Awesome giviaway!

Isn't this necklace gorgeous?! You can enter to win here: www.webme.com/christinacurtis/curtis_family/blog/blog.html. I know, you'd think I would know how to make a link! But Wade only showed me once and I'm a three times kinda girl! He's coming home for Christmas, I'll ask him to show me some more technical stuff!

More shower pics...

Tara asked that I post some pictures of the women in our ward, so here they are! I didn't get pictures of everyone because I was too busy to take the pictures and my daughter was doing the picture taking. I'm really bummed that I didn't get more of the set up of the shower too. It looked awesome! The first picture is the best in my opinion! It's me with my niece "L". I should probably ask if I can say her name here.Isn't she absolutely adorable?! And she looks even better with ME in the background!! LOL! Just Kidding! She really is a beautiful little girl, who looks just like her mama! Sorry I don't have any more Tara. I do have one of Sis. Shiles, but she would kill me if I posted it. She already instructed me to destroy it when I went home!
Susan Cortez, she's my co-Activities Days Advisor. And she's really fun too!
Penny and Camille, two of the nicest ladies you will ever meet! They're in the Young Woman's Program with my girls. How lucky are they?
Gloria, Becky's mother-in-law and Amber, Becky's sister-in-law
Charity, Julianne and Heather!
One of the ladies in Becky's ward and her daughter. Wasn't that clothesline a cute idea?

Only for you, Sister!

This is for my sister in Canada. (You know who you are!):

Pumpkin Bread

1 cup Crisco Oil
3 1/2 cups flour
4 eggs
1 1/2 teas. salt
2 cups pumpkin
2 teas. baking soda
2/3 cup cold water
1 teas. cinnamon
1 teas. nutmeg
3 cups of sugar

Beat all ingredients together for 5 min. and put in greased bread pans. Bake 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. Optional 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans.

And just for good measure, I'm gonna give you the best Banana Bread that I have ever tasted. And my awesome sister-in-law Christina, gave me this recipe.

Banana Bread

6 large bananas or 8 medium bananas
4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
3/4 cup oil
4 cups of flour
1 teas. baking soda
2 teas. salt
2 teas. baking powder
Optional: 1/2 cup walnuts/pecans

Mash bananas (leave chunks, that's the secret). Keep a little aside in another bowl, and then add eggs, sugar & oil. Mix together. In another bowl combine all your dry ingredients and give it a little stir. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients 1/3 at a time. Do not overmix, it will become stiff. Stir in the little bit of banana that you left on the side and pour into greased and floured bread pans. Place in a 325 degree oven and bake for 45-50 min.

I'm telling you, these recipes were sooooooo good! And tomorrow, I will give you a recipe that will astound you with how good it tastes. It's Pumpkin Carrot Cake! Yup, you heard right! Pumpkin Carrot Cake! You can't even taste the Pumpkin in it! My sister made it for the shower and man was it yummy! The best Carrot Cake I've ever tasted! Who-da thunk pumpkin would be good for carrot cake?....

Wow! That shower was scary!

Remember the baby shower I was throwing for my sister? Well...it was on Saturday and I'm still recovering! There were over 45 people there! Yeah, I was only planning on 30 at the most. (You know, they tell you to plan for 1/2 of the amount of invitations that you send off) I'm thinking that they loved the invitation and knew it was gonna be a kickin' party! We had Pumpkin Bread, Banana Bread, Pumpkin Roll, Pumpkin Carrot Cake, Individual Cheesecakes with Strawberry's on top, Chocolate covered Strawberries, Fresh Fruit, Vegetable Lasagna, Chicken in a Roll, Chicken Salad, Artichoke Dip and Crackers, Pasta Salad and Brownies! There was a ton of stuff and it disappeared like it was nothin'! It was crazy!! I didn't get to sit down at all and by the time I got home....I had to take some pain pills and zonk out! But...my sister loved it and that's all that matters.
And now on to my lovely cooking for the day! I made some Cinnamon Rolls in the Bosch! They are to die for! My husband told me they were the best that he has ever tasted! I'm gonna try to make another kind tomorrow and I'll let you know which one is the best! Oh my goodness! They came out perfect! You were right Lynn, never stop trying, you'll get there some time! These things rose like nobody's business! It was beautiful to watch! Sigh....Such lovely Cinnamon Rolls....

