And Away We Go!!

2 days and counting until we leave for Salt Lake for my niece, Becca's wedding!! All 4 of my girls have matching blue and brown dresses to match the wedding colors that I got at a boutique in Mesa a few months ago.... they just happened to match! Yay!!

Finally today I found a GREAT dress for me too! Chocolate brown with a gathered princess bodice and cap sleeves... form fitting.... all the way to the floor! A slit on the side to the waist with cream fabric underneath (no... not leg!)

It was a little more dress than I was looking for.... but I couldn't pass up the price!! It was 75% off!! So... it was only $28!! Aahhh!! (But it makes me feel like a million!!) I don't know when I will ever wear it again.... John will have to take me to a black tie event!!

Now to get fancy matching bling-e flowers from Marci!! (for the girls... not me!!)

Blue Banana Breakfast Boost Smoothie

OK..... I made this up this morning.... catchy name huh??!!

3 very ripe bananas

5 baby carrots

1 cup Trader Joe's Vanana yogurt (Vanilla-Banana)

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1-2 Tbsp. flax seed

8-10 ice cubes

orange juice - enough to cover all in the blender....

Blend for 2 minutes on high. ENJOY!!

**DYN** (Did You Know...) Almost all yogurt has high fructose corn syrup in it? Check your labels!! It is even in the specialty yogurt that is supposed to help your digestive tract!! Trader Joe's uses natural cane juice to sweeten its yogurt.... HFCS is BAD!!!

Back in the Saddle Again...

I have had so many thoughts whirring around in my head lately that I have decided the time has come to re-enter the blogging world.... if for no other reason than to get them out of my head!!

Now... with the GFAA play coming up, dog shows and puppies coming... we will see how long I last this time!!

Blogging World... Here we go Again!!

Children and Pride

This morning during scripture study we talked to the children about pride. John looked up an amazing article from 1986 by Ezra Taft Benson about pride that he remembered from his mission.

I couldn't believe how amazing this article was....and IS!!.... and how right on.....especially given the political climate now....

May I now discuss a subject of grave concern that deserves deeper development than we have time. It is the subject of pride.

In the scriptures there is no such thing as righteous pride. It is always considered as a sin. We are not speaking of a wholesome view of self-worth, which is best established by a close relationship with God. But we are speaking of pride as the universal sin, as someone has described it.

Mormon writes that “the pride of this nation, or the people of the Nephites, hath proven their destruction.” (Moro. 8:27.) The Lord says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “Beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old.” (D&C 38:39.)

Essentially, pride is a “my will” rather than “thy will” approach to life. The opposite of pride is humbleness, meekness, submissiveness (see Alma 13:28), or teachableness.

In the early days of the restored church, the Lord warned two of its prominent members about pride. To Oliver Cowdery, He said, “Beware of pride, lest thou shouldst enter into temptation.” (D&C 23:1.) To Emma Smith, He said, “Continue in the spirit of meekness, and beware of pride.” (D&C 25:14.)

“Thou shalt not be proud in thy heart,” the Lord warns us. (D&C 42:40.) “Humble yourselves before God,” says the Book of Mormon. (Mosiah 4:10.)

When the earth is cleansed by burning in the last days, the proud shall be as stubble. (See 3 Ne. 25:1; D&C 29:9; D&C 64:24.)

The great and spacious building which Lehi saw was the pride of the world where the multitude of the earth was gathered. (See 1 Ne. 11:35–36.) Those who walked the straight and narrow path and held onto the word of God and partook of the love of God were mocked and scorned by those in the building. (See 1 Ne. 8:20, 27, 33; 1 Ne. 11:25.)

“The humble followers of Christ” are few. (2 Ne. 28:14.)

Pride does not look up to God and care about what is right. It looks sideways to man and argues who is right. Pride is manifest in the spirit of contention.

Was it not through pride that the devil became the devil? Christ wanted to serve. The devil wanted to rule. Christ wanted to bring men to where He was. The devil wanted to be above men.

Christ removed self as the force in His perfect life. It was not my will, but thine be done.

Pride is characterized by “What do I want out of life?” rather than by “What would God have me do with my life?” It is self-will as opposed to God’s will. It is the fear of man over the fear of God.

