Thirty Pin Cushions

 

One of Heather’s favorite recipes is in a children’s cookbook she’s had nearly twenty years. It’s a sandwich with the unappealing name of “BLAT:” crumbly bacon, crisp lettuce, ripe avocado and juicy tomato, with mayo on toast. Whenever we have all six ingredients, she’s sure to ask for BLAT for lunch. I can’t wait to surprise her with this:

 

BLAT Salad

 

2 cups leaf lettuce

1/2 cup thick bacon cooked, and crumbled

1 tomato, sliced

1 1/2 ripe avocados, divided

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayo

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoons each garlic and onion powder

1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup milk

 

Place first 3 ingredients plus half an avocado, sliced, in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients to blender; process until smooth. Toss salad with a few tablespoons avocado/ranch dressing. Refrigerate remaining dressing in covered container. 

Pink Dress

 

Once all the villagers decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That is faith.

When you throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know you will catch them. That is trust.

Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but we still set the alarm to wake up. That is hope.

We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future. That is confidence.

We see the world suffering, but still, we get married and have children. That is love.

On an old man’s shirt was written a sentence ‘I’m not 80 years old; I’m sweet 16 with 64 years’ experience.’ That is attitude.

One in a Melon

 

I love appliqued quilts, when other people make them. Applique is really the only method that results in gracefully curved shapes like circles, ovals and flowing vines. In theory. But whenever I try my hand at applique, I’m disappointed. I expect the same kind of precision and perfection I strive for in my piecing, but my applique work usually produces sad, amorphous blobs. When the kit and pattern for this wall quilt arrived in the mail, I briefly considered making red and green log cabin blocks to suggest ripe watermelon slices, and skipping the flowers, vines and leaves altogether. I may still do that for a table topper sometime next month. I ended up following the original wall hanging pattern, almost. My vine has one loop instead of two, and two leaves instead of four. Instead of appliqueing eight impossibly small black watermelon seeds, I’ll stitch on little black watermelon seed buttons after this is quilted.

Mississippi Star

 

On my kitchen wall calendar, the coming week looks like the calm before a storm. Except for one orchestra rehearsal, lunch with my mom, and an Independence Day picnic, the days are completely blank; to be filled with anything I please, or nothing at all. The following week, everything hits the fan. We have three doctor’s appointments, two rehearsals, tickets for two different movies and for one stage play. The rest of July is even busier. To keep a rein on the chaos, I use a modified version of the 6/10 cleaning method. I try to manage six simple daily tasks, no matter how busy I am: make beds, wash dishes, clean kitty litter, empty waste paper, vacuum one floor, and do a load of laundry. There are ten weekly tasks, like bedding, bins and bathrooms. But if I manage these six every day, I should make it to August in one piece. 

Twenty-Eight Teacups

 

I like summer, to a point. When the temperature hits triple digits during the day, and when it never dips below eighty at night, I’m done. I feel like booking a vacation someplace cool, and not coming back until September. We usually don’t see weather like this until the second week in July, but this year, it hit nearly a month early. The last thing I want to do is fire up my oven right now. So, I’m on the lookout for recipes that don’t have to be baked.

 

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

 

1 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 cups cookie crumbs (I used graham crackers, but vanilla wafers and animal crackers work, too.)

2 cups powdered sugar

1 3/4 cups creamy peanut butter, divided

10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

In a blender or a food processor, combine butter, crumbs, sugar and 1 1/2 cups peanut butter. Process until smooth. Spread evenly in a 9x13” pan. Melt chocolate and remaining peanut butter in microwave or saucepan. Stir until smooth. Spread evenly over peanut butter/crumb mixture. Chill at least an hour. Cut into 24 small bars.

Six Floating Stars

 

“In this world of tribulation, we know all things work together for good to them that love God. Indeed, as we walk uprightly and remember our covenants, all things shall work together for your good. All things for our good. A remarkable promise! Comforting assurance from God Himself! In a miraculous way, the purpose of Creation and the nature of God are to know beginning and end, to bring about all that is for our good, and to help us become sanctified and holy through Jesus Christ’s grace and Atonement. Jesus Christ’s Atonement can deliver and redeem us from sin. But Jesus Christ also intimately understands our every pain, affliction, sickness, sorrow, separation. In time and eternity, His triumph over death and hell can make all things right. He helps heal the broken and disparaged, reconcile the angry and divided, comfort the lonely and isolated, encourage the uncertain and imperfect, and bring forth miracles possible only with God.” - Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Twenty-Five Pin Cushions

