Cake Stand

 

I found an article a few weeks ago about celebrating birthdays by doing something new and exciting. It included an alphabetical list of suggestions. Here are some of my favorites:

Attempt an escape room.

Brunch with friends.

Buy yourself a special gift.

Donate to a charity or volunteer your time.

Eat breakfast in bed. (This one’s problematic.)

Escape to a beach.

Get a psychic reading.

Go horseback riding, or on a hot-air balloon ride.

Have a bonfire – or a pajama party.

Hike a new trail.

Play mini golf.

Redecorate your bedroom. (Maybe just clean it.)

Ride ALL the rides at an amusement park.

Send flowers to yourself.

Take a road trip.

Tour a museum.

Treat yourself to a spa day.

Try a cooking class.

When you’re a small child, other people plan birthdays for you. The older you get, the more these celebrations fall to you. You don’t just HAVE a happy birthday. You get to MAKE one.

Four Polka Dot Pines

 

“Healing blessings come in many ways, each suited to our individual needs, as known to Him who loves us best. Sometimes a ‘healing’ cures our illness or lifts our burden. Sometimes we’re healed by being given strength or understanding or patience to bear the burdens placed upon us. The people who followed Alma were in bondage to wicked oppressors. When they prayed for relief, the Lord told them He would deliver them eventually, but in the meantime, He would ease their burdens that ‘you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.’ In that case the people did not have their burdens removed, but the Lord strengthened them so ‘they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.’’ - Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Hope of Hartford

 

Slow Cooker Apricot Chicken

 

12 chicken thighs

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1/2 onion, coarsely chopped

2 cups apricot preserves (any brand will do, but we love Bonne Maman)

4 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons Dijon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

 

Place chicken in slow cooker; add onions. Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken and onions. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. When finished, remove chicken and place on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Spoon sauce over the chicken. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes or until the chicken begins to brown. Watch it carefully! The sugary sauce will burn before you know it, and no one wants charcoal for dinner! 

Polka Dot Pine

 

Bob dropped out of school at fourteen to work as a carpenter with his father. At eighteen, he enlisted in the Air Force. Beginning as medical records technician, he quickly rose to the rank of master sergeant. Bob ruled the clinic at Eielson Air Force Base with an iron fist. But he disliked who he'd become. "I was the guy who made you scrub the latrine, the guy who screamed at you for being late to work. The job requires you to be a mean, tough person. I was fed up with it. I promised myself if I ever got away from it, I wasn't going to be that way anymore." Bob took an oil painting class at the U.S.O. When sales of his art outpaced his salary, he retired from the Air Force. Today, Bob Ross is best remembered for his gentle voice, and for the “happy little trees” he painted on his PBS show, “The Joy of Painting.”

A Single Blossom

 

October 14, 1987, eighteen-month-old Jessica was playing in the yard of her aunt’s home/daycare center. Her mother was watching, but turned away to answer the phone. Jessica fell into a well that was 22’ deep and 8” wide. Rescuers worked nearly 60 hours to free her, while CNN provided round-the-clock coverage. As President Reagan said, we all felt like “Baby Jessica’s” godparents. Jessica survived the ordeal, but the limelight exacted a toll. Her parents, who were eighteen when it happened, divorced a few years after. And their divorce only gave the media more fuel. The paramedic who crawled down a cross-tunnel to pull Jessica out was celebrated as a hero. But he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and took his own life nine years later. If this story has a moral, it’s that we need to take better care of each other – of toddlers playing in back yards, of young couples starting out, and of heroes who themselves need rescuing.

Four Rolling Stones

 

Slow Cooker Cola Pork

 

3 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder

12 ounces cola, plus 3/4 cup extra for the sauce

2 tablespoons vinegar (white vinegar’s fine, but we used cider vinegar)

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

10 ounces red enchilada sauce

1 tablespoon dried minced onion flakes

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

 

Place pork in slow cooker. Pour cola over the pork. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. While pork is cooking, make barbecue sauce by combining 3/4 cup reserved cola and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; cover pan; reduce heat and simmer about 20 to 30 minutes until sauce reaches desired thickness. Remove pork from crockpot and shred. Serve with barbecue sauce on toasted buns, or over hot rice. Leftovers (if you have any) are great cold on a tossed salad.

