Bread Making 101

Several of you have requested my 'One Hour Bread' recipe. Sorry it's taken me so long to get it posted.

Before you run to you kitchen to make a batch of this bread, you will need the following:

Lehi Roller Mills Turkey Flour. (Secret code meaning... this is BREAD FLOUR!!) I buy it at Costco. It's actually several dollars cheaper to buy it at Costco than to buy it directly from the Mill in Lehi. For those of you that aren't able to get Lehi Roller Mills flour, I would suggest using a HIGH QUALITY BREAD FLOUR. It does make a difference!


Next you need to stock up on saf-instant yeast, and liquid lecithin. Lecithin is a natural product that is extracted from the soy bean. (If you want to know more, do a google search) You will most likely find liquid lecithin at a health food store, or a kitchen type store that would also sell Bosch bread makers. Yes, I am putting in my plug for the Bosch bread maker here. It is the best.


I got my lecithin from a place called 'Kitchen Kneads' in West Jordan, Utah. They sell it by the pound in plastic bottles. For another quarter or so, you can buy a squeeze top thing for it. This comes in handy as lecithin is really thick & sticky and is hard to wash off. When you add the lecithin, you don't need to be exact. The lady who taught the bread making class I went to, said she used to put about 5 Tbsp of lecithin in, now she just uses 3 Tbsp. If you squeeze a glob about the size of a quarter, you will get about the right amount.


Here's my lecithin with the squeeze lid thingie on it

Ok. Here is the recipe:

HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPE
from start to finish in 1 hour!
10-1/2 cups white unbleached bread flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
3 rounded Tablespoons saf-instant yeast
3 Tablespoons liquid lecithin*
4 cups hot tap water

Mix dry ingredients. Add lecithin and water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, add more water. If dough is too moist, add more flour. Mix for 5 minutes. (Do not ad water or flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Spray counter and pans with Pam. Shape loaves - place in pans and cover with a dish towel. Let raise 25 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. This recipe makes four loaves of bread.

*Squeeze or pour approximately 3 Tablespoons of lecithin directly into the bowl. Do not measure.

(For whole wheat bread, use the same recipe but add one cup of applesauce as part of the hot tap water. Mix for ten minutes.)

There you go - easy as can be. Here is my bread making process in pictures:


This is what my dough looks like after mixing it for 5 minutes. I usually add a little more water (1/4 cup or less, depending on the day) at the one minute check. The dough is nice & leaves the sides of the bowl, but the lady who taught the class said she likes it a little more sticky. Sometimes she even has to get out her spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl. Once you get the dough onto the oiled counter top and knead it a few times with you hands - the dough will turn into this lovely warm soft dough that is not sticky at all.


Don't forget to spray your counter top & pans with Pam (or generic equivalent). After spraying your countertop & before you scrape the dough out of the bowl, just slap your hands on top of the oiled countertop a couple times to get your hands greased up too. Then the dough won't stick to your hands.


Here is what my dough looks like after I have kneaded it a few times.


After you have kneaded the bread a few times on the countertop, cut it into 4 even pieces. I have a handy-dandy pizza cutter that I use, but a long knife would work just as well.


Shape each piece of dough into a loaf and put it in a greased bread pan. I use my 8 x 4-1/2 x 2-3/4 pans. It is not the largest bread pan size, but the next one down. It just makes a nicer size loaf.


Cover with a dish towel and let raise for 25 minutes. (Make sure the oven is on by this point - preheat to 350 degrees!)


After 25 short minutes, this is what your bread will look like.


Carefully place in oven...


25 short minutes later - golden brown & ready to come out from the oven


Immediately remove from pans and place on racks to cool...


When bread is cool - place in sacks & wrap end of sack with a twistie tie.


I have several bread knives, but I have found my electric knife to be the best. It now stays out on my counter & is never put away.

TA DA!!! That's your cooking lesson for the day - just like being in my kitchen, eh?

Ayyyy, Matey!

Avast, me hearties! You know you want an eye-patch, a parrot, and a fast galleon to sail the seas. It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

I'm also celebrating another event this weekend by spending time in St George with the entire family.

