Wordless Wednesday - At the Basin

Snicker Doodle Bars

I love Snicker doodle Cookies and I have a couple of very dear friends who can put Mrs. Fields to shame when it comes to cookies. I am not anywhere near the top 100 cookie bakers in my little town so when I came across this recipe I decided......."I can do this!" Easy recipe, all ingredients in my pantry, fridge, and vuala ..Snicker doodle Cookie in a Bar! The house smells so scrumptious while they are baking. A very rewarding treat for a dreary winter day in February. I have no idea who originally came up with this recipe, but Thank You who ever you are Mrs.

Ingredients:

Dry:
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 scant teaspoon kosher salt

Wet:
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
1 t. pure vanilla bean paste

Topping:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 X 13 pan. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar for 3 - 5 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, and whip until smooth.

Stir into the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan. The mixture looks just like cookie dough and it takes a little work to spread it out in the pan....you can do it!

Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon, in a little bowl. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture on the top of the batter. I use my mesh strainer to sprinkle with.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes until surface springs back when touched gently. Cool completely before cutting. Makes 2 dozen bars.....well depends on how big you cut them!

WARNING - There is seriously "No escape" when these come out of the oven......the pan was gone within minutes! Buon Appetio

Ground Hog's Day.....

Could someone please put a blindfold on these guys???

Monday Musing

What a treat this weekend was! Got to watch the “Girl” show us her basketball skills. She’s mighty good, if I do say so myself. No pictures….camera didn’t have its smarts in it! She impressed me to the point that I figure it is time to be looking for a good agent! I know she’s only 8…..but she’s got the skills!

Next adventure of the day was “early” dinner with the girls! If you get to Sonora Grill before 4:00 you can order off the lunch menu……..think we are looking to save a few pennies???? The huge chips and colorful salsas were great. You get tostada sized chips with two types of salsa - a flavorful fire roasted flavored red salsa and a very tasty cilantro flavored green salsa along with them. The ambiance of the place is fabulous and the decor is definitely ---one of a kind and gorgeous. The Sonora Grill is located in the Junction in downtown Ogden. A great place to meet up with a group of friends.

After dinner we found our way to the Egyptian to see the Sundance Film Festival ..... "Get Low"


As the film opens we see a very dramatic scene of a house burning, a man flying from the upstairs window of the home.....the scene closes and we see children throwing rocks at the home of hermit "Felix" who is the mysterious star of this film! Duvall brings the character to life with remarkable ease. I've given away just enough of the secrets of them film so that....you'll want to seek out this film when it comes to a theatre near you.

Bill Murray - the funeral director - of course has the lines to fill the theatre with laughter! He delivered as expected!

Bring on Sundance 2011

Essence of Childhood

 

This is my rocking chair….I’ve had it since I was 5 years old…circa 1955.   It has survived numerous moves from my parent’s home, to several rented apartments, and now it resides in my home.  It brings back so many fond memories and leaves me with a smile each time I see a child rocking away.

There is no question in my mind, it is a beautiful heirloom, hopefully to be handed down to my grandchildren, to then be given to their grandchildren.  When it was new it was covered with red and grey leather.  It has since been recovered a couple times, each time it was upholstered to match the furniture in the living room of my home.  Mom had it upholstered with leather when I first got married.  It matched perfectly and I loved it.  When my children were born, they enjoyed the chair as much as I had as a little girl.  Several of our puppies have also enjoyed the wood rockers, their little teeth marks remain on every corner!  I haven’t had the heart to replace them with new wood. 

The leather furniture was moved to the “Hanger”  several years ago, so now my little rocker is covered to coordinate with the colors in our home once again.   It is a sweet temptation for children whenever they come into our home.  They rock and rock and rock!  

So fun to go back to one’s childhood and find memories forever to keep reliving. 

and I found a picture from yester-years…….look at those cute kids!

 

Sunshine Makes a Visit to Utah

The Winter Season will be with us for several weeks, but today the sun made a spectacular appearance along with a beautiful blue sky. DD had the opportunity to chaperone a group of junior high students to Snow Basin for a great day at the slopes! I could tell in her voice how happy she was to see blue skies, sunshine, and smiling faces of beautiful children. I'm hoping someone had a camera with them so I can share in the joy.

Sunshine on My Shoulders Makes Me Happy.

How about you?

Verse 12 - Living with Inner Conviction

From a very early age, the world of “Things” has tried to tell us to believe and trust only in our senses. You must believe only what we see, hear, feel, taste, touch...... that is what is real. The Tao however is teaching us to trust our inner knowing, our feelings, and our connection to Source.
After watching a season of the new show Hoarders, I am convinced that I will benefit if I find a way to simplify my life, reduce those possessions, emptying my fridge, cupboards, and closets of all the nonessentials that I tend to buy…..which is definitely where I am very wasteful!
Thinking about all that someone else has only clutters our minds. Just the other day I read from a study that each day we think about 60,000 thoughts and that around 90% of those thoughts are actually the very same thoughts that we had yesterday.
Do we get caught up in unproductive and uselessness to often? Do we get caught up in trying to emulate the lives of the rich and famous? Do we lay awake at night thinking about “THINGS” we don’t have that we “THINK” we need?