Three Masted Schooner

 

Words of wisdom from kids:

Never trust your dog to watch your food. – Patrick, 10.

When you want something expensive, ask your grandparents. – Matthew, 12.

Wear a hat when feeding seagulls. – Rocky, 9.

Sleep in your clothes so you'll be dressed in the morning. – Stephanie, 8.

Never try to hide broccoli in a glass of milk. – Rosemary, 7.

Don't flush the toilet when Dad is in the shower. – Lamar, 10.

Don't ever be too full for dessert. – Kelly, 10.

If your dad’s mad and asks, "Do I look stupid?" don't answer. – Heather, 16.

Never tell your mom her diet's not working. – Michael, 14.

Don't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat. – Joel, 12.

When you get a bad grade, show it to your mom while she's on the phone. – Alyesha, 13.

Never try to baptize a cat. – Laura, 13.

Never spit on a roller coaster. – Scott, 11.

Beware of cafeteria food that looks like it's moving. – Rob, 10.

Half-Square Triangle Sawtooth

 

“Relief Society is not limited to a room in a building, a Sunday lesson, an activity, or a presidency. Relief Society is the covenant women of the Church; it is us—each of us and all of us. It is our ‘global community of compassion and service.’ Anywhere and everywhere we go, we are always part of Relief Society as we strive to fulfill its divine purpose, which is for women to accomplish God’s work in individual as well as collective ways by providing relief: ‘relief of poverty, relief of illness; relief of doubt, relief of ignorance—relief of all that hinders joy and progress.’ Similar belonging exists in elders’ quorums and organizations of the Church for all ages, including our children and youth. The Church is more than the buildings; the Church is us, the members. We are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with Christ at the head and the prophet as His mouthpiece.” – Reyna I. Aburto

Tilt-a-Whirl

 

Hawaiian Haystacks were a big hit in our family when our kids were young, and they’re a big hit with THEIR kids, primarily because everyone can pick and choose what goes on their plate and what doesn’t.

 

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Haystacks

 

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)

21 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped

4 ounces cream cheese

2 teaspoons paprika

 

Place chicken in slow cooker. Stir together remaining ingredients and pour on top of chicken. Cover and cook on low about six hours. Remove and shred chicken; return to pot long enough to reheat. Serve with hot rice, shredded cheddar, sliced scallions and black olives, chopped tomato and bell pepper, canned mandarin oranges and pineapple tidbits, and chow mein noodles.

Tiny Sawtooth Star

 

I started taking piano lessons in California at age eight. A couple of years later, we relocated to New York and I needed a new teacher. It was beyond lucky that the one fellow teaching piano in our newly adopted town had actually written most of the books I’d studied before we moved. The first thing he did when we met was to examine my hands – before I’d even entered his studio. He took my hands in his and turned them over. I wondered for years what he was looking for. Was it long, delicate fingers that would someday play Chopin’s wide intervals? Strong wrists to tackle Scarlatti's forearm staccatos? I never had the nerve to ask him. But now that I teach piano students of my own, I KNOW. I was a preteen about to lay hands on his nine-foot Steinway grand. He was checking to see that they were CLEAN.

Blue Butterfly

 

Generally speaking, I think pasta and slow cookers don’t mix. Several of the slow cooker recipes I’ve shared here call for pasta, but it’s usually cooked separately and used as a base for whatever was in the crock-pot. Pasta IN the slow cooker runs the risk of being overcooked, which was exactly what happened with this recipe. But it was only slightly past al dente, and it probably happened because Dad was out fishing until twenty minutes after dinnertime. We should have eaten without him.