(September 19, 1957 - Madison Memorial Hospital, Rexburg, ID)

Pure Maple Syrup

I've been reading a book this week about a fictional family that lived in rural Pennsylvania before the Civil War. On their farm they have a grove of sugar maple trees which they tap every spring to get sap which they then boil down to get maple syrup. It's quite a process, they have to watch the weather & temperature closely, and tap the trees at just the right time to get an optimum, high quality flow.

This got me thinking... we have sugar maple trees in Utah, why don't people tap them for maple syrup? This lead me to an article in the Deseret News from 2005, written by Larry Sagers. In the article, he talks about the bigtooth maple which is native to Utah. The tree goes by many different names depending where it grows. These include lost maple, sabinal maple, Western sugar maple, Uvalde bigtooth maple, canyon maple, Southwestern bigtooth maple, plateau bigtooth maple and limerock maple.

Because the bigtooth maple is closely related to the sugar maple, it was a source of sugar and syrup for the early pioneers, who supposed this tree would be as valuable as the trees they had on their farms back east. But it never had the cash value of the sugar maple.

It takes 40 gallons of sugar maple sap to make one gallon of syrup. bigtooth maple sap is much less concentrated; it takes 160 gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup. That's why the industry never thrived here.


This bigtooth maple is a broadleaf tree with a spreading, rounded crown. Its height will average about 35 feet, and the trunk diameter averages 9 inches at maturity. Sugar maples on the other hand are about four times that size.

Although I've never purchased it, you can buy a pure maple syrup at several local grocery stores that is called 'Land of Joseph' Maple Syrup. It is made in Sharon Vt. I've never had a desire to purchase it. But after reading about it, I now feel a connection and would like to try some...

Land of Joseph Maple Syrup, of Sharon, Vt., boasts U.S. Grade A pure New England maple syrup with a bit of a Utah connection. John Lefgren, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, bought 10 acres of land for a family retreat near the birthplace and memorial for the church's first president, Joseph Smith. Over the years, the retreat became a bed and breakfast and then a gift shop. He buys the syrup from local farmers who have been producing it for generations.

The Utah connection? "The simple fact is there are a lot of Mormons in Utah, and there's a very clear story that connects maple syrup to the Smith family." He points out that in her history, Lucy Mack Smith wrote about making maple sugar "of which we averaged one thousand pounds per year."

To give an idea of the labor involved, Lefgren calculates that the Smith family would have to tap 500 trees, collect 60,000 pounds of sap and burn 10,000 pounds of wood to boil down the liquid.

OK. After reading all this, I decided I need to become a pure maple syrup connoisseur. Sadly, I only have one bottle of pure (all natural) maple syrup in my cupboard at the moment. The label says that it is 'grade A dark amber'. It's in a small bottle that is about the size flask (I'm sure I look funny taking sips from it). It is indeed very tasty, with a darker taste. I'll have to buy some other brands so I have something to compare it to.

YEA!

This was a HAPPY sight for me yesterday.  The last apricot on the tree.  Thanks to all who came by and took some home with you.

I've never seen so many apricots on one tree in my life.  I've never picked them up off the ground for so many days & weeks...and so late into the year!

Today... I am dehydrating tomatoes. It smells great.

Conversations & Events That The Mind Remembers From Long Ago...

I don't know why, but yesterday I kept thinking about things that happened a long time ago. It made me wonder why some experiences make such an impression on you, that you remember them for the rest of your life.

I remember being very young, when we lived in our old house at 247 East Main. Randy and I were in the bathroom washing our hands before we ate lunch. I remember very vividly, Randy telling me as we were standing at the sink, that in some places of the world, there are people so poor, they can't afford to buy peanut butter!

I remember being in kindergarden. One day Shannon Rydalch told Jack Zollinger that she had a ghost in a bottle at home. The next day Maxine Lamprecht pulled Shannon aside and told her that Jack's mother said that story really scared Jack and he hadn't been able to sleep that night. I remember Maxine saying to Shannon: "You really don't have a ghost in a bottle at home, do you?" She made Shannon tell Jack she was sorry for telling that story. I also heard Shannon when she was telling that story, but it didn't make me afraid to go to sleep at night. I just remember thinking how neat it would be to have a ghost in a bottle.

I remember my sisters playing with matches. When my mom found out, she made them go to the store and they each had to buy a big box of stick matches. (I wonder if a kid could get away with doing that today?) Then they had to sit out by the back step and light every match and let it burn down to their fingers. I remember watching them, wishing I could do that too, because it looked so fun.

