Christmas Eve

 Audra and Sister Marley played a beautiful trumpet/saxophone duet at church today.

I was asked to bear my testimony as well. I had to write it down so I wouldn't ramble. This is what I said:

As I think about my testimony this Christmas season, the word that keeps coming back to me is “JOY.”

The joy of a baby born to redeem the world- to redeem me.

The joy of peace to all the world because that babe died for us all.

The joy of eternal families and the sting of death being swept up in the knowledge that death is not the end.

The joy that even though we are fallen we can repent.

The joy of His love for each and every one of us.

The joy that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith and we get to be a part of proclaiming His gospel to the world, of making and keeping covenants in the holy temples of God, and experiencing His joy in our lives daily, even when chaos surrounds us.

My testimony is that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that He loves us, and that by and through Him, we can experience true joy in this life and in the eternities. When I think of these things, I want to shout from the rooftops, “Joy to the world- for the Lord is come.”

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Our annual tree picture with our NEW fake Christmas tree today.

Christmas Eve dinner. We have traditionally done tamales, but none of us really like tamales so now we are starting something new- soups. I made carrot and potato soup. Both were delicious and huge hits.

Reading traditional Christmas stories (my favorite is Red Ranger Came Calling)

And opening the traditional Christmas pajamas.

The Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Quest

 In January, I realized this was going to be a long, dark winter due to Covid. I thought, "maybe the girls and I could make a few recipes and try to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe." I shared that thought on FB, and suddenly friends and family who I haven't talked to in YEARS, from all over the country, started sending me recipes. Many people expressed how they couldn't wait for our results.

So, me being me, I decided to use those recipes and make this a bigger thing. Ben helped me put together a bracket with 12 different recipes (an idea from a FB friend), and for 8 weeks the girls and I baked and baked and baked. Honestly, we got sick of chocolate chip cookies. Please don't bake us any anytime soon. We reached out to friends to be judges- we were able to make this a community thing. I figured, "if something as simple as chocolate chip cookies can spread joy during Covid, why not?"

After baking

24 batches totaling,

1,202 cookies

using

12 recipes

from

6 different states,

and going through

32 pounds of flour,

26 pounds of sugar,

21 bags of chocolate chips, and

12 lbs of butter,

With...

29 different families judging...

We finally got our winner!

And, the winner of the 2021 Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Quest is

.....

.....

.....

Kelli's Chocolate Chip Cookies!

For the record, while this recipe did come from my cousin Dennis, it is identical to the one that we have been baking since before I was married. I did always think they were the best CCC, and now after all of this hard work, I can know that it is true.

A couple of friends sent me this article about baking the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Obviously, in the end it all comes down to preference. Do you like doughy? Chewy? Coconut? Whatever it is, if you can dream it, you can bake it!

This article takes a basic recipe (which is almost the exact recipe that WON our cookie quest-which goes to show that when it comes right down to it, most people in our competition prefer a basic chocolate chip cookie) and tells you how to dress it up to your taste.

In regards to our competition, if you like big, doughy Crumbl like cookies, LeVain Bakery cookies are for you. If you like traditional, Kelli's cookies. Browned butter coconut has a yummy coconut flavor, Mrs. Field's and Best Ever a more nutty flavor. For soft cookies, use the Pudding  or Soft CCC. For something fancy, Jacques or Alton Brown.

Have fun baking!

Here is our competition bracket:

https://docs.google.com/.../15bO0ZIhpf3pwx9j5oDaj.../edit...

And, here's the article for tips to make YOUR perfect recipe:

https://www.tasteofhome.com/.../perfect-chocolate.../...

Bread, Bread, Bread!

I know I have a problem, but I LOVE good, quality bread! I have been making our own bread for years, and now I found a new blog dedicated solely to bread. It's been fun experimenting with other recipes, and even more fun to have great success with those recipes.

Here's some dark chocolate cherry pull apart bread:

And, some cherry vanilla bagels:

I'm not sure what I'll try next, but I'm excited to give a new recipe a chance!

