Walking in a Winter Wonderland

The big news here is that we had a record snowfall in December--36.1"--and also the snowiest month on record ever!! I fear that we are ill-equipped for winters in Wisconsin. Here's why:

1. We don't own a cool pickup with a snowblade on the front. We do own a pickup with 4-wheel drive and Rene will be getting a nice truck as a company vehicle. No snow blade, though.
2. We don't own a snowmobile. Snowmobiling is really serious business here. There are numerous snowmachine trails and in some places, the kids drive them to school. People have these funny looking trailers that they use to haul their machines all over.
3. We don't even have a blade for the riding lawnmower. We do have a snowblower. It's old and usually has to be fixed a time or two over the winter, but Rene is good at fixing it and it does a great job.
4. We don't drink beer. That puts us in a pretty big minority because the majority of Wisconsinites love their beer. I'm serious!

Combine any or all of numbers 1-3 with number 4 and you have a pretty good idea of winter in Wisconsin. And I haven't even mentioned the Packers, ice hockey or ice fishing yet. (They also are all combined with #4 above, in case you're wondering.)

Yesterday, we got 7.5" of fresh snow. It came down in pretty, big flakes all day. About 7 pm, Rene, Janet and I bundled up (it was 15 degrees) and went for a walk through the unplowed streets in our neighborhood. It was really beautiful and peaceful. On the way home, I was almost buried under three feet of snow by the snowplow, which came by about then. Winter Wonderland, Wisconsin style!

Ever since 1997 when Joseph first went away to college, the best part of Christmas for me has been having the kids home. This year, we were so happy to have Janet home and to have Emily and Preston to spend time with. And it was wonderful to talk to the kids who were celebrating with their other families and to our two missionaries. Those were the best parts of the day for me.

On Christmas Eve, we had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Besides Janet, Emily and Preston, we invited a family from the ward who were leaving on Christmas day to visit her family in England. The dinner was great and Kim brought some crackers with her. These are a tradition in England. They are cardboard tubes filled with little toys, paper hats, fortunes and jokes, and something to make them snap. At the beginning of dinner, you cross your arms and hold the ends of the crackers all the way around the table. At someone's signal, you all pull and the crackers snap open. It was really a fun way to start off the evening and a tradition that I'd like to continue. Here is a picture of the exact kind she brought. They are wrapped in 12 Days of Christmas paper, if you're interested.




On Christmas Day, after we had talked to Sarah and Joseph, opened presents, and visited Preston and Emily's to play a few games, we went to a potluck Christmas dinner with our friends, the Thompsons. Once again, a very yummy dinner and great company.

After that, we came home, talked to Ben and Joanna and Grandma Allred, played a few more games and called it a day. All in all, it was very peaceful and restful and fun to spend time with people we love.

Since the last time I posted, the weather has been really cold and snowy. Every few days, we get a little storm with 3 or 4 inches of snow. We now have a pretty hefty snow cover and it's only the end of December! I wonder what it will look like by April, when we are normally thawed out.

I don't like feeling shut in by the snow. It makes it hard to get out and get any kind of outdoor exercise (unless you ski, like Preston.) Outdoor exercise around our house has pretty much declined to two activities: shoveling snow or carrying wood for the fireplace. Oh, I might as well also mention that it gets dark about 4:30 in the afternoon.

One thing I enjoy that helps cope with the weather is cooking. It's probably unfortunate that I want to cook during the winter when there's little exercise to be had. I suppose it's leftover from the days when mankind had to pack on the pounds to survive the winter. Anyway, here are some of the goodies I've cooked over the past couple of weeks.