Next time I have a choice to make, I promise to sit quietly and listen to what my inner nature knows to be true. I have heard it many times and ignored it. Today I will listen!

Halie’s Baptism Day

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How lucky we are to have such a special girl in our lives.

Chicken Bake – It’s Great

What has happened to me? I love blogging, love reading blogs, and can’t come up with a good excuse for why I haven’t been blogging. I take back the excuse part, last summer I dropped my favorite of all times camera….crush – boom ---oops broken! You can’t just buy the same camera anymore, new ones come and go just like computers! I bought the same brand, same model, just a newer version! NOT HAPPY…..it just isn’t my old camera. So I guess that is my excuse for not blogging – Pictures are a must….I’m a visual learner!

Fast forward …. Today I am attempting to get back on the wagon and start blogging. It’s Tuesday and that means cooking up something tasty! Chicken……how many ways can you make chicken, how many recipes are there for chicken, and how difficult is it to make tasty chicken. It is usually the entree for all banquets – albeit, dry, overcooked, and served to cold! I have always been intimidated about cooking chicken for company for the aforementioned reason…dry and overcooked, making it difficult to swallow. I solved that issue by purchasing a handy dandy meat thermometer. I have a drawer full of the lovely things. I just can’t be without it! If you don’t have one, drop everything and get on over to your local store and purchase the best one they have in stock!

Okay – This recipe came from LaRue who was the secretary at my before retirement school and before her retirement days! It is everywhere in LDS Ward Cookbooks and lots of variations are also on the web. So feel free to make changes to your likin’ ….but this is how I make this tasty dish!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sour cream



• 1/4 cup lemon juice



• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce



• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed



• 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika



• 1 garlic clove, minced



• 1/2 teaspoon Spike – My favorite seasoning



• 1/4 teaspoon pepper



• 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – which I cut in half again!



• 2 cups Italian bread crumbs



• 1/2 cup butter melted

Directions

In a large bowl, combine first eight ingredients. Place chicken in mixture and turn to coat. Cover and marinate several hours in the refrigerator. Remove chicken from marinade; coat each piece with crumbs. Arrange on a shallow baking pan. Drizzle butter over chicken. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45 minutes or until juices run clear. USE THE THERMOMETER… 165 degrees will make your chicken come out perfect!

The Year In Review

Looking back on the months gone by as a new year starts and an old one ends, it’s once again time to look back on what brought joy into  my life…my loved ones, friends, and good times!

2009 was filled with many happy times that enriched my life and today I’m just reflecting on a few:

January – Sundance Film Festival and our annual trip to Pine, Idaho… I love that B & B. 

February – A cooking class at Tucca's was only the beginning of many cooking classes to come. Our chef “Elio” was amazing….his cooking superb!

We also made a trip to Wendover to see Air Supply….what a great weekend! 

March – Helped me recover from the Winter Blues…Spring Training in Zona gave meaning to the word SUNSHINE!

A night out in SLC also brought lots of love and laugh!   “Hi Phil”

April – My final break from Year Round School was spent with a week at my grandkids.  We made flubber, watched movies, and played games. 

May – Ali’s house had a fire and the recovery was long and slow.  Al worked many hours remodeling the basement into a beautiful new living area. 

 

June – The Boys of Summer return to Ogden. This was our 13th year of being part of the Host Family Program.   I love spending time at the ballpark! We had a great time with Brian this summer.   He was named MVP of the league along with many other awards for the season.   The first day he said….”There are lots of great players on the team,  I’m not sure how much playing time I’ll get!”   Almost Every GAME!  What a season!

 

July – Retirement has arrived….my final day of teaching was July 2, 2009.   A lifetime of memories for sure! 

August – A quick trip to Idaho Falls to see Craters of the Moon.   Time spent at the Cabin for the kids birthday party was a special day! 

  

September – Lots of time at the ballpark, a few days of subbing, Harvest Moon Street Festival, John Meloan was back in town playing in SLC and Derrick Lee got married!  A friend introduced me to “Pirate O’s in Draper….I can’t get enough of the place and the Art Institute for a great lunch.  We bought a bus….I guess it’s still a bus and took a few road trips to ball games! 

October – Our Halie was baptized, what a very special day!

Season tickets to the Salt Lake Acting company – our first night at the theater “The Caretaker”…..kinda strange! 

 

A new series of Culinary Classes at Orson Gygi!  A night out with friends to see “Thriller”….and it was thrilling.  Our family Halloween party was a success.   I almost didn’t do it this year, limited retirement budget had me worried! 

 

November – Culinary Classes continued through November and I learned so many new techniques.  Thanksgiving time was spent with family and friends.   Lots of wonderful company and food!

December – Yes my computer got H1N1 virus…or something really terrible…..all documents, pictures, files….etc…..crashed!   The computer guy warned me….back up your stuff!  After many hours of pulling out hair….my stuff has been recovered.   I didn’t blog at all during December….I’m not a happy camper during the winter!  Christmas was blessed once again with family and friends.   I’m ready to start a New Year!

 

So while recalling all the happy times, and remembering how they enriched my life, I have reflected upon who really counts, and the fresh new year arrives today.  And when I ponder those people who are special to me I immediately think of each and everyone of you who has touched my life in so many ways. 

Thanks for being one of the many reasons I'll be having a very Happy 2010!