HERE is the blog- bon apetit!

Valentine Fondue Night

I am pretty sure we have ourselves a new tradition.

Inspired by The Melting Pot and our love for the Wisconsin Cheese Trio served there, I thought it would be fun to make some fondue for Valentine's Day. I looked up some recipes, and it seemed pretty easy (it was). The cheese was expensive, but turned out to be worth every penny.

For the main course I went with homemade pizza, because we usually have pizza for Valentine's Day so I wanted to continue that. Of course, in retrospect, I realize that we then had  A LOT of cheese tonight, but nobody complained.

I researched some different Melting Pot chocolate fondue recipes, and found one that was basically just milk chocolate and caramel mixed together, so I went with that as it sounded good. I was right- so incredibly delicious!

Really, it was so delicious!!! We even talked about how we could find a way to do this twice a year instead of just once. This will definitely be our new Valentine's tradition!

 HERE is the cheese fondue recipe. I substituted white and red vinegars for the wine and sherry. It was a little strong, but still delicious. Next year I want try something a little more mild than the white wine vinegar. It seems silly to buy a bottle of wine just to use 3/4 cup once a year, but we'll see. Like I said, this was still delicious, just a little strong.

Homemade pizza:

Camille's favorite part was dipping marshmallows. Audra preferred the brownie bites to dip, while Claire liked the strawberries and bananas. Good thing we had a big selection!

HERE is the chocolate recipe (which I didn't follow- I had some leftover chocolate sauce and just used that with caramel sauce. YUM!)

County Fair

For 4-H this year, the girls chose cooking. I was their leader, and there were a couple of other kids that chose cooking as well so we kept pretty busy.

For fair, Audra decided to make S'more Truffles, and Claire chose to make granola bars.

This y ear Audra had to do a record book and document all the things that she did related to cooking for the year. It was a bit more work than Claire had to do as a Cloverbud. But, when it came to the cooking, they both did all the cooking themselves, after practicing it a lot.

They turned in their projects last Saturday and were both interviewed. On Friday we went to volunteer at the fair, and we were happily surprised to discover that Audra won 1st place in her division, and her truffles made it to state! So now she gets to make them one more time- which she isn't too thrilled about, because the marshmallow fluff is very sticky and she has decided she isn't a fan of stirring it.

Nevertheless, she was rightfully very excited. Both girls worked very hard and were both quite proud of being able to do some cooking on their own.

Then I promised the girls they could each choose 2 rides at the fair to go on. I should not have made the promise! I spent $21 just so the girls could each ride two rides! The North Pole is so much better.

Here I am trying to have a good time despite being so annoyed that I had to spend $6 for this ride because Camille was too short to ride without a paying adult. First world problems, I know.

You Might Be "Granola" If...

Several years ago when I was teaching a baby foods making class, a friend of mine said, "You strike me as being very granola." I didn't really know what she meant. I pictured a hippy liberal who lives up in the mountains all alone with her garden and cats. I didn't take it as a compliment.

But, sometimes life comes around full circle.

For years I have made our own bread, homemade desserts, mostly from scratch dinner. Very rarely do we buy processed meals, and we try to avoid processed foods as much as possible.

This year, however, I may have taken things to a weird and new level. I now make my own yogurt. Yes, yogurt.

I never thought I would. It describes how to do so in my "Super Baby Foods" book and the directions go something like this:

"Making homemade yogurt is very simple. Here are your 348 steps to do so. It will be finished in approximately 3 days, and be sure to follow all the steps exactly so as not to disturb the cultures and destroy your yogurt."

Umm, no thanks. Anything with more than 6 steps is too much for me. After all, I have children to raise and some semblance of sanity to maintain.

A friend of mine, however, makes her own yogurt and she insisted that it really wasn't hard. She sent me her directions, and strangely- I believed her. Maybe it wasn't that hard. Maybe I could do it. It was worth a shot.