Pull out some random memory & lets hear what you remember from long ago...

Falcon Crest

This morning I'm feeling like Falcon Crest. Most of my grapes are of the 'Concord' variety, but I do have a couple of 'Interlaken' grape vines, (green grape variety). The Interlaken grapes ripen earlier than the Concords, and by the time I get out in the fall to harvest the Concords, the Interlaken grapes are much too ripe and most of them have already fallen to the ground. This past week I decided I was going to get out and get the Interlaken grapes picked and get them made into juice. I was out first thing this morning, and got a big box full of them picked. My stove top is on the fritz, the canning element has a short in it and hasn't worked well for several years. So I had Terrell set up the camp stove out back, and I so far it is working out very well!


plus...

plus...

equals...

White grape juice!!! It's the BEST!

How Do I Stay Sane?

One of the most frequent comments I hear regarding my current occupation is: "I don't know how you do it!" Well, I don't know either, I just do it. It does help that I really like little kids... they make me laugh... (they've taught me patience) and I DO have a lot of fun with them. I like talking to them, I love to hear them tell me they love me and they like my house. They comment when I put on a different necklace or have a new shirt on. One day last week I had on a headband part of the morning, because I hadn't gotten around to combing my hair after I had washed my face. This little girl Jayden (age 4) told me I looked pretty. That afternoon, after I had taken time to wash & dry my hair, she again told me how she liked my hair the fancy way it was that morning.


This is Jayden, last February on her birthday

Well anyway, I do have one fun thing that I started doing about a year ago. The local Macey's grocery store just up the road has cooking classes held at their "Little Theatre" several times a week at 7:00 pm. That has become a fun outlet for me. A lady by the name of Nancy Judd is in charge of the Little Theatre classes. She introduces the guest and does a running commentary throughout the entire class. She is such a hoot. I would go just to listen to her. She is in her early 60's now, but she taught Home Economics for many years when she lived in Texas and is a fabulous cook herself. Did I mention how much fun she is? I laugh & laugh at the things that come out of her mouth.

I have been to many fun classes this past year, and I have learned some really great things. After I took a bread making class last fall, I started to make my own bread. I've got a recipe that you mix, raise & cook the bread all within a hour. Even I have time to make bread this way. I haven't bought a loaf of bread at the store since last November!

Last week I went to a class that taught how to make food you would get at the fair: soft pretzels, fresh squeezed lemonade, funnel cakes, Navajo taco's and fried Oreo's. I was most skeptical about the fried Oreo's because one time when I was in Vegas with my sisters (& Andria) we had a fried Twinkie at a place down on Fremont Street. I thought it was pretty disgusting. But... the fried Oreo's were wonderful. Since we always have a stash of Oreo's at our house, this is something I could do without having to go to the store to buy Oreo's first. But it is also something I will do when there are lots of people at my house, because I don't think Terrell, Kimball and I could eat them all, and they are not good cold.

The recipe she gave us is from Emeril Lagasse. I have seen others on the internet, but they use pancake mix. I like this one, because you mix up the batter from scratch.


(I didn't take this picture - just got it off the internet - so of course my fried Oreo's would look Fabuluous!)

Fried Oreo's (From Emeril Lagasse)
1 1/4 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten
20-25 Oreo cookies
Powdered sugar for dusting
oil for frying
Heat oil in fryer to 360 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla. Combine the milk mixture with the flour mixture stirring just until well blended. Dip cookies in batter and carefully place in hot oil. Fry until batter is golden brown. Turn cookies and fry other side. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.
Makes 20-25 cookies

VOTE FOR ME!!

Wow!  I just now found out about this, when I was watching the news.  I hope you all will support me... It's all kinda overwhelming, as you can imagine!

Back to Quilting

Wow, I haven't thought about quilting for the better part of the summer. I've still been doing a block each month for the "quilt block of the month club" that I signed up for at a local quilt shop, but I haven't started a new project for several months. The other day I went to the site for a quilt shop in Salt Lake and looked at their upcoming classes. This is the class that caught my eye:



It's only $15.00 to take the class, a kit to make the quilt (minus batting and backing) is $74.00. I called and signed up to take the class, it will be held on Saturday, October 25th. If there are any other quilters (or wanna be quilters) out there that would like to spend a few hours with a room full of fun people (of course, I would be one of them) you can call & sign up too!

