Christmas Tree

Christmas Tree! I'm so happy I finally have a beautiful tree for Christmas this year. Donna has been staying with me and she always has a live tree for Christmas. So, I told her that she could have a live tree since she's going to still be at my place through the holidays as long as I get to decorate it with my ornaments I got on sale last year. She happily agreed.

The day before the tree arrived I had to move a lot of furniture around. I moved the piano from my bedroom back to the living room, moved the small couch to my bedroom and one of the shelves from the entertainment center, then I moved the location of my TV so that the piano would fit in the living room. I was very exhausted. I don't think my place had any great space for a Christmas tree. I think if I had a bay window it would have given me something better to work with. Anyhow, after all was done, I was exhausted. It wasn't over yet, though.

I was very surprised when a 10 foot blue spruce showed up at my door Thanksgiving weekend. Sadly we had to cut it down to fit in my living room to about 8 to 8 1/2 feet. If I put the tree in the kitchen it would have fit without having to cut it, but I didn't want to try and figure out how to arrange furniture in my kitchen. Plus I think my chandelier would have been in the way.

My niece, Melina came over to help me put the decorations on my tree and spend the night. We had fun going through all the ornaments and deciding where to put them. Melina did a very good job at placing the decorations strategically all over the tree.

Below are detailed pictures of some of the ornaments.


I like the antique look of the ornaments.


I got the reindeer ornament in Alaska from the cruise I went on this past summer.


These are a variety of ornaments I got. I like the mosaic door knob.


This is a doll I got at a Victorian style boutique.


It's a purple bird happily perched on a branch.


I was surprised to find a tree topper so quickly. The angel has a pretty face and it's purple...need I say more!

Cranberry Orange Rolls

Sometimes I amaze myself! I bought cranberries a couple weeks ago and was hoping to make cranberry bread, but I got the sudden urge to make orange rolls. It seemed logical to add the cranberries. These rolls turned out beautifully.

Cranberry Orange Rolls

Sweet dough
4 Tbs butter, melted
Orange zest from half orange
1/2 cup brown sugar, not packed
Orange juice
1/2 cup fresh cranberries, chopped in quarters
1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Icing
3/4 cup powder sugar
Orange zest from half orange
Orange juice
Milk

You will have to use your own sweet dough, or cinnamon roll bread recipe. Roll out dough into a squarish-rectangular shape. Combine melted butter and orange zest and spread over dough. Sprinkle brown sugar over butter and spread evenly. Cut orange used for zest in half from and squeeze orange juice over brown sugar (enough to moisten the sugar only). Sprinkle cranberries and pecans over sugar. Roll dough tightly and seal by pinching the edge to the roll. Cut or use string to make 12 rolls. Place in 9x13 dish. Bake according to your dough recipe.

Icing: mix powder sugar and zest, then squeeze orange used for zest into sugar. Add enough milk for desired consistency. Once rolls have cooled for 10-15 minutes spoon icing over rolls.

The measurements aren't completely accurate because I just put things in as I went along, but they should be close enough.

Chicken Yum Yum

I got this recipe from one of my roommates my first year of college. One weekend I went with her to her family's home and her mom made this for dinner after church.

Chicken Yum Yum

1 whole chicken, cooked and diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz container sour cream
1 pkg stuffing with seasoning
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup chicken broth (or water)

Preheat oven to 350°. Layer diced chicken into bottom of 9x13 pan. Mix soup and sour cream together and spread over chicken. Sprinkle stuffing over mixture. Pour butter over stuffing and then chicken broth. Bake for 30 minutes.

Okay...you don't have to use a whole chicken! You can use chicken breast, about 4-5 depending on how meaty you want your dish. I like to cook my chicken breast in the crock pot because it turns out nice and tender. The real recipe calls for 1 cup chicken broth, but I like my stuffing crunchy so I use less.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

I don't know why I never tried these rice crispy treats before. They're in a family recipe book that I just discovered this week.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

1 10 oz mini-marshmallows
1 stick butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 10 oz box rice crispies
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chunks

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. Combine marshmallows, butter, peanut butter, and corn syrup in large pot. Cook over medium heat until well combined and smooth. Remove from heat. Add cereal. Stir until evenly coated. Quickly pour one-third of mixture into pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chunks or chips. Pour cereal mixture and layer with chocolate chunks, etc. Cool. Cut into bars.

They are very easy to make.

Pineapple Plant

My pineapple plant ripened! The tiny pineapple popped off the plant. I'm going to replant it, so we'll see if I can get it to grow.

De-Clutter Project (Part III)

So...de-clutter project number II from earlier this year didn't go as well as I had hoped, but number III went well. I have a ton of stuff to take to DI and I feel happy that I'm going to give it away. Now I need to do the follow through and actually drive it over to DI. I will give myself till this Saturday to take it over.

