Doppelgänger

I have been entertained lately by the celebrity look-a-likes that friends have been posting as their profile pictures on Facebook. I thought about posting one but this celebrity is not well known in the States and she's the only celebrity that I've ever been told that I look like. Sam can attest to this since he was there with me. Anyhow, I wanted to share the story since it was a sweet experience.

In '97 I went with my dad to pick up my brother, Sam, from his mission in Ecuador. One day in Guayaquil we went to the Mercado Artesenal for some souvenirs. I wasn't dressed up fancy...worn jeans and a white t-shirt. My hair was almost waist long and frizzy with the humidity. While shopping and browsing a few kids started following me around. I think Sam noticed first and figured that it was normal for the kids to follow foreigners. However, the number of kids started to increase. Finally, a young girl approached me while the other kids hid behind a corner and asked if I was Gaviota. I started to notice the stares from the kids with their eyes wide open. I was at a loss and didn't know who they were talking about. Sam and I asked the kids about Gaviota and found out they thought I was the Colombian singer Margarita Rosa de Francisco. Gaviota is the name of one of her more famous songs which you can view here, it means seagull. They were disappointed, I'm sure, but I was flattered.

Psych Party

I have had a pre-Psych party for the past, I think, 4 premieres. It's fun for me to gather my friends together that are just as crazy about Psych as I am. We eat pineapple treats and watch episodes from the previous seasons. This premiere I feel like I went a little overboard with my cookies, but you have to admit they are cute and very clever. Thanks Donna for the idea of the letters! I hand cut and decorated the pineapple cookie myself (something I'm very proud of).

Cranberry Orange Bread

This bread is good, but not my favorite. I couldn't find my other recipe, so I had to scramble to find another one.

Cranberry Orange Bread

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup orange juice
grated peel of 1 orange
2 Tbs melted butter
2 Tbs hot water
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup walnuts

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in small bowl. In another bowl beat egg, add orange juice, orange peel, butter and hot water. Stir in dry mixture till moistened. Fold cranberries and nuts. Spoon into 9x5 pan. Bake for 60 minutes. Cool.

I think that I shouldn't have cooked it for the full 60 minutes, maybe 55 and it would have been better. The flavor really is good, though.

Pineapple Bars

I had another Psych party and needed to find a pineapple recipe. This is the one I found. The bars are pretty tasty.

Pineapple Bars

1 cup crushed pineapple with juice
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 Tbs cornstarch
1 Tbs butter
1 cup water
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 2/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups oats

Prepare filling first: mix 1 cup crushed pineapple and juice, sugar, cornstarch butter and water in saucepan. Cook until thickened. Cool.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in rolled oats. Press and flatten half of mixture in a greased 9x13 pan. Spread pineapple filling over bottom layer. Sprinkle remaining mixture over the top and pat down. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. While warm cut into squares and remove from pan.

The only change I made was using butter instead of shortening.

Family Fun

I love having people over! Last week the Broadheads were over for dinner. I always worry about having room for everyone. However, now that I know that Donna and all the Broadheads can fit onto the couch comfortably, I don't think I have to worry about having room. :-)

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

For Christmas Mom gave me a calendar with a recipe each month. I decided that since I like to bake I'd go ahead and give each of the recipes a try. I've never made gingersnap cookies before so I was a little nervous with this one. One think I can say is that molasses stinks. It's a good thing that the cookies are yummy!

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

1 cup (3/4 for high altitude) brown sugar
3/4 cup shortening
1 egg
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 cup sugar
48 chocolate candies

Heat oven at 375 degrees. Cream brown sugar and shortening. Beat in egg. In small bowl mix flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Add dry mixture to sugar mixture. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Once removed from the oven, immediately press 1 chocolate candy into each cookie. Cool completely.

I didn't make any alterations to the recipe.

Chinese Coins Quilt

I struggled to come up with a Christmas gift for Mom but when I saw the patter for this quilt I felt this was what I needed to do. The quilt is called Chinese Coins. It represents good luck/fortune.

I had plenty of scrap fabric and Rynell donated a lot to me. All the fabric used was from some project that we had worked on in the past and had special meaning to us. I put the quilt together in about two weeks. Rynell's Mom, Nina machine quilted it for me. I'm thankful to them for the help they gave me to get it done on time. The details are below.

Christmas 09

My plans for going home for Christmas were changing constantly after Thanksgiving and up until the week before Christmas day. I finally decided to spend Christmas Eve with Andy and Rynell's family, open presents with them on Christmas morning and then fly home that day to surprise Mom and Dad.


Here is Audrey with her tutu that Melina made for her. The tutu looks almost as big as her, and we were very surprised that she kept it on without any fuss.

After opening up the gifts I said bye to everyone and took off to the airport. They would be leaving the next morning to drive to Texas.


I took a little video flying into the Midland International Airport. It made me happy to see the oil fields and flat land of Texas. I rented a car and drove home. I arrived just in time for dinner. Of course, they said I should have told them I was coming, but I responded by telling them what kind of a surprise would it have been if I told them. Sam and Cindy's family was already there and it was good to see them.


Andy and Rynell arrived late Saturday night. The next day after church Wendy and David's family came over. The first thing I wanted to do is take the picture of Wendy and Melina next to each other. Melina has grown so much, she's almost as tall as her Aunt.


This is the first time that Audrey and Emily have gotten to spend time together. They played together very well.


For FHE dad took us out to Mr. Gatti's Pizza. It was fun to see all the kids hanging out together. They rarely get to see each other, so moments like this are special.


After we ate, Camille grabbed my hand and had me play in the arcade with her. We had the most fun at the bumper cars.


Here the boys are enjoying air hockey.


Rynell made her famous chocolate cake. She asked me to frost it and I let Audrey lick the spoon and in turn Andy had to lick Audrey's fingers so he could get to some of the chocolate.


The cake for mom's birthday turned out very beautiful and yummy.


I caught Dad in a moment of laughter as we were waiting for dessert.


Then we had mom cut the cake. Yay! Everyone enjoyed the cake!


The day after mom's birthday everyone started to leave for their own homes. I caught these kids playing together and asked to get a photo of them. They were all over the place that I had to ask them to be serious.


Then I told them to be silly. It made me laugh. All the boys did the same thing spontaneously.

Lemon Poppy-Seed Cookies

I saw these cookies on the web one day and thought I needed to give it a try. I didn't get the recipe that day, but it nagged at me and I copied the recipe. It came from Martha Stewart's website. These cookies are incredibly tasty and if you know anyone that loves lemons you definitely need to have these.

Lemon Poppy-Seed Cookies

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus 3 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest (2 to 3 lemons)
2 sticks butter
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 lg egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs poppy seeds, plus more for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring lemon juice to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook until reduced by half. Add 1 stick butter; stir until melted.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream remaining stick butter and 1 cup sugar on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix in egg and lemon butter. Mix until pale, about 3 minutes. Mix in vanilla and 2 teaspoons zest. Mix in flour mixture and poppy seeds.

Stir together remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons zest. Roll spoonfuls of gough into 1 1/2-inch balls; roll them in sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Press each with the flat end of a glass dipped in sugar mixture until 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with seeds.

Bake until just browned around bottom edges, 10 to 11 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

I didn't make any alterations to the recipe. There's no need to! Give them a try.