 

Slow Cooker Tortellini and Sausage

 

1 pound turkey sausage, browned and crumbled

19 ounces frozen cheese tortellini

3 cups spinach leaves

2 cans diced tomatoes

3 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

8 ounces cream cheese

 

Place all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 3 hours. Serve immediately, whether your husband is back from fishing or not.

Twenty-five Star Cabins

 

The word “museum” comes from the Greek word “mouseion,” which were temples dedicated to the Muses and the art forms they nurtured. The most famous museum of the ancient world was the museum of Alexandria, built by Ptolemy I Soter in 300 B.C. Like the great library of Alexandria, its purpose was to protect and share knowledge. The first public museum in England was the Ashmolean, named after Elias Ashmole (1617-1692). Among its collection of oddities were the remains of a dodo that inspired Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The Smithsonian Institute is a collection of nineteen museums and galleries in the Washington D.C. area. There, you can view the Apollo 11 command module, the Hope diamond, and Dorothy’s ruby slippers. May 18 is International Museum Day: an annual day set aside for cultural reflection and celebration. It’s a great day to visit a museum near you, and to think about what we want to preserve for future generations.

Twenty Assorted Pine Trees

 

Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken

 

1 1/1 pounds boneless chicken (We used chicken breasts, but thighs work, too.)

1 1/2 cups salsa verde

1 (4-ounce) can chopped mild green chiles

8 garlic cloves, crushed

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced (For more heat, don’t seed it.)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3 scallions, sliced

1 small bunch chopped cilantro (optional)

 

Place chicken in slow cooker. In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low 5 to 6 hours. Shred chicken and return to pot for about half an hour. We had ours with whole wheat tortillas, cabbage slaw, rice and corn. Next time, we might serve it over taco salads in tortilla bowls.

Sixteen Star Cabins

 

“Perhaps your soul cries out that you are living a survival story right now as a victim of abuse, neglect, bullying, domestic violence, or any suffering of this kind. You are in the midst of your own desperate attempt to survive a situation that feels very much like a disastrous shipwreck or a promising mission suddenly aborted. Will you ever be rescued; will you make it through your own survival story? The answer is yes. You can survive. You have in fact already been rescued; you have already been saved—by the One who has suffered the very torment you are suffering and endured the very agony you are enduring.1 Jesus has overcome the abuses of this world to give you power to not only survive but one day, through Him, to overcome and even conquer—to completely rise above the pain, the misery, the anguish, and see them replaced by peace.” – Elder Patrick Kearon

Pink Butterfly

 

“A genuine relationship is one that is not dominated by the ego with its image-making and self-seeking. In a genuine relationship, there is an outward flow of open, alert attention toward the other person in which there is no wanting whatsoever.”

“See if you can catch yourself complaining, in either speech or thought, about a situation you find yourself in, what other people do or say, your surroundings, your life situation, even the weather. To complain is always non-acceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge. When you complain, you make yourself into a victim. When you speak out, you are in your power. So change the situation by taking action or by speaking out if necessary or possible; leave the situation or accept it. All else is madness.” – Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now and A New Earth

Nine Star Cabins

 

Slow Cooker Carne Asada

 

3 pounds flank steak

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup orange juice

Juice of one lime about 2 tablespoons

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon chopped cilantro (optional)

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon honey (Our honey had crystalized, but it worked just fine.)

 

Place flank steak in slow cooker. Whisk together remaining ingredients; pour over steak, making sure all meat is covered with juice. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours or until tender. Remove meat from slow cooker and shred. Serve immediately or return to slow cooker on keep warm and let soak in juices. We had ours with beans, rice and a little sweet corn. But it would be delightful in soft tacos with cabbage slaw, shredded cheese, salsa and guacamole. It might also be fun in burritos, in a rice bowl, or on top of fries.