Kimball Rides

I'm sitting here tonite trying to learn a few new things so my blog can be fun like Andria's.  (The saying:  "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" keeps running thru my head)  I have learned two new things so far, Woo hoo for me!!!

Anyway, Kimball wanted a couple of things for his birthday last June:

#1  a unicycle

#2 a banjo

Terrell bought him a unicycle about a month ago.  It took him several days of practice but he can actually ride it now.  We tease him that all he needs now is a clown outfit & he will be set.  (Kimball HATES clowns - they freak him out!)  Anyway, this is the end of my mommy blog... watch the movie of my talented kid:

He has been taking his unicycle to school - there are several others that bring their unicycles and they ride them around at lunch time.  He says they are thinking of starting a unicycle club.  How fun!!

On the Day that YOU Were Born

I came across this kinda cool web site the other day. You click on the month of your birth, then day and then the year of your birth, and it will tell you the #1 song the day you were born.

http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm

Now, I can't remember that far back, but I was surprised to find out that I did know the song. On September 19, 1957, the #1 song was: "That'll Be the Day", by The Crickets (Who the heck are "The Crickets" anyway?)


What was the #1 song on the day of YOUR birth?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Congratulations to my fine brother Gary, he was the winner of my blog contest. He correctly identified the mystery picture I posted as a 'Quilting Bee'! Here is Gary, happy to be receiving his grand prize, a package of flat flower head quilting pins.

It's Contest Time!

What is this a picture of? (Don't give me an obvious one word reply) I will award a prize to the first person who can come up with the correct answer. You may be wondering what the prize is, but I can't tell you because I haven't decided yet. But it WILL be a prize worthy of several dollars!

Three Red Marbles

I read this story a few years back. It remains one of my all time favorites:

By W. E. Petersen
Ensign Magazine, Oct 1975



During the waning years of the depression in a small southeastern Idaho community, I used to stop by Brother Miller’s roadside stand for farm-fresh produce, as the season made it available. Food and money were still extremely scarce, and barter was used extensively.

On one particular day, as Brother Miller was bagging some early potatoes for me, I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily appraising a basket of freshly picked green peas. Upon paying for my potatoes I moved to leave, but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between Brother Miller and the ragged boy next to me. “Hello, Barry, how are you today?”

“H’lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus’ admirin’ them peas sure look good.”

“They are good, Barry. How’s your Ma?”

“Fine. Gittin’ stronger alla’ time.”

“Good. Anything I can help you with?”

“Nosir, jus’ admirin’ them peas.”

“Would you like to take some home?”

“Nosir, got nuthin’ to pay for ’em with.”

“Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?”

“All I got’s my prize aggie—best taw around here.”

“Is that right? Let me see it.”

“Here ’tis. She’s a dandy.”

“I can see that. Hmmmm, only thing is, this one is blue. I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?”

“Not ’zackley—but almost.”

“Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you, and next trip this way let me look at that red taw.”

“Sure will. Thanks, Mr. Miller.”

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a sly smile, she said:

“There are two other boys like him in our community—all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn’t like red after all, and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble, or orange, perhaps.”


I left the stand, smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Utah, but never forgot the story of this man and the boys—and their bartering.

Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and, while there, learned that Brother Miller had died. They were having his viewing that evening, and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them.

Upon our arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased, and to offer whatever words of comfort we could. Ahead of us in the line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore short haircuts, dark suits, and white shirts, obviously potential or returned Mormon missionaries. They approached Sister Miller, standing smiling and composed by her husband’s casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket. Her misty, light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly, placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket, and left the mortuary awkwardly wiping his eyes.

As our turn came to meet Sister Miller, I told her who I was, and mentioned the story she had told me about the marbles. Eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.

“This is an amazing coincidence,” she said. “Those three boys that just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim ‘traded’ them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size, they came to pay their debt. We’ve never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,” she confided, “but right now Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho.”

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three magnificent, shiny red marbles.

Food! or The Law of the Harvest

I hate planting gardens. Well, let me re-phrase that. I hate having to plant a garden with someone. I just get so frustrated. My family learned long ago that it is their job to till the soil, dump the peat moss & steer manure, till again, then disappear. Just leave me with all those little plants and let them plant them where and how I want. I really have to watch Terrell when we go to buy the bedding plants in the spring, because he tends to get carried away. One year I think I had like 60 something pepper plants that he had bought that I was supposed to find a home in the ground for. I was not a happy camper out there digging the holes for those pepper plants that spring.