We invited some friends over to dinner one Sunday. I made this Brownie recipe for dessert. To be honest, I didn't make the sauce--I just opened a bottle of our yummy canned raspberries and spooned them over. I also didn't do the fancy piping around the edges. (Recipe courtesy of Pillsbury)

Make-Ahead Brownie Delight
Prep time: 20 min
Cook Time: 47 min
Yield: 16 Servings
Ingredients:
Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
BROWNIE BASE
1 (19.5 oz.) package Pillsbury® Classic Traditional Fudge Brownie
1/2 cup Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs
3/4 cup large chocolate chips or chunks
FILLING
2 cups heavy cream
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup white baking chips, melted
SAUCE
1 (10 oz.) package frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup fresh raspberries
Preparation Directions:
1.
HEAT oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 9-inch springform pan with no-stick cooking spray. Prepare brownies as directed on package, using oil, water and eggs. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter in prepared pan.
2.
BAKE 45 to 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled.
3.
BEAT cream in large bowl until stiff peaks form. Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar in separate large bowl; beat until smooth. Stir in melted vanilla chips. Fold in 1/3 whipped cream; fold in remaining whipped cream. Reserve 1 cup mixture for piped edge; spread remaining mixture over brownie. Using decorating bag fitted with star tip (1/4 to 3/8-inch opening), pipe decorative border around edge of brownie, making sure border doesn't touch side of pan. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours while preparing sauce.
4.
PROCESS thawed raspberries with syrup until smooth in food processor bowl with metal blade or in blender container. Strain to remove seeds. In small saucepan, combine 3 tablespoons sugar and cornstarch; stir in raspberry puree. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens. Cool to room temperature.
5.
About 1 hour before serving: ARRANGE fresh raspberries over filling. Refrigerate until serving time. With sharp knife, loosen dessert from sides of pan; remove sides of pan. Cut into wedges. Serve with raspberry sauce. Store in refrigerator.

High Altitude (above 3500 ft.):
1.
ADD 1/3 cup flour to dry brownie mix. Bake as directed above.

The next evening, Emily and Preston came over to eat leftovers and stayed to help us make some cookies and candy to send to some of the missionaries we know. Rene is the real candy maker, though, so I won't post his recipes.

The next night, we went to a bishopric dinner and I was asked to bring dessert. I made Cranberry Glazed Apple Dumplings. Basically, it was an apple dumpling recipe but instead of stuffing the apples with brown sugar and raisins before wrapping them, I stuffed them with a little cream cheese and dried craisins. After they were wrapped in pastry, I poured the leftover raspberry juice from the recipe above over them and baked them. Mmmm...very yummy.

Janet came home from college on Thursday night. Yay! It's been fun having her around. I've actually been cooking real breakfasts this week.

Saturday, we went to some friends' home to watch BYU embarrass us all in their bowl game. The game was awful, but it was fun to spend time with friends. The Thompsons made chili, Emily and Preston brought Muddy Buddies and red and green tortilla chips, and I made this Pizza Stromboli. (Recipe courtesty of Taste of Home)

Pizza Stromboli
SERVINGS: 16
CATEGORY: Main Dish
METHOD: Baked
TIME: Prep: 25 min. + rising Bake: 25 min.
Ingredients:
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
4-1/2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder
2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
4-1/2 teaspoons pizza sauce
3/4 cup chopped pepperoni
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon each chopped ripe olives, chopped pimiento-stuffed olives and chopped canned mushroom
Directions: In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in honey and milk powder until well blended. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup bread flour, whole wheat flour and seasonings. Add to yeast mixture; beat until smooth. Stir in pizza sauce. Stir in enough remaining bread flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic; about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll into a 14-in. x 12-in. rectangle. Sprinkle pepperoni, 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons mozzarella cheese, onion, olives and mushrooms to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal and tuck ends under. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 1 loaf.

And to think that we still have all that Christmas cooking coming up!

Stars were gleaming...

Last night was our ward's Christmas party. This year, the theme was "A Night in Bethlehem." The gym was decorated to resemble Jerusalem, everyone dressed in biblical costumes, you paid taxes by bringing canned goods for the needy and in return, you got a little pouch of money. You could use this money to buy food. Rene and I were in charge of the booth that sold gyros. For a sheckel, you got a piece of flatbread, lamb, onions, tomatoes and cucumber sauce. Yum! The people next to us were selling falafel (rhymes with "awful" and pretty much tastes the same.) You could also buy dried fruit, a little cup containing carrots and celery, cheese and salami, fruit, and baklava. Emily and Preston were in charge of the dreidel booth, where kids could purchase and play with a dreidel.

