the white house at the right time

My mom sent up this cute Halloween magazine. Of course, tons of fabulous ideas. So Sunday we made up a couple plates of "Jolly Roger" scared silly, skeleton eggs. Of course the kids literally "ate it up." Next time, I need to remember sliced pimentos, not diced pimentos.

Thanksgiving company - Roos family (minus their twin girls who were off playing), White family, and Julie's parents, the stand in photographers. The meal was delicious, the ambiance wonderful, the company enjoyable, clean up committee a breeze, and conversation great. The kids had a great time playing and jelled very well. Thank you again Roos family. In the next few years, I expect to cook less and less. Why? Because my kids will doing most of it. I hope. I really hope. Already, they have perfected some pretty tasty bites. Pancakes, eggs, fudgies , shakes, and more recently egg nog . This is Makayla's signature drink so far. Madalyn helps, but Makayla is head chef on this one. Homemade Eggnog Recipe 6 fresh eggs 1 cup sugar, divided 2 cups cream (or substitute with 2 cups whole milk, also makes it a bit lower in fat) 2 cups whole milk 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/4 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg (or just the nutmeg in the bottle) Separate egg yolks and whites. In larg...

A little R and R at the M and M, Mom and Me Activity Day Leaders: Makay , Shawna, (9 yr. old leaders) Barb, Melissa, (10/11 yr. old leaders) Me, Bridgette (not pictured, 8 yr. old leaders). This is my 3rd go around in activity days, I keep getting put in because I've just had a baby and/or Randy has a time consuming calling, or I am lucky. I'd seriously do activity days over a lot of other callings, especially compassionate service. Topic for another blog, but seriously when I was asked to pull someones weeds for a family that had older kids when I was big ole pregnant with little toddlers to boot, among other stories, well...... let's just say this is a much better fit for moi! Barb is the master mind behind our lists, e-mail updates, and anything else that needs secretarial type skills, thank you!! The rest, the creative force. We hosted a potluck dinner. Each age group brought in a part of the meal that they made with their mom. Madalyn and I made easy peaches and ...

Today the kids looked outside and said, wouldn't it be fun to go to Hawaii today, "yes" I agreed. But in place of a fabulous vacation, I pulled out my copy of my mom's ward cookbook. In it is a killer recipe for Kona Inn Banana bread, a recipe from a famed restaurant in Kailua Kona , Hawaii that has been around since 1928. Over the years, I have tried lots of banana bread recipes and this one is still the best. When we go back to Hawaii, I am going to the Kona Inn for their banana bread and maybe some opakapaka (pink snapper) or some ono ( wahoo ). 1 c. shortening (or butter) 2 c sugar 6 very ripe bananas 4 well beaten eggs 2 1/2 c. flour 1 tsp. salt 2 tsp. baking soda Cream together shortening and sugar. Add in bananas and eggs. Set aside. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Blend the wet and dry ingredients. Do not over mix ! Bake in greased bread pans at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Insert toothpick in center to make sure it is cooked ...

My mother-in-law was an excellent cook. In fact, she used to own a catering business and a restaurant aptly and artistically named Century Pine for the 100 year old pine tree on the grounds. The kitchen and I are slowly becoming friends. But when it comes to pancakes, that's a boy job at our house. Randy taught Cayden to be a man and so he started cooking up pancakes when he was 6 years old, he's practically a veteran now. One of my bridal shower gifts from Bon was some of her recipes. March 8th marked 7 years since her passing, so Randy wanted some comfort food. This is Bon's recipe for whole, wheat german pancakes and marked kind of .k. for Randy's running diet. Whole Wheat German Pancakes 1 1/4 cupswhole wheat flour 3 tsp. baking powder 3 T. sugar 3/4 tsp. salt 2 egss well beaten 1 1/4 cup milk 3 T. real butter Stir together all dry items. Beat eggs, add milk and softened butter. Combine alll ingredients. Cook on hot griddle. Makes about 15 pancakes. These come out ...