Forget not. . .

Last night at the General Relief Society Broadcast for our church, President Uchtdorf gave a wonderful talk - reminding each of us of five important things: 1) Forget not to be patient with yourself, 2) Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice, 3) Forget not to be happy NOW!, 4) Forget not the why of the gospel, and 5) Forget not that the Lord loves you.

Truly - we are not forgotten by the Lord. He knows us - our challenges - our joys - those things that make us happy and those situations that bring sorrow and sadness into our lives. He understands our hurts and He knows how to succor us.

I left the church last night feeling a renewed energy - that is something I needed right now. To read or view the talk in it's entirety - click here.

Have a blessed Sabbath!

Candy Corn Cake Pops

I was standing in the grocery check-out a couple of weeks ago and saw a picture of these on a magazine cover. Sorry I can't tell you what magazine it was - but I thought I should branch out from plain old round ones and try something different. I started out by shaping the dough into the candy corn shapes and dipping the whole thing in yellow chocolate.

After letting the yellow dry - (and breaking off the piece of chocolate that started growing on the bottom) - I dipped it again in orange.

Duplicating that process, the last color to dip was white.
And voila! Candy corn cake pops! Now it's ready to put it in a plastic sleeve and add a pretty ribbon. Happy Fall!

Hot Rolls

I've had a lot of friends ask for my hot roll recipe. So here goes! Don't they look good? Imagine the warm bread, a pat of creamy butter and a spoonful of homemade strawberry jam.....makes my mouth water!

Hot Rolls
1/4 lb butter - softened
1/2 c. + 1/2 TBS sugar
1 TBS salt
1/4 c. powdered milk
Mix these first four ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. I use my kitchen aid mixer for this. Add:
2 1/2 c. warm water (think baby bottle warm)
2 c. flour
On slow speed, mix well. Add:
3 eggs
1 TBS yeast (I use instant yeast - so easy to use)
6 - 6 1/2 c. flour
I add the eggs and mix well. Then I will put in three cups flour and the yeast. Mix this well, then gradually add the rest of the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides. You may either leave the dough in the mixing bowl, or transfer to a large bowl sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and lay a light towel over the top. Put in the refrigerator overnight to raise.

I like to mix mine up right before I go to bed. It's great to do on a Saturday night....get the rolls ready Sunday morning - let them raise while you are at church, come home and pop them in the oven and they are hot and ready for dinner! (You can also leave it out in a warm place to raise if you are going to be home to watch it).

In the morning, remove all the dough from the bowl and place on the counter. I usually spray my surface with a little nonstick cooking spray. Cut into four equal pieces. Roll one piece at a time into a circle (like pizza dough). Cut in 12 triangles using a pizza cutter and roll into the crescent shape.


Put on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and allow to raise till doubled. (do this with all four sections).

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or till golden brown. After removing from the oven brush the tops with softened butter.

For a change - instead of making crescents, cut chunks off of the dough ball and roll into a rope and tie in a knot.

Pondering on Motherhood

I've spent a fair amount of time today thinking about the events that transpired 27 years ago. The time when our very first daughter was born into this world - as I've always liked to say: "Her coming to earth day"! I look at the beautiful women she and her sister have become and it humbles me greatly to know how our lives have intersected. They are such incredible human beings - and I don't say that because of anything that I have done as a mother - but because of the beautiful spirits they had when they received their earthly bodies. They are 'good' - they are 'wise' - they are 'kind'. They are great examples to me and I will forever feel blessed to be their mother and to call them my daughters. There are 23 months between these two girls - and they are more than sisters - they are best friends.

As a young mother, there are so many mistakes to be made. Everything is new and scary. And this is a LIFE that is depending on YOU to do the RIGHT thing! My mother passed away right before I got married - so that lifeline of wisdom wasn't there for me as a young mother. How grateful I am for the women, the sisters that I rubbed shoulders with in the Relief Society of our church. That is something that is so terrific about our church. No matter where you go in the world - you can find a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and within that congregation will be a group of women - the Relief Society. They do offer relief, they will buoy you up when you don't think you can make it through one more sleepless night or change another outfit that has been spit up on, or survive the 2's, 3's and everything else that is to come! I do have to say that my daughters were a joy to have in our home. And my heart breaks a little each time I think of them being 1,000 miles away. Sometime in the future they will have babies of their own. So even though I, as their mother, am still able to give advice and love, I am far away. So again - those sisters in the church will be there for them, and for that I will be grateful.

Who do you know that might be needing a little relief and how might you help them? Maybe they need an hour or two 'away' - a movie with their husband - a friend to just sit and visit and have - you know - 'grown-up talk'! Plan how you might be just what someone needs this week. Be open to the possibilities, listen for those whisperings of the Spirit that let you know when you are needed, then take action!

By blessing the lives of others - your life will be blessed beyond measure.

What happened to the light?

We lost electricity the other day - a LOT of us. An electrical substation started on fire. I was VERY grateful it wasn't one of the 100 degree days we've been having. My electric clocks stopped at 2:30 pm. We were told it would be between 1-3:00 am before it would be restored. I had just put several bags of chicken and burger in my freezer and had lots of deli meat in the fridge that I didn't want to loose, so myself and a neighbor headed out in search of dry ice. We weren't quick enough on the search as some of the eating establishments had purchased all dry ice available, so we settled for bags of regular ice - threw them in our coolers and headed for home.

When we left home, it was just dusk - sometimes it was difficult to tell exactly who had power and who didn't. When we were returning home, it was full-out DARK! The city we live in is quite hilly, so as we topped a hill getting closer to our neighborhood - we were stunned at the blackness that almost seemed to smack us in face. There was an occasional light off in the distance where a house was obviously on a different power grid - and they had worked to get the traffic lights functioning, but other than that - it was DARK. We were used to the lights that were reference points - and now before us was a deep, penetrating darkness. We both commented that we almost felt dizzy because we had lost our bearings. It was difficult to tell where we were and where we needed to go.

We all need LIGHT. And not just physical light to help us find our way - but spiritual light that will guide us to where we want to go - and for me, that is to return again to the presence of my Savior and my Father in Heaven. Darkness can surround us in various ways - and the only way to disseminate it is by light. I thought of all the things that need to be done so my proverbial lamp is filled with the oil needed so I will have sufficient light to guide me through the dark times that inevitably come to each of us. A new favorite scripture is: "And I will be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; ..." 1 Nephi 17:13

My prayer for you is that you might have Light!
How do you fill your lamps?