspaper about the pornographic picture in the background of our story.  The caller was disturbed that this kind of material was available for her/his children to view.  It was in fact her/his 10 year old son who picked the picture out she/he said.  The photographer called James laughing his guts out.  He thought it was hilarious.  We grabbed the article and low and behold there it was.  The infamous picture of James holding my gourds.  It was about the size of half a postage stamp, but someone was offended.  The newspaper thought it was hilarious and ran quite a few editorial articles about the anonymous comment over the next couple of weeks.   I wanted to stick my head in a hole and hide.   It generated a lot of jokes, and customers thought it was great.  The one thing that made me feel bad though was the fact that I didn't know who thought the image was disturbing.  Had it been someone who'd been in my home and seen the picture in person, or just a random newspaper reader.  I have a feeling that it was someone we knew and that's what stung.  So I hope I don't offend anyone with posting the disturbing photo.   Still to this day, I get a little giggle every time I see it though.  The picture no longer hangs on my fridge, but it has a special place in my home.  So I guess James won't be running for President of the United States.  I just don't think I could handle the press digging through my dirty laundry or squash patch,  and finding this photo for the world to see.  It would be a scandalous scandal if you know what I mean. So just enjoy the pumpkins seeds, and all the lovely gourds this season and don't tell me if you hate the pic:)  We'll stay friends that way.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Seeds from as many pumpkins as you'd like washed and as clean as you can get them.

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Smoked Paprika

Drizzle a little oil on the seeds, and sprinkle with all the other good stuff.  Place on a cookie sheet and roast in a 375'F oven for about 20-25 mins or until the seeds have dried out.  Serve on top of salad or soup, or enjoy by themselves.

Summer Treats

I love my kids too!

I know my mom loved me.  Oh she still does, but want to know how I knew that?  She made me these fabulous treats all the time.  Sometimes there is nothing better than a graham cracker frosted with chocolate frosting.  There was one summer many moons ago that my little sis, a few cousins, and a few neighbor friends all tried our hand at the migrant worker job.  We were cherry pickers.  It was a long summer of real early morning for not a lot of pay, but we had a blast just being together.

Every morning we would wake up at the crotch of dawn  and head down the road to the designated meeting site.  From there, a million little kids would load into the back of pickups and continue on our journey to the cherry orchard.  I'm sure there were some laws about children working or riding in the open bed of a truck, but we wanted to be cherry pickers.  I remember it being pitch black, but still haveing a ball.  We'd laugh, and joke and in the back of the truck as we drove down the highway.  Finally when we made it to the orchard we could see the trees were full of bright cherries.   I remember thinking, "This is awesome!  There are tons of cherries.  We're going to be rich!"  But my excitement was quickly doused by a more experience cherry picker who told us newbies that the trees we were salivating over hadn't been shaken yet.  What the...........we had to pick all the clinger-on-ers off the already shaken trees.  There were like 2 cherries left on each tree and we had to fight for them. After one long and not very fruitful day, my sister and cousin LeAnn decided they were tired of the sparse cherry trees and they ventured over to the un-shaken trees.  There buckets sure filled fast, but boy did they get in trouble.  "Cheater never prosper!!"  They learned quick the wrath of Mrs. Barker.

It was long days.  We'd pick from 3 am until midnight, only to have to walk home uphill in the snow 12 miles.  Just kidding.  We'd pick from 6 am until lunch and then we'd sit in the shade of a cherry tree and open our sack lunches.  Every day my mom would fix something delicious, but there would always be a baggie full of chocolate frosted graham crackers.  It was one of those rare and beautiful moments when food tasted so wonderful.   You know like when a tuna or even a Spam sandwich tastes like it came directly from heaven after freezing and skiing all day.  Those chocolate frosted delicacies never tasted so good as under the cherry trees.  My mom even packed extras after the first day.  The cousins ate them, and the friends ate them, and me and Hollie loved them.  They gave us the energy to finish our cherry picking.  So that's how I know my muther loved me.  She frosted a million grahams to get us through our migrant worker stint.  I remember the day I got paid for picking 300 tons of cherries.  $31.36 to be exact.  I was proud and I saved that money forever.   OK, I actually spent it at the Little Store in Pleasant View buying penny candy, and yes it was worth it.  I'd probably have worked for free as long as my mom made me chocolate frosted grahams.