So, I made all our costumes and I think they turned out well. It's amazing how seriously some people take this event, and some of the costumes are pretty elaborate. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but Preston's costume included a sheepskin over his shoulder.

After everyone had eaten their fill, there was a short program consisting of the children from Primary acting out the Nativity story and various families singing Christmas carols. The Hmong choir also sang "Silent Night" in Hmong. Emily and I have been helping them practice for awhile. For me, the highlight of the program was the nursery kids singing "Once There was a Snowman." There wasn't much singing involved, but they really knew the actions.


A month or so ago, I went up to Merrill, Wisconsin, and babysat my friend's 18 month old while she worked. Her husband and his father own a Christmas tree business. They wholesale trees and also go down to Chicago where they set up several lots. They also sell wreaths and swags. My friend, Brenda, makes all the bows for the wreaths and she also makes the swags. So I went to stay with Max while she made the swags. While Max was napping, she helped me make my own wreath. I think it turned out well. And Max is adorable, by the way.

Please disregard my last post about jumping up and down on the ice! The NOAA says that it hasn't been cold enough to make thick enough ice yet, so no one should walk on it. However, the fact that it was 0.5 degrees this morning makes me think that there is definitely ice-making going on.

Thanksgiving 2008

We spent Thanksgiving as we have many times before, with Rene's sister Mary Ann and her family. They live in Plymouth, Minnesota. A good time was had by all. And for all those inquiring minds who want to know, we had four pies.

The table

The food

Jim and Rene

Margaret and Mary Ann

The day after Thanksgiving, we went to Interstate Park, which is north of the Twin Cities on the St. Croix River. It's called Interstate because it crosses the river and part of it is in Wisconsin. There are some pretty amazing potholes here that were carved out by whirlpools thousands of years ago. Apparently, it's also a spot where rock climbers practice. We saw a guy rapelling down from a climb.

On a bluff overlooking the river

Down by the river

Because the nights have been below freezing, the lakes are freezing over. Here is the group standing out on a frozen lake. It's kind of an eerie feeling to walk out there and hear the ice groan and creak and to see cracks. At one point, the whole group jumped up and down at the same time, but the ice is thick enough now (probably about 4 inches) that it didn't break.

Our house has been pretty quiet since Janet went off to college. It's kind of weird to devote so many years to being a mom (29 in my case), and then suddenly have your job kind of come to an end. I know I'll always be a mom and that my kids still need me, but it's just not the same as having kids at home. That's why this weekend was so fun. Ben and Shannon flew in on Thursday morning for a job interview. They were busy most of Thursday and Friday, but on Saturday and Sunday, it was almost like old times. Emily and Preston were here and it was fun to fix dinner for all of us, to sing around the piano, to play games and to visit. The only bad thing is that eventually everyone has to go home!

Espanol

Last night, Sarah's pensionista in Peru emailed me to tell me that the missionaries' p-day had been changed and she would not be emailing me until Wednesday, so not to worry when I didn't get the customary email on Monday. The email was in English, so I assume Sarah told her what to write. She also sent me some photos of Sarah. I wanted to write a little note back to her in Spanish, thanking her for the pictures. I thought I knew what to say, but I wasn't sure, so I had to call Preston and Emily and ask them. Even they had a brief discussion on the right word for "cute" and whether it should be "son" or "estan".

All that got me thinking about my Spanish skills. Were all those years of high school and college Spanish wasted? What about the 12 years I helped my kids with high school Spanish? I've never traveled to a Spanish speaking country. I don't know if I ever will. All of our kids took a lot of Spanish in high school and college. 4 out of 5 of our kids who have gone on missions have served Spanish speaking missions and Preston served in Madrid, Spain. Rene has traveled a lot in South America; in fact, he just got back a few days ago from Ecuador. He has a "Learn to speak Spanish" file on his MP3 player that he listens to to try to learn something. It just seems like my chance to really learn to communicate in Spanish has never come.

I have realized, though, that there is quite a bit of Spanish I remember. I remember this tongue twister from high school Spanish:

Erre con erre cigarro; Erre con erre barril. Rapido corren los carros, Cargados de azucar al ferrocarril.

I can at least roll my r's, which some people cannot do.

I remember a joke that at least one of our kids found funny:

Que hace un pez? Nada!