What did I find? Actual success! I actually CAN make homemade yogurt! Instead of three days, it takes about two hours (most of it waiting for your milk to heat, then waiting for it cool down), with another 10-12 sitting in the oven setting.

Here are her directions (they may be different at sea level, I have no idea).

Heat 1 gallon of milk in a stock pot on medium.  You can stir if you are worried about burning the bottom - I don't need to stir. 

Heat milk to 180 degrees.

Cool milk to 110 degrees.  - I do it by sticking it in a sink of cool water.  You can do ice water, or you can just take it off the burner and let it cool. 

*I take it out of the cold water at 120 degrees - because after I add all the stuff and stir it is usually down to 110 degrees - you don't want it to get below that.  If you weren't going to add any sweetener or gelatin just take it out at 110.

Once milk is cool stir in sweetener - I do 1 cup sugar per gallon of milk (that is what you tasted today)

while sweetener is dissolving pour 1/2 cup cold milk into a shallow bowl and sprinkler gelatin over the top.  It will start to absorb the milk.  stir gently.  Add to milk once it is the consistency of baby cereal - if you wait too long it will get to thick to dissolve in the milk.  I add three envelopes of gelatin per gallon of milk.  Although I am going to just try 2 next time and see if 2 is ok - to try and cut down cost.

Whisk gelatin into milk.

Then add 3 tbs of plain yogurt with active live cultures to your milk.  (I like to have it at room temperature - so it doesn't change the temp of my milk that much - but it doesn't have to be and I often forget and add it right out of the fridge.)

Stir slowly!  I use a slotted spoon.  You don't want to disturb the cultures - but you want to break it up as much as you can.  Many web sites said not to use a stirring motion but a side to side and up and down - not sure why the difference?  But do not whisk.  (often times when pouring my milk into jars I see a clump of yogurt go in one - it hasn't seemed to make a difference.

pour into clean mason jars.  Do not screw on lids.  just put the top on and the ring around it.  Set them in an oven with the oven light on (I actually put my oven on warm for about 10 minutes and then turn it off.  if your oven seems too warm leave it open for a while - or if too old put a towel over the jars.  The yogurt needs to stay right about 110 - when I first did it I checked them often and they were always at 110.

Incubate for anywhere from 8 - 24 hours depending on your taste.  The longer you wait the thicker but also the more sour it will be.  I do it for 11- 12 hours. 

when done gently screw on the caps and gently put in your fridge to cool and finish incubating.  Ready to eat when completely cool.  (usually another 8 - 12 hours).

lasts 2 - 3 weeks.

I wouldn't say that it tastes better than store bought yogurt. Actually, I take that back. It is WAY better than the sugar filled Yoplait yogurt. But, it is not better than Noosa. I really, really like Noosa brand yogurt. But, it has WAY less sugar than any store brand, so it is worth making it just for that.

Today for lunch the girls and I ate a yogurt parfait- homemade yogurt with sliced banana and homemade granola on top.

Perhaps I am "Granola" after all- and maybe it isn't so bad. Even without the cats.

Father's Day

We had a pretty good Father's Day- at least I think so. The girls had fun making Dad some gifts, and we got Ben the traditional church shirt and a couple of ties. I've never gotten him ties before, but pretty much all of his ties are falling apart so it was time we went traditional.

He also loves cheesecake- almost as much as his dad. So I decided to try another new Pinterest cheesecake recipe as part of both of their gifts. Ben prefers plain cheesecake, but I like chocolate so I decided to make a chocolate cheesecake. I'm such a nice wife sometimes.

This recipe was not all that difficult, but OH. MY. GOODNESS. Everything that could go wrong with the cheesecake went wrong. I needed powdered sugar but ran out- which is crazy since I always keep a super full stock of it because of Audra needing to make frosting all the time. Thankfully, I found a recipe to easily make powdered sugar- no biggie. Corn starch and sugar. Easy. Nope! It needed one tablespoon of corn starch, and that is exactly how much I had. But the blender was in the dishwasher so I used a mixer. BIG mistake! Corn starch flew everywhere.