A majority of the items I'm getting rid of are clothes. As I was making a list of the items (okay, so I will be turning it in for a tax deduction) I noticed that the clothes all started with the letter "S". For entertainment purposes, I will list out those items: shirts, shoes, sweaters, skirts, socks, suits, silk shirts, scarves and jackets. Well, jackets doesn't start with an "S" but it does end with one. LOL!!!

Another thing I got rid of were shoe boxes. Those went in the trash. I bought four pairs of shoes about a month ago and threw away eight pairs. I'd worn them down pretty good, so they weren't worth giving away. I ended up with more shoe boxes and always think that I'll be able to use them for some purpose and save them. Well, I tossed about eight shoe boxes. Afterwords I realized they were taking up quite a bit of space.

This has been perfect timing for de-cluttering. Since the holidays are coming I can go shopping and fill up the space with some more fun stuff. :-)

Pie Crust

I really liked this pie crust recipe. It was easy to make and turned out very nice. One reason why it was so easy is because I finally bought a pastry cutter. I love that utensil!

Pie Crust

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
5 oz Crisco
5 Tbsp water

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in the Crisco with pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly. Add water and mix till all has been moistened. Form and divide into two balls. Roll out and place in pie dish. Add filling. Bake 350° for 50 to 60 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

The pie pictured above is an apple pie. The filling was home canned. I served this warm with ice cream.

Taco Soup

I really like making taco soup when the weather starts getting cold. This is half the recipe of Rynell's version of the soup.

Taco Soup

garlic (to taste)
onion (to taste)
1 lb ground beef
1 can corn
1 can beans (black or pinto)
1 can stewed or diced tomatoes
1 pkg or 1/4 cup taco seasoning

Saute garlic and onion. Add ground beef and brown. Once browned add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer 15-20 minutes.

Serve with toppings: frito or corn chips, cheese, sour cream, black olives or any of your favorite toppings.

Jedi Family

Andy and Rynell usually bring the kids by every Halloween so I can see the kids costumes and give them treats. Well this year, since I was at the murder mystery party, they came by to see me. Rynell did an amazing job with the costumes.

How to Host a Murder Party

Here's the gang from Kelly's murder mystery party. The last time I played one of these things I ended up being the murderer. However, this time I may have done quite a bit of plotting, but was not the murderer. Heehee!!!

My First Jazz Game

I went to my first Jazz game yesterday. Our tickets were in the upper bowl, but when we arrived our tickets wouldn't scan. So we had to go to the ticket office and they gave us new seats in the lower bowl. I thought that the players would look tiny from where we sat, but they still looked huge. I'm glad that the Jazz won!

Halloween at Work

My Niece's First Birthday

I made it back in town from my San Angelo trip to go to my niece's first birthday. It looked like she had lots of fun and enjoyed all the attention. She's a cutie!!!

San Angelo Trip

I had a great time visiting my sister, Wendy, and her family in Texas a couple of weeks ago. We just hung around and I tried to make myself useful. Below are my favorite pictures of all the kids from the trip.

Bread Maker

A friend of mine gave me a bread maker and I used it for the first time today. I made cinnamon rolls and they turned out very pretty and yummy!

Pineapple Plant

It's one of the most adorable things I have seen. Back in August I moved to a different cubicle at work. My new cubicle has a window, so I thought it would be appropriate to buy a plant. I went to Ikea and found the pineapple. I hope I can keep it alive.

Oriental Pork

I was going to go to my brother's place for dinner with a friend tonight, but my niece got sick. I'm sad I missed out...but I had to come up with something else. After making an inventory on my ingredients I decided on cooking some pork chop steaks into an oriental dish. This was inspired by mom's Oriental Beef/Chicken.

Oriental Pork

Pork chop steaks (that's what I call the thick cut), cut in strips
Garlic
Onion
Bell Pepper
Sugar Snap Peas
Rice, cooked

Marinade:
Soy Sauce
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Ginger Powder
Pepper

Marinade the pork strips in the marinade sauce. Saute the garlic, onion and bell pepper. Add the pork till all strips are browned, add sugar snap peas. Cover and cook thoroughly. Serve over rice.

As you can tell, I have no measurements. That's because I was improvising. So, just add everything to taste. If I had pineapples, I would have added a little of the pineapple juice to the marinade and served the pineapple on the side. This can be a quick meal if you prep the ingredients early in the day. Also, you can use chicken or beef, and you can mix up the vegetables you have on hand. This is basically a stir fry. And...if you want to be adventurous you can try to eat with chopsticks.

