Perils

"Most of us spend a good part of our lives in perils so nearly invisible that self-reliance comes easily, and accepting counsel from brothers, or from God, comes hard." Elder Henry B. Eyring

When life gives you crappy dinner rolls, make croutons

As some of you may remember several weeks ago, I seemingly sabotaged a lovely Sunday dinner with the family. The biggest failure, the dinner rolls. They had such potential, yet they didn't rise, and turned our dense and dry. We ate a few token rolls at dinner and due to my loss I couldn't throw them away. Today I opened up the cupboard intending to find mildewy rolls. Quite the contrary, they still had a semblance of life to them, and I figured I might as well try them out for bread crumbs if nothing else. As I began chopping away, I tasted a small bite, and realized these had the best potential in the form of an olive oil, herd infused crouton, the best kind you can find. So there it is, a little dolled up with spices, oil, and salt, in the oven at 200 for an hour or so, and voila, the yummiest croutons ever!

So when life gives you crappy dinner rolls, make croutons!

Wisdom from a chocolate wrapper...

These last few days I have been eating a Dove chocolate, one of our Christmas gifts. I dare say this is the gift that just keeps on giving, literally! I love the nuggets of wisdom and goodness that come from these chocolate wrappers.

"Claim your happiness; dance to your own music."

"Find a way to make a part of your day like your day off."

We just returned from a vacation weekend to Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, warm weather, no need for gloves, hats, or shovels. I still have sand in my shoes, but today I will find a way to make part of my day like my day off, and every day for that matter.

Thanks dove.

Oprah says...

Today as I drove past a gas station promoting the Car Washes, I noticed the sign that said "Oprah says wash your car."

So, when exactly did Oprah's wisdom become so insightful you ask yourself? What did I do before Oprah was around to offer such profound advice? What will I do after her show goes off the air? How would I have known whether or not to wash my car if Oprah had not told me? Was this on the list of Oprah's favorite things? Can I buy a T-shirt on the Oprah webstore of this quote? Is this advice along with other nuggets of wisdom in her book for purchase? Will this be a ride at Oprah's themepark someday? If Oprah told me to jump off a bridge, would I do it?

I am sure all the same questions raced through your mind as it did mine when passing the billboard.

Ok so my intention is not to Oprah bash. In fact, I think Oprah's a fine gal and quite successful at what she has created. But really, are we really at the point we need to know what Oprah's advice is in order to make decisions? She still just a human with her own share of problems, struggling with weight, relationships, and what dress to wear. But wait maybe that is what makes her so appealing, after all, she said it herself, "I'm every woman." She is as fallible as the next, and that makes her all appealing to identify with.

I don't get it. And Oprah says, thats ok.

cooking sunday dinner?!?

I have always thought for years that the moment I became a wife somehow the powers of amazing cooking would be endowed into my hands, a right of passage right??? I figured, I make the commitment to marriage, God gives me the skills. I have learned through 'experience', that brutal, harsh, and most often undesired teacher, that well life couldn't be that simple. Julia Child wasn't magical from the start, in fact, she couldn't even cut an onion, and went on to mess up plenty along the way, but she didn't give up.

Today I felt the desire to cook a nice sunday dinner, with a birthday in lieu, and family coming to join, a time to make things especially nice! What have I learned from today? Things never work out as I plan, and more importantly NEVER, and I repeat NEVER try out three new recipes you are unfamiliar with in one meal, you set yourself up for dissapointment. The menu seemed so lush I had planned: Pot Roast with a sweet tomato olive tapenade, roasted potatoes in olive oil & pepper, Sweet dinner rolls, spinach salad with parmesan & candied almonds, and last but not least, dessert: Sour Cream chocolate cake, with a fudge icing. Well, this overly amazing meal plan came out anything but amazing.