Then, some mixer parts were in the dishwasher, so I was using the hand mixer to mix the cream cheese. Another mistake. It burned up the motor of the hand mixer.

Next catastrophe: the ganache. I made it and poured it on the cheesecake, and then on the ride over to Ben's parents house the ganache spilled all over me. Nice.

Thankfully, however, it turned out delicious. Incredibly delicious. Like, I could seriously open a restaurant and make good money good. I honestly think my cheesecakes are just as good as The Cheesecake Factory- maybe even better. I am really, really cocky. But, after the disaster of making the cheesecake, but being rewarded by it tasting SOOO good, I need to brag a bit. HERE is the recipe.

Anyway, even though it was Father's Day yesterday, I am a little angry with my dad. My dad is amazingly awesome, but I have a bone to pick with him.

On Saturday night I helped out at a wedding. I was clearing some plates from a table, and suddenly a gentleman from church who helped us out at Audra's baptism said, "So I hear that you are a world traveling goalie. That you are totally amazing at soccer and that you went to Europe traveling around playing." Ummm....what?!? First of all, it's  not true- I never traveled Europe playing soccer. I did travel Europe, but not for soccer (however, I am going to allow that rumor to continue, because it makes me sound way cooler than I actually am). He's telling me this, and I'm like "where did he get this? Ben doesn't even know very much about my soccer playing days- it's not something I ever talk about!"

I asked him who he was talking to. He said, "Oh, I was talking to your Dad."

Turns out, no matter how old you are, you are always Daddy's little girl and he always wants to brag about you- even if it is totally embarrassing and not exactly true. And now I might be asked to sub for a women's league soccer team as their goalie, and they are going to expect this amazing world traveling goalie, but are going to end up with just me. There will be great disappointment.

I talked to my dad about it. He laughed and said he never said I actually played soccer in Europe, but he did say that I went to Europe. He also told me that he thought he maybe should mention to me what he had said because he thought it might cause trouble for me. Yup, it did. But what can you do? He's my daddy, I can't be mad at him.

But I can be embarrassed.

Aebleskivers!

For Christmas this year I decided to make Aebleskivers. I have had an Aebleskiver pan since we got married and never made them. My sister makes them every Christmas and her kids love them, so I figured- why not? I'll give it a shot.

They turned out great! I made a homemade chocolate ganache and lemon curd for filling, then also used strawberry jam for a third filling. All three fillings were excellent.

Here are some tips for when I make them next year:

-However little batter you think you need to put in, cut it in half and put that amount in- it expands by A LOT while cooking.

-However much oil you think you need, double it.

-NEVER, under any circumstance, double the recipe. The recipe makes about 49 Aebleskivers- and that is a lot. We barely ate half of them.

-It does take about an hour to make all of them. Perhaps next year I can streamline the process, but my pan only makes 7 at a time, so I don't know if I can or not.

Here's the recipe I used. It came with the pan, and it was delicious. I'm posting it here so I can throw the packaging from the pan with the recipe on it away:

AEBLESKIVERS

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs- separated

Optional: Apple slices or other fruit for filling (I used the fillings mentioned above)

Stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Add buttermilk and egg yolks. Beat egg whites until light and fluffy, forming soft peaks. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Heat Aebleskiver pan on medium heat. Grease each cup (little butter or oil, or spray vegetable oil) and fill 2/3 full. Cook for approximately 1 to 1-1/2 minutes (per side) until golden brown, flip using a toothpick. When both sides are done serve with a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar. Best when served warm.

Optional: Fill each cup only 1/3 full with batter. Place a small amount of fruit in each cup and cover with an additional 1/3 batter.

Even though we all liked these a lot (though breakfast started with a tantrum from Claire because she wanted "flat pancakes" and what would Christmas be without massive tantrums from Claire?), I believe these are only a once a year meal. They are a lot of work! But delicious.

Christmas Treats!