Wang Jian-Xin and Li Feng-Yun

I went to the performance of Wang Jianxin and Li Fengyun in September. They teach at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in China and have been on tour. I really enjoyed the music. During the performance Wang Jianxin explained the different instruments that they played. I was very impressed with their talent.


The instrument above is the xun which is made of clay. It is also called an ocarina.


This instrument is the xiao. This flute is played vertically.


The qin is a very beautiful instrument. The one that Li Fengyun played was at least 600 years old. It has a very unique sound to it that can evoke different emotions. I enjoyed watching her play this instrument.


The pipa looks like a guitar. The name comes from the direction of strumming the strings--"pi" is strum in one direction and as you come back to strum in the other direction it is "pa". I thought it was a cute description.


The last instruments that were played were the di-zi. These flute like instruments come in all sizes and are played horizontally.

I really enjoyed the music and talent from that evening.

Frog Exhibit

I went to a frog exhibit at the U of U on Labor Day. I was really excited to see all the frogs on display. Andy picked me up so I could go with their family. I took pictures and I thought that they were deleted from my computer. However, I found them and have a little slide show for you to see now.

Havasupai Arizona Trip

I went to Arizona for vacation last month in August and had a great time. Andy and I met up with our cousin Michelle at the airport. That was an adventure in itself. I used the wrong name for Andy on his plane ticket reservation and security wouldn't let him through. I felt really bad about it. So I called the airlines reservation to have them cancel his ticket and then reissue another one with his name that showed up on his license. We finally managed to make it through security. Once we got to the gate I received a call from Michelle and she was more than half an hour away from the airport. Luckily the flight was delayed 45 minutes and she made it just as we started boarding the plane. Traffic was really bad that night in Utah. However, we made it to Phoenix where we met up with Dad and Adriana (Michelle's sister).

Above is one of my favorite pictures that I took. I think it's a blue dragonfly, but I could be wrong. I was amazed that the insect let me get as close as I did (and i really did have to get close) because I don't have a fancy camera that will let me take that kind of shot from far away.

Below is a slide show of some of my pictures from the trip.

We hiked down the canyon in the afternoon. As we started our hike, clouds moved in to give us shade. We also had a nice breeze. I think that we really would have had a harder hike down if we didn't have the shade and breeze. The rest of our party was already in the lodge once we arrived in the Supai village. That group consisted of Uncle Clifton, Aunt Elinor, Loren, McKenna, Maria and Sarita.

The next two days we enjoyed hiking and playing in the water of the falls. I mainly enjoyed the peace and quiet I got from being out in such a beautiful place. The day that we first hiked to all the falls was nice. The water was clear blue...beautiful. The clouds moved in again in the afternoon and by the time it was evening, we have a rain shower. The rain shower washed dirt into the river so the next day we didn't get the clear blue water, but muddy looking water. I'm glad that we were able to enjoy the clear blue water at least one day.

We also had some friends from Midland hike down to enjoy the sights and falls for one of the days. Luckily it was the day that the water was clear blue.

In 2008 there was a flood in Havasupai that destroyed one of the falls, some of the pools surounding the falls, caused damage to the camp grounds and created a new water fall. Navajo Falls no longer exist. At least not the way I remember it. There is some remnants of where the falls used to be. However, in the destruction of one fall, a new one was created...Rock Falls. These falls are fascinating to me because there is evidence of so much destruction from the rock/land/mud slide but at the same there is a new beautiful fall. The ground all around the trail down seems a bit unstable, but it looks like the tribes people are working on making a trail that is safe down to the falls.

I'm really happy that I was able to go enjoy a little nature.

Roasted Pears with Caramel Sauce

I experimented with a new recipe and I am very happy with the results. This should be a low calorie dessert for those that like to count them. I definitely plan on making this dessert again. I found this on the allrecipes.com website which was ranked at 4 1/2 stars.

Roasted Pears with Caramel Sauce

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 pears, halved and cored
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted pistachios (or your favorite nuts)

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Place butter in a baking pan large enough to hold the pears in a single layer: set in the heating oven until it melts.
2. Sprinkle sugar over melted butter, then place pears, cut side down, on top. Bake until tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Remove pan from oven, turn pears over and baste with pan sauce. Return to oven; bake until golden and glossy, about 10 minutes longer.
4. Let cool slightly. Transfer pears to dessert plates or bowls. Top each with dollop of sour cream, drizzle with caramel pan sauce, sprinkle with nuts and serve.

I made sure to use ripe pears. The recipe didn't say whether or not to peal the pear skins off. So I left the skin on and I think it helped keep the pear together. Also, because the pears were ripe and soft, I baked them for only 20 minutes the first time and 8 minutes the second time.

