Happy Birthday!

Another one for Kendall - I love how they keep coming year after year!

 

The ritual fire was successfully extinguished

A Bit of a Drizzle

Living in the land of the sun makes one appreciate rain, or even a drizzle.  This morning I snuck outside for a few moments with my coffee and a good book  (not a school text) and enjoyed the outdoors before getting ready for church.

 

Raindrops in the Pool

A review will be coming on this book after I get it finished.  It's a hard one to put down and I wish I could have gotten into it before school started.



Up the Hill to Water the Peach Tree

With a garden in and a newly planted peach tree this summer, it is important to make frequent trips to the north country.

 

It makes you wonder why we need to go water a tree when nature seems to be doing a fine job of it!  When we got to the cabin, there was only a tenth of an inch since last weekend and it wasn't raining there.

There were a lot of ripe blackberries ready to be picked.  We are keeping them in the freezer hoping for enough to do a batch of jam over Labor Day!

There were 4 tomatoes ready to be picked.  They have a wonderful bold, homegrown flavor.  BTLs for me this week for dinner - yum! 

The rainy weather continued as we headed back home again.

We saw beautiful clouds in all shapes and the sun peeking through some of them.



Bunco in the Pines

It was a gorgeous weekend up north and perfect to host a Bunco there. Kendall stepped in and helped in the sub category since we were short a player - he did a great job!

The head table with the bell set and ready to go

 

 

 

A few of the gals arriving (picture snagged from fb)

Bonnie, Sherri, Maribeth, Lisa and Jenni

 

I found some great old fashioned sodas at Cracker Barrel that seemed appropriate for the cabin

 

In the morning we headed in to town for breakfast at the Lone Spur Café.  Fabulous!  A great local establishment that we will frequent again.

The locals who like to dress in old time garb meet here for breakfast every Saturday morning

 

 

 



Surprise Cupcakes

 

It was good to be back on the TV show today - it's been awhile

 

I did Surprise Cupcakes.  I remember visiting Lois in Phoenix in the early '80's and we made them for a gathering of her friends.

 

The setup with a few props

The finished product with the cheesecake center surprise

Tonya the host and her co-host at the 'desk' part of the set

Cleaning up at the end of the show, waiting for the cupcakes to come out of the oven

 

 



Hobbies

We're having a nice weekend at the cabin.  Gracie made it clear she didn't want to join us this weekend by evading attempts to get her so we could take her to the truck - not that that is the reason it is a nice weekend!  I did a little studying this morning, but the semester is winding down so there isn't as large a volume of pressing work to do. Hence a little more focus on hobbies -- gardening (Kendall) and baking (me).

 

This was my view as I studied

Kendall headed in to town to visit the nursery

 

He came back with a peach tree that he got in the ground before a summer shower started

And he stopped at the local museum where they were having an iris sale.  He picked up a few to add to our spring landscape

 

 While Kendall was in town I did some baking

 

 I tweaked the filling recipe just a bit in preparation for the upcoming TV show.  It's true - one cup of mini chocolate chips is better than a whole cup!

And I made Mom Donna's apple pie.  Well, actually four of them.  I got this small pie pans that were just begging for some apples.  The Never Fail Pie Crust recipe made enough to do all four pies.  One is baked and the other three are in the freezer waiting for a rainy day and a hot oven to bake them fresh.

A Book Review - Perfecting Kate

Perfecting Kate, A Novel by Tamara Leigh

Kate has a creed of thou shalt embrace singledom and be unbelievably, inconceivably happy.  Kate is single, and yes she is content with her life until she meets Michael a famous makeup artist who makes a few helpful suggestions - followed up with business cards of plastic surgeons and beauty professionals.  The helpful suggestions include removal of a mole, fixing that little gap in her teeth, a new wardrobe… 

What the writer does very well is take us inside Kate’s head as she figures out what is really important in her life as she works through the ideas presented by Michael.  All the while she is busy working as a successful artist in San Francisco and trying to juggle a relationship with God, long hours of work and the possibility of several romantic relationships.  The story is a romantic novel that doesn’t get too sappy or too ‘preachy’ for being in the Christian section of the bookstore.  A thumb up on this one!

Read an excerpt from the book

Authors website

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

We try to get to at least one or two games a year and yesterday worked out well for us to attend. It was a good game - we won!

 

 

The number '19' was on the field by home plate in honor of the 19 Hot Shot firemen from Prescott who lost their lives a week ago in the wild fire in Yarnell.  As we were heading downtown, we saw many people lined up along the interstate waiting for the 19 hearses taking them from Phoenix to Prescott as their final destination.

 



Week in Review

It was so very good to be able to see so many friends and family this week who were here for the 2013 Mennonite Convention.

 

 

One of the best parts of the week was spending quality time with Uncle Monroe.  We learned even more about the man I've known for over 50 years.

 Such a blessing to have him stay with us for the week!

 

Yesterday we drove around the area to give him a sense of Arizona and made a stop at Cerreta's Fine Chocolates.

 They weren't in production mode which was a shame, but this picture reminded me of cousin Naomi who loves Lucy and this particular show is a hoot.

 

I like a quote on the candy bag (yes, we had to buy some!): "If your sweet tooth says candy, your wisdom tooth says Cerreta's!"

 

We then had an early dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant and then some pool time in the evening to finish off the 'Arizona experience'.  He is off to the airport early this morning to head back to The City.





Some Pool Time and Leftovers

Yesterday Kendall's sister Torrie connected with their nephew Brock at the convention.  They came by for some pool time and leftover Mexican food that we had from when the Church Ladies were here.

 

Brock made a really big burrito

 

Mine was a little on the smaller size



The Church Ladies

It is great to have so many friends and relatives in town for the Mennonite Church USA Convention.  Last night my 'Church Ladies' group from Illinois (sans Connie) were at our home for dinner.  It felt like old times.