I mixed things up again this year with Christmas goodies. I have been trying to simplify. Last year I had a lot of success with the Christmas Chex Mix- everybody loved it. But, I wanted to try bread this year. It always looks so pretty and festive on Pinterest.

I chose three different recipes to try. Claire was ecstatic about the chocolate bread. I wanted to try a couple of other different ones.

Triple Chocolate Quick Bread
Pumpkin and Cheese Spice Bread
Gingerbread

I think they turned out great! I think they accomplished the goal of looking festive while still being pretty easy. I made 7 total batches- 26 loaves total. I haven't tried all of them yet, but I think all of them turned out quite well. Everybody has told me that their bread was delicious- so we got rave reviews.

**UPDATE: My favorite, after trying them all, is by far the gingerbread bread. YUM! I am not a big fan of gingerbread, but it was absolutely delicious. The orange in the bread just really made it...melt in your mouth delicious!

My helpers: Claire, Striker, and Audra

While I enjoy trying new things, I think at some point when the girls are older and can really be a big help I will want to get back to baking a large variety of treats. I have a lot of memories baking Christmas goodies growing up, and that was how I learned to bake for the most part. As the years go by we'll see what happens- but for this year, I think we made winning treats.

Christmas Treats

For the first time ever, I went super low-key this year with treats. I simply couldn't muster up the energy to go all out.

When I told Ben I was going low-key he said, "Oh, thank goodness. Is that my Christmas present this year?" I should have said yes and returned his gifts, but I didn't. Oh, well.

Then I told him that I only had 18 treat bags to deliver. That dumbfounded him a little bit, but 18 really was downsizing.

But later I realized I forgot the kids' primary teachers from church, so I had to make 4 more goodies to deliver to them. Still, 22 isn't that many- right?

In reality, though, it really was super easy. I made Candy Cane Peppermint Chex. Doesn't that just sound yummy? It was. And it literally only took 5 minutes for each batch, and the kids could easily help. There was only one bowl at the end to clean up, and they were easy to throw together for distribution- I just scooped a cup into each bag, tied it with a ribbon, and voila! Christmas treats ready to go!

 

I think this might be a new tradition.

If you want the recipe (and believe me, you do), HERE is the recipe.

Baked Pancake

Does this not look melt-in-your-mouth-this-is-better-than-anything good? Well, it tastes better than it looks, so I thought I should share the recipe (plus, it is on a piece of magazine paper that I am sure will get lost, so this way I will always have the recipe). It is basically fried apples in a German Pancake, and it was good enough for Claire to have TWO helpings, and both Ben and I to have THREE. Audra was skeptical, but once she tasted it she did eat her helping as well. But, no seconds for her. Sigh.

Big Apple Pancake
Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: 15 minutes
Serves: 2 (this is actually accurate- I doubled the recipe and made two of these, and we ate 1-1/2 with two adults and 2 small kids)

2 T butter
1 large sweet apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch wedges (I didn't peel them and it was fine- gala or golden delicious apples work great)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
3 T sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
Powdered Sugar

1. Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 450 F.
2. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat, then transfer 1 T to a blender. Add apple wedges to skillet and cook, turning once, until they start to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Arrange wedges around edge.
3. Meanwhile, mix milk, flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt with butter in blender until batter is smooth. Pour over apples and transfer skillet to oven. Bake for 15 minutes, or until pancake is puffed and golden. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

Optional Toppings:
nuts, yogurt, syrup, whipped cream, cinnamon

YUM!

The PERFECT Bread!

I have been on the hunt for the perfect homemade bread. Many of you know, I started making almost all of my own bread about a year ago. I have an excellent cinnamon raisin bread for french toast (a huge family favorite!), lots of great roll recipes, and a great bread recipe for everyday occasions- a quick bread that can be made when we have pasta or just need a bread with dinner.

In vain, however, I had searched and searched for a good sandwich bread recipe. Most of the sandwich breads I made were coarse or dry or just not quite right.

