Stuffed with Fluff

After this crazy first week of the semester I find that all I want to do.....

is hug this!

They Breath is Like the Steame of Apple-Pyes*

I want to bake a pie.  There is something homey and happy about a pie, especially when it is coupled with family and holidays. Yay, holidays!

Recently, in my time-wasting perusal of food blogs, I have discovered the most wonderful blog devoted to, you guessed it, pies!  Pie Love You is set to have a different pie for each week of this year (right now there are 41) and I'm considering some of these for my Thanksgiving contribution to our family meal....or maybe, if I absolutely can't wait that long, for a culinary escapade beforehand.  There are all sorts of bizarre and tasty-sounding pies on this blog.  Like Nectarine-Raspberry.  Or Maple Ginger Pear.  Or Lemon Curd with Rosemary Crust (what?).  Or maybe I ought to just go with something chocolatey and fluffy.  Mmmhh... Many a possibility.

 Pie-making adventures of Yore

(Emma's Pumpkin, My Chocolate Mousse, Lisa's Chocolate Pecan...was it?, and Mel's Apple), 

Thanksgiving 2008

*-Robert Greene, Arcadia, 1589

Presenting, a Recipe!

I do not profess to be a great cook by any means, but I definitely enjoy trying out new recipes and sharing them with friends and family.  I also really love recipes shared via blog.  There are gajillions of tested, tried-and-true recipes out there if you know a few good places to look.  Free cookbooks...my favorite!  Today I discovered a pretty good food blog with down-to-earth, non-threatening, tasty-looking recipes.  Take a look here.

And in the spirit of food blogs (and since I have never, ever, not once! posted a recipe), here is one of my easy healthy favorites:

Mom's Wheat Waffles

 

3/4 c. whole wheat

1 1/2 c. milk

2 eggs

1/4 c. butter

3 T. brown sugar

1 t. baking powder

3 T. cornmeal (or 1/4 c. flour)

Combine whole wheat and milk in blender and blend for 3 minutes. Add eggs, butter, brown sugar, baking powder, cornmeal (or flour) and blend together. Using a pastry brush, brush butter or vegetable oil onto waffle iron and bake waffles. Top with syrup or favorite fruit. Enjoy!

Source: Joan Hardman

Yield: About 6 large waffles

Random Selection

Whenever I've had occasion to participate in a raffle, random drawing, or luck-of-the-draw-may-the-odds-be-in-your-favor something, I am always optimistic.  I cross my fingers and think happy thoughts for luck, hoping that this time, this once, maybe I will win.  Well, someone in the room must always be thinking happier thoughts than me. *Sigh*.  I hardly win.

BUT! Yesterday I was sitting in LDS Marriage & Family and Brother Dorius announced that the Department of Religious Education was going to be randomly selecting 10 or so students from each religion class to take a one-hour online test.  This test is meant to measure a BYU student's knowledge of the New Testament, without scriptures or any other form of aid (hopefully prayer isn't ruled out).  Sounds fun, yeah?  I know that a test hardly sounds like a coveted prize to win, but how exciting is it to be one of 10 selected from 60-something?  That is enough to brighten anyone's Thursday. Plus, they give you a $5 gift certificate for the Bookstore.  Not bad, I say.  Not bad.  That is like a bag and a half of chocolate covered cinnamon bears.  Not bad at all.

Brother Dorius read the lucky 10 names in alphabetical order.  There was a last name beginning with B, then E, then G, then J, then H....could there be another H or would he skip on down to L or something?  Imagine my delight when I heard "Hardman, Bethany"!  Huzzah! *Big smiles*

How jolly it is to know that someone thought of you, even if it was through the process of random selection.  Now I just hope my New Testament knowledge is up to par.

My Father's House

Well.

Well, well, well. Today I have begun examining my love/hate relationship with blogging. Pros and Cons are being weighed. Thoughts are being mulled-over. A decision will be made. We'll see if a new post makes it up here anytime soon.

p.s. if you are reading this and have an opinion about blogging, you better share it with me. Ready go.

Bethany

A Far Green Country

What a beautiful day! I woke up this morning from a little sprinkling of rain upon my face, let in by my open window. A quick glance outside told me that the outside world was grey and wet. Scratch that, grey and WHITE and wet. Beautiful soft April snow. Winter semester ended yesterday and I was afforded a leisurely morning at home feeling cozy inside while the rain/snow/sloosh carried on around me. Several hours later when I emerged and made ready to enter the outside world, I noticed the brilliancy of the now-visible sun, and the beautiful effect that it was having on everything within its rays' reach.



Everything around was fresh and green, brilliant and blue, bright and white. The morning moisture left everything with a sweet little sparkle, and I was reminded of a beautiful piece of Tolkien wisdom:

"The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it. White shores…and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise."

Happy Earth Day!
More pretty photos by Nick Coombs, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hansel, Gretel, and a Happy List

Recently I taught 26 darling 1st graders the basics of making a simple list. We talked about what you might want to put in a list, how you will separate your items for clarity, what the colon means ("everyone say 'colon', now draw it with your finger in the air, now your nose!"), and as part of an interactive writing activity we came up with a variety of lists for our literature theme of the week, Hansel & Gretel. Our first list went something like this--

Characters: Hansel, Gretel, Mother, Father, Witch.

Not too tricky, eh? The lesson went quite well and made for a good foundation for the students. I've had lists on the mind. So....

Here is a little list of things that turn up the corners of my mouth and make me crazily happy. It is nothing new, but happiness is always worth sharing, yeah?

1. Dr. Seuss books
2. My mother making corn chowder on a chilly evening
3. The last hour of school just before a 3-day weekend
4. Wind
5. Flipping through the pages of the new gospel art book
6. Jenny's culinary creations, and the fact that she shares them with everybody!

What would your happy list for today look like?