Rolling Square

 

When I think of birds that have gone extinct, the first images that come to mind are the elephant bird, the passenger pigeon, and of course the dodo. All of these are gone because people were careless. But humans aren’t the only reason for extinction. In fact, species were disappearing millennia before we came on the scene, birds included. The Aldabra white-throated railbird was one of these, presumed to have vanished more than 100,000 years ago because of rising sea levels. Surprisingly, the Aldabra railbird seems to have made a comeback, because of a phenomenon called, “iterative evolution.” The Aldabra’s genes have been dormant in almost-but-not-quite identical offspring, waiting to reassemble in just the right way. Essentially, the Aldabra white-throated railbird has evolved twice. Scientists have observed iterative evolution in other species, such as turtles. This is the first time we’ve documented a re-evolved bird. Maybe I’ll have a pet dodo someday after all. 

Four Star Cabins

 

I don’t have many things that were once my grandma’s, but I do have her two wooden spoons. She used them so many times to make this recipe, they’re cracked and misshapen. And I wouldn’t replace them for the world. 

Popcorn Balls 

1 10-ounce bag miniature marshmallows (A fresh package works best.)

 1/4 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter, plus more for your hands

 1 tablespoon water

 1 3-ounce box Jell-O gelatin mix (We like strawberry.)

 12 cups plain popped popcorn

 

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add marshmallows, water, and Jell-O. Cook over medium heat until marshmallows are melted. In a large bowl (we use a Tupperware Thatsa-Bowl), add to popcorn and stir WITH TWO WOODEN SPOONS until completely coated. While mixture is still hot, butter hands and shape into 8 or 9 balls, setting each ball on waxed paper to cool. Store in an airtight container. They’re best eaten within a day or two, but that’s not usually a problem.

Rolling Stone

 

Originally, Pixar’s Toy Story 2 was meant to release straight to video, much like Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, Pocahontas II, Journey to a New World, and Aladdin: The Return of Jafar. Disney was so impressed with early footage, the film was upgraded to a theatrical release, which meant a restructured storyline, increased workload, and more stress for everyone involved. In the middle of this, one Pixar employee (who will remain nameless) was doing routine file clearance on internal servers and accidentally entered a delete command on the movie’s root folder. File servers were quickly shut down, but 90% of the work was lost. Toy Story 2 came very close to not happening at all. Enter Galyn Susman, supervising technical director. Galyn had given birth six months earlier, and had set up a system that copied Toy Story 2's database so she could work from home. The moral of this story? Remote work can be a blessing – for everyone.

Star Cabin

 

“Days before He gave His life for us, Jesus Christ was at the temple, watching people make donations to the temple treasury. Along came a poor widow, and she threw in two mites. This seemingly inconsequential donation caught the Savior’s attention. It impressed Him so deeply he called his disciples, and said to them, ‘This poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had.’ What does this mean for us as disciples of Christ? It means if we want to find balance in life, and if we want the Savior to lift us heavenward, then our commitment to Him and His gospel can’t be casual or occasional. Like the widow at Jerusalem, we must offer Him our whole souls. Our offering may be small, but it must come from our heart and soul.” – Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Double Cross

 

A friend shared these with me just in time for Mother’s Day. She didn’t know the source, and neither do I. But they made me laugh, so I’m sharing them with you. Mothering is hard work. We can use all the laughs we can get.

 

Things my mother taught me:

RELIGION: "You better pray that comes out of the carpet."

TIME TRAVEL: "Keep it up, and I’ll knock you into the middle of next week!"

LOGIC: "Because I said so, that's why."

FORESIGHT: "Wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

IRONY: "Keep crying and I'll give you something to cry about."

OSMOSIS: "Shut your mouth and eat your supper!"

CONTORTIONISM: "LOOK at the dirt on the back of your neck!"

WEATHER: "It looks like a tornado swept through your room."

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE: "I brought you into this world. I can take you out."

ENVY: "Lots of kids don't have wonderful parents like yours!"