 

For dessert on Father’s Day, I was going to make a cherry lattice pie and a Dutch apple. I intended to make time to do them a day ahead. A lot happened Saturday: we got the oil changed in my car, picked up the groceries we’d forgotten Friday, did a lot of yard work, and bought and installed a lovely string of lights for our patio awning. Before we knew it, the day was done and the pies weren’t. Sunday, the thought of making dough, rolling crusts, assembling pies and baking them was overwhelming. Instead, I coated my slow cooker with cooking spray, dumped in two cans of cherry pie filling (42 ounces total). I melted half a cup (one stick) of butter and stirred it into a box of yellow cake mix. Then I sprinkled the mixture over the cherries, covered it and cooked it on low 4 hours. Our cherry cobbler was great with vanilla ice cream. 

Green Dress

 

In 1981, Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer placed eight men in their late 70’s in a monastery in New Hampshire. The whole place was decked out – furniture, décor, music, movies, etc. – so the men would feel like they’d traveled back in time to 1959. There were no mirrors, only photos of the men from their 20’s. The men were told to imagine themselves back into the skin of their younger selves. After a week, the men reported feeling younger. They were more supple. They sat taller. Their manual dexterity and even their eyesight improved. With such a small sample size, Dr. Langer decided not to publish her results. But 30 years later, the BBC approached her, asking her to repeat her “counterclockwise” experiment for television with six aging former celebrities as guinea pigs. The stars emerged after a week as apparently rejuvenated as the subjects in New Hampshire. So, maybe you really are as young as you feel.

Summer Flower

 

I’ve always made potato salad with new potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, mayo, chopped celery and onion. Somehow, when I make it for my family, there are lots of leftovers. I mean to try this one next, to see if it fares better:

 

Hot German Potato Salad

 

1 1/3 pounds medium red potatoes

3 slices bacon, cut in 1” pieces

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon flour

1/4 teaspoon each salt, celery seed and pepper

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup cider vinegar

 

Boil potatoes until tender; drain. Cool and coarsely chop. Cook bacon until crisp; drain on paper towels. Cook onion in bacon fat until tender. Stir in sugar, flour, salt, celery seed and pepper; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir water and vinegar into onion mixture. Heat to boiling over high heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 3 minutes, until thickened. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in potatoes and cook until hot and bubbling. Top with bacon. Serve warm.

Quarter-Square Triangle Star

 

For fifteen years, Frances Bavier played Aunt Bee on the Andy Griffith Show. The more popular the show (and her character) became, the less she liked it. In an interview, she explained, “It’s difficult for an actress to create a role and to be so identified that you as a person no longer exist.” She developed a reputation for being difficult and easily offended. Andy Griffith reported, “There was just something about me she didn’t like.” When asked about her, Ron Howard said, “I don't think she enjoyed being around children much.” Frances retired at age 70 and moved to a small, Mayberry-like town in North Carolina. If she hoped to escape Aunt Bee there, she was disappointed. Bus loads of tourists would stop by her house for a glimpse of their favorite character. She became a recluse, hiding in her own back bedroom with the curtains closed – with at least fourteen cats.

Twenty-Five Teacups

 

We tried this recipe on Father's Day, using the whole family as guinea pigs. It was the first time we've used the Traeger for anything other than burgers, bratwurst, hot dogs or pizza.

Smoked Beef Brisket

 

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons onion salt

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper

1/4 cup kosher salt

13 to 14-pound beef brisket

1 1/2 cups beef broth

 

Combine first six ingredients in small bowl; mix well. Use to season brisket on all sides. Preheat Traeger to 225F. Place brisket, fat side down on grill grate. Cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 160F, 5 to 6 hours. Remove from grill. Double-wrap meat in heavy duty foil. Add beef broth to foil packet; seal. Return brisket to grill and cook until it reaches 204F, about 3 hours more. Remove from grill, unwrap and let rest 15 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve.

Four Floating Stars

 

“Spiritual momentum is created over a lifetime as we repeatedly embrace the doctrine of Christ. Doing so, President Russell M. Nelson taught, produces a powerful virtuous cycle. Indeed, the elements of the doctrine of Christ—such as faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, entering a covenant relationship with the Lord through baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end—are not intended to be experienced as one-time, check-the-box events. In particular, enduring to the end is not really a separate step in the doctrine of Christ—as though we complete the first four elements and then hunker down, grit our teeth, and wait to die. No, enduring to the end is repeatedly and iteratively applying the other elements of the doctrine of Christ, creating the powerful virtuous cycle that President Nelson described.” - Elder Dale G. Renlund

Two Dozen Pin Cushions

 

Dessert doesn’t get much simpler than this, but the finished product will look and taste like you really worked at it.