There was also a joke that I think Joseph used to tell about "el Papa".

My reading comprehension in Spanish is way higher than my ability to speak. I recently heard Elder Scott say that if you have learned a foreign language, you ought to read the Book of Mormon in that language occasionally, just for the added interesting nuances.

When I am at the store and hear Spanish being spoken, I am able to understand bits of it. We don't have a huge Spanish speaking population here, but there are some.

Well, whether or not I ever actually find my Spanish useful, I think that learning a language is always a good thing. For starters, it helps you understand your own language better. And it's like music, training for the brain. I guess I'll just enjoy the opportunities I do have to learn and use a little Spanish here and there.

While I was preparing this week's Institute lesson and studying about the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-22, I came across this picture book:

It's The Quiltmaker's Gift, by Jeff Brumbeau and Gail de Marcken. It is a pretty darn good illustration of this parable, although the parable, of course, has a lot of deeper meaning. Now I'm trying to figure out a way to use the book for Institute.

Also, during the past week, I saw this cartoon and it remind me of Ben and Shannon:

You can see more stick figure humor here: http://humorpix.com/images/2632-Stick-figure-humor.html . Some of them are pretty funny.

Have you seen this? I think it's pretty interesting. Note that you don't have to join to find out results; just click on the little "No..." statement on the bottom right-hand side.

http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/view/blogger-spelling

We really enjoyed having Joseph, Tracy and Afton visit us this past weekend. We didn't really do anything too exciting. It was good to just be together. Afton is a sweetie. She liked Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Emily and Uncle Preston.

Tagged by Shannon

Well, okay, you asked for it--the 4th picture from the 4th file:

Obviously, Janet is so fast that she's just a blur. This was in Dec. 2005, by the way.

And now, for my bonus picture from the same file:

And thanks, Shannon, for giving me something to post about!

One of the traditions we started long ago and have continued successfully happens on the Sunday of General Conference. Since we have lived our whole married lives away from the west and have either gone to church to watch conference or have watched it at home, we wanted to do something to make conference special. We initiated a special breakfast on the Sunday of General Conference. It's always different and doesn't have to be something expensive or complicated. It's just a breakfast that is different from the usual weekday breakfast or even our Saturday pancakes. Since we lived for so many years in the Eastern time zone, this turned out to be a perfect idea. We've had all kinds of fun breakfasts, sometimes so fun and time-consuming that we've almost been late to conference. It's been one of my favorite traditions. I would recommend it to anyone.

This year, we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. For years, I have been using the same recipe--one I got from Betty Crocker. But last summer, I discovered a recipe that's supposed to be a "clone" of a Cinnabon. I made it a couple of times and it was a keeper. So that's what we had today and here's what it looked like:

One other tradition at conference, especially in October, is candy corn. I think it started when the kids were little and we had to watch conference at church. I'd put some candy corn in my purse and judiciously dole it out to keep them quiet. Emily reminded me of this tradition just yesterday, as she was helping herself to the candy corn.

For Janet

CASPER, Wyo. - A police officer didn't think much of a call to shoo off a bothersome "kitty cat" at a home in Casper, Wyo. Then the officer arrived at the home of Beverly Hood. It was no ordinary domestic feline — but a male mountain lion weighing 80 to 90 pounds.

Officer Mike Ableman says he ran for cover inside Hood's home when he saw the cougar.
Hood says she was inside when she first saw the mountain lion lying on her porch Monday. Hood says the lion hissed at her, but she wasn't scared.

She called 911, animal control and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Hood reported that she had a bothersome "big cat." A dispatcher told Ableman that it was a house cat.
A game warden tranquilized the mountain lion and the animal was relocated.

I'm just waiting for this to happen in Rib Mountain someday soon.

Saturday, Rene and Preston ran in the Eau Pleine Trail Run. Rene ran 4.4 miles and Preston did the long course, 9 miles. It's a beautiful run through the woods and alongside a lake. Both of them did very well. Rene finished 3rd in his age group and Preston was 2nd in his. Better look out for these two at the next Scoresby Scamper!

Do I What?