Humility responds to God’s will—to the fear of His judgments and the needs of those around us. To the proud, the applause of the world rings in their ears; to the humble, the applause of heaven warms their hearts.

Someone has said, “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.” Of one brother, the Lord said, “I, the Lord, am not well pleased with him, for he seeketh to excel, and he is not sufficiently meek before me.” (D&C 58:41.)

The two groups in the Book of Mormon that seemed to have the greatest difficulty with pride are the “learned, and the rich.” (2 Ne. 28:15.) But the word of God can pull down pride. (See Alma 4:19.)

With pride, there are many curses. With humility, there come many blessings. For example, “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.” (D&C 112:10.) The humble will “be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge.” (D&C 1:28.) The Lord is “merciful unto those who confess their sins with humble hearts.” (D&C 61:2.) Humility can turn away God’s anger. (See Hel. 11:11.)

My beloved brethren and sisters, as we cleanse the inner vessel, there will have to be changes made in our own personal lives, in our families, and in the Church. The proud do not change to improve, but defend their position by rationalizing. Repentance means change, and it takes a humble person to change. But we can do it.

We have made some wonderful strides in the past. We will be lengthening our stride in the future. To do so, we must first cleanse the inner vessel by awaking and arising, being morally clean, using the Book of Mormon in a manner so that God will lift the condemnation, and finally conquering pride by humbling ourselves.

As a parent it is very important to me that my children have a strong sense of self worth.... that they are PROUD of who they are. BUT... I never want that to translate into them thinking they are BETTER than anyone else. If they win an award after a competition, I want them to be proud of their hard work.... but NOT to be prideful in thinking how they were BETTER than everyone else in the competition.

There is nothing wrong with winning.... but what kind of winner will you be?

As an example... It is important to me that my kids try as hard as they can to get straight A's... but certainly not because I want them to have higher grades than anyone else. I want them to believe in themselves... to believe in their abilities enough to KNOW that they can achieve that goal.

What an important value to have.... what an important knowledge to have as they grow up!

I have told my kids time and time again.... worry about yourself... not "the other guy". Do things to make yourself better.... don't worry about being "the best". There will always be someone smarter, faster, prettier, etc. etc. Just be happy and proud of who you are!

Sauce Basics

There are 5 "Leading" sauces - Bechamel (commonly known as white sauce), veloute, espagnole (known as brown sauce), tomato and hollandaise. All of these can be seasoned and garnished to create a wide varety of all other "small" or "compound" sauces.

The 5 Leading sauces are distinguished by the liquids and thickeners used to prepare them:

Milk + white Roux = bechamel (white sauce)

Chicken stock + blonde roux = veloute sauces

Beef stock + brown roux = espagnole (brown suce)

Tomato sauce

Butter + ehh yolk = hollandaise

A "Roux" is how you thicken your sauce. It is a combination of flour and fats (usually butter) to form a paste. There are 3 types of roux:

White Roux - cooked only briefly and removed from heat as soon as it starts to bubble. Used in white sauces or in dishes where little or no color is desired
Blonde Roux - cooked slightly longer than the white roux. It should start to take on a little color as the flour carmelizes. It is used in ivory colored sauces such as veloute, or whe a richer flavor is desired.
Brown Roux - tis cooked until it is a darker color and has developed a nutty aroma and flavor. Brown roux is used in making brown sauces.

TIPS:
1.) Use a heavy saucepan when making a roux
2.) Cook over medium heat - do not BURN!! Burned roux will not thicken anything and just taste realy bad!
3.) Use cake or pastry flour instead of all purpose flour - cake and pastry flour has a higher percentage of starch.

Bechamel Sauce (White sauce)

Bechamel (white) sauce is the easiest of all the leading sauces to prepare. Although at one time a bechamel sauce would be made with veal stock, today the sauce is almost always prepared by thickening milk with a white roux and adding seasonings. A properly made bechamel sauce is rich and creamy and absolutely smooth. The sauce should be the color of heavy cream and should be thick enough to coat food lightly. A basic bechamel or white sauce is the foundation for may other sauces and recipes!

Basic Bechamel Sauce
1/3 c. butter
3 Tbsp. Flour
2 cups Cold Milk
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Recipe with bechamel sauce:

Chicken Spinach Dinner Crepes
from Catherine Goold....my very best friend from high school!
(Her grandfather was a French Chef in FRANCE!)

