Christmas in June???

I LOVE camping! Retreating to the mountains with my children is the BEST summer activity! We spent four days camping this past week. My daughter called our camp spot her "summer home". She referred to the river as our own swimming pool. Lazing in the hammock reading a book together, enjoying the cool mountain breeze is far preferable to shopping at the mall....in fact, if you ask me, ANYTHING is preferable to shopping at the mall! We carved animals out of driftwood, had dart gun blowing contests, played in the river, explored and enjoyed each evening by firelight. I generally take a sewing project along so that it can sit untouched until I return, but this time, I brought something simple that had been collecting dust for far too long. I began this Christmas tree skirt ages ago but, alas, it joined the fate of countless unfinished sewing projects forgotten in my craft room. It beckoned me to take it and I threw it in, thinking that perhaps I would find the time to finish it. I did! I know it is a bit early to be thinking of Christmas...that or a bit late, but regardless, I am finally done! Yeah! Now to box it up to wait for December to come around once more. :)

Butterscotch Pudding Cookies

These are one of my personal favorites! I love making these with different kinds of puddings and chips or nuts. I love using white chocolate pudding and white chocolate chips with macadamia nuts.

Pudding Cookies

2 C. butter

1&1/2 C. sugar

1&1/2 C. brown sugar

3 eggs

3 tsp. vanilla

5&1/4 C. flour

1&1/2 tsp. baking soda

1&1/2 tsp. salt

1 small box instant pudding (I used butterscotch)

1 pkg. chips (I used butterscotch)

Cream butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients. Stir in chips.

Bake at 350* for 13 minutes.

My Treasures!!!

I wanted to write a little bit about each of my children and why they make me so proud. My oldest son's name is Trulan. He is twenty years old. He is six foot five. He has an affinity to cars from the seventies. He is an outstanding unpublished author. He has written a series of fictional books that keep me on the edge of my seat! He began writing when he was about 15 years of age. He was extremely bored in school and would spend his time writing. Every day, he would come home and share a new chapter with me. I could hardly wait for the next day to see what would happen in his story. I hope he decides to get published. Tru is a computer genius and loves to build or repair computers. He is currently trying to find employment with all the other unemployed out there. He has a scholarship to USU for this Fall. He has an extreme aversion to dogs! He is my taxi driver and I am going to miss him when he decides to move out.

Cabren is my 18 year old boy. He just graduated from High School. He is six foot four. He is in Alaska learning to be an auto mechanic. He is apprenticing under my favorite brother (sorry all my other brothers but we were tight growing up!). Cabe is very kind and concerned about others. He has an excellent sense of humor. He makes me laugh every single day! I am missing him right now. He likes to fish and once when he was little he told me he wanted to grow up to be a red neck! Cabren is very smart and has a lot of common sense. He has one of those personalities where you know he is going to go far. He is a really good person. On another occasion when I was asking what he might want to be, he said that all he really wanted to be was a good dad. He is going to make some very lucky girl happy one day.

I grow them tall! My 14 year old boy is five foot ten and growing. His name is Holden. He has always (for as long as I can remember anyway) been called Moochie. He hasn't ever had a problem with asking anyone for anything despite all I could do to teach him about politeness and self control. He has always had an excellent sense of rhythm. He would do well at playing an instrument but I can't talk him into it. He does sing and has an excellent voice. He likes to draw and paint as well and is an excellent artist. He doesn't like loud noises or distractions. He isn't very fond of change. He is getting ready to go into the ninth grade. He is a little hard to build a fire under but once he is out, he has a good time. Holden loves to ride motorcycles and is getting good at it. He likes to tease but not be teased.

Kambrie is my one and only daughter. I have posted about her before. She doesn't mind when I talk about her on here....but when I ask the boys if I can talk about the honor roll or some other achievement they have been awarded, they threaten me with my life. Two of them have been awarded the Presidential award in academics. I won't say which two and therefore, my life will be spared. Two of them are also Eagle Scouts, and the third one is so close.

