Sick and Tired...

I'm so sick and tired of coming to check my blog to find out that the background has been deleted by some entity out there in cyber-dom. I guess I need to try out the blogger designs. Hopefully, I won't come back in a couple weeks to find my blog an ugly blank again.

Album 07/12/10, by Ann Jenson

These are my favorites of Johnathan and Laney's engagement photos. Thanks, Shauna!

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Ode to Chocolate

Oh, chocolate, how I love thee.

I never knew you could bring joy for so long.

In days past you endured one afternoon,

Bringing joy as you melted in my mouth.

Yet this year was different.

When you came into my life on Mother’s Day, I was on a diet.

I tucked you in the freezer, dreaming of the day

When I would once again let you melt in my mouth and bring me joy.

The day finally arrived,

And I learned just how sweet you really are.

Bit by bit you melted in my mouth.

I savored every morsel.

And you lasted two weeks!

Grandma Bright's Bread

Grandma Bright holding Johnathan

There was nothing better than Grandma Bright's bread while I was growing up. Grandma worked in the lunch room at the elementary school for years and the entire town loved her cinnamon rolls...which she made from scratch to serve at school.

We all wanted to learn how to make it just like her. I took my turn trying to learn it. Grandma made bread while I watched. I guessed at the measurements as she used an old coffee mug to add the flour, a pinch of this and a shake of that. Unfortunately, I wasn't able (for reasons of my own) to stop Grandma and take the time to actually measure everything as she put it in. I did find a recipe later that came close, but close isn't the same.

This spring (while I was doing the hcg diet) I learned that some of my cousins had spent time with Grandma and learned her bread recipe. They had been more assertive than me and had the actual measurements of Grandma Bright's Bread Recipe. I was finally able to try it out today!

Yummy!

Grandma Bright's Bread

1 cup warm/hot water (from the tap is plenty hot...don't want to kill the yeast)

1 Tbsp yeast

Add yeast to the water and let sit until foamy.

Add:

1 tsp salt

1/4-1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter or oil

3 cups flour

If you are using a Bosch or Kitchen Aide, add the flour gradually. Let it knead until it looks good. Rise with the lid on or covered with a dish towel for 45 minutes. Grease cookie sheet or 9 x 13 pan for rolls, or 2 bread pans for bread. Punch down the dough and pan it. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and let the dough rise for about 30 minutes or until doubled in size. (Hint: if you rise it in a warm--about 180 degree--oven it can cut that time in half.) Bake 20 minutes for rolls, or 30-35 minutes for loaves. Makes 2 loaves of bread, 24 dinner rolls or 12 cinnamon rolls. Recipe can be doubled.

Girls only

This was my first trip to the Oregon Coast. I've been to the beach in San Diego and Santa Cruz once each in my 47 years. Tom always talks about how much fun the beach is and how much he misses it. I finally started thinking to myself, "He misses the beach the way I miss the mountains." That's the only way I could relate for a while. I'm beginning to see what the beach means to people. When we finally got to the beach, I didn't care it was only 60 degrees...I was in that water as fast as I could reasonably get there. LOL...I felt like a kid, running down the beach just to get my feet wet.

At the beach in Manzanitas, Oregon

I went with my two friends, Lynda and Donna. They are both 10-14 years older than I am. I felt like a teen as I jumped in and out of the Yukon and walked circles around them. I never thought when I met Donna and Lynda through Dr. Phil's message boards that I'd have lifetime friends. They both live in town. Lynda and I walk together twice a week at the mall. We get with Donna once a month to visit and work on whatever project we have going at the time. Lynda needed companions on this trip to Oregon to pick up her grandma's desk. Donna volunteered herself and me to make the trip. We talked, teased, joked and talked some more. We enjoyed it so much that we are planning another trip in three years to Manzanitas, and we'll just relax and play together for a few days.

Donna, Ann, and Lynda at Seaside, Oregon

And we can't forget the Tillamook Cheese Factory where I experienced Squeaky Cheese for the first time. I'm the face of the cow.

On the way home we took a scenic drive and saw all the falls on the way down the freeway. This is the trail at Bridal Veil Falls. I loved the greens of the trees. Gorgeous!

