Some entertaining recipes

I wrote the following article for the Recipe Corner article in our weekly newspaper, The Preston Citizen for the week of June 1, 2011.

"Jean Carter, our regular recipe columnist, is taking a medical leave of absence. She was very organized and submitted four columns before she headed south to the hospital. However, one of the columns was misplaced.

Last Wednesday night I attended my book group with a growly tummy. My husband and I had run to Pocatello and arrived home in the late afternoon. There was time for me to attend book group or eat, not both.

Reading is as necessary to me as breathing. Discussing books with a group of other serious readers is something I enjoy.

I recently read an article from families.com online titled “Protect Your Friendships After Marriage.”

This piece of advice should be given to all newlyweds, “When you become Mister and Missus, it should not be at the expense of whom the two of you were before you were married.”

People live longer if they have hobbies. It’s nice to do things together as a couple, but … it’s healthy to have your own hobbies.

Back to the book group. The book we were discussing that evening was “The House at Riverton” by Australian author Kate Morton. For a book that wasn’t very well liked, a lively discussion was held.

I walked into the home where we were holding the meeting to the most tantalizing smell. I thought the discussion would never end. Luckily my chair wasn’t too close to anyone to hear my tummy.

The refreshments were worth waiting for. I asked if I could use the recipe for the Recipe Corner this week. Yes, under cover of anonymity. I gleaned another recipe that evening also. These recipes truly are from real people.

The Let’s Talk About It program held at the Larsen-Sant Library has also yielded some amazing refreshments.

These recipes can be served at your next club meeting or just because.

GRAHAM-CRACKER BARS

1/2 C butter
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 (6 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
1 1/3 C flaked coconut
1 C chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt butter in 9x13-inch pan in the oven. When the butter is melted, sprinkle graham cracker crumbs evenly over butter. Pour milk evenly over crumbs. Top with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down gently and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

DUMP CAKE

1 can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 can pie filling (any kind)
1 pkg. Yellow cake mix
1/2 C butter
1 C flaked coconut
1 C chopped nuts, any kind

Pour pineapple and pie filling into a 9x13-inch pan. Crumble cake mix over the top of the fruit mixture. Melt butter and drizzle over the top of the cake mix. Sprinkle coconut and chopped nuts over the top. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Check it at 45 minutes so it doesn’t get too brown.

This is also really good in a Dutch oven.

SPARKLING GREEN TEA LEMONADE

2 C very hot water
3 (2 g) bags green tea
3 Tbsp. white sugar
2 C chilled seltzer water
2 tsp. lime juice
1 lime, sliced (optional)

Pour the hot water into a glass pitcher. Submerge the green tea bags in the hot water and allow to steep for 5 minutes; remove and discard the tea bags. Stir the sugar  into the tea until completely dissolved. Chill in refrigerator for 35 minutes.

Pour the seltzer water and lime  juice into the tea. Float the lime slices atop the mixture.

Now, the rest of the story is the "misplaced" article was deleted from the email. The editor said we couldn't use the recipes because they were from copyrighted cookbooks & put the blame on the publisher. When I confronted the publisher he said it was the first he'd heard of it. But he agreed with the editor. I said the recipes for last week's article was not from a copyrighted cookbook. So, I won round one.

Then I did this week's cookbook Recipe Corner & am working on recipes for the next 2 weeks based on Jean's subject matter.

A small update

• By the end of March I had read 8 books
• Which includes the King James Version of the Old Testament

• By the end of April I had read 4 books

• And by the middle of May, well, almost the middle of May, I have read 3 books
• Which includes The Book of Mormon and Institute of Religion's Old Testament: 1 Kings - Malachi Student Manual (Religion 302)

• Total year-to-date: 23

Last day of Lent

According to readthescriptures dot com, I am through with my scheduled reading for The Book of Mormon. I'm not, I did not keep up with the schedule I set up, which was to read the BOM for Lent. I read the BOM for Lent last year too. Last year I read it in 103 days. Out of those 103 days, I missed 7 days of reading, so I actually read it in 96 days.

This year I would have liked to read it in 46 days. There have been several days this year I haven't felt well and as a result I've only read 1 or 2 chapters some days. I have set a tentative goal to finish in half the time I read it last year, 51 days.

The New Testament is the next volume of scripture I'm going to tackle. The LDS Church is studying the New Testament this year in Sunday School & Primary.

Link List vs. Blog List

I found another blog to follow & I've been trying to add it. I couldn't do it. I checked & looked at my other blogs & all of a sudden I got it! I have a link list, not a blog list. Now, I need to delete the link list & add a blog list. Hmmm, no time. I hate it when that happens.

Not only that, I have LOTS of books to blog about. I read 8 books in March & have already read 3 in April. And a new Four Month Reading Challenge has started.

Omnivorous

Someone called me an omnivorous reader. So, not really knowing what an omnivorous reader was, I looked it up. I thought omnivorous was an animal that ate both plant & animals. So, I went to The Free Dictionary.com & found this definition:

Taking in everything available, as with the mind: an omnivorous reader.

So, I guess I am an omnivorous reader.

Reading The Book of Mormon

I am reading The Book of Mormon for Lent, the second year in a row. Last year was such a success, even though I went way over the 46 days. I read the BOM in 103 days, which I thought was wonderful. The idea was to use Lent to jump-start me into reading the scriptures daily. Which it did. I've been planning all year to read the BOM again this year for Lent. Didn't realize it could be construed as giving up the Bible for Lent.

So, I'd been feeling kind of … ummm … ambivalent?? Is that the word? But tonight I logged into readthescriptures dot com & this quote by President Hinckley was given with the new reading assignment:

"Read the Book of Mormon itself. Read it again and again. Ponder its beauty. Reflect upon its many magnificent passages. Think of the complexity of the detail of its historical accounts. Pray about it, and the Holy Ghost will bear record to you, as He has to me and to millions of others, that it is the word of God, a voice crying from the dust to this generation in declaration of the divinity and the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ as the living Son of the living God."

 ~ President Gordon B. Hinckley, Sept. 2003

Thank you President Hinckley. Thank You Lord, for giving me this thought to ponder.

I won another book!!!

Wow! It seems like I never win anything & now I have won TWO books from Linda Weaver Clarke's blog. The first one was Hollywood Stories. The new one is an e-book. I love e-books. I need to put it on the network storage device so I can access it from my laptop.

Anyway, this is one of Linda's books, Anasazi Intrigue, the first in a series.

Stolen artifacts, a devastating flood, a snoopy newspaper reporter, and mysterious events begin to unfold in this mystery adventure novel. When a devastating flood takes out several homes in a small town, they are shocked by the news of also a possible poison spill. Quickly Julia realizes the story and investigation are much bigger and more dangerous than she thought! Julia and her husband find themselves on the run trying to save their lives while finishing the story of a lifetime. She never realized that being a reporter could be so dangerous.

Sounds well-named. It is mystery/suspense, one of my favorite, if not my favorite, genres. And, of course, a reporter? I've spent many years in the publishing industry, especially newspaper publishing. I am going to have to put this on my soon to be read list so I can review it for Linda on Amazon. Of course, I'll review it on Goodreads & Its A Must Read as well.