On to Kambrie. She is 10 years old and is a sweetheart! She loves animals and would adopt every stray she could....if I would let her. She is very smart and loves to read. She is fun loving and likes to do most anything. She loves to play basketball. She tried soccer this year and did well but said she likes basketball better. Good thing she is going to be tall. Not one of my boys plays sports. Kambrie claims she is a tomboy. I keep trying to tell her that it is okay to be a girl! She wants to grow up to be a number of things but a Librarian is at the top of her list. Kambrie likes to go fast on the back of my motorcycle. She has loved riding with me since she was just tiny. I bought her a little 50 she did well on it but had a bit of a spill last year and would rather have a four wheeler now.

Here are pictures of me with each of my children whom I treasure more than anything on the face of the entire planet!

Everyone's Favorite!

I love making cookies and have been collecting good cookie recipes for over twenty years. This is my all time favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. They are a bit on the sweet side but you can use semi-sweet chocolate chips rather than milk if that suits your fancy.

Chocolate chip cookies

1 pound of butter (yes, I said an entire pound of butter...not margarine!)

1 and 1/4 C. sugar

2 C. brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

6 C. flour

1 tsp. salt

1 and 1/2 tsp. soda

3 C. chocolate chips

Cream the soft butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the sifted dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips ( I use closer to 4 cups of the chocolate chips).

Form into balls and bake them at 375* for about ten minutes.

Devour them while they are still warm!

Chrome Cowgirl

I had the opportunity to travel to South Dakota over Memorial weekend in celebration of my father's 65th birthday. It is about 14 hours travel time from where I live. The night we arrived, we went to Mount Rushmore and viewed the sculpture. It was fascinating to learn about how this memorial came to be and the master mind behind the masterpiece....Gutzon Borglum. The entire process took about 14 and 1/2 years ( only about 6 and 1/2 of them were actually spent working on the sculpture). The thing I found most interesting is that out of the 400 plus people who worked on the sculpture, there was not one fatality! No serious injuries either! An incredible feat considering the wooden beams, dynamite, small wire cables and the hand cranks that were used to raise and lower men in harnesses.

The Black Hills are definitely a must see if you haven't been there already. We rode on some of the most fun roads while we were there! I own a Honda Shadow Sabre. I love it and had a great time on it. However, we ran into a little snow and a lot of gusty wind. My brother owns two Harleys, one of which my Dad rode. His big one is 1800cc's and I think it is a Screaming Eagle. The one my Dad used is a Heritage Springer. Neither my Dad nor my brother were blown around in the wind at all!!! I was pushed and pulled by the wind sometimes drifting an entire foot sideways! Harley definitely has a lower center of gravity that rides so nicely! I really want one now. I love how reliable Honda is but I think someday I may have to become a Hog girl....when I strike it rich! Seriously, I am just happy to have something to ride. I learned to ride on a tote goat when I was about nine years old. Graduating to a Honda Trail 90...then a 175 and so on. No matter the type of road or bike, I live to ride!

I took my bike for a small spin today and while I was riding down a small country road, a tiny bird flew right at me, hit my foot hard and collapsed. I have never hit an animal while riding before and I felt awful for the crazy bird. It reminded me of a neighbor of mine who said he was riding once and a magpie got blown into his chest! He was able to keep his bike up but it broke his sternum! He still hates magpies to this day!

Surprise!

Wanna know one sure way to find out that you have female cats...they have kittens! This is a two week old kitten. I have three cats that live in the garage. The mother and two of her children (they are about one and half years old). I like having one cat around to keep the mice under control. When the mother cat had kittens I wanted to give them away but was unable to talk my kids into letting them go. Thus, we ended up with three cats! I was never sure whether these two kittens were male or female. I just never had any interest in finding out. Well, a couple of weeks ago BOTH of them had kittens! Fonzie (named inappropriately) had four one day and Zeek (apparently named inappropriately as well) began helping her take care of them. I thought it was strange that Zeek was helping with the mothering responsibilities but Zeek is kind of....shall we just say.....strange! Well the next day, Zeek had two kittens both still born. Fonzie and Zeek continue to share in the mothering of these four kittens. I have not been around mother cats much and never had more than one female cat at a time. I have been amused and interested in watching how they are sharing the caring! The mother cat named Sweet Pea (named appropriately) has been catching mice in the fields and bringing the mice to Fonzie and Zeek! I may have not been out much and don't claim to know cats very well but I am impressed that they would care for one another in this manner. This may all be completely normal...still I can't help but wonder how fat these kittens are going to end up! Every time I go through the garage either Fonzie or Zeek is nursing the lot of them! One thing is for sure...they won't be undernourished!

