Everyday occurrences in housework

These are just two moments among many where I'm proud to show family members that are willing to pitch in and help out.

Sweeping.
Cleaning dishes with the help of a dishwasher.

A dishwasher performs the equivalent of 225+ hours of labor per year compared with hand washing dishes. (from the energystar site sponsored by the government.) So how do I spend those extra hours? Write things like this blog for one thing. We have the equivalent of a house full of servants with modern technological conveniences from dishwashers to vacuum cleaners but we actually still spend a fair chunk of time on housework because standards in cleanliness and hygiene have risen as well as fashion.

(How many of us reading this blog really have just one outfit for summer and one outfit for winter to wear on Sundays? Yet we know of generations just before ours with an outfit for Sunday and maybe 2 or 3 outfits for school. So even fashion has contributed to the steady need for housework in cleaning, drying and occasionally ironing.) Ah...but I still like my washer and dryer and dishwasher and toaster and microwave and fridge and lights and heat and running water and etc, etc.....

Food Co-op for October 2008

Harvest Share $14
4 tomatoes, 1 honeydew melon, 5 pears, 2 artichokes, 1 loaf Stone Ground Whole Grain Bread, 1 lb bag of brown rice, 1 1/2-lb. carton Utah mushrooms, 2 bunches red leaf lettuce, 5 oranges, 2 1-lb. pkgs. baby carrots, and 1 Utah spaghetti squash.


Nutty Guys Sampler of Roasted, salted sunflower seeds, raw whole almonds, butter toffee peanuts, and roasted, salted whole cashews for $11.50.

Order for November is due on Friday the 7th with pickup on Saturday November 22nd. Find more information at the Food Co-op.org site.

One a penny, Two a penny, Hot Cross Buns

It's not Easter time but we wanted a warm comfort food that would help us to celebrate the Sabbath by reminding us of the Savior and His sacrifice. It also helped us to remember through the olfactory senses since the rolls smelled so wonderful with the cinnamon and raisins as they were baking. I'm glad I can enjoy the blessings of smell and taste with good food.

Our senses really do play a remarkable role in helping us to remember experiences in our lives. I am thankful for all my senses from hearing, tasting, smelling, seeing, touching and to the intangible senses (some suggest these as equilibrium and intuition-helping us to stay in balance and our natural moral anchor) that help me to feel the love of both my Heavenly Father and others. Do your senses help you to feel balance and joy in the world and the people around you?

Hot Cross Buns

Soak 3/4 cup raisins in 1 cup boiling water with 1 tsp vanilla. Let sit until ready to mix into dough. Combine and heat to 120-130 degrees F: 1 cup milk and 4 TBSP butter. Add 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1 scant TBSP yeast (1 small pkg.) and 5 cups of flour and mix well, kneading to combine. Drain raisins, discarding vanilla water and add raisins to dough, kneading until dough is smooth and elastic. (About 5-10 minutes or just let the bread machine knead it for you-adding the raisins near the end of the mix cycle.) Allow to double in size in a covered bowl (about 1 hour). Punch down dough and divide into 18 pieces. Roll into balls and place in two 9-inch round greased baking pans or two 9-inch square greased baking pans. Cut a cross into the top of each roll and cover and let rise for about 30 minutes or until doubled. Beat together an egg wash of 2 Tbsp water and 1 egg yolk and lightly brush on top of rolls after they have risen. Bake at 375 F degrees for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown on all the tips of the rolls. Remove from pans and let cool. When cool, top with orange icing.

For orange icing: combine 4 tsp. orange juice with 1/4-1/2 tsp grated orange peel (juice and peel from 1 orange) and add in 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Fill cross marks on rolls with icing using a frosting bag or ziploc bag with corner snipped off. Makes 18 rolls.

May The Chocolate Not Be With You......

Yes, it was time once again for book group at my house. I did not make any treats with real chocolate. Instead I chose confections with autumn colors. Starting at the top left of the picture and going clockwise:

• the orange and white creamsicle fudge,
  
• a bowl of Merckens Marquis chocolate buttons (as a concession to the chocoholics)
  
• a pan with fudgy caramels and a few cut caramels in front of the pan
  
• the red paper plate with pineapple jellies
  
• next is a sample of the green take home treat bag with a piece of each homemade candy
• peanut brittle in the rectangle container (on top of blue lid)
• square glass dish with the few remaining pieces of penouche (which I think was the favorite)
• and finally a bowl of Brach's Autumn Mix of candy corn, Indian corn, and mellowcreme pumpkins.

So I actually showed some restraint in only make five different kinds of candies but I enjoyed making them and I think people enjoyed eating them. Oh, the book we discussed was Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. For next month we will be reading The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

One of these things is not like the others

When I recently made black bean soup we discovered a stow-away bean in with the black beans. Hmmm.... I hope that kidney bean will not mind being in a black bean soup.


Here's the sautéed vegetables of onion, carrot, celery and green pepper. Some of these were dehydrated and then reconstituted.

And the soup simmered in the crockpot for half of the day.

Express Lessons for Family Home Evening

Do you often run out of time?!? Does it seem like you can't manage to organize Family Home Evening on a regular basis? Do people in your family seem unmotivated about getting together on Monday nights as a family?

Well, here's the answer! Yes, it's the all new and (I'm sure improved!) 52 Weeks of Family Night by Tamara Baggett. These "Fast and Easy Lessons for Young Families" (we're all young at heart!) will help you, too, to get back on the track of weekly (or sometimes more realistically-monthly) Family Home Evenings.

Each lesson is only a couple of pages long with a song suggestion, scripture reference and applicable stories for subjects ranging from "Ammon and the King" to "Family Garden" to "Family History" to "Rebekah at the Well" to "Stripling Warriors" to "The Widow's mite". A full 52 lessons fill the pages of this little gem of a book!

You can even have surprise lessons by using the numbered illustration cut-out cards in the back of the book. Just cut out the cards, have someone pick one and teach that lesson for the evening! Have even more fun by letting each of your children pick a card and do several lessons at once!

Yes, now your family can take just five or ten minutes to have family home evening-no more excuses! (This is just a minimum time recommendation-for actual learning and interaction the time should be increased with questions and discussion.) Treats Not Included.


(We really have enjoyed using this little book for some fast and easy lessons. It's been a fun way for us to involve everyone since the lessons are easy enough for each person in the family to present a lesson on their own and they plan that FHE. Our ratio of weeks with family home evenings to weeks without family home evening have become the inverse of each other thanks to this tiny book. Remember, this book is to be a supplement-not a replacement for a full fledged family home evening. Use as directed by parental instruction and prayer.)