Twenty-five Ohio Stars

 

There are several other wonderful dishes at Zupas, but this is what Heather orders EVERY SINGLE TIME we eat there. She’s a girl who knows what she likes. If she’s feeling especially generous, she’ll share a bite or two with me.

 

BBQ Chicken Salad

 

1 head romaine or red-leaf lettuce (I’m actually growing these in the kitchen window.)

1 cup corn (frozen, canned or fresh)

1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed

A handful of grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1/2 medium red onion, diced

1 cup pitted black olives, sliced

1 cup tortilla strips (I usually find these near the croutons and bottled salad dressing.)

2 cooked chicken breasts, coarsely chopped (This is a great use for left-over rotisserie chicken.)

Buttermilk ranch dressing (It’s so much better if you make your own.)

BBQ sauce (Ditto)

 

Coarsely chop the lettuce. Toss it in a large bowl with corn, beans, tomatoes, onion and olives. Drizzle with dressing and BBQ sauce just before serving.

Six Paisley Pines

 

A policeman was asked, “What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?” He answered, “Call for backup.”

Silence is golden, until you have kids. Then, silence is suspicious.

I always say if you aren’t yelling at your kids, you’re not spending enough time with them.

Good luck robbing my house. My home security system is LEGOs on the floor.

If you’re a mom, you know why Mama Bear’s porridge was too cold.

Nothing’s really lost until Mom can’t find it.

I’m not saying being a mom is hard, I’m just saying I was a LOT better at it before I had kids.

I play hide-and-seek with my kids, but some days my goal is to find a hiding place where they can’t find me until after high school.

Sixteen Ohio Stars

 

Even if you’re a huge sushi fan, unless you’ve visited Japan, you’ve probably never tasted wasabi. More than 99% of the “wasabi” sold in the U.S. is actually horseradish, mustard, and green dye. Even in Japan, odds are (about 95%) you’ll never taste the real deal. Wasabi is pricey. It begins to lose its distinctive flavor about 15 minutes after being grated. Do you love yams? You’ve probably never tasted them, either. Those red-skinned, orange-fleshed roots are actually sweet potatoes. Real yams are African imports with dry flesh and bark-like skin. They’d be out of place at Thanksgiving dinner. We used to buy cider at a local orchard. The had a press on site, and loved to show how their cider was made. Today, the orchard is on its way to becoming upscale housing. We can buy apple juice labelled as “cider” at the grocer, but if we want the real thing, we need to haunt the famers’ market.

Four Paisley Pines

 

Of the 776 adult male passengers aboard the Titanic, only 128 survived. Perhaps the most controversial of these was J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line. During the Titanic’s construction, Ismay authorized reducing the number of lifeboats from 48 to 16, the minimum allowed by the Board of Trade. Because there was speculation about whether the size of the Titanic might make it slower than its competition, Ismay asked the captain about the possibility of a speed test. Then, less than 20 minutes before the ship sank, Ismay boarded the last boat lowered on the starboard side. He cooperated with those investigating the sinking, who cleared him of all blame. But in the court of popular opinion, Ismay was tried and convicted of cowardice and villainy. He continued to serve on the board as it dealt with the aftermath of the sinking, but Ismay never fully recovered from the events of April 15, 1912.  

Nine Ohio Stars

 

“Joseph of old, sold into slavery as a youth by his own brothers, in his anguish turned to God. Gradually, he rose to prominence in his master’s house in Egypt but then had all this progress ripped away because of the false accusations of Potiphar’s wife. Joseph could have thought, ‘So prison is what I get for keeping the law of chastity.’ Instead, he continued to turn to God and was prospered even in prison. Joseph suffered a further crushing disappointment when the prisoner he befriended, despite his promise to help Joseph, forgot all about him after being restored to his position in Pharaoh’s court. In due course, as you know, the Lord intervened to put Joseph in the highest position of trust and power next to Pharaoh, enabling Joseph to save the house of Israel. Surely Joseph could attest that all things work together for good to them that love God.” – Elder D. Todd Christofferson