This is for you, Diana!

Diana asked me to post a picture of the Bosch Machine, so here it is! (I have a love/hate relationship with this thing.) But it's supposed to be the best for making whole wheat bread! Since I have tons of wheat in my food storage, I figured I better start using it up and rotating it.

That's It!

O.k., I'm gonna have to say it! Please don't think I'm a horrible person. I SUCK at making bread! I really do. I tried it yesterday and they came out like bricks. And after talking to the Bosch store lady, I thought I was gonna be fine. I THOUGHT I did everything that she told me too, but the dough came out sticky again! And then I remembered that I was only supposed to mix it for 7 1/2 min. instead of 10 min. So, I guess I broke down the gluten. (Whatever that means)
I came upstairs to tell Kelvin my horrible news and he tries to fix it. What is up with that? Men are so funny. I can fix it, I'm just mad that I did it in the first place. And I just want commisseration! I'm going to the store and I'm gonna get some more honey to make another batch tomorrow. (If I do it tonight then I'll likely throw my Bosch through the window) Don't want to do anything rash.

Fun Birthday pics

This post is completely backwards! (What can I say, I'm a backwards kind of person!) You should start from the bottom of this post and work your way up!
Here's Emma and Joseph with their presents and their cake. Right after that I had to go to the hospital to take care of Kelvin. The nurses weren't helping him at all. He almost fell to the floor and when he hit the nurse call button, it took ten minutes for them to answer through the call box and the nurse never even came. Kelvin had to call for help. A passerby finally heard him and got someone to help! Can you believe that! He's so happy to be home. And I know what they mean by "through the good times and the bad times" LOL

Here's Becky (my sister) making her baby his first little "Build A Bear" bear. Isn't she gorgeous?! And yes, she kissed heart to make it extra special. I think it made her very happy to be able to do this after waiting so long to get pregnant.



We took them to Build A Bear (sorry about saying the same thing for Emma's pics but the blogger thing confuses me and I post backwards a lot) and Joseph chose a Christmas Moose that has real lights in his antlers. He was so cute doing all the things that they asked him to do. Except for one thing. He wouldn't kiss the heart! Totally said no. But then she said for him to let the moose kiss it and he was all right with that one. Can I tell you how much he loved the whole process!?




Here's Emma with her Build A Bear little bunny that she named "Hannah Montana" She was absolutely adorable making it. They had her jumping up and down, turning around, rubbing her head, and of course kissing the little heart that goes in the bunny. She did it all with total faith that she was bringing her bunny to life! I love her so much. She is the most incredible little girl. I'm sure Heavenly Father had a hard time letting go of her. And I'm also sure that she was sent down with Joseph for a reason. (Maybe to calm him down!)


Here's a shot of my sister (Isn't she pretty? She's 32 weeks pregnant and can still fit in the booth!) Anyway, she loves the kids and she usually comes to all the family functions, including football games, concerts etc. And the twins absolutely love her. Boy, are they going to be jealous of their little cousin! I'd post a picture of my friend but I think she would shoot me. Besides, I don't have her permission.
My sister, a friend and I took the twins to Red Robin for their birthday lunch and I'm pretty sure the only thing that was a hit there was the balloons! They don't care what they eat. I think they each only ate half of their food and drank 2 cups of soda. I loved my food though! Mmmmmmmm.....(Yeah I know, I'm motivated by food.)
This is the twins preschool loot! They love preschool so much and their teacher Ms.Kris is the best teacher a mom could ask for. She thinks that the twins are so cute and treats them very well. I can't believe how happy they are to go. They usually only get this happy going to McDonalds.

New News!

I feel sooo bad for my husband. He is so miserable. He has bedsores. I don't know how he got them so soon. He started getting them the day of his surgery. I didn't know they were bed sores though. I guess that the mattress they had him on made it difficult to move and he stayed in one position the whole night and by morning it was really red with a purple area. That one got progressively worse and then there were more added. Now they are open sores that look horrible. The nurse said she'd try to order an air mattress and then later told us that the Charge Nurse said that she couldn't do that until Kelvin's bedsores were a stage 3. I asked what Kelvin's were. She said stage 2. I asked her what stage 3 were and she said they were when they were in the muscle. Hello......have we not heard of prevention....you're gonna leave him on the same mattress so he'll get the stage 3 bedsores? Doesn't sound very smart to me. He can't even sleep! I wish he could come home. He wouldn't have those nasty bedsores with our bed. I think that he got them from sweating on that plastic mattress.
Oh! The pathology report came in and the tumor was definately Renal Cell Carcinoma. Good thing the doctor said that he thought he got it all. Don't leave even one of those nasty cells in there!
I'll post pictures of the twins birthday stuff tomorrow. I wish I could post the picture of Kelvins incision. It's huge!

Update time

Kelvin had his surgery on Tuesday and it's now Thursday. The surgery went really well and they think that they got everything. The pathology report isn't in yet, but it should be in in the next few days. He's kind of had a tough time, not because of the incision and the pain of the kidney removal (that feels pretty good right now.) but because his shoulder hurts really bad. I guess when they did the surgery they were a little rough on his arm when they were moving it around and some of the tendons were damaged. At least that's what Kelvin was muttering to me after they took the x-rays and finally talked to about it. Of course they didn't say that they caused the damage. We just assumed that that was the reason. (Or they dropped him...that might of done it) Would've been mighty hard to get him back up there though! He's not a small man by any stretch.
He was finally able to have some broth for dinner. And some jello. I think that that was his favorite. He'll probably get some real food tomorrow. Course, I don't think that hospital food is real food. It's disgusting! Scrambled eggs in the morning that are dried out and cold, are not appetizing. But hey, when you have nothing for 2 1/2 days and then broth, maybe that nasty food will taste like ambrosia. (NOT!)
My kids have been loving the meals brought in. They get dessert every day! And they love all the great food. Homemade food every day. They wish Mom would do that. (We have stock in Mc Donalds) They are missing their dad though. I'm missing him too. I don't like to sleep alone. In fact I hate the dark. I am the worst scaredy-cat ever. I don't ever turn off the lights downstairs, cuz I'm always scared something is gonna get me from behind on the way up the stairs. Even now my heartrate is climbing thinking about it. (Think about something else....)
It's Emma's and Joseph's birthday tomorrow and they get to go to the Bosch Store and learn how to make bread. There is a play place for them so I can not feel too guilty for taking them there on their birthday. And then my sister and I are going to take them to Build A Bear and to see the movie "Madagascar" I hope they think the day is fun. I bought them each a gift. A Transformer action figure for Joseph and a Barbie princess with horse for Emma. I know they will love them. And the other kids will bake their cakes for them while we are gone. (I hope)
Kelvin will be coming home on Sat. or Sun. Yeah!!!! Well...talk at ya later!

Gift card holder!

Isn't this so cute! Simple but cute! Tanner reminded me that he had a birthday party to go to in the morning and I really didn't want to go to the store, so I made this gift card holder. Only, it's holding money! Nope, I have never done anything like this before. I do know that if I had to do it over I would do some things differently. Like do it a lot quicker because I've done it before! (Sheesh, it took forever!) And I'd start with colored cardstock. I sponged the solid color on the lid. It looks really good too! Hmmmm....maybe I'm unlocking my creative side. I sure was scared that I'd lost it. (You know the story about losing one's talents if you don't use them.) I haven't done creative things in so long because I've been pregnant or dealing with small children for the last 20 years. ( I know, I can't believe it myself) I feel like I'm coming out a long slumber. And I love it!!! And I know that as I do it, I'll get better and better. Whoo hoo!
Side note: Kelvin's surgery is tomorrow. Pray for him. We need him around for a long time. (And we kinda love him too!)

More recipes for the Bosch!

I was going to try out my new Bosch last night but remembered at the last minute that I was supposed to be going out on a date with Kelvin for his "Last Supper". You know, the one before the surgery because he's gonna be eating some nasty jello and broth for at least 3 days. I did not like having to eat only that. I wanted some nice tacos or steak or something that had some substance to it!
Since I couldn't do it last night, I tried it tonight. Nope, I have no idea how it turned out because they're not done yet! They are supposed to be rising right now. And watched rolls do NOT rise. I've been watching and they aren't rising very fast. Now, I must tell you that yeast and I are NOT friends. Everytime I have tried to make bread in the past I could never get the yeast to work. But at the Bosch store the ladies there told me that this yeast is practically indestructable! They assured me that short of adding salt directly to it( which kills it) you're safe. So I'm watching those darn rolls SLOWLY rise and wishing they would hurry! And if they rise for me than I will shout to the rooftops that this yeast is THE one to buy. I will be their biggest salesgirl. Telling everyone, everywhere! Oh, did I tell you that I'm a horrible manager of time? We already ate dinner and these dinner rolls are going to be slightly late! I don't think that anyone will mind. Carbs for snacks are just great! And we have some real butter to go with them! Hmmmm...wouldn't some honey butter be sooooooo good with some rolls? Sheesh! You'd think that I didn't already have a big ol' plate of spaghetti not even 2 hours ago!
Well, while I'm waiting for those luscious, plump rolls (I hope) to rise, I'll give Lynn another recipe!

100% Whole Wheat Bread

3 Cups of warm water
1/3 Cup Canola Oil
1/3 Cup Honey
1 Tbsp SAF Instant Yeast
1 1/2 Tbs. Dough Enhancer
1 1/2 Tbs. Vital Wheat Gluten
1 Tbs. Tofu Drink Mix (powdered milk)
1 Tbs. Salt
5-7 Cups Freshly Milled Whole Wheat Flour

Pour warm water into Bosch Mixing bowl. Then add oil, honey and yeast.
Then add enough flour (3-4 cups) to cover the water, oil, honey, yeast.
These ingredients will cool the water appropriately.
Next add Dough enhancer, Vital wheat gluten.
Tofu drink mix and salt. Add 5 cups of fresh milled wheat flour on top of liquid then use the momentary switch (M) to mix well.
Turn the machine to speed 1 and continue to add wheat flour , only until the dough begins to pull away (clean itself) from the bottom of the bowl.
(Do Not add too much flour.) The Bosch has ample kneading power.
Set a timer and let the dough knead for 10 min.
When kneading is completed, oil or grease a cutting board and hands.
Remove dough from bowl onto countertop or cutting board and divide into equal portions. (Makes 8, 1 lb. loaves if you double this recipe) Put the dough into well greased pans immediately
It will be elastic and silky in appearance. Let the loaves rise until they are doubled in size, this will take about 30 to 60 min.
Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 min. until golden brown.
Remove from pans when done and cool on a wire rack.
Rub tops of hot breatd with shortening or butter or spray with vegalene for shiny appearance.
This same recipe can be used for rolls, pizza crust, pita bread and cinnamon rolls.


And how about some more dinner rolls!


Cottage Cheese Dinner Rolls

1 1/4 cup very hot water
1/2 cup mashed potato flakes
1 rounded Tbs. SAF Instant Yeast
1/4 cup unbleached sugar
4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tsp. Real Salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbs. Canola Oil
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
Sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In your Bosch bowl, combine boiling water and potato flakes, mix well. Cool for 10 Min.
2. Add sugar, 1 egg,oil, yeast and cottage cheese; blend well
3. Add 3 cups flour and put Real Salt on top of flour.
4. Knead dough and add remaining flour until the dough cleans the curve at the bottom of the bowl.
5. Knead for five minutes
6. Remove dough form bowl and using a dough cutter, cut dough into 24 equal pieces.
7. Spray baking pans with Vegalene and place rounded pieces approx. one inch apart.
8. Cover and allow to rise until double. Brush remaining beaten egg over each roll and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.
9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls for 16 to 18 min. or until golden brown.
10.Remove from pans and allow to cool on wire racks for five minutes.

Now I'm gonna load up a before picture. And after the rolls are done, I will edit this post and show the loveliness of the Bosch Machine!

The first picture is of the rolls after I remembered to put butter on top(photo by Tanner Spendlove) and the middle one is when I forgot to butter.

Gone to the bread store...

