Franz Friday

There used to be a hostess bakery a few blocks away. When I was little mom would go there and get "grab bags" with bakery surprises inside. Mmmmmm! My favorite? Chocolate covered zingers :)

Now that hostess has closed it has been reopened as "Franz's" Good stuff! I got 2 kinds of bread-9 grain & honey nut. Along with some apricot jam. Mom got English muffins & bagels. My Dinner that night? Peanut butter & jam sandwich! The mgr also let me & mom choose a free gift. Mom got sweet rolls & I chose chocolate cake donuts. Happy stomach!

Mom also sent me home with a zucchini. As you can see, it is formed differently...... The spine/seeds grew outside. Have never seen anything like it!

Then I "prep-napped" before a movie that night. "Other Earth" with will smith. It got poor reviews but I really liked it!

Torrential Rain Tuesday

Tonight I had plans with mom. To go for a walk around the neighborhood and then come back & watch episodes of Chopped, on food network.  It was gray but not raining yet so we planned to just stay close to the house and if we got damp on the way home...... So be it! We were just headed out the door when the heavens opened wide and it rained..... And rained......... And rained..... From about 6-10pm!

So, in the meantime I helped mom with Manila choir folders, cutting off the tab and then she reinforced/taped the opening and filled it with choir music.

And we watched chopped. Loved that show! 4 contestants. 3 rounds-appetizer, entre, dessert. 1 mystery basket with 4 ingredients. 3 time limits: 20 minutes for appetizer, 30 each for entre & dessert. Winner goes home with $10,000.00

My favorite episode was featuring "leftovers" among the 3 rounds there was leftover mashed potatoes, flat coke, a sub sandwich, ice cream sundae, handful of ketchup packets, already cooked meat..... Another episode had a dessert item in each round-a 3 tiered cake, tower of colored macaroons, and frozen hot chocolate. My favorite use was using the filling from the macaroons in sauces.  Flavorful and very colorful! One was just a general episode-the item I would have not wanted to use??? Purple jelly beans in the dessert round.  Used as filling for a wonton and a crepe. Unfortunately there was also a theme of overlooked meat!

Plus..... It was educational. We used Mom's iPad & Wikipedia to look stuff up during the episodes. Duck confit-duck leg preserved over time with an inch of fat. Preserved lemon-a quartered (but not separated) lemon, preserved with salt in a jar, kept in the fridge & occasionally turn the jar over. Cardoon-a cross between artichoke and celery.

We finished off the evening with Mom's homemade raspberry ice cream. Good times!

Meteorology Monday

It was raining tonight. About 9:40 I went outside, sat on my front porch and just watched the rain come down. It was cool weather, soothing sound, sitting on the porch of my very own home. I had to immediate to-do's so I sat there for about 20+ minutes, just soaking it all in....... It was heavenly. Truly.

Other things I liked from today-zucchini fries and a run through the neighborhood.  

Funeral Friday

Today was the funeral for my great-aunt Mary. Mary Helene Morley Schwendiman. She was 95 yrs old, lived a good, full life and just passed away of natural causes at the end. Marchelle along with Carsten attended the funeral together. We didn't get there to join the family processional into the chapel but her parents Paula and Russell saved us seats so we were able to join the family. Very nice. And Carsten did great! Towards the end he was playing with my headphones I had with me, trying to stick the plugged end somewhere.  

After every April general conference since I was born, we would all gather @ Aunt Mary & Uncle Rex's house after Priesthood Session.  Her house was magical. A huge green front lawn/hill to roll down, a backyard for playing red light green light. A red bedroom that was just special. A tv in the bathroom. Twisty steps and a huge green room. She gave the best hugs, always knew your name and something about you. I learned yesterday that she loved sewing and byu sports. They had one son, Rich; my moms cousin.

My great grandparents Joseph & Astrid had 8 children. The ones I knew best were my grandpa Robert/Bob and my aunts Betty & Paul, Mary & Rex. The others passed away before I was born or they lived out of state.

Sweet moments from the funeral-the 2 grandson prayers offered, SO sweet and sincere. Leaving no doubt how much they loved their great-grandma.

The Morley cousins musical number: seeing all my aunts & uncles & their cousins was stunning. I kept  thinking to myself..... These are my ancestors! How blessed am I?!?!

Relief Society sisters and compassionate service are simply amazing. Anywhere in the world. With ham, funeral potatoes, jello salad, birthday cake for Rich's 72nd birthday that day. When you thanked the sisters they'd say, "anything for Mary!"

Time with my sisters: last night I went with Deborah to the viewing. She told me about Saige turning anything into a microphone these days..... The other night it was a wooden spoon in her moms face, "Sing, Mommy!" Among the songs requested was "Child of God me." I am a Child of God. 

Then we stopped on the way home for Arctic Circle shakes- mine was twix and hers was Oreo mint.

Jenn drove me home after the luncheon and came in for a 2 minute home tour. Yay! I love getting to spend 1 on 1 time with my sisters, it's a luxury and I love it.

Family is Forever!