Fast forward to August. I do so love this time of year as we begin to reap the rewards of what we planted in May. There 'ain't nothin' better than a home grown tomato! This is also the first year I have had real success with my herbs. I moved the whiskey barrels that I plant herbs in, up closer to the house, and it has been a lot easier for me to remember that they are even there this year. Thus, I have a wonderful herb garden this year just past my back yard gate.


One of my herb pots. About all you can see is the basil from this view.

Tomato + basil = Bruschetta. I could eat this every day. The tomato/garlic/basil/balsamic vinegar flavors literally explode in your mouth!

I signed up on this cool web site: http://www.tasteofhome.com/
Several times a week you get an e-mail from them with tasty recipe ideas. Lots of times I think: "Well that looks good, I should save that recipe and make it some day." A nice feature of this web site is that you can create an account and when you run across a yummy recipe, you just click and send it to your recipe box. Then you can come back at a later time and find all the recipes that you have saved. I did just that the other nite, I made this wonderful recipe called: "Bruschetta Chicken". Best of all, I had all the ingredients and didn't have to go to the store for anything. (oops, I did have to send Terrell for a clove of garlic). Anyway, this recipe is "A KEEPER"!! The chicken was moist & tender, with that great bruschetta taste on top. It was an instant hit at the Hill house.


Bruschetta Chicken
Ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup egg substitute - (I just used a couple eggs instead)
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 pound)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
Place flour and eggs in separate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in flour, then in eggs; place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Combine the Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle over chicken. Loosely cover baking dish with foil. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until top is browned.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Spoon over the chicken. Return to the oven for 3-5 minutes or until tomato mixture is heated through. Yield: 4 servings.

p.s. If you have tried to post a comment in the past & not been able to do it because it said you needed to set up an account, you can post a comment now and you will not get that little annoying message. :-)

Those Little Comment Cards

Ok, so I have a habit of filling out those little comment cards that you find on your table when you dine at a restaurant. My sisters will remember me filling one out at a Wendy's in Nephi several years ago. I was so angry with the service I received that nite, and the comment card I sent in ultimately scored me a free meal!

Then there was the time I wrote to IN-n-Out to tell them how fond I was of their food. I even volunteered to come work for them for FREE- cutting french fries, if they would just open an In-n-Out in Utah County. I received a nice reply from them, but I am still waiting for them to take me up on the offer.

When we were on vacation last month, we dined at Bob Evans. Their home style food was so good, that we went back a couple more times to enjoy it again. The last time was in Festus, MO, just before St. Louis. Guess what? There was a 'comment card' on the table. Of course that was my invitation to tell the folks at corporate know how much we enjoyed their food, and to put in a shameless plug for Utah and to tell them how well one of their restaurants would be accepted here. I never expected that I would hear back (I never do) but I was surprised to get this letter from them last Saturday:

"Those Vampire Books"

The book that started it all!

You've probably been living in a cave if you haven't heard about and/or read all of Stephenie Meyer's books. I was introduced to them a couple of years ago when I was reading the blog of a friend. This is what she wrote:

So there's this book I've heard sooo much about for months and months from everyone. "Oh, it's so great." "It's amazing." "It's the book of the decade." "I think you'll just love it." And on and on. "It's about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire." Ohhh...thanks but that's not really my type of book. Glad ya liked it, but yeah, not my style. So, I sit through book club (I know, know, why go to book club when you didn't even read?) about the sequel to this book still thinking to myself, yeah yeah yeah. Sure glad I didn't bother with the first one because amazingly, the second one is about not only vampires cont'd, but werewolves. Yes, that's right, werewolves. Riiight.

She continues on, telling how she starts reading "Twlight" while at her mother's house during the holiday's. She stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish the book, in a room with her two small children, using a wind-up flashlight as a light. Needless to say ... she was hooked & couldn't wait to start the sequel, "New Moon".


After reading her post, I decided I would put "Twlight" and "New Moon" on my list of books to read. I checked them out from the library and have to admit, I did enjoy them, but not to the point where the characters became a part of my life.