With a new 9-12 church schedule and dinner at 5:30pm, I was delighted to know I would have all the time needed to perfect this quest. How did it go? When I arrived home at 12:30 I realized that I hadn't started the roast, a bit of discouragement set in, but lest I fail I went to work. The phone rang, mother in law Karen, had some BBQ beef she had been simmering all night, and was so excited to share. Alright Karen, thanks for making up for my lack of preparation, yes maam! So with the main dish on the way, I could relax and enjoy making some of my favorite things cake and rolls! I thought things would be easy, but as I began the roll dough, I realized, 'hey, you've actually never made rolls before.' And actually, 'I am not so certain if you did that right' feeling set in all along the way, sheesh. The recipe called for way more flour than I would have thought, I didn't follow my intuition, and hence, over dry tough dough that didn't rise. Arghhh, 'its ok' I tell myself. Nothing makes up for a not so good meal than an amazing cake. As I entered the world of homemade cakes, I was enthralled from start to finish, dough, a bit thick but divine! If the dough is good, how can the cake be bad. I did feel like the cake was low in butter, but I didn't realize how low, until it baked, and came out well, sort of dry and blahhh! Not the creamy moisture that sour cream should provide.

Between rising of dough and baking, the potatoes needed attention. Typically roasted potatoes take quite a time in the oven and don't seem to be soft on the inside, to help this along, I took the inspiration to boil them for a few minutes, softening the inside, and then go for the oven. Well, it kind of workws, in fact this was the most redeeming and well eaten portion of the meal, but the potatoes did get a bit mushy for oven-roasted.

Back to rolls, although dare I mention the catastrophe they were. It would have been better to have thrown away the dough long before the complete disappointment, they were disadvantaged from the beginning. But like my mom always taught me, never throw anything away that has potential. I tried to find potential in dead dough, there in lied my error. So with my over-dry dead dough, I attempted to shape them into rolls, hoping the heat would somehow miraculously turn them into something they were not, a divine goddess of buttery smooth goodness. No such luck, turns out a rough start ends in a rough end. They did have a slight redeeming value despite their topsy turvy lives, but dry, dense and over-baked would be the most honest evaluation.

The only thing worse than one failure is, well, three, and all in one night. Happy birthday, not, yucky, tasteless, and dry! But in all the mess of what I sometimes call my life, I take solace in one thing. It's a small thing, and silly as it may seem, it has come at different moments of life and inspired me to new heights. So whether you put in clout in fortune cookies, horoscopes what have you, I think god speaks to me at times through the wrappers of Dove chocolates. He truly must know, that when all is lost, when utter despair has set in, that nothing can console our broken spirit like a piece of divine chocolate. So let me know what god told me after this failure of a meal, as my fingers opened the wrapper, 'Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently."

Really, it's true, that in the darkest moments of cooking, in the utter failures of new challenges, a chocolate wrapper provides the wisdom that my life needs. The buddhist belief everything in life is their teacher. Well dove, thank for teaching, god thanks for sharing, husband thanks for dealing with my craziness, and still liking my not so good food.

Pure in heart

Jacob gave us a great promise regarding the pure in heart.

"O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his ^alove"(Jacob 3:2). He taught us the pleasing word of God "healeth the wounded soul" (Jacob 2:8).

I love you

Today, my dove promise told me, and I quote, "Learn to say, 'I love You' in a different language." Who am I to disobey an order given from a chocolate wrapper? Since I already know spanish (Te amo) I figure that one is too easy, so let's go for a few more fun ones...

Ti amo, Italian

Je t'aime, French

Mina rakastan sinua, Finnish

Ya lyublyu tebya, Russian

Jag a lskar dig, Swedish

Phom Rak Khun, Thai

Toi yeu em, Vietnamese

Kimi o ai shiteru, Japanese

Success

"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go." My Dove Promise 1.4.10

Trials

"If we allowed them to, trials would purify us rather than defeat us." Spencer W. Kimball

It's a new year, and well....

what am I seeking? As I ponder this, I think of what Julie Powell learned from her inspiration Julia Child in her blog of The Julie & Julia Project (a newfound inspiration), "Perhaps that was the talent she discovered in herself at the age of 37, at the Cordon Bleu School in Paris – the thirst to keep finding out, the openness to experience that makes life worth living.." http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/

I don't know if I will ever be a fabulous cookie baker or amazing cook, but just like Julia, I will never give up.