Relief Society Dessert Exchange

Thursday Night's Dessert Exchange was full of chocolatey goodness and lots of tips from Ann on how to go about making great chocolate candy desserts.

You can do fun things with molds. They have molds for all seasons including some interesting designs...

The newer molds are not even plastic.

Molds are great but you don't have to have molds to make a wonderful dessert. You can coat fudge, brittle, and peanut butter nougat in melted chocolate for a great dessert.

Orson Gigi's is a great place to buy chocolate wafers to melt for dipping chocolate.

Be sure when you melt your chocolate in your microwave that you do it 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between intervals.

We learned from Ann that the streaky swirls in chocolate is caused by the cocoa butter rising to the surface from chocolate that is too hot or cold. You want your chocolate to be just right.

Ann has a separate set of paint brushes she uses just for painting chocolate into molds and onto chocolate.

To keep your finished product nice and shiny wear gloves so that your finger prints don't end up on the chocolate.

Thanks to Ann for all the great tips on making candy and thanks to everyone who brought desserts to share! If you brought a dessert on Thursday and want to share the recipe on this blog, just post it as a comment. If you didn't attend on Thursday but would still like to share a favorite dessert recipe please feel free to post it as a comment. The more the merrier!

They Grow up So Fast

I can still remember when I was 18 years old and my sister asked me to watch her little baby while she and her husband went out of town. It was the first time I experienced a little child actually WANTING to be in my presence. Little babies typically cried around me (and usually still do). I can't say I blame them as I usually want to cry in my presence too.

However, my niece is all grown up now and today entered the MTC (Missionary Training Center) to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She will head off to Boise, Idaho in a mere three weeks to serve as a missionary. I was lucky enough to have her visit briefly before she entered the MTC as well as see a couple of my sisters and my brother-in-law.

Sierra is excited for her choice to serve as a missionary and I know that she will have many wonderful experiences in the next 18 months. We will miss her but we know that she is serving the Lord and will help many people in Boise, Idaho.

New Station Added

Every year for Conference Sunday I have different "stations" for the kids to help them handle the two hours of Conference. It isn't easy for kids to sit and listen to an hour and 10 minutes of a sacrament service let alone tack on another 50 minutes of Conference. I have a coloring station:

a bingo station, and a reading station:

Yesterday Sheriff asked if we could add a sleeping station. (He probably got the idea from watching his dad have a sleeping station over the years during Conference). I didn't think he would actually sleep so I said why not. He brought a pillow and blanket and made himself comfy on the couch.

Sure enough he didn't sleep (he's just pretending) and he picked up a Friend magazine and read from it.

I couldn't find my Conference bingo cards this year and was running around the house trying to find them. Brett told me to stop looking because he would make me some. I think I should have kept looking....

Brett has a very different sense of humor. There were spaces like whining, Smiley crying, Sunshine screaming, and tattling. Of course Brett knows the kids well because these spaces did not remain empty. They were filled more than once.

This weekend we also had my niece Sierra visit from Canada. I wish she could have stayed longer but I'm glad that we were able to have her stay for a couple of days. The kids just loved having her here. Hopefully she comes back despite my mad crazy home!

Best E-mail

This year I was very late in getting out some of my Christmas cards. In fact, the cards I sent to friends in the Ukraine did not get mailed until AFTER Christmas. That's what happens when your Russian gets a little rusty... you put off writing your cards until things settle down. So I finally sat down and wrote my cards and mailed them off. In my cards I included my email address and blog address not really expecting to get email from anyone in the Ukraine as times are tough and to own a computer would be very expensive. On the off chance that they might have access to the internet I sent my information anyways.

I was thrilled to get a response a few days ago from a wonderful family that I met in Donyetsk. They have three beautiful daughters who are now grown. Their oldest is now serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Ukraine. It brought tears to my eyes to see that the Sichova family are still active in the church after all these years. I have lost contact with a number of individuals in the Ukraine so it was wonderful to receive this email and see this beautiful family who continue strong in the gospel.

Brett's Plan of Attack

I promised I would tell you Brett's plan of attack for my forray to church tomorrow.  Because I'm not bright enough to get someone to replace me in teaching Gospel Doctrine tomorrow I must go myself and teach.  So we were in bed the other night and I told Brett that I was worried about being in the halls and getting my nose bumped while I'm still recovering from surgery.  I said that I was thinking of wearing my gauze moustache to church so that people would know to be careful around me and give me some space (I would take it off during my lesson ... because hey... who can take me seriously with that thing on???).  

No sooner had I finished telling him what I was thinking when I felt the waves of horror and embarassment (for him not me) flooding off him in the dark.  

sidebar:  once years ago when I had a really bad knee and we were going to the CN Tower and the line was freakishly long the suggestion was made that perhaps we could get a wheel-chair for me because there was no way I could stand in that long line with my knee.  Brett said that he would DIE of embarassment if he had to push me in a wheel-chair.  I was out of luck.  I when I get old.... I mean really older than I am now.... I hope that I don't become an invalid in a wheel-chair because I wouldn't want to be an embarassment to my husband.  

back to our night-time conversation:  Brett quickly outlined his plan... I would get up and leave sacrament meeting before it ended ..... whoa there!!!! before it ends?????  me??? get up and leave before the prayer???? now waves of horror were coming off of me!!!!  

The halls would be empty.... (who are we kidding?  what about all the people that hang out in the hall with their kids and sit on the couches because we all KNOW the couches are WAY more comfortable than the pews.)  

Then I would be in the Relief Society room before the mad rush after the closing prayer.  I could stay there until the end of church (what about my pee break??? that's just inhumane) and I would wait in the Relief Society room for an extra 15 minutes until the halls are clear and I can make a break for the car.  (isn't there another ward after us???)

I don't know about this plan.... I'm seriously considering the gauze moustache.  Remember I'm color coordinating it now.  I'm thinking red for tomorrow.....

p.s. as much as my gauze moustache may cause him some embarassment (come to think of it he hasn't appeared in public with me wearing it) Brett has been awesome!!! He could outdo Mr.Mom anyday!!! This past week he has done anything and everything to make our family and household run smooth.  kudos Brett!!!!