FHE Activity

I was surprised that ALL of the programs was taken. The people in my ward would usually take a program, read it, and then put it back on the table after the meeting. This time there was not a program put back.  I put on a scripture chase on the program, called Scripture Cookies. The idea of this scripture chase is to look up each scripture and you will find the ingredients for Scripture Cookies. Some of the clues are subtle, so check the list of ingredients on the bottom. This is the recipe:

• 3/4 cup "The words of his mouth were smoother than                  " (Ps 55:21)
• 1/3 cup "Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy                     and honey" (2Ne 26:25)
• 1 1/2 cups "To what purpose cometh there to me......the                         from a far country? (Jer 6:20)
• 2 "As one gathereth            that are left, have I gathered all the earth" (Isa 10:14)
• 2 cups "And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine                (1 Kings 4:22)
• 1 teaspoon "Take thou also unto thee principal spices,... and of sweet               half so much (Ex 30:23)
• 1 teaspoon  "Ye are the              of the earth" (Matt 5:13)
• 1/2 teaspoon "The kingdom of heaven is like unto                 (Matt13:33)
• 3 cup "Nevertheless,....                        for the horse" (D&C 89:17)
• 1 cup "And they gave him....two cluster of                 " (1 Sam 30:12)

1. Beat first four ingredients together
2. Mix in remaining ingredients
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookies sheet
4. Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 15 Minutes

Answer: Butter, Milk, Sugar, Eggs, Flour, Cinnamon, Salt, Baking Soda, Oats, and Raisins.

"Feast upon the words of Christ" 2 Nephi 32:3

I did two things different to this recipe. I took out the raisins and put in chocolate chips. I am not a fan of raisins, I really hate raisins. The chocolate chips, I thought made the cookies. And I took out the Salt

Cheers everyone!

Music Theory/Another Play

Wow, have things been frustrating. My mom and I are working on a new play. This play is for special needs. Our protagonist ( good guy) is deaf. Yep, you read right; deaf. So in this play there will be signing going on, along with singing. Yep, my deaf protagonist will be singing in sign language. While the best friend will be signing terribly off key. It's still in the very early stages. You know writing, deleting, re-writing, deleting some more, screaming at the computer, then taking a break to work out coming back and the whole cycle continues again. Like the cycle of prosperity in the Book of Mormon.

We are currently writing one song. I have no problems with lyrics and melody, but translating what I have in my head on to paper is another thing. So yeah frustration is apparent right now. Craft, art, or whatever you would like to call it, takes time. The thing is that when you are your own critic, (a bad one at that), you need to be careful not to hate yourself and give up. Whatever creative thing you do is a new learning experience. You maybe painting, singing, drawing, or sculpting for years but it's still a new learning experience.

The question is now is why am I writing a play that will have sign in it, nobody but the deaf will understand what he is saying? The answer is: Well this is not the first time I have co-written a play for special needs. This one is the first time I have written about a deaf protagonist.. The deaf and hearing alike will be able to understand all of the play....we hope. I'm just hoping that the play will make sense.

Now my music program decided to take a vacation on me, it will not let me save my progressive work. I just need to find my disk and restart it. I worked so hard to figure out the rhythm of one of the songs. I refused to loose it so I ended up writing it down the old fashion way. On paper. Poetic Justice? Possibly. Beethoven, Bach, and all of the other classical composers are possibly applauding me or laughing at me right now. I'm thinking laughing at me.    

Cheers Everyone!

Bad Cooks Anonymous

I'll start out with this. I shouldn't have used anonymous as part of the title for this blog post. I'm not very anonymous because my name will be on the bottom of this post, which in fact will not make me anonymous. So how about this?

"Hello; my name is Hollie. I can and will cook better. I guess, if I half to."

I'm not a the best cook in the world, but I'm not the worse either. But after what happen tonight well..........One would classify me as the "worse in the world."

• The pic, is in reality the toxic waste (Brownies) that I tried to make. Looks yummy huh?

I took a brownie mix and tired to make brownies. Ha! You'd think that I'd be able to do that with no mess up!


I did follow the directions. To make things short, the batter came out as toxic waste. The things that I do because of chocolate cravings. Now this is what makes things interesting. I tried to make it better. You know by adding sugar, coco, vanilla, butter, and flower. It didn't work, it just made things worse. It tasted as bad as it looks after I cooked it.

So now it is where it belongs. I thrown it way. It should go to where other low levels of toxic waste is being held in Utah. So what did I learn from all of this? Stay away from box mixes.

Cheers everyone!

Ginger and Pineapple Chicken

I've been telling people that I'll put this up on the blog for a long time. I just finally have time. This is really good, my parents loved it.

4 boneless chicken breast
2 cans of chunky pineapple
1 tablespoon of ginger or more depending of taste
3 cups of rice brown or white (I use brown)
a pinch of Frenches Onion

Method:

Combine the chicken, the juice of the pineapple and ginger. Place the pineapple chunks in a bowl. Cook the chicken in a skillet or Dutch oven until the meat thermometer reaches 160-170 degrees. Cook the rice use the directions on the box of the rice. When the chicken is done, cut up length wise, bite size if serving to children.