This is what happens when the red headed 10 year old gets your camera.  Notice it says, "J Loves L".  You'll have to imagine who that might be.  And it's not James loves Lisa:)

My Obsession With Banana Bread

I love banana bread!  I LOVE IT!!  But my concern here is that I haven't found the perfect recipe.  Actually I have.  There's two.   I just can't replicate them.  In my opinion James makes the best Banana Bread found on the planet at the bakery.    Have you tasted it?  It is to die for, and every Tues. I cut a warm slice off the bread board and top it with a little butter and I'm in heaven.  It is one of those "Great Harvest Moments".  When you taste something so yummy time and place stops.  I own the recipe.  I paid my franchise fee.  I have the recipe, but it just isn't the same at home.  Does that ever happen to you?   This last winter I spent a beautiful day skiing with my fabulous neighbor C and guess what she brought for lunch?  Yup- Banana Bread.  I was on a diet and not eating those kind of things, but I ate a piece.  Again........it was divine!  I even have C's recipe.  It's in her family cookbook.  3/4 of the book is treats.  These gals know how to make good stuff, but again, my attempts weren't that stellar.

So what is it about trying to replicate a recipe.  I've decided you can always replicate a recipe, but you can't replicate "the moment".  Eating is more than just the food.  There are all those other variables.  How hungry you were, where you were, how happy you were, who you were with and so on.  I once had my own daughter tell me I needed to get a recipe from my friend E who had brought us over a beautiful Razzleberry Pie.   It was my recipe!  E had just made it perfect.  The pie was a perfect specimen, but the timing was even better.  We needed that pie at that moment, and it turned that pie into pure loveliness.

So I'll keep trying for that perfect banana bread, but I do have one consolation.  I've nailed this Banana Cake.  It's wonderful every time, and it feeds my need for baked banana loveliness.  Maybe it's the topping, or the yumminess, but I think it's the fact that this is the first cake I made when I married James that actually turned out good.  It's a no-brainer!  Eat some and then you can tackle the world on Banana Bread recipe at a time.

Banana Cake 

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter

2 eggs

1/2 c. buttermilk

1 c. mashed bananas

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

Cream sugar and butter together.  Add eggs, buttermilk and bananas.  Mix well.  Combine dry ingredients and mix well.  Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x9 inch cake pan or Pyrex pan.  Bake at 350'F for 40 mins. or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Immediately spread the topping on and return the cake to the oven for another 10 mins. or until the frosting bubbles.  I actually turn on the broiler and broil the frosting until it is bubbly.  Watch really close.  Serve cake warm with a honking huge cup of milk or vanilla ice cream.

Topping

3 T. butter

1 c. brown sugar

3 T.  cream

1/2 c. coconut

1/2 c. chopped pecans

Melt the butter and combine all the ingredients together.  Spread on warm cake and broil until bubbly.

What's The Best Meal You've Ever Had?

That's the question I received not too long ago while I was teaching a little class one day.   I opened the class up for questions and I usually get the "What's your bread recipe?" question.  I answer that I could tell them, but I would swiftly have to cut their heads off.  Top Secret you know:)  But instead I got this question posed to me.  The funny thing about it is, I didn't hesitate for 2 seconds.   I know what the best meal I've ever eaten is.  I have a testimony of this meal.  I've eaten it all the days of my life, and my children are now raving mad men for this meal.  I will admit that there have been many a beautiful meal in my lifetime.  How about the Firecracker Fish in Kauai years ago, or the first fish taco I ever had.  Another is a turkey I practically molested with tons of butter and fresh herbs and cooked to complete perfection. Or even the halibut I ate at Hamilton's this last weekend.  They were all pretty wonderful meals, but the winner in my books is none other than fresh beans with red potatoes and bacon, sliced fresh tomatoes, and homemade corn on the cob.  That's it!  Simple as can be, but there is nothing on this planet that I like better.  Perfection on a plate.