Here is a picture of one of the tiny babies just learning to open its eyes.

The Evil Chex Mix!

I have a good friend named Julie whom I took some of this to one day and she told me that her family calls this the "Evil Chex Mix"! The name is so fitting it stuck and now it is referred to as the same in our house. You will understand why when you read the list of ingredients.

I guess my blog should be a food blog considering all the food I post on here! Admittedly, I spend half of my day in the kitchen so I guess that is why you see a lot of food posts! I do love the kitchen! If I could have one room in my house that never needed entering, it would be the laundry room! I loathe laundry! You can breathe easy, you will never see me posting something about folding socks....just in case you were worried!

Evil Chex Mix!

1/2 box of Rice, Corn, and Wheat Chex cereals

1 pound raisins and 1 pound salted peanuts

Combine the cereals, raisins and peanuts

2 cubes of butter

2 cups of white corn syrup

2 cups of white sugar

combine the butter, corn syrup and sugar in a heavy pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, take off heat and add 1 Tablespoon of vanilla. Pour over the cereal mixture. Stir well. Let cool and enjoy!

You can subtract what you don't like or add things you do. For example, add some flaked coconut or a different kind of nut. Experiment using a different variety of cereal as well. Sunflower seeds are good in it too. Be creative and have fun!

Fruit or Vegetable???

Did you know that I tried to look up whether rhubarb is a fruit or vegetable and it is debatable? Some internet sites say it is a fruit because it is used in making pies....sounds logical! One site proclaimed it to be an herb. The majority of the sites I looked at declared it a vegetable. Vegetable Pie? Hmmm....perfect in my book! You can have your dessert and eat your vegetables at the same! Isn't everyone all about saving time these days?

Stewed rhubarb is one of my favorite things to eat. When I was a kid my brother and I would dare each other to eat it raw! If you have ever tried this, you know it can make you pucker like no other! I don't know if this is true but I have heard that rhubarb leaves are poisonous! It is the most interesting vegetable I have ever eaten. I made a pie the other day using the recipe on The Pioneer Woman's website. The streusel topping was fun for a change. Yum!

Beauty of the Earth!

Spending time with some of my favorite people (a.k.a. Moochie and Buttercup!) on a Sunday afternoon is by far more fun than...hmmm.....too many things to list! We went up the canyon and took these pictures. It was a gorgeous day! The rivers are overflowing this year due to the insane amount of rain we have been receiving. I have a new fascination....watching churning water! I found myself thoroughly entertained!

Pulchritudinous! (look it up)

I used to live in a very smoggy city. When I moved to the country, one of the things I missed the most were the vibrant sunsets that occurred on a regular basis. A few months ago, we experienced a beautiful sunset where I currently live. I ran outside and snapped a photo because this type of thing only lasts momentarily and if you are not quick, you are liable to miss it. I am not a photographer and only have a very small inexpensive camera. Despite this, I feel like this photo actually captured some of the true colors in the sky. It has been my experience that most often when something looks amazing in nature, it is often next to impossible to capture the intense colors on film with average equipment. This photo is taken from my house, looking to the west. I had to crop out a power line but I thought it turned out pretty and wanted to share the beauty. I really like the colors. Sunsets are one of my favorite things! I am not sure a sunset can be physically beautiful.....I probably should have used resplendent for the title but I like learning new words and pulchritudinous is one of the strangest words I have ever encountered!

Enticing scones!

Scones that make my mouth water. They are good enough to make you do things you wouldn't normally do! Try making them! I made these for the foundation of Navajo tacos. :)

tender, moist, flaky, mouthwatering scones
1 quart of buttermilk warmed

2 Tblsp. yeast

1/4 C. warm water

2 eggs, beaten

3 Tblsp. sugar

3 Tblsp. oil

8 C. flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 Tblsp. baking powder

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Add buttermilk, eggs and oil. Sift dry ingredients together and add 4 C. to yeast mixture. Mix well then add remaining 4 cups gradually. Mix well...knead if necessary. Let raise until double in bulk. Beat mixture down and put in fridge overnight or use it then. Roll out and fry in 350* oil.