Me at Bridal Veil Falls

At Multnomah Falls Donna and Lynda waited for me as I walked up to the bridge you see in this photo. The trail to the top was another .8 miles, and I went a little ways, but I didn't want to make them wait 2 hours for me so I didn't go too far. I love how strong I've been feeling, and I knew the hike wouldn't be a problem for me. No worse than the Timp Cave or Wind Cave hikes! As I walked along I thought, "I LOVE doing this. How I've missed it!"

Horsetail Falls

Best Buy of the Season

Yep, there it is. I bought this as soon as I saw them in the stores. So what we were on a diet at the time. I knew that if I waited until it got hot, they would be gone and I'd be out of luck. I think it is quickly becoming the most used appliance in my kitchen. I honestly don't know how this Jenson family got along without one of these babies.

We used to bribe the kids to be reverent in church with homemade cookies every Sunday. I think the tradition will change starting now. Homemade ice cream as the new reverence treat!

Yummy! Nothing like ice cream without all the fillers, and I can make it gluten-free, too!

Reunion

The last of our vacation was the Bright Family Reunion. We love this reunion. We've been camping every year for 25-30 years now. We are usually at Willow Flats near Preston, Idaho, or Malibu Campground in Logan Canyon. Lately, we have been in Logan canyon to make it easier for the older generation.

Each of the original families used to cycle through and take a turn planning the reunion. In the last 5 years or so my generation has been doing it more. My Wiser cousins have been doing it for the last 3-4 years and we always look forward to their Dutch oven cooking. This year it was decided that my parents will book the campsite every year, the Wiser boys will cook the community meal, the rest of us will add potluck items for that meal and take turns mailing out info about the reunion. Everyone was happy that way. They like to cook and the rest of us like to eat.

Three of the Wiser boys...Sherwin, Doug and Anthony

This was the main cook this year...Darrel Wiser

There are 9 Wiser boys and they have 2 sisters. Love them all.

Here's a couple recipes:

Meat marinade

1 1/2 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce

2 tsp dry mustard

2 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp parsley

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Combine all ingredients. Let meat marinade at least 2 hours. Good also for fresh vegetable shish-kabobs. Cook meat on the grill.

Dutch oven potatoes

1 pound bacon or sausage

1 onion, chopped

1 can cream of chicken soup

3-4 pounds potatoes

Brown meat in 12 inch dutch oven. Remove meat and some of the grease if it is too much. Saute onion in the remaining grease. Add meat, soup and potatoes. Stir. My cousin didn't mention adding water, but now that I've tried it I would recommend adding some. Cover with dutch oven lid and bake for about 45 minutes depending on amount of heat. When the potatoes are almost done sprinkle with 2 cups grated cheddar cheese, cover again and finish baking.

Apple Chop Suey

This recipe was made by the Wiser boys' mother (my aunt). She baked it in a 9 x 13 pan in the oven. They have started doing it in the Dutch oven every Sunday after breakfast as the reunion ends.

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

4-6 granny smith apples, cored and sliced

Mix all ingredients together and pour in Dutch oven. Bake until done. Serve with whip cream.

Saturday we spent hiking some more and going to Bear Lake. I have wanted to hike to the wind caves for several years now, but didn't think I was in shape enough before now. This year was my year to reach that goal. It was a 4 mile round trip and quite steep. It raised 900 feet in 1.3 miles.

James and Hannah at the start

Tom on the trail

James, Arie, Garrison, Hannah and me

The wind cave!

James

A very impressive view

This one is cool, too.

The neatest thing happened while we were in the wind cave. We had been hiking in the vicinity of a young Hispanic family. All the way up they would pass us and then we would pass them along the trail. Finally, after exploring the cave a bit I sat down near them and started talking to them. I asked, "Where are you from?"

They said, "Honduras."

I told them I had lived in Honduras for 16 months. Then I asked what part of Honduras they were from.

"Catacamas...It's in Olancho."

Me: "I lived in Catacamas!"

I told them how long I had lived there and when. They asked why I had been there and who some of the people were that I remembered. I told them I had been a missionary.

The father said, "My uncle is Mormon. Did you know Antonio Caceres?"

"Yes! I did know them. They had a daughter named Martha, right?"

The world is so small. There we were sitting on the mountain in Logan canyon talking to the nephew of someone I knew while on my mission in Honduras. Wild!

At Bear Lake

Total miles hiked during our vacation--15!

Btw! Look at the picture of me and the kids on the hike. Notice the shirt I'm wearing. Then look at the pictures in our slide show. Same shirt...sure fits differently now!