FREE ZOO DAY! AN EASY RECIPE FOR DESSERT

14 February - 21 February, 2010


"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare." Mark Twain

#1 I am happy that our church schedule allows me to watch, "Music and the Spoken Word". I enjoyed it this morning. The message is titles, "The Untold Olympic Stories", and is program # 4197. You can read it here. The thoughts expressed how I feel. http://www.musicandthespokenword.com/


(Journal entry- When I was a child/teen/young adult, the OSCARS were a big deal to me. I wanted to act. On stage. (Doug told me when we got married that if I ever needed to go to N.Y. and try, that he would come with me and watch any children. He must have known me better than me.) For many years my dad and I had a date to watch the "Academy Awards" together. It was a big deal. As the oldest of 10, this was OUR thing. (We went to plays together, too) I moved to Utah after I got married. After the Oscars on Monday night, I would still call my dad. We would discuss the jokes, music, winners... The year after dad died (1988) Richard called me after the awards. That meant a lot to me. I suppose I watched them a few more years. More of the movies nominated were R rated. The humour and people were less appropriate... One year as a winner spoke I realized that so much was heaped upon dubious talents. Unrecognized were teachers, policemen, firemen, parents who got up daily and went to work for a family and stayed home to love and raise a family... And I did not watch the Oscars again. end of journal entry) I try to see value in people based more on morals, kindness, service and... (I do still enjoy the Olympics, which leads to


#2 Doug rubbed my back for almost an hour while he (I fell asleep) watched the Olympics.


#3 Hilary had a B I G project this week. She did an activity and lesson and treat for 60+ young women with special needs and their youth counselors and other leaders. She did a great job. A kind man in our ward cut all of her blocks of wood. She took some amazing pictures of the Draper temple . (She took 120 pictures with 5 different views and only had these 2 left.) She made many batches of brownies and white chocolate hearts. Great job, Hilary.



#4 I finished a little project that has been waiting since Sept. In my defense, I was not sure where I was going to put it. I ended up just doing the tile route. #5 HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID. (His birthday was on 12 February. He really got slighted with Olympics, Valentine's Day, a migraine (mine). Anyway, today is his birthday dinner. We love you, David. We are thankful to have you in our family.

#6 I love the birds. They are back to eating from my bird feeder. And I am starting to hear them again. I love spring.

#7 (This is a sad post, but it ends well.) I was invited to lunch on Thursday with some friends that also love antiques. I was SO excited. (Actually, SO SO SO excited.) I arranged other drivers for all my carpools. Leslie said she would have Layne spend the day with her and Annie. I had everything packed for my first scout meeting. (So I could drive straight there.) On Wednesday I called to find out what I could bring, and found out the lunch was on TUESDAY!!! I had missed it. :*^( Does that look like a tear?) The good part is that Leslie had just brought home the last Michael Crighton book from the library, so I read for a little while. ((I also had no carpools and was home alone.) I do enjoy reading.

#8 I have been wanting to do a tutorial. Well, I am going to do one this week. Well, not exactly a tutorial, but I will show you the idea and what I've done. (Planning my blog makes me happy. I love the comments on recipes. It makes me keep experimenting.) I will post my project Monday p.m. or Tuesday a.m.

#9 I tried some new recipes this week. I tried 3 new breads. I changed one that I have made before. And I tried a new crockpot recipe that made me happy. This weeks big hit is Dulce de Leche. Somewhere in blogland there was a reference to it, so I went to one of my crockpot sources. A year of slow cooking. She gave the instructions-and warnings. And I made it. It was super.

First, the warnings. Apparently this could be dangerous. Perhaps the can could explode. Some food manufacters say, "Don't try this at home". I decided to live dangerously. And I am glad. I hope these warnings will absolve me if there are problems.

Now for the recipe

Dulce de Leche

recipe (and info) from http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/03/dulce-de-leche-crockpot-recipe.html

1 can of sweetened condensed milk - NOT evaporated. NOT fat-free.

I put the can on a paper towel, folded in 4ths, in my 2-2.5 qt. crockpot. (Some people mentioned that the bottom of the can rusted their crockpot. This prevented that.)

Fill it with water to cover the can completely.
Cook on low for 10 hours. Check to make sure it stays covered in water. (Mine never lost water.) You can pull out the label when it floats off. Carefully remove hot can from water. Wait as long as you can (as it cools) to open. Prepare to be amazed. It will be a beautiful golden brown. It was caramely (but not too much) toffyish (a bit) sweet and thick. It was good. How did I use it?
A I put some on top of one of Hilary's left-over brownies, with ice cream, for Doug.

B I swirled some in a piece of David's left-over chocolate birthday cake.

C Dipped apple slices.

D Ate a (small) bite off a spoon

More ideas include as a filling for crepes or cream puffs, as am ice cream topping, swirled into prepared brownie mix before baking, or as a frosting.

This was a fun recipe to try.

#10 Saturday was Ashley's family's shower. It was fun to meet more of her family.

As I have thought about my 2010 theme ("More Holiness Give Me" hymn 131)) this month, I have learned to love the word choices that P.P.Bliss uses. I daily think of the line, "More freedom from earthstains.". How greatful I am to be able to make choices.

Thank-you, Emily for making omelets every morning last week.

Wednesday, 24 February, is the last free zoo day @ Hogle Zoo (Salt lake City, Ut.) until next winter. The gates for entry are open from 9:oo-4:oo. The zoo is open from 9:oo-5:30. The weather is on it's way to warmer this week, but there will probably be rain. It is a playdate we enjoy. You can take lunches in with you. Just ask if you want directions. We will be there.