Peanut Butter Bars...a little bit of heaven!

These bars are the ultimate comfort food! Whomever came up with the brilliant idea of combining peanut butter and chocolate is a true genius! I will be forever indebted to them. When I make these, I double the recipe and use a 16x10" pan. I am not sure where I got this size of pan but I love it!! I double the icing recipe as well. What more could you ask for????

Peanut Butter Bars with Chocolate Icing.

1/2 C. Butter

1/2 C. Sugar

1/2 C. Brown Sugar

1 egg

1/3 C. Peanut Butter

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 C. Flour

1 C. Oatmeal

Cream butter, sugars and peanut butter together. Add egg and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients and add to peanut butter mixture. Stir in oatmeal. Spread in a greased 9x13" pan. Bake in a 350* oven 15-20 minutes. Do not over bake.

Chocolate Icing

2 and 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar

2 Tblsp. Cocoa

1/4 C. Butter

3-4 Tblsp. Milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

Blend until smooth. Spread over cooled bars. Enjoy them with a milk chaser.

It baffles the mind....

I broke down and got a dog today!!! My sister calls me almost everyday asking if I will take in a stray or care for some kind of animal or another. Well, she called this morning and begged me to take a female Australian Shepherd. My sister previously confessed her adoration and obsession for these hideous creatures. She called at 7:30 one morning to have me look up pictures of them online so I could share in her joy! Long story short, I was caught in a weak moment and took pity on the dog she described to me. Dallas (yes she is a female) had been beaten by someone before and was in desperate need of a loving home. She doesn’t bark and is very obedient. Don’t get me wrong…I do not have an extreme aversion to dogs. I just don’t love how they jump up on everyone, incessantly bark and slobber all over! Not to mention the fact that my third boy is allergic to dogs and my oldest boy really dislikes them. In fact he posted something on Facebook yesterday that sums up how he feels toward canines. His post reads…"I loathe people who keep dogs. They are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves." ~Anonymous.

The first dog we owned came to us by default. Our neighbor rescued him and he couldn’t keep him so I found myself taking pity on him….both the neighbor and the dog. He was a Black Lab. We named him Sambo. He had a knack for being obsessively protective. I LOVED taking him along on camping trips. I felt perfectly safe when he was around. My husband didn’t treat him very well and he eventually ended his life by hanging…(the dog...not the husband) very sad. The next dog we tried was a little house dog named Bandit. He was the DUMBEST dog I have ever come in contact with. Couldn’t teach him a thing! He ran away…good riddance! I actually know where he ended up. A neighbors grandson fell in love with him and took him home….once again…good riddance!

Well, here we go, trying it again but I do think I will end up liking this dog…she seems like a sweetheart and I like her already.

Midnight Madness!

My sister introduced me to a new blog site that I fell in love with. It is ThePioneerWoman.com. It is written by a very talented gal named Ree. My favorite part of her blog is the recipe section. She has step by step photos and instructions that walk you through the food she is making. I made donuts the other night at midnight due to inspiration from her!!! Well that or I could attribute it to being slightly crazy! The donuts were very tasty and fun to make. I had never tried making my own donuts before and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Here are the photos and the link so you can try this on your own! These were delicious but I am now in hot pursuit of finding a good recipe for cake donuts! Yummy!

I tried Ree's sour cream enchiladas as well. I added chicken to mine and they turned out scrumptious! I didn't have time to snap a photo of them because the entire pan was devoured in one sitting!

Diorama!

Warning...this post contains maternal boasting. For this month's book report, my daughter's assignment was to create a Diorama to share with her class. She had just finished reading Little House in the Big Woods and decided to create her Diorama using this book. She worked hard on it and was very independent. She made the house, the smoke house, painted the horses and made two of the bodies for the people. She even made some bacon to go in the smoke house. Upon delivering her Diorama, I noticed one that was superb and thought it would take first place for sure. However, it didn't appear to be the handiwork of a kid and I guess the judges took that into consideration. My daughter came home from school and informed me that she had, once again, won first place for best Diorama. I was thrilled! Her prize was the book Candy Shop War. Here are the pictures of Kambrie's Diorama.

Pa did end up looking more like an ax murderer than a father!