President Obama

President Obama is not my favorite person, and I did not vote for him because of his left leaning tendencies. His voting as a senator was very left - and I was aware of this prior to his election. However, I have to say that he gave a memorial speech tonight for those killed in Tuscon, AZ, that was both practical and beautiful, both healing and spiritual, it was a talk that was given, seemingly, from his heart. It was personal, and real. I hope that it was not written for him, because I believe right now that he may be a better person that I once thought, and that he may still hold the possibility of bringing the country together - he made a lot of sense tonight. I still do not want my country to go so far left...I hope for and will vote for a more conservative approach, but I have a new respect for the President, that I am grateful for.

Perfection? Hint: It’s Warm and Has a Secret

Read the enclosed article from The New York Times on the chocolate chip cookie - more on a topic first brought up by Royall. According to this article, two secret weapons to improve the cookie are a refrigeration time of 36 hours, and a 6" size providing the crispy outer ring, and a gooey center, and a 1 1/2" ring in between that is chewy perfection. The article is worth reading:)

Click the title of this post to go to the article.

Takin' it slow....

This year I plan to study the the scriptures slowly - this is not to say that I haven't done that in the past...there has been been plenty of slow going, but I mean in bites that I can study at a deep level. I have found after reading the Book of Mormon how many times...I'm not sure, several times, and the Bible, that I am stuck at a kind of superficial level of knowledge. In short, I forget! I want to drink more deeply. So I have at my command, on my desk, a copy of the Book of Mormon, the Bible, a copy of Sweet is the Word (you can download this for free at the link above in the title), the BYU Religious Studies Book of Mormon Student Manual, and another book called Charting the Book of Mormon (also free at this link: http://byustudies.byu.edu/januarybomcharts/index.html).

I will keep you posted on how it's going. I delved right in where I happen to be in the book, which is in 3 Nephi, where Jesus Christ has come to visit the America's. It's fascinating to read the surrounding additions from the additional support books, for example I took a better look at 3 Nephi 5:20 where Mormon makes a "simple but moving statement of faith". What a fine declaration, and one that pierced my heart with it's truth. In the same chapter in a couple of verses previous he voices his regret that he can't include everything that is important. In the early portion of the history, in 1 Nephi, the history follows one family...but of course the Nephite people become a huge populace with a complex history, so with the difficulty of condensing the important, and hammering out metal plates and etching the characters, he is hard pressed to include as much detail and content as he would like.

I had planned to study for a few minutes but have been at it for quite a time now, it's so interesting and fulfilling. Just to clarify, this is not a New Year's resolution, because I began a month or more ago, but have been traveling and on the run with kids, and Christmas so am ready to make it a more fixed daily activity.

Major New Study of Religion Has Much to Say About Mormons

Major New Study of Religion Has Much to Say About Mormons

The Mystery Taken out of Foundation Choices

Just check out this website, for a foundation/skin tone matrix that cross matches every brand of foundation - if you know what you are in one, this will help you find your shade in another. Here is is:

http://temptalia.com/foundation-matrix

Also, for another amazing website for learning how to apply makeup naturally and flawlessly, check out Lisa Elderidge (a make up artist in the UK); she has a YouTube channel and a blog that are both top notch.

http://www.youtube.com/user/lisaeldridgedotcom

http://www.lisaeldridge.com/

There are loads of natural applications with very good advice for product selection, and application. Here is a sample video:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

OK, the chocolate chip cookie recipe I lifted from Royall's blog is AMAZING! Jenny and Mark made them tonight and they were so good. We didn't refrigerate them, that's pretty much the only instruction we omitted. Thanks Royall! :))

Beautiful Wedding Day

We had a lovely, warm, and beautiful day, celebrating the marriage of Eli and Jenny with immediate family October 21, 2010. Love abounded. We wish them the very best! Welcome to the family Jen:)

Chocolate Cookies

Mariah and Sarra (though I know Sarra will try to healthify them:), you will love these; they were copped from Royall's blog:)) Thank you Royall! I also found, on Royall's blog, this beautiful cooking blog that reminds me of 'smitten kitchen', it's this one: http://kissmyspatula.com Try it out!

COOKIES THAT WILL BREAK YOUR HEART

April 24, 2009 by G.

Every once in a while, you come across something that is just so special, so magical, soooo perfect – that you can do nothing except think about it, talk about it, dream about it … best of all, EAT it. True, the viral phenomenon has resulted in hundreds and thousands of postings for the ubiquitous chocolate chip cookie after the article first appeared in the NY Times. Since such a mad, obsessive frenzy developed, is it really worth yet another posting about the sheer genius behind it??

The simple answer: hell ‘yeh.

Who didn’t grow up with warm milk and cookies to soothe your soul after a hard day of finger painting in kindergarten class? Umm.. my beloved T., that’s who. Milk and cookies was apparently not a part of the Irish childhood after school experience. So you can only imagine his delight when he ate devoured his first warm chocolate chip cookie, paired with an ice cold glass of milk. Can we just say life changing? Ever since that momentous day, he asks for warm chocolate chip cookies at least once a week.

Upon reading the article and recipe at first, I was rather skeptical, to say the least. How much better could another chocolate chip cookie recipe possibly be, much less claiming it to be the best chocolate chip cookie? Well, I’ve never been so happy to be oh, so wrong! Who knew a little snooze for the dough in the fridge could make such a remarkable difference? Pure magic. I’ve added a few tweaks to the recipe which, in my humble but accurate opinion (as my cousin would say), elevates this amazing creature even further. It will be mind blowing, I guarantee it. These are the best chocolate chip cookies ever. Oh, and I’ve cut the recipe in half because it is simply too dangerous to have so many floating around the house at once.

Best Chocolate Chips Cookies Ever (so good they will break your heart
Tweaked from Jacques Torres, yields 12 gargantuon cookies

The 60% cocoa content, the larger size of the chip and, of course, the minimum 24 hour waiting time are the key components to the magic of this cookie. Also, be careful not to leave the cookies in the fridge over 72 hours. They will tend to brown much faster when cooked.

Ingredients

8 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 cup, plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 + 1/8 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 + 1/8 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cups chopped almonds

1 tsp orange zest

1/2 bag of 11.5 oz Ghiradelli 60% cocoa chips

sea salt

Method

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add egg, mixing well. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Add rolled oats, almonds and orange zest. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.
Scoop 6 mounds of dough (about 1/3 cup each) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 16 to 20 minutes (depending on oven).

Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Serve warm with a tall glass of icy cold milk.

According to Urban Spoon:

There are the restaurants in Edmonton that critics and bloggers are talking about:

Duchess Bake Shop photo by Erika I'm going to start at the bottom and work my way up, and I'll let you know what I think along the way. I am fed up with chains; I'm going to patronize the local eateries only for one year, beginning Nov. 1, 2010.

Duchess Bake Shop Korean BBQ House Twisted Fork The Dish & The Runaway Spoon Cora Breakfast & Lunch Wildflower Grill The Three Amigos Authentic Mexican Restaurant Cafe de Ville Furusato Japanese Restaurant Culina Mill Creek

A Bumble Bee for Halloween?

You may or may not know that we are beekeepers now, thanks to a sweet gift from Eli for Mano for Father's day - we love them, they are no trouble and we have a lot to learn! For example, when it was cold, the hive was completely quiet, and we thought they all died, from a pesticide problem or something - but they must have been clumping quietly together in the hive, b/c when it warmed again, they ventured forth.

Anyway, here is a very cute video if you would like to be a honey bee for Halloween: