Lift Where You Stand

My missionary has been serving as the Assistant to the President in the San Francisco Mission for a while. As his mission is beginning to wind down, he is really missing the opportunities he had as a missionary in the field to find and teach in the Chinese language. As I thought about his desire, I remembered the talk given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf entitled, Lift Where You Stand, in the last General Conference.

"We are banner bearers of the Lord Jesus Christ, upheld by the Holy Spirit of God, faithful and true to the end, each one devoted to give our all to the cause of Zion and bound by covenant to stand close together and lift where we stand."

It matters not where we are called to serve, but how we perform the service that we have been called to.

I put together this plaque for Elder Petty to set

on his desk as a daily reminder to "Lift where you Stand."

Aimee designed the vinyl for me.

As each of my sons have embraced their missions they have encountered great obstacles, trials, and challenges and because of their great faith and love of the Savior, they have met them head on with the strength of God and conquered.

I am so grateful that my sons have had such wonderful opportunities. Missionary work is not easy, and yet the joyful rewards cannot be equaled by any other experience.

Seven Grain Sourdough Bread

This is hearty bread perfect for making gourmet sandwiches with.

SPONGE:

1 Cup Starter (fully bubbling and frothy)

1 Cup warm water

1 Cup white flour

1/2 Cup whole wheat flour

1/2 Cup 7 grain cereal

DOUGH:

2 Tablespoons oil

2 Tablespoons honey

2 Teaspoons salt

1 Cup white flour

1 Cup whole wheat flour

Mix the sponge and let sit in the bowl until bubbly and about doubled. This may take several hours or over night.

My sponge rose for 6 hours.

Add the dough ingredients (using only half of the flour) and mix until it becomes difficult to continue. Dump out and knead in the last of the flour plus additional flour to keep from sticking. When the dough is smooth and elastic, shape and place in a large greased loaf pan. Cover with a cloth and let it rise until very light and risen just above the top of the pan. Place in a cold oven. Turn oven to 400 degrees and bake until done. 40-50 minutes

It took 3 hours for the dough to double

Lightly butter the top for a softer crust.

Everyone loves fresh bread directly from the oven,

so I always make an extra loaf so that there will be some

left over to make sandwiches another day.

Shantell Performs

This past weekend Shantell performed at the Southeast Region Music Festival. In order to participate in this elite choir hundreds of youth throughout the region gathered at the University of Arizona to audition in January. Each student chose and prepared a solo and then sightread before a judge. Only 25 vocalists were chosen for each voice part and so it was a great honor to be selected. Winning not only allows them to participate in the regional choir, but to also audition for the All-State Choir .

This is Shantell's first experience auditioning with her voice and she did amazingly well. As a Freshman she placed 6th in the region. Kudos Shantell!!!

The concert was amazing! What a wonderful opportunity it was for these young men and women to work under the direction of Dr. David Lunt, former director of Choral Activities at Eastern Arizona College. Not only was he full of energy, enthusiasm and love for music but he had wonderful words of wisdom and encouragement for the kids as well. The program began with the choir singing Consecrate The Place and Day. This was performed in surround sound with the choir encircling the audience. The effect was incredible. The end of the performace was just as spectacular with the choir singing the magnificent piece, Battle Hymn of the Republic. Our whole family enjoyed being together and we couldn't help but laugh as Brigitta sat and conducted the choir right along with Dr. Lunt.

Pictures were not allowed during the performance, however I was able to take a few outside of the auditorium under great protest from everyone.

Shantell and her niece, Tatianna

Shantell and Brigitta with their niece, Arianna

Mouthwatering Sourdough English Muffins

One of my families favorite recipes using Sourdough are English Muffins. After having made your own I guarantee that you will NEVER purchase them from a store again.

1 Cup active starter

2 Cups warm milk

5-1/2 Cups flour

2-1/2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 Teaspoons salt

6 Tablespoons cornmeal

The day before, mix the starter, warm milk, and 4 cups of the flour in a large bowl. Cover and set aside in a warm place 8 hours or overnight. The longer it sits, the more sour your muffins will be.

The next day your sponge should look like this.

Mix the remaining dry ingredients, except the cornmeal with 1 cup of the remaining flour and stir into the dough. It should be very stiff. Turn the dough out onto the counter and sprinkle with the remaining flour. Knead until smooth and no longer sticky, about 2-3 minutes. Add more flour if necessary.

Dough after kneading.

Roll out 3/4" thick and cut into rounds. (I use a mug) Place on cookie sheets that have been sprinkled with corn meal and then sprinkle more over the tops. Cover with a cloth and set aside in a warm place to rise for about 45 minutes.

Bake on a griddle that has been sprinkled with corn meal over medium heat for about 8 to 10 minutes per side.

Use a fork to split them.

Look how beautiful they are!

Makes 2 dozen

Freezes well, unless your family devours them immediately.

Cooking with Sourdough

One of my greatest joys is creating culinary delights for my family using my food storage. I have taught several classes on the subject and was recently asked if I would include some of my favorite recipes on my blog, so here we go!

I love cooking with sourdough. I use it on a weekly basis with a variety of recipes you probably would never consider using sourdough in.

Now if you don't happen to know someone who can give you an established starter then you can easily start your own. My starter is going on 10 years old.