Put about 2 tablespoons of rice on a dinner plate. On top of rice place cut up chicken. On top of chicken put 2 tablespoons of pineapple. Than sprinkle a pinch of Frenches Onion. Place on some fresh carrots, peas, etc as a side dish, then serve for dinner. Enjoy!

Cheers Everyone!

Homemade Totally Nuts

I was happy when I have found this recipe on the net. My mom and I did a slightly different variation on this recipe. The original recipe is this:

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole toasted almonds.

1. Preparation: Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the water, cinnamon, sugar, and cream of tartar over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
3. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 246 degrees on a candy thermometer.
4. Once the mixture is at the proper temperature, remove immediately from the heat and stir in the Vanilla. Add the nuts all at once, and stir with a wooden spoon until they are completely coated with the sugar mixture. Continue to stir until it becomes difficult to stir and the syrup turns opaque.
5. Quickly turn out onto the prepared baking sheet. Separate the nuts and allow them to cool and harden at room temperature. Nuts can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several weeks.

Ok, so that is the original recipe. As my mom and I found out we can and needed to do something different. This is our recipe:

1 cup of granulated sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon OR 1 and 1/2 tsp of ground cloves
1/8 tsp of cream of tartar
1/4 cup of hot water
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cup of whole raw almonds

Preparation:

1. Baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. (the aluminum foil ripped and bits of foil was sticking to the almonds. So I got rid of the foil)
2. In a small saucepan, combine the water, cinnamon/cloves, sugar, and cream of tartar over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
   
3. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 246 degrees on a candy thermometer.
4. Once the candy is at the proper temperature, remove immediately from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Add the nuts all at once, stir with a wooden spoon until they are completely coated with the sugar mixture. (I didn't continue to stir until the nuts became opaque the second time. The mixture cools fast and it became hard to clean the saucepan of the nuts that was stuck to the sides.)
5. I just coated the nuts with the mixture then pour onto the baking sheet. The sugar coated nuts will still turn opaque while you are separating the nuts on the baking sheet. Cool at room temperature. Nuts can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several weeks.

By using ground cloves instead of ground cinnamon, creating a different unique taste. Both ways are equally good. Enjoy!
Cheers Everyone!

The Dickens Theater Company

I know that I have always said:

"I'll never do theater again."

Yeah, well "never say never." So now I'm apart of "The Dickens Theater Company" for Christmas. We are going to put on Oliver, Scrooge, and street theater. The performances are at the Utah State Fair Grounds, December 8,9,10-15,16,17. The Saturdays performances are pretty much all day long for me, because of the street theater that I get to do.

• Oliver time during the week is 6pm. Saturday matinee is 1pm, again at 6pm
  
• Scrooge time during the week is 8pm. Saturday matinee is 3pm, again at 8pm
  

The picture above is part of a element in the choreography that we are doing in Oliver; Oom Pa Pa. We were all thrilled that all of the girls got up. I feel so bad for the boys who need to lift us up. I'm trying so hard not to put all of my weight on their arms. The boys *bump* us off, and I can't help but think:

"A tone of women, coming down all at once!"

For a while now I have been trying to get away from theater. The more I fight, the more people have asked me to direct a play, or be in it. So really this is the first time that I am on stage for a very long time, a very, very long time. I was actually shocked that I was chosen to be apart of both plays. I didn't think that I'd get into any of the plays, I mean it's just been so long that I have been on stage. It's been a challenge for me to *dust off* my acting skills. Yep, I think I stink on stage.

I'm so used to putting together a play in about a month, putting it on, and then moving on. We have been practicing more then a month so now I am getting bored, well.....I have been bored sense the first of October. I am trying so hard not to show that at all, it's been a challenge.

So far this has been an experience, I have learned a lot. Not only have I learned that I THINK that I stink on stage, but I have learned how to tape Shin Splints. By taping my legs I can dance on them, hmmmmm.........the things that I have learned.

Cheers Everyone!

My great-aunt Glady's Butter Crunch

I was looking for this for a long time. I am so glad that my Mother found it.

Butter Crunch

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Margarine plus 3 tablespoons of water
1 cup sugar
1/2 semi sweet, milk chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chips (optional)

1. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with foil.
2. Butter or spray lightly.
3. Cover bottom with nuts and set a side

In a heavy 2 quart saucepan or a 12 inch electric skillet combine butter, margarine, water and sugar. Place over high heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. The mixture will foam. Cook stirring constantly, until mixture becomes a light tan color. Do not let the mixture get brown! = come to a boil, then stir for 7 minutes.

• Remove from heat and poor over the nuts in your 8 inch square baking pan. Spread mixture evenly over nuts. Cool at room temperature for 24 hours then brake into pieces.
• If you choose to use chocolate chips. While the mixture is hot spread the chocolate chips of choice on top. The chocolate chips will melt. Let cool at room temperature for 24 hours then break into pieces.
• If you want to use a dipping chocolate instead of chocolate chips. Let the mixture cool for one hour at room temperature. Then spread the melted chocolate over the candy. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Then break the candy.

Cheers everyone!