Yesterday was our 30th wedding anniversary. In some ways, it has gone by so quickly; in other ways, it seems like we have been married forever. I was just going to post one picture but it was so fun looking at them that I thought you might like to see them too.

Look at how cute our cake was! Our wedding was pretty inexpensive compared to weddings nowdays. Both of our open houses were at home. This was the one in Aberdeen. We left Aberdeen the next day with all our belongings in the car and I carried that top layer on my lap all the way to Columbus, Ohio. But then when we got there, it didn't fit in our little freezer and we were hungry, so we just ate it then.

Notice my dress. My mom and I made it and it definitely cost less then $100. The veil belonged to my friend Lee on the far left. Happily, I am still in touch with these two wonderful friends and even saw Sheila (next to me) last summer. Also, get a load of Rene's long hair. He's never had it that long since. The hot, humid summers in Ohio did that long hair in and it's been short ever since.

Here are my mom and some younger siblings. That little girl to my left, my sister Laura, is over 40 now. I think Phil went from our wedding to Provo to enter the MTC for his misison to Japan.

Our parents, and wow, do they ever look young! If my mom and dad (on the right) look tired, it's because ours was the third of four weddings to happen in our family in four months' time.

I'm pretty sure that Dave and Kathleen and Forrest drove up and back to Idaho Falls that day. Cathy probably had school and I can't find any pictures of Miriam, so she probably did, too. From this you can probably deduce that we got married on a Wednesday, with a show of pretty blatant disregard for what was convenient for anyone else.

I have always been a believer in expressing love through actions, not just words. Hence, the title of this post, which is taken from the song "Do You Love Me?" from Fiddler on the Roof. Those lyrics sum up some of what I'm trying to say. Rene has always been a great provider, willing to pitch in with the kids, housework, church assignments, and to lead out in family home evening, scripture study, etc. He has shown love in his words and actions.

After 30 years, we're now entering a new phase of married life. Once again, it's just the two of us. It'll be an adjustment, I'm sure. Good thing we can experience it together.

Did anyone else see this story from the Deseret News?

Bear breaks up marijuana operation
Published: September 4, 2008
PANGUITCH — Maybe this is Smokey's other job.
A large bear helped break up a marijuana growing operation this week, according to the Garfield County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators from the sheriff's office and the U.S. Forest Service found 888 young plants and about 4,000 bags containing seeds, dirt and chemical plant food this week, police said.
Officials also found broken pipes, food items that had been ripped apart, beer cans with teeth marks and claw marks on trees around the camp.
Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins said he believes a large bear came through the camp and scared off the people responsible for the marijuana plants.
The plants were being destroyed Wednesday.

For some reason, this cracks me up. Maybe it's the visuals. I can just see the bear, getting high on beer and marijuana. Or the stupid dopeheads being chased around by the bear. There were claw marks on the trees. Did the bear chase one of them up there?

Maybe what we need are drug-sniffing bears.

America's Hometown

After driving 1800 miles last week to take Janet to BYU, Emily and I jumped in the car after work on Friday and drove to Mount Vernon for Rachel Murray's baptism. Due to Emily's intrepid manuvering through Chicago, we made excellent time. We stopped overnight in Elkhart, Indiana, and arrived in Mount Vernon around noon on Saturday. We visited our old neighborhood briefly and then got ready and went to the baptism. I made Rachel's dress and it turned out well, despite all the tucks, lace and ruffles. It fit her well and she was happy with it, which pleased me.

At the baptism, we were able to visit briefly with old friends. Afterwards, we went out to dinner with the Murrays and then paid a quick visit to Cheryl Driggs.

Sunday morning, we attended church. It was fun to see everyone and there weren't too many new faces. Afterwards, we hopped in the car and headed home, arriving at Emily's front door almost exactly 10 hours after we left the church parking lot in Mount Vernon.

I really enjoyed driving around town. As we would pass various places, my mind was full of memories of things that happened there. Even more precious to me was the chance to visit with dear friends. We have known the Conkles, Burkes and Hiltons for more than 20 years. It's comfortable to be around them because they pretty much know all about us. We've served in the Church together, played together, watched each others' kids, cried together and seen each other go through all kinds of ups and downs. We have a lot of shared history and it's always so good to revisit that.