I remember being at the Corn Wagon Quilt Shop last summer, and overhearing the conversation of a couple of middle-age women talking about the book being made into a movie and which actor would play each role. I remember thinking "how silly", that they would be into the books that much.

The third book (Eclipse) came out last summer. I once again got it from the library, there was quite a waiting list. I think it was October-November when I got my turn to read it. Once again, it was a good read. I kept coming back and picking it up as often as my free time allowed, and finished it in a couple of days.


"Breaking Dawn" - I went to my online account at the library and put a hold on the book last Thursday. I think I was 104 in line, but figured that would go pretty fast, because the library showed 20 copies of the book.


Last Friday nite, Terrell and I went to Walmart about 9:30 p.m. to pick up some things that I had been putting on a list all week long. I had something I needed to return when we first got there, and I noticed people lined up along the wall in the front of the store. I thought it was a little weird, then I noticed a sign on the wall - about lining up for the book. Ah yes... this is the night. We were walking past the line and someone called my name. I looked over to see the sister of one of my good friends. She was hanging out in the line with her teenage daughters to get the book. She was as excited to be there as the rest of the people in the line.

Sunday nite we went to visit some good friends that live in Lehi. She was telling me about how her husband got hooked on "those vampire books" last summer, and has read them all. He has tried & tried to no avail to get her to read them also. She has teased him relentlessly about him being a grown man and reading those books that were written for teen age girls. Then she admitted to me that she secretly started reading them last Friday, and had finished the first three books by Sunday. She was now waiting for him to finish the 4th book so she can start. It was hilarious!!

So there you go, I'm still waiting. Unless someone drops by with one for me to read, I'm fine to wait until my number comes up at the library. How about the rest of you? Where are you in your Stephenie Meyer fandom? Leave a comment and tell us your story too!

Going Back Before We Can Go Forward. . .

Yea!! A new month. There are only two more weeks until school starts. I always feel like summer cruises by too fast, but this year it is especially true. I came home from vacation and my flowers and the garden had tripled in size. It's amazing what can happen in 17 days, but first, I need to return to the St. Louis area and finish up the trip:


This was Randy's condo that we crashed in Farmington, MO. It was pretty posh - still smelled brand new.



Randy had a total of 4 - 1 bedroom units. More than ample for his family. Katie was living in this unit, and graciously moved out for the night so we could have a place to stay. Thanks Katie!!

Here we are the morning of July 22nd. Getting ready to load that van up for the very last time.


There were a couple of sites to see near the condo, so we visited them before heading north to the airport. First to the town of Pilot Knob. In 1864, this valley was the scene of one of the largest and most hard-fought Civil War battles waged on the state of Missouri's soil - the Battle of Pilot Knob.


The mound of soil in the background is all that is left of Fort Davidson. There was a nice *free* visitor's center there, it was interesting to learn more about the Civil War.


A couple miles away was another fun place, Elephant Rocks State Park.


One of the most curious geologic formations in Missouri is found at Elephant Rocks State Park. Giant boulders of 1.5 billion-year-old granite stand end-to-end like a train of circus elephants. Many of the elephant rocks lie within the seven-acre Elephant Rocks Natural Area. There was a one mile paved trail that looped around the park. Kimball, Cheryl and I walked the trail and got up close & personal to the rocks:




Last stop before St Louis:

Bob Evans- Festus, MO

The flight home - This was cool. I always wish I had a map on my lap when I fly, but this is even better. Are you listening Southwest??


That's the end of the Trip!!! Thanks for coming along!

And now a shameless plug - but it's free for you if you wish to take advantage...
Remember this picture from last spring?


Well. . . . this is what the tree looks like now:






My apricot tree is so loaded this year that the branches are breaking. (There was a wind storm that blew thru last weekend, and I think that may have also contributed) Anyway, the apricots are reaching their peak ripeness, and if you want some, PLEASE come on over. They are not as big as they have been in years past, I don't know why. But they are about the size of apricots you would buy in the store, and they are very yummy, and good for you. Hope to see you all with a container.

More?

If you are awaiting the end of the pictures from our trip, you will have to wait a few more days. I went to upload a few more pictures yesterday, and flickr told me I had used up all the space I am allotted for the month. So I will have to wait until the first part of August to post the ending pictures. Sorry about that. I'm too cheap to pay money for a flickr account, since I archive my picture files on an external hard drive.