 

Super Easy Peach Cobbler

 

8 peaches, peeled and sliced

1 cup unsalted butter, melted and divided

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 box yellow cake mix

 

In a medium bowl, combine peaches, 2 tablespoons melted butter, cornstarch and brown sugar. Fold together, then pour into 9x13” baking pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix on top of peach mixture. Pour remaining 14 tablespoons melted butter all over cake mix. Bake at 350F 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

Flag Day Dress

 

Memorial Day was fourteen days ago, and Independence Day is twenty days from now. Both are excellent days for flying the stars and stripes. So’s today: Flag Day. Our flag can be flown any day, sunrise to sunset. If you wish to display your flag 24/7, it needs to be illuminated. You should take down your flag in inclement weather. There are 3,265 words in the official U.S. Flag Code, specifying how and when a flag may be displayed. There are rules about how quickly a flag may be run up or down the pole, about flags at half-staff, about displays including state flags or other countries’ flags, and about disposing of worn-out flags. Knowing this, I’ve often wondered how Walt Disney World complies with the code, considering all the U.S. flags displayed in the parks. Actually, they don’t. Because those are props, not flags. They’re missing some stars and stripes. Disney can do what they like with them.

Lots of Watermelon

 

Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra was a professional baseball catcher who later became manager and coach. In addition to his prowess on the diamond, Yogi was famous for his quirky quips. Here are a few favorites:

“Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical."

"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."

"You can observe a lot by watching."

"If people don't want to come to the ballpark, how are you going to stop them?"

"Never answer an anonymous letter."

“Always go to other peoples’ funerals. Otherwise, they won’t come to yours.”

"Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

“You better cut the pizza into four pieces. I’m not hungry enough to eat six.”

“You gotta be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”

"I really didn't say everything I said."

Sawtooth Star

 

Julia Child was the culinary ambassador who brought traditional French cuisine into American kitchens. If she had an Italian counterpart, that would be Marcella Hazan. Whenever I try one of her recipes, I’m transported – not to Italy, but to the Italian neighborhoods in Oneonta, New York.

 

Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce

 

2 cups canned tomatoes, plus their juices (I use a 28-ounce can.)

5 tablespoons butter (Not margarine!)

1 large yellow onion, peeled and cut in half

A pinch or two of kosher salt

 

Combine all ingredients in a heavy sauce pan. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat a bit and simmer, uncovered, at least 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, mashing larger bits of tomato as you go. Remove and discard onion. This recipe makes enough sauce for a pound of cooked pasta.

Two Dozen Teacups

 

“What if you’re WRONG about Jesus? What if it’s all for nothing?”

Church meetings, family home evenings, temple sessions, daily scriptures, visiting the lonely, feeding the hungry, blessing the sick. If I’m wrong, I wasted my life engaged in service. If I’m wrong, I needlessly kept commandments that blessed me with safety and happiness. If I’m wrong, I blindly followed an imaginary Savior, making me more kind and forgiving. If I’m wrong, I’ve felt a “fake” comfort when loved ones passed. In other words, even if I’m wrong, my “error” made me a better man. A better husband and father. A better brother and friend. I’ve lived a life of fulfillment. I’ve learned to respect and serve others. To be kind and generous. To ask for help when I don’t have enough. In short, if I’m right, my eternity is beautiful. If I am wrong, my life is beautiful. – Source Unknown

Floating Star

 

“The question for each of us is, ‘How do we build our own bridge of faith and devotion—erecting tall bridge towers of both loving God and loving our neighbors?’ Well, we just start. Our initial efforts might look like a plan on the back of a napkin or an early-stage blueprint of the bridge we hope to construct. It might consist of a few realistic goals to understand the Lord’s gospel more or to vow to judge others less. No one is too young or too old to begin. Over time, with prayerful and thoughtful planning, rough ideas are refined. New actions become habits. Early drafts become polished blueprints. We build our personal spiritual bridge with hearts and minds devoted to Heavenly Father and His Only Begotten Son as well as to our brothers and sisters with whom we work, play, and live. May our hearts and minds be lifted upward to love the Lord and turned outward to love our neighbor.” - Elder Gary E. Stevenson

Twenty Pin Cushions

 

Half the people you know are below average.

99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

A clear conscience is a sign of a bad memory.