About a month ago I was at a party and I discovered that one of the women I met at the party was a good bread maker (yes, I know I am lame to be asking people for bread recipes at parties). I asked her if she had a good sandwich bread recipe, and she said she did and that she would gladly send me the recipe.

It took me awhile to give it a try, but last week I made it, and I made it again today. And, let me say: IT IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE MOST PERFECT BREAD IN THE WORLD!!!! I absolutely LOVE this recipe, and I will make this a thousand times more, I am sure!

Here is the recipe for those who would like to give it a shot:


Whole Wheat Bread


1/3 cup Oil
1/3 cup Molasses
1/3 cup Honey
1 T Salt
3 T Yeast
5 ½ cups Warm water - not too hot, just warm enough to wash your hands...but not too cool!
½ cup wheat gluten (optional...but makes texture of bread so nice!)
12-14 cups Whole wheat white flour

1. Mix the first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Then add the warm water and stir it all together. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes, until there are big frothy bubbles.

2. After the yeast water is bubbly, add (optional) gluten and 10 cups of flour. Mix for about 10 minutes with a mixer on high, until the consistency has changed to a big glop and sticks together into a nice ball.

3. Add remaining flour (2-4 cups) and mix well. You can tell if there is enough flour by oiling your fingers and touching the dough. If it is sticking to your fingers, it needs more flour. If it isn’t sticking to your fingers, you have enough flour. Don’t add so much flour that the dough becomes really stiff - you want to put in just enough flour to keep it from sticking to your fingers. Then put the flour away - you won’t need it anymore!

4. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, and flip the ball of dough over in the bowl so the whole ball is oiled. Cover the bowl with a towel, and let rise until it is twice as big, about 30 minutes.

5. Form into 4 loaves and put into greased pans. (DO NOT use flour to keep the dough from sticking to the counter when you are forming the dough! It will ruin the texture. Use oil on your hands and the counter top. I often re-oil the counter before each loaf that I form.)

6. Let rise in pans 11 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees for 32 minutes.

7. Take it out of the oven. Take the bread out of the pans right away, then let it cool on wire racks.


Christina again:
The first time I made it, I followed the directions exactly and it turned out perfect. But, it was way too much for my poor KitchenAid (we have the small model, I guess) and the dough exploded everywhere by the end. So today I did a half recipe, and it still turned out perfect and it didn't explode everywhere. Of course, it only made 2 loaves, but that should be enough for a week at our house. It is a workout for the mixer, however! The KitchenAid was bouncing everywhere (so watch it so it doesn't fall off the counter), and it really makes the motor run and get hot- hopefully it doesn't break the mixer!

Pay attention to how long you have it in the oven- we don't need quite 32 minutes.

Also, you can taste the molasses in the bread. If you hate the taste of molasses, you may want to try using more honey and less molasses and see what that does.

Truly, this is the perfect bread!!!! I will never buy store bought again (unless I really need it and I am in a bind. But I will only buy it in an emergency!)

YUMMY Soup

My husband has a deep love affair with soup. I am not such a huge fan. I enjoy an occasional bowl, but it is not something I would ever order at a restaurant- I will go for the salad 100% of the time.
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Being the wonderful wife that I am, however, on occasion I will indulge his cravings and cook up some soup. He happened to order a cheddar cheese potato soup at The Corner Bakery on Saturday night and it looked good. So tonight I decided to give it a try.
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I found a recipe that I had all the ingredients for and whipped up what is sure to become a winter staple! It was DELICIOUS!!! With homemade rolls, it was incredibly filling as well. It's a very healthy, hearty, easy to make soup so I thought I would share:

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Cheddar Potato Soup Recipe
1/3 c chopped onion
1/3 c chopped celery
2 T butter
4 cups diced peeled potatoes
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded cheese
2 c milk
pepper, paprika, salt

Saute onion and celery in butter. Add potatoes and broth; bring to a boil. Simmer covered 10-15 min. Puree in the blender. Return to pan, stir in cheese, milk, and seasonings. Cook over low heat until cheese is melted.

This is from Taste of Home.
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Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!