 

Me, Sue, Jenell, Marge  

Dinner for 14

We had Kendall's sister (Torrie) and cousins (Marge & Mara) in town, so we gathered all the relatives for dinner at our place.  I should have gotten more pictures, but that didn't seem to happen.

 

 

Good Day Off

I took the day off from work yesterday, mostly to focus on writing papers but the fact that it was my birthday made it even better.  I took myself shopping for about an hour - such a treat when I have such limited time.  I read in the pool (for school of course!) and then dinner at Firebirds with my guy.

 



Gracie Takes a Trip

Now that Gracie is an only child and she traveled better than Jake, we decided to take her along to the cabin this weekend to see how she would do.

She traveled quite well.  This is a rare moment when she came up front to see what was going on.  For the most part she hung out in the back seat area, napping occasionally.

Speaking of napping, she seemed to do that quite a bit at the cabin!  She seemed to like the smaller space where she was in close proximity to us at all times.

We Have Berries!

A few years ago at the cabin we planted some berry bushes - red raspberry, blueberry and black raspberries.  Of course there were also some strawberry plants too.  Well, the red raspberry and blueberries didn't do very well at all so they got pulled last fall.  This spring we planted two more black raspberry bushes and they seem to be very happy.  If we were at the cabin  more often, it would make for better harvesting, but we'll take what we can get.  Very flavorful!  One of these years there will be enough for some jelly - yes!

A Very Sad Day

Today we said goodbye to Jacob - "Jake".  As the owner of a pet you always wonder when it is the 'right' time.  We decided this week it was Jake's time, but it wasn't an easy decision.  So with tears in our eyes and heavy hearts we went to the vet and said our goodbyes.  We'll certainly miss that guy and his attitude around the house.

Jake in a sleepy mood several years ago



Peach Bundt Cake

What a yummy surprise to find this recipe on Pinterest!  I didn't have fresh peaches on hand so I used the delicious Colorado peaches we canned last summer.  I drained the peaches (reserving the peach juice) and removed some of the moisture by resting them on a towel.  I used the reserved peach liquid to create the glaze instead of using 'peach puree' that is in the recipe.  One more change...  I forgot my vanilla bean in the Valley so used regular vanilla here in the mountains at the cabin.

 

So Delish!!

 

Here is the recipe from the site with my modifications: 

 

Peach Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake with Peach Soaking Syrup Makes 10-inch bundt cake, serving 12 to 14

Cake
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds (or 2 tsp. vanilla)
1 cup sour cream
1 ½ cups diced fresh peaches (or canned & drained, reserving juice)

Syrup
Ingredients
⅓ cup fresh peach puree, strained or juice from canned peaches
⅔ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon orange juice (optional)

Method
Place rack in center of oven, and preheat oven to 350. Grease and lightly flour inside of 10 inch bundt pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

Using either a stand mixer (paddle attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar and beat at medium-high speed until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating for 30 to 40 seconds after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla bean. At low speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream. (Add a bit of flour, a bit of sour cream, a bit of flour, a bit of sour cream, a bit of flour.)

Scoop half of batter into pan and spread with spatula. Sprinkle with peaches. Scoop remaining half of batter on top of peaches. Smooth with spatula.

Bake cake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then invert it onto another rack. Place the cake, on the rack, over a baking sheet.

While cake is baking, make syrup. Combine peach puree, sugar, and orange juice in a small non reactive saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Using a pastry brush, dab syrup generously all over surface of the warm cake, allowing it to soak into the cake before reapplying. Let the cake cool completely.

 

Mexican Food? Yes, Please!

We got an earlier than usual start out of town for the holiday weekend.  After settling into the cabin we headed back to town for an early dinner at one of our favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurants.  The owner remembers us and actually was our waiter last night.  They recently moved from a small location nearer to our cabin to this spot.  It is actually in the back of the restaurant that serves American breakfasts and lunches - all owned by the same man.  Interesting use of space and it's efficient.

Interesting use of a glass garage door.

 

Book Review

It's been a while since I had time to read and write a book review for something other than school.  This book has been sitting on my shelf for a few months and I finally had time to read it while on break between Spring and Summer classes.

 

Sharon Jaynes speaks to us about experiencing ‘a sudden glory’ in this writing, or as others have called it – ‘a God thing’.  It is those moments when you just know that God is present, speaking to just you.  We need to be open to hearing the words and experiencing the wonder of it in our everyday lives.  As she says, “it is up to us to listen”.  As we think about some of the people in the Bible, they were going about their everyday lives when they heard God speak.  Moses was tending sheep, Gideon was threshing wheat and John was fishing.  We need to be tuned in, if you will, to realize the amazing communication that is possible with God. 

Although portions of the book seem to be repeated throughout, perhaps it works to plant seeds deeper into our thoughts.  At the end of the book are questions that can be helpful in a book study or Bible study group.   There are also a few pages of a Journaling space to get the reader started on writing their own encounters with God.  These are things we can experience every day, but are often not remembered.  A journal will preserve the history so you can go back to remember all the little moments. 

The book is an easy read and recommended for those who want ideas of how to have that continual communication and relationship with God that doesn’t just happen on a Sunday morning sitting in a pew.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

Traveling in the West

I traveled for work this week, visiting some of our smaller hospitals.  The trip took me to Colorado, Wyoming and through a bit of Nebraska.  We stopped in this great little café on Tuesday morning for coffee and a scone.

The 'lips' were a cute cover to prevent spillage.

Beautiful fresh flowers by the ordering window

Many flying paper birds flying around the dinning room

There is still snow on top of the Rockies; lucky for me it wasn't snowing!