SOUR DOUGH STARTER

1 Cup whole wheat flour

(whole grains have more wild yeasts in them)

1 Cup chlorine free water

1 Quart sized glass container

Mix well, cover with plastic wrap and put in an 85 degree area. Now comes the hard part, you must wait 24 hours. You want to see some bubbles, some signs of life. If you still don't see any signs of life, wait another 12 hours. If you still haven't seen any bubbles or signs of life, ditch the starter and begin again.

Once you do see signs of life, add another cup water and cup of whole grain flour. Cover the container, and put it back in the warm area.

At this point, you will need to feed your starter regularly every 8 to 12 hours to encourage the growth of the micro-organisms . You should double the size of the starter with each feeding. This will get out of control pretty quickly, so to keep from being overwhelmed by starter, go ahead and discard 1/2 the starter before each feeding.

Repeat this feeding cycle for several days. Within 3 or 4 days, you should have a very lively starter with lots of bubbles in the starter, and a layer of froth on the top of it.

If you look closely you can see a layer of froth on the top.

When you feed the starter, it will rise. It can take 3 to 6 hours to reach it's peak, depending on how active the starter is. Once it reaches it's peak, it will start to recede as the starter slows down. If you feed your starter and go to work, you could miss the starter's peak, and see a quiet starter when you get home. You might think nothing is happening as a result. If you look at the container that holds the starter, you will see that the starter has left streaks on the side of it.

When the starter is doubling in size, you are ready to start using it to make breads and other delicious recipes. At this point, you may start feeding it with whatever sort of flour you prefer.

Remember, if your starter can't double it's own size,

it can't raise your bread.

Happy Birthday Tyrone!

Today is Tyrone's 24th birthday. He is my second oldest son. I am so amazed at how time flies, it seems just yesterday when the doctor placed him in my arms. I was so excited to have him join our little family. He has been and continues to be such a joy, and now I marvel that he is married with a family of his very own.

Here are a few pictures to share of Tyrone.

Born February 18th, 1985

Always on the go.

Extremely shy and unsure of others.

Boys best friend, Princess Buttercup.

Football hero!

Prankster!

Glad to have school over, for now.

Returned with Honor from serving in the

Auckland, New Zealand Mission.

Tyrone and Aimee together forever.

Tyrone has now grown into a wonderful young man

with a son of his very own, Ty-kell.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYRONE

WE LOVE YOU!

The Writing is on the Wall

Tyrone's wife, Aimee is a very talented young woman. Just recently she and her mother have started a vinyl business and I am a very satisfied recipient of their work. The first two vinyls are in my piano studio.

This next one is in my entry way next to beautiful picture of the Savior.

We have also put up the young women values around Shantell's ceiling in her bedroom in huge lettering each with a different font and color. The finished project is absolutely stunning! I would like to share it with you but to do so would involve an individual picture of each value.

Thank you Aimee for helping me beautify my home.

What a Weekend!

My oldest daughter Brianna is the choral director for Sabino High School. Because she has to work I have the opportunity of watching her girls four days a week. (Their other grandmother has them the other day.) This Valentine weekend Brianna took her top choir to compete in the Jazz Madrigal Festival in Flagstaff Arizona. This gave me another chance to watch her girls.

We had quite a few activities planned for the weekend. One of which was making Valentine cookies. The kids actually made them twice, once with Cameron and Michele who watched them while Mar-Kay and I went out, and later with me. They turned out very nice especially considering that most of the frosting ended up on them or in their mouths.

The only real difficult part of the weekend was that these girls do not go to sleep at night, at least not at grandma’s house. They all started out in their own sleeping bags in Brigitta’s bedroom. Soon they were on the floor of my bedroom. Before we knew it, all three girls were in our bed and Mar-Kay was trying to keep warm in a Princess Sleeping Bag. (Now that was a true Kodak moment, but out of love for my husband I did not snap the shot.)

Tatianna and her Aunt Brigitta
Arianna was too camera shy to join in the shot.

In The Dog House

The puppy has officially moved out of our home and into "the dog house." However, there is a cold front moving in this weekend and so she will probably end up inside again. It has taken the entire week to build this designer dog house. All that is lacking is her name above the door which will be completed on Monday. Kendrick and his father designed and built this house together and had a 'doggone' good time working on it. Of course they were never alone, Padme was constantly at their heels. The picture doesn't show it but she has a few spots of paint on her coat as she tried to help with the painting. With the addition of the new puppy Kendrick is working towards his Dog Care and Wood Working merit badges in the Scouting Program.

They Finally Talked Me Into a Dog

Meet Padme. She is the latest addition to our family. As you can see, Kendrick is so excited for this new arrival. He has been preparing for her for the last six weeks by reading books and building her a home. He has wanted a dog for so long and now his dream has finally come true.

Shantell Won!

On January 17th Shantell competed in the Young Artist's Competition and won 1st place. She performed the first movement of Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor Opus 54. She has been invited to perform with the Tucson Civic Orchestra as the featured soloist in April. She is an amazing young woman and we are so excited for her.

A Grand New Adventure

This particular pose of Brigitta reminds me of just how precious each moment of our lives is. I have therefore decided to begin a grand adventure and start a blog. Not only will I be able to record the latest happenings of our family but hopefully I will be able to share them with family and friends as well. So here I go! Thank you Michele for all of your help in getting me started on this new and exciting quest. :)