Now for the alterations I made to the recipe. I sprinkled cinnamon over the brown sugar (which was light brown sugar because the dark brown sugar was as solid as a brick). Then I sprinkled some raisins before placing the pear halves on top of the sugar. Once the pears were cooked and cooled I used a dollop of cool whip instead of sour cream because I already had a container of cool whip opened. The caramel sauce I used was an ice cream topping. I didn't need to make up my own. Finally, for my nut of choice, I used pecans. I would still like to try this with the sour cream and pistachios, but that will have to be for another time when I have the ingredients on hand.

Praline Pecan Crepes

I made this dessert last night for book group. I think it turned out well.

Crepe Batter

4 eggs
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp melted butter

Beat eggs in a bowl. Slowly add flour and sugar alternately with milk and water. Then beat with a wisk or electric mixer until smooth. Beat in melted butter. Chill batter at least 1 hour. Cook in pan. Turn over when surface begins to buble and appears dry around edges.

Praline Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 3/4 cups water
1 Tbsp water

In skillet melt butter over medium heat (3 to 4 minutes). Stir in sugar, brown sugar and cornstarch. Stir in all remaining sauce ingredients. cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sauce begins to thicken (5 to 6 minutes). Meanwhile, fold each crepe in half; fold in half again to form triangles. When sauce begins to thicken arrange crepes in skillet. Cook, spooning sauce over crepes occasionally, until crepes are heated through (3 to 4 minutes). Serve warm crepes with sauce.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe and I was craving peanut butter and oats, plus I needed a treat for work. So, I found this peanut butter oatmeal cookie recipe on allrecipes.com. There were a couple of alterations but this is what I ended up with.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c 2 T sugar
1/2 c peanut butter
1 egg
3/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c oats

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix butter, sugars and peanut butter. Add egg. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt. Add oats. Bake 10-15 minutes.

I really liked the cookies. The changes from the original recipe were substituting butter for the shortening and margarine, and doubling the amount of oats. This recipe only makes 2 dozen cookies, so it can be easily doubled if you need more cookies.

Nostalgic Trip

I had the opportunity to see some of my cousins that I haven’t seen in a long time. Richard, Shanda and Chet were all present for the funeral. I believe that it had been over 10 years since I had seen any of them. I also saw Barney who I haven’t seen since I went to Tucson with Dad, probably in 2000. Cousins that I see more often that I was able to visit with were Donna, Holly, Ingrid, Victoria, Nephi, Andrea and Rhett.


Friday night several of us got together at El Rancho for dinner. I had to have their green chili cheese crisp. Everything I ate was very greasy, but it’s not that often that I’m in Holbrook to enjoy some of my favorite eats. Also, earlier in the day Donna and I went with Tate to Dairy Queen. It’s just one of those things we have to do.


Saturday morning I went jogging with Donna and Andrea. Uncle Clifton caught up to us. We also found out that Dad and Uncle Bob had been running that morning and Ingrid and Shanda were running. Andrea said that the only people that you’ll see running in Holbrook in the morning were Lewises. I think it’s true because we only saw each other while out running.

I went shooting for the very first time. I shot with a shotgun and a 22 rifle. My shoulder is sore, but not as sore and bruised as Donna. Also, Andrea, Rhett and Andy are pretty good shots. I didn’t do too well with trying to hit the target.

Afterwards Donna, Andrea, Holly, Rynell and I went to see the movie Proposal. It’s the first time I set foot in the Roxy theatre. I always wondered what the theatre was like all those years of visiting Holbrook and never going to see a movie there. My curiosity has been satisfied. It’s a small town one screen movie theatre.


After the movie we did our nostalgic Wigwam Motel pictures and visited with Aunt Elinor. It’s always fun to visit with her to hear stories. Aunt Elinor has always been very happy to see us and I feel the same.






Our last stop for the night was a visit to Uncle Clifton and Aunt Idalia. They are also very welcoming to us and I enjoy their generous hospitality. We were invited to dinner as we had just arrived while they were setting food out. We ate pork burritos, salad and watermelon. Aunt Idalia gave me some of her costumes that she had for dancing. At one point in time she belly danced. So after dinner I agreed to do a little dancing for the family. I normally don’t do freestyle, but it was family and we were having a party. I felt comfortable sharing a talent with them and was able to get my cousins to join in. Everyone had a great time and laughed a great deal.


I’m so happy that I have good memories of visiting with family it Holbrook. It always brings back nostalgic feelings of my family and childhood. I’m thankful for my family and being able to spend time with them. Bringing the family together at this time has been a blessing to strengthen us so we can support each other. They are the ones that will be with us in the end.