Growing up we never planted a garden at my own home, but my grandpa Barker lived next door and he had the most beautiful garden.  I spent most of my mornings a few summers in a row weeding that lovely little garden.  Actually it was enormous!  It took my sister Hollie and I weeks to weed the rows of parsnips.  My grandpa fed all Pleasant View I believe.  And thanks to his garden we were never in need of fresh produce all summer long.  My grandpa would stop by early in the morning with the entire trunk of his little Mercedes full of goodness.  He'd bring in grocery bag after grocery bag of stuff.   It would all then be eaten up as quick as possible by our little family. One day I remember walking over to my grandpa's house to beg a few more beans off him.  I was in the mood for "The Perfect Meal".  I remember being downright mad as I walked home empty handed.  I wasn't mad at my grandpa.  He was a generous soul and would have given me his last bean if he had one, but someone in the town of Pleasant View knew how wonderful his beans were too.  For a few weeks in a row they had waited until my grandparents, and the rest of the neighbors as well, had gone to church and then rape and pillage my grandpa's bean patch.  They took them all.  Week after week.  I remember wondering why my grandpa hadn't picked the beans on Sat. to stop the robbers.  He would just leave a fruit laden bean patch ripe for the stealing.  Finally it came to me.  My grandpa must have wanted the robbers to have the beans.  Maybe they needed them.  Maybe they would starve to death without the beans.   My grandpa was giving again to others.  What a good man!

Even to this day I remember the story of my grandpa's beans every time I'm in my garden.  I love beans, but I love the lesson I learned from those beans as well.  A kind generous heart will always make life sweet.  Even if you have to go without beans once in a while:)

My Perfect Meal

Fresh beans snipped 

washed red potatoes quarted

In a large pot cook the beans and potatoes together until both are tender.  About 20 mins. or so.  In a fry pan cook anywhere from 1/2 -1lb. of chopped up bacon.  I usually cut it into 1/2 inch slices right through the plastic and then dump it into a pan.  Fry until nice and crispy.  Pour the bacon and some of the grease onto the beans and potatoes.  I'll admit I add a lot of the the bacon fat.  It makes the beans taste so wonderful.  Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!!

Pooh Cookies

I think these cookies may be one of my favorite things.  I have a cousin that as a kid I absolutely adored.  I still love her!  She was 5 years older than me, but she still played with me and my sister and her two little sisters every day in the summer when we were kids.  We would canoe in my grandpa's pond, ride bikes on the "Roller Coaster", take long walks to the Love Bridge where we would write the name of the boys we loved,   climb every tree at the family park, and run around without combing our hair all summer long.   I learned from my cousin that lemons and rhubarb were delicious with salt, and every Fri. night we'd watch Solid Gold, Love Boat and then scare ourselves to death watching Fantasy Island.   I had the best growing up.

A few of my all time favorite foods like cheesers, and tuna patties were introduces to me by this cousin.  But the one food that always brings a smile to every one's face is Pooh Cookies.  I realize that technically these cookies should be called No Bake cookies, but that is just boring.  They taste 10 times better if you call them Pooh Cookies.   It makes you feel a little scandalous.   All of a sudden plain becomes extra ordinary.  I made these cookies for some Achievement Day girls last week, and the name brought smiles and giggles to every face.  Shock someone the next time you make these cookies.  Call them what you know you've been wanting to call them forever, but you just felt a little too modest, and refined.  Pooh Cookies are perfect!  Thanks Netty and I love you're stinking guts!!  PS you better come to the family reunion!!  I've missed you!