For the Crepes:
3 cups Flour
4 cups water
8 eggs
1 tsp. Salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. lemon rind

Make the batter at least 4 hours ahead (up to one day) In a large bowl, beat the eggs slightly. Add the oil and water and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Slowly add the flour to the egg mixture; whisking until well combined. Stir in the vanilla, lemon extract and lemon rind. Refrigerate until ready to use.

When it is time to cook the crepes... don't panic!... the batter will have separated. Slowly stir until well combined and then check the consistency on the batter, you want it very thin. It may require up to another 1/2 cup of water to loosen it up. Wipe the crepe pan with a little vegetable oil on a paper towel before the first crepe. After that there is enough oil in the batter to keep them from sticking Pour a spoonful of batter onto a heated crepe pan swirl around to cover the bottom. Use just enough to cover the bottom so they will be thin. Watching carefully, cook each side for 1 - 2 minutes, adjusting the heat (usually medium to medium-high depending in your stove)

The first side is done when the edges start to curl up and crepe comes loose when you shake the pan. Carefully flip it over being careful not to tear the crepe...usually fingers work best! The crepe should be light golden/blonde in color. The first crepe always comes out looking a little strange but the rest should look normal. You will need to stir the batter often to prevent settling. This recipe will make about 30 crepes.

(These can be filled for savory dishes, desserts, breakfast or just a snack. Catherine's family enjoys just sprinkling them with sugar, fold and eating them warm!)

Chicken Spinach Filling:
2 recipes of Bechamel sauce (above)
3 cups cooked chicken breast, diced
10 oz box frozen spinach; thawed and drained well
1 1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 c. green onion, finely chopped

After making one recipe of the Bechamel sauce, remove from heat. Add the Swiss cheese and stir until completely melted. Add the green onion, spinach and chicken, stirring after each addition until thoroughly combined. Heat on low until mixture is hot. Scoop about 1/2 c. of the chicken filling into each crepe and roll. This will fill 8-10 crepes depending in size.

Pour desired amount of additional 2nd recipe of the bechemel sauce over filled crepes and garnish with tasted almonds and parsley. Sauteed mushrooms are also very good as a garnish or even added in the filling.

Better Than Bouillon

Whenever a recipe calls for broth, stock or bouillon, I use a product called Better Than Bouillon by Superior Touch. You can find the chicken and beef bases in the soup and broth section of any grocery store - Walmart included. You will need to go to a specialty market like AJs to find the more unique flavors.

To make: simply add 1 tsp of base per cup of hot water to make 1 cup of broth or stock... just like a bouillon cube. This base has a great, rich taste that I like TONS better than traditional cubes and even more than canned broth.

The following recipe calls for 5 cups of chicken stock. I simply heated 5 cups of water and stirred in 5 tsp of the Better Than Bouillon chicken base and VOILA!! easy, YUMMY chicken stock that didn't take hours to make! (although it is a little salty to you may need to adjust the amount of salt in any recipe!)

Poulette Sauce

The Poulette Sauce is from the Veloute family of sauces. Veloute sauces are made by thickening a white stock (chicken or veal). A properly made veloute sauce should be rich, smooth and lump free. It should be ivory colored and should be thick enough to cling to foods without tasting like the roux used to thicken it!

The Poulette sauce is actually a 3rd level of sauce. You have to start by making a basic Veloute sauce, then make Allemande sauce from the original veloute sauce. The poulette sauce just adds ingredients to the Allemande sauce. I know it sounds complicated but it really isn't too bad! Any of the following 3 sauces are great on chicken, any white meats and vegetables.

Basic Veloute Sauce:

4 Tbsp. Butter

2 Tbsp. Flour

5 cups Chicken stock

Salt and White Pepper

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the butter and cook to make a blond roux.

Gradually add the stock to the roux, stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

Melted butter may be carefully ladled over the service to prevent a skin from forming.

Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring to prevent burning on the bottom.

Allemande Sauce:

4 1/2 cups prepared veloute sauce

2 egg yolks

3/4 c. Heavy Cream

1 tsp. lemon juice

Bring the veloute to a simmer.

In a large bowl, whip the egg yolks with the cream. Slowly ladle about 1/3 of the hot veloute sauce into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, to temper.