The Murrays we pretty much consider family, and it's always great to be with them. Since we have lived away from our families our whole married lives, we decided a long time ago to try to go to as many family events (blessings, baptisms, weddings, reunions, etc.) as we feasibly could. So Rachel's baptism was no exception. It was wonderful to be with them and to be treated like part of the family.

One other person I have to mention is Clara Mae Graves. Every time I see her, I wonder if she'll still be around the next time I'm in town. Thankfully, she looked great and seems to be doing well. She played an important part in our lives, especially when the kids were little.

We have lots of new friends as well and they are wonderful and fun to be around, but there's nothing quite like going home.

We returned home yesterday from our trip to take Janet out to BYU. It was a fun trip--a little long and hot, but fun. Here's the recap with pictures:

We left on Sunday after church and drove to my mom's in Aberdeen, SD. The next morning, we drove from Aberdeen to Mt. Rushmore, which is about a six hour drive. Western South Dakota isn't much to look at, but one thing we did enjoy seeing were the vast fields of sunflowers.

We broke up the trip with a stop at Wall Drug. It's so touristy that it's fun.

Then, on to the Black Hills. We took a little hike at Mt. Rushmore. Although we have been there before, it's still awesome.

We drove on to Casper, WY that night. The next day, we visited Martin's Cove, the Willy Rescue Site, Rock Creek Camp and the site at the Green River where Rene's ancestor died. Once more we were awed by the strength and courage of the pioneers, both those who came by wagon and the handcart companies. Driving across Wyoming causes you to reflect on what the thoughts of those early saints may have been. What a lot of faith and determination that trek took! Rene and Janet are sitting on a bench which commemorates the death of Joseph Oborn at the Green River Crossing.

After seeing more of Wyoming than you'd ever want, we made it to Kaysville that night. The next morning, we moved Janet into the dorms.

We had a long list of items to accomplish while in Utah and got all of them done. Rene and I were able to attend the Provo temple and enjoyed it. It had been about 27 years and after attending small temples for the past 9 years, it was a different experience.

We missed Janet on the drive home. It was a much quicker trip. We drove 16 hours the first day from Provo to Ames, Iowa. The next day, we drove 6 hours home with two interruptions. We stopped in Minneapolis to give peaches to Mary Ann and then we stopped at an Amish store about an hour from home.

One other item....the cheapest gas? Aberdeen, SD, at $3.45. Who would have imagined that?

And one last picture....

Bob(s) the Builder(s)

I mentioned in an earlier post that people here in Wisconsin take their wood seriously. The big excitement at our house recently is the shed that Rene is building to store his big woodpile in. He has consulted with his brother Paul on the design, made an exciting trip to Menard's to order materials and cleared the site. (There was a little, old, beat up aluminum shed there before.) The materials came on Thursday and he was so excited that he started right in.

Last night, Preston and Emily came over for dinner and stayed so that Preston could help with the building project. Here are some pictures of them hard at work. It's been a pretty amazing male bonding project.

And what did the women do while they were hard at work? Fixed dinner, cleaned up after dinner, watched the Olympics, scrapbooked, read....whatever. Somehow, the building project is just not as exciting to us.

On Monday night for Family Home Evening, we made spudnuts. We used to make them once a year around the 24th of July because that's what Rene and I were doing 30 (!!!) years ago when we got engaged. We kind of got away from that, but someone suggested it and we thought it would be fun. We invited a couple of friends over and had a great time. The spudnuts were yummy! And it was easier than it used to be to cook them because Rene got a deep-fryer for his birthday. Good thing we only make them once a year or so.

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

½ cup sugar

½ cup shortening

2 teaspoon salt

1 package yeast

1 cup mashed potatoes

2 eggs

6 cups flour (approximately – dough should be sticky)

Preparation:

Scald milk with shortening in it; cool. Soften yeast in ¼ cup water. Mix all ingredients – adding 2 cups of the flour and the potatoes last.- to make a sticky dough. Add remaining flour until you have a soft dough that you can handle. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour. Roll out dough, cut into doughnuts. Let rise again for about 30 min. Deep fry at 360 degrees until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Dip in sugar or glaze.