Pooh Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/4 c. corn syrup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cocoa

pinch salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

1 c. coconut

In large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, cocoa, salt, and butter and mix well. Bring to a boil and wash down the sides of your pan to get all the sugar crystals.  Stir mixture and bring it to a boil that can't be stirred down for 1 minute. Then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. Add oatmeal and mix well. Do not use regular or instant oatmeal; quick-cooking oatmeal is essential to the success of this recipe.

Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to let the oatmeal absorb some of the liquid.

Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto waxed paper or parchment lined baking sheets or Silpat sheets. Let cool until you can touch the mixture; then reshape the cookies to make them more a ball shape if you want. Let cool completely; store at room temperature. You can also pour this mixture into a 9" square pan that has been greased with unsalted butter, let cool, then cut into squares.

May In Paradise

Gorgeous!  Isn't it beautiful?  This is a picture of how life in Paradise is.  In May, may I add.   Like the real Paradise.  Not just a beautiful place or a state of being, but Paradise, Utah.  OK, so it's actually Avon, but if we're going to be technical........Avon is North of Eden and South of Paradise.   That's even better than Paradise wouldn't you say?

Happy

Tues. morning at 4:53 am my world came crashing down.  Not horribly crashing, but enough to keep me from blogging, eating, cooking, running, reading, or anything else I love.  I have a giant pain in my neck, actually a pinched nerve in my neck that caused my whole left arm to go numb, and I am ashamed to admit, James has now seen me at my all time worst moment in life.  Even having babies naturally was nothing compared to what he saw Tues.  I won't go into detail, you don't want to know anyways.  

I was so desperate, I went to the doctor though.  I never go to the doctor.  I have to be having a baby or something like that and then I only stay until the baby is out.  I never go back for check ups, nothing.  "We'll see you in 6 weeks."  they say.  That doesn't happen.  We've been lucky, or blessed or we're just too cheap to go to the doctor, plus they never have anything wonderful to tell you.

I went to two different Chiropractors. I was that desperate.   As I'm sitting in the office, James is looking at me like he's afraid to touch me, while tears are rolling down my cheeks. The doctor comes in and starts his routine.  As he is walking around me, touching parts, and clicking, and all sorts of weird things I looked at him and said, "My mother would love you!"  (She's a witch doctor you know.) Then I looked at James and said, " You didn't tell me we were coming to a witch doctor!"  I love it when some doctor comes into the bakery, gets a little chummy with James and then we go to them.  It's always such a treat.

Well this guy got right to the point.  This is what he said.  "Well I've done some energy testing on you and your body is telling me that you have a DEEP EMOTIONAL SADNESS that is causing the problem. "  He went on to ask if I was depressed, stressed, sad.......on and on and honestly he was talking about the wrong gal.  Hello, my name is Lisa and I am happy!  Obviously he didn't ever see me play the part of Happy in The Seven Dwarfs.  "I'm Happy. Happy, Happy, Happy!" was my big line.   My mom said I was amazing!  I am the epitome of a happy girl.  I thought everyone knew that.   My husband is wonderful, he is tall, dark, handsome, fun, and dang it I've tricked him into thinking I'm amazing.  He loves everything about me.  He even told me the other day he loves it when I squeal in the car when it's cold.  He used to hate that.  He loves me.  I have 4 perfect children (most of the time), a beautiful life by any ones standard.   Heck, I even get all the free bread I ever want.  My life is good.  It always has been!  I looked at James and could see he was trying to stifle a big laugh. This guy was nuts, and we both knew it. Or maybe he secretly wanted to be Oprah.  Who knows.

After a second visit of cracking and making me cry again he finally admitted he couldn't do anything for me.  Try a physical therapist he said.  He does want me to come back when I've managed the pain to find out what my deep sadness is from.  I'm sure he thinks he can solve the worlds problem.  Of course I'll come back in a few week I said.    That's what I told the OB-GYN......seven years ago!  Fat chance.