When 1/3 of the veloute sauce has been incorporated into the now warmed yolk and cream mixture, slowly add back into the pan of remaining veloute sauce while whisking continuously.

Reheat the sauce. Do not let it boil!

Stir in lemon juice.

Poulette Sauce

4 cups prepared Allemande Sauce

1 Tbsp Butter

8 oz. sliced mushrooms

1 small shallot, diced

1/4 c. heavy cream

1 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Saute the mushrooms and the shallot in the melted butter. Drain. Stir into the Allemande sauce. Stir in cream and chopped parsley.

Peppercorn Sauce (Sauce au Poivre)

This is an example of a sauce from the Espagnole (Brown Sauce) family. This is a recipe that uses a demi-glace as a short cut - instead of making a brown roux and adding in brown stock (usually beef). Demi-glace is half brown sauce, half brown stock reduced by half. I use a product called Demi-Glace Gold in this recipe that you can purchase at certain gourmet markets....

Sauce au Poivre

Ingredients:

1 shallot

1 oz. Butter (1/4 stick)

1 tablespoon Cracked Peppercorns

1/2 cup of red wine

8 ounces demi-glace*

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: Melt 1/4 stick of butter in a sauce pan and sauté shallots (cooking quickly over high heat) until transparent for approximately 2-3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of cracked peppercorns. This is the hardest part to making this sauce. I opted for putting the peppercorns in zip lock bag and cracking them on my cutting board with a hammer. Noisy, but it works! Do NOT pound them too much or you will just pour in a LOT of pepper and have a really spicy sauce!

Add 1/2 cup of red wine, but don’t use plain old cooking wine, big mistake. Never cook with any wine that isn't for drinking. (I just buy a cheaper Cabernet Sauvignon from the wine section of the grocery srore.) Reduce this mixture to an essence which means until there is just a tiny hint of wine left in the pan. Add the demi glace*, stir (with a whisk if you have one) until completely incorporated.
Simmer until the sauce has thickened, approximately 5-6 minutes. The sauce is thick enough when it will coat a spoon. Add 1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley, stir, and serve over steak!

*If using More Than Gourmet's Demi Glace Gold, reconstitute 1.5 ounces with 8 ounces of hot water either in the microwave oven or on the stove and follow the recipe.

Compound Butter Recipes

Compound butter is simply butter with added flavors mixed in. It’s not just like buttering an item and then adding a sprinkle of the flavor - compound butter becomes a unique flavor unto itself. One of the simplest examples is honey butter, a simple blend of honey with butter, whipped together and served immediately. These butters are a very easy way to look like you went to a lot of trouble!

Herbed Butter
(Great on steak, lamb, etc!)
Ingredients
1 pound butter
3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon sage, chopped
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped

Directions:
Chop the butter into uniform chunks.
Place the oil into a food processor and add the chives. Process until the chives are finely chopped. Add the remaining herbs and blend until the herbs have colored the oil.
Using a whisk attachment, whip the butter in a mixer's work bowl at medium speed until it softens and lightens in color, about 5 to 7 minutes. OR You can simply soften the butter on the counter - but do not melt it!
Add the herb oil to the butter and beat for 2 minutes until oil is fully incorporated. Remove butter from bowl and spoon onto parchment paper or plastic wrap. Roll into a log, using the edge of a baking sheet to form a tight log. Chill for 2 hours before serving.
Just as you take your steak hot off the grill, cut a slice of the butter and lay it on top. It looks fancy and tastes great!
** I have used dried herbs before and it still tasted good... I would just let it sit in the refrigerator longer.... but fresh is BEST!


Honey Butter
Ingredients
1 pound butter
1/4 cups honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped Cream (NOT whipping cream!)

Directions
You can either soften the butter and simply beat in the ingredients, or you can cut the cold butter into chunks and put it in a mixer's work bowl and beat at low speed, using the whisk attachment to loosen the butter. Increase the speed to medium and add the honey, cinnamon, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined, about 5 to 7 minutes. I also throw in a heaping spoonful of whipped cream to make it really fluffy and yummy! Remove butter from bowl and spoon onto parchment paper or plastic wrap. Roll into a log and refrigerate for 2 hours.