So, this afternoon I went to the Bosch store to see how to make dinner rolls. And I knew they would want to show the Bosch mixer and I also knew that I could wait to buy one because I already have the Professional Mixer by Kitchen Aide. But,I couldn't wait! I saw how fast and easy it was to make in that darn mixer and I had to call my husband and beg, pretty please, to get it. I told the ladies that I had to go outside to call my husband and I didn't want them to see me cry if he said no. So, here I am, out there with the phone to my ear and I just know they were trying not to let me know that they were watching me, but when he said yes I just had to do the happy dance, so they were laughing when I danced back in. Yes, I said dance because I was so happy that I was like a little child in a candy store that has just been told she could have ANY candy that she wanted. Those ladies were so nice! I think one of them was the owner because she gave me the cookie paddles for cost. And then when she found out that I wanted the shredder/slicer, she told me that I could get that for 5% above cost!! I'm doing the happy dance wiggle while I'm sitting on my bed with my laptop!!! I cannot tell you how excited I was and am. They also gave me a loaf of 7 grain wheat bread!! (I think they felt guilty because I told them I was going to take back my awesome itouch ipod so I could get this mixer! I didn't feel guilty! I love that mixer after watching them use it! And I can use my kids ipods!)

Lynn, guess what! I got these recipes from the Bosch store made specifically for the mixer. I hope you don't have them because then it's not as exciting for me to tell you them.

Dad's Favourite Dinner Rolls

1 cup mashed, cooked butternut squash
1 Tbs., rounded, Tofu Drink Mix (or powdered milk)
2 Tbs. melted butter
1 Tbs., rounded, Saf Instant Yeast
1 1/2 cups water, hot
1 cup unbleached sugar
1 tsp. Real Salt
4 1/2 cups Spelt flour

Directions:

1. peel, cube and steam butternut squash in your pressure cooker for five minutes at second red ring. Manual release. (If you're like me and don't have a clue what that means, just steam the darn thing)

2. Using water from steamed squash, add more hot water to equal 1 1/2 cups. Add rounded tablespoon of Tofu Drink Mix to water and whisk until blended. Add butter and allow it to melt completely.

3.Place steamed squash in your Bosch bowl and whip until pureed. Add Tofu water, sugar, butter and yeast.

4.Add half of the Spelt flour and put the Real Salt on top of flour. Using your dough hooks, gradually add remaining flour until the dough cleans the curve at the bottom of your bowl.

5. Knead dough for 10 minutes. (no more because it will break down some gluten strands or something)

6. Remove dough from bowl and using a dough cutter, cut it into 24 equal pieces.

7. Spray your baking pans with Vegalene, roll each piece into a ball and place approx. one inch apart in your baking pans.

8. Allow rolls to rise until double in a draft-free space.

9. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 15-18 min.

10. Remove rolls from pans and place on a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. Brush tops with melted butter if desired. Enjoy!

11. She also said that she brushes egg whites on her rolls before she bakes them and then sprinkles sesame seeds on it and then bakes them.

O.k., that was a lot of typing so I'll get the other one tomorrow! LOL!

Forgot a little something...

So...my bestest buddy from Canada (don't worry Christina, you're my favourite Canadian from the U.S.) asked me if Chase got any kisses for his kissing booth, and I neglected to tell you that really funny story! I have pictures but I don't know if it would be right to post other kids pictures. I wish I could because they are so cute!! There was a teenage girl who came up to Chase with a bunch of girls trailing her to ask for a kiss from Chase. She had a quarter in her hand and she was soooooo pretty. Chase just turned away. He wouldn't say anything, not even no.
She kept asking and of course Chase's face was turning red. Finally, the girl said he could have the quarter for free. He took it without even looking at her. I'm not even sure he knew what she looked like. But it was hilarious. I am so glad I got photos of it! I wish I could share them with you. I would do it if I knew my blog was private.
Lynn & Christina, did you notice my correct Canadian spelling of "favourite"? Yup, yup, if my peeps are Canadian, I might as well start spelling like one!
And Lynn, did you get the Bosch mixer? I have a Professional Kitchen Aid, but the lady at the Bosch store told me that my mixer will eventually break down due to the thick whole wheat breads! Do you love yours? I can't wait to learn how to bake some bread too. Imagine all that Cinnamon Raisin Bread that you package up and give away for Christmas!!! Mmmmmm...I better keep a few for myself!