If everything seems to be going well, you’ve obviously overlooked something.

Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.

Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence you tried.

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

The problem with the gene pool is there’s no lifeguard.

The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body needs to be on it.

-          Steve Wright

Teal Shirtdress

 

I read an article listing plants to avoid putting in your yard: English ivy, morning glory, Japanese knotweed, bishop’s weed, lily of the valley, purple loosestrife, wisteria, mint, yellow flag iris, creeping Jenny, butterfly bush, and periwinkle. The problem with these is they’re aggressive; they can choke out other species. They’ll take over your yard, then help themselves to your neighbors’ gardens as well. I once cleared morning glory from rental property, and found it had grown THROUGH foundations and tree roots. We had an English ivy vine punch through our wall and into the family room. Several years of gardening have taught us mint should always be planted in pots. We currently have bishop’s weed and periwinkle growing in spots they’re not likely to escape. But we’ve noticed creeping Jenny sneaking through the fence and into our raspberries. I thought it was interesting the article didn’t mention our personal nemeses: forsythia, spirea, or quaking aspen. 

Watermelon Slice

Can you remember anything you accomplished in fifth grade? All I can remember was hoping I could get through the school year without being ridiculed for my funny accent, my funny clothes, or for how short I was. I was far too focused on my own misery to notice others around me and wonder if I could be any help to them. Luckily for the students at Thomas Ultican Elementary School in Blue Springs, Missouri, 11-year-old Daken Kramer was a very different sort of fifth-grader. Daken learned several of his class mates owed money for school lunch. He created and posted a video to encourage friends, family and his community to donate money to alleviate the debt. His original goal was to raise $3,500. Donations poured in from individuals and businesses. Within a month, he’d raised $4,000. This fall, Daken will attend middle school. Paying off everyone’s meal debt was a nice good-bye gift for his elementary school.  

Pinwheel Star

 

They call it “The Gathering of the Kyles.” Last year, 1,490 people named Kyle stood and were counted in Kyle, Texas. They were hoping to make the Guiness Book of World Records for largest gathering of people with one name. The current record holder is Kupreski Kosci, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2,325 Ivans were present there July 30, 2017, and no one has broken their record yet. The organizers of last year’s Gathering of the Kyles would have need almost twice as many Kyles to make their goal. No doubt they intended to make a better showing last month. But this year only 706 Kyles showed up. Maybe they didn’t advertise their event well enough. Or maybe they just picked the wrong name. Kyle was the 53rd most popular baby boy name twenty years ago. If they’d held a “Gathering of the Jasons and Brittanys,” they might have had a better chance. 

Twenty Teacups and Saucers

 

The fourth of June is Applesauce Cake Day. Apples are typically harvested in the fall. Cinnamon and cloves also tend to be associated with autumn. So why does Applesauce Cake Day happen in late spring? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because applesauce – canned or frozen – can keep for several months. So, this moist, dense cake can be enjoyed anytime.

 

Applesauce Cake

 

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 cup applesauce

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 8” pan. Cream together butter and sugar. Add applesauce and beat well. In a small bowl, blend together flour, soda and spices. Add to applesauce mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in nuts and raisins. Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake about 40 minutes. This cake is delicious warm or cold. 

Sixteen Ten-Inch Blocks

 

“The temple is literally the house of the Lord. I promise you as you come worthily and prayerfully to His holy house, you will be armed with His power, His name will be upon you, His angels will have charge over you, and you will grow up in the blessing of the Holy Ghost. The Lord promised, ‘Every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am.’ There are many different ways to see the face of Christ, and there is no better place than in His holy house. In this day of confusion and commotion, I testify that the temple is His holy house and will help preserve us, protect us, and prepare us for the glorious day when, with all His holy angels, our Savior returns in majesty, power, and great glory.” – Elder Neil L. Andersen

Sixteen Teacups and Saucers

 

Ask 100 people for their favorite color, and chances are thirty-five of them will say blue. Blue is hands-down our most beloved color (the runners-up are green, purple, red and orange, in that order) in spite of the fact blue is the rarest color found in nature. I read an article last February that explained blueberries aren’t really blue. Neither are bluish-looking fruits like plums or Concord grapes. A random arrangement of microscopic structures on their natural wax coating makes us see blue. Maybe that helps to explain why blueberry muffins come out green, and blueberry ice cream looks lavender.

 

Blueberry Ice Cream

 

1½ cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Dash salt

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

 

Place all ingredients in blender, in this order. Process until smooth. Freeze in ice cream maker according to directions.