I have a wonderful physical therapist who makes house calls.  He's in my ward, and he is now one of my favorite people.  I'm feeling better, and he laughed at my Deep Emotional Sadness story.  He said I just got lucky and twisted wrong.  That's the way to look at it.   Anyway if you can think of anything traumatic that's caused me a deep emotional sadness would you please remind me.  For now I'll stick with being happy!  Happy that my pain in the neck is going away!

Bittersweet Lessons of Life

There are no recipes today, just my thoughts after a very bittersweet day with Emma.  It reminded me of the scene in Sense and Sensability where Elinor Dashwood is talking to Colonel Brandon about her sister MaryAnn and how MaryAnn would be much better off as soon as she learned "the ways of the world".  Colonel Brandon's response to her was this.  "She is purely unspoiled, and the longer she goes without, learning the ways of the world, as you put it the better."  Don't we wish we could keep our little kids safe and happy forever?  If you've seen the movie you know that MaryAnn Dashwood's heart was broken and then stomped on and that is what happened to Emma yesterday.

Emma has a fun little friend who is a few years older, but the two of them get along perfectly.  On most days after school you can see these two riding their cute cruiser bikes up and down our rode for hours.  Emma's bike is lime green with hot pink rims, and McKenna's is baby blue with pink rims.  They look so cute together.  Yesterday the two decided to meet at the DI after school for some treasure hunting.  Emma has never been there and McKenna loves it. So a new adventure for Emma awaited.  The two girls had a grand time trying everything in the store on.  Emma picked out the funnest old lady dress, and the tallest boots you've ever seen.  We had a fun photo shoot in mind with these treasures.  As they were talking over their clothes Emma realized she left her wallet in the dressing room. They hadn't moved more than 5 feet from the dressing rooms and a new lady was now in there.  I looked under the door and could see her wallet and the lady promptly kicked it out......totally empty. 

 Emma had about $65 of her hard earned babysitting money in there and it was gone.  She immediately burst into tears, and I had to really pull myself together to not cry either.  We looked around for the little lady who had been in the dressing room right after Emma and she quickly came up to us with a wad of money in her hand.  "I found your money."  she said, but she had kept the $50 bill.  

There isn't a lot you can do.  I thought about stripping her down to her nothings, and grabbing that $50 bill that I know was there somewhere, but you can't.  We left the store with nothing, and a sour taste in our mouths from the adventure.

  I have learned some great words of wisdom 

from my 8th grade math teacher.  One of those tidbit is, "If life was fair we'd all be fairies!" 

This doesn't make you feel better, but it is the truth.  Life is hard sometimes.   Of course we both cried the whole way  home.  We talked about the lesson we learned that day, and quickly realized that at least it was just money.  Money is easily replaced with a little work, but say a little brother was taken, or someone got a terrible sickness.

  Those are hard things to have taken from you.  Emma now knows that not all people are honest or kind and sometimes those people may even want to take her most precious things.  She must guard her "Stuff"  carefully.  It could be her money, her integrity, her virtue.....all of those great YW values.  

As Maria VonTapp put it, "when the Lord closes a door, 

he always opens a window."  There is always a silver lining on a cloudy day, and that's what good friends are for.  McKenna, her big sis, and granny all stopped by after and brought the outfit that Emma had left at the DI, and of course Grandma Orton couldn't let Emma go without her hard earned babysitting money back.  

There we all were again out on the lawn crying.  Tears of gratitude for the kindness of really great friends.  Emma's second lesson yesterday was of generosity, and gratitude.  Em has a kind heart and tender spirit, and I am glad her hard lesson could be tempered with love.

  She doesn't need to know how hard the world can be yet.  

Heck she's only 12.  There's plenty of time for that.