Nauvoo Women's Retreat

This past weekend my mom treated Emily and I to the Nauvoo Women's Retreat. It was really wonderful and uplifting. We did not sign up for the first day's sessions since we travelled in that morning, hitting a couple of thrift stores on different towns on the way up. When we finally arrived, we met up with my sister Monie and my aunt Ramona. They were both involved in the Re-enactment of the first meeting of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo. I took the pictures she put on her blog post, so I'll steal them and add them here with a little more information.


This first picture is of Monie and the actors who portrayed Joseph and Emma Smith. They are married in real life, and were very nice. His name is Stewart Peterson. Does he look at all familiar? He didn't to me, either. But I have see him in movies before and didn't realize it. He was in Where the Red Fern Grows and Seven Alone , along with some others films, when he was young.

This is upstairs in the Red Brick Store, where the original meeting was held 167 years ago. Monie portrayed one of our ancestors, Nancy Naomi Alexander Tracy, and had a small speaking part. They all look funny because they were in the middle of singing a song! Monie is in the middle, and Ramona is on the far right without the bonnet. She took hers off to give to a baby behind her to play with.

I'm going to have to blog about the retreat with several posts, since the presenters were so amazing! For a tiny little conference (about 150 women were there) I was so amazed at the wonderful speakers and talent who participated.

Go visit some others at Talk About Tuesday!

St. Patrick's Day Menu

We love having a meal based on a holiday. Oh, who am I kidding. We love a meal anytime! Here's a quick and easy St. Paddy's Day menu. The bread is not quite Irish soda bread, but a cheap imitation. I also realize that it is called a New England Boiled Dinner and not an Irish boiled dinner, but it's yummy all the same. And I'm not sure if the Irish traditionally eat pistachios, but anything green is game for St. Patrick's Day, isn't it?

Irish Bread Machine Bread

1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup water (70º to 80ºF)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut up
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons Fleischmann's® Bread Machine Yeast

1. Measure all ingredients into bread machine pan in the order suggested by manufacturer.

2. Process on basic/white bread cycle; use medium/normal crust color setting. Do not use delayed-bake feature. Remove bread from pan; cool on wire rack.

New England Boiled Dinner

3 pounds corned beef brisket
6 carrots
2 turnips, optional
6 onions
6 potatoes
1 cabbage head

1. Cut meat into serving-sized pieces, cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for approximately 3-1/2 hours. Remove meat and keep warm.

2. Scrub the vegetables and cut into quarters or cubes. Cut the cabbage into 6 wedges.

3. Bring the broth to a boil; add carrots, turnips, onions and potatoes. Cook for 15 minutes. Add cabbage and cook for 15-20 minutes longer.

4. Arrange meat on serving platter and place vegetables around the meat in an attractive pattern. Sprinkle all with fresh ground black pepper.

Green Pistachio Cake

1 package White cake mix
1 3.4 ounce package instant pistachio pudding mix
1 cup oil
1 cup water or lemon-lime soda
3 eggs
1/2 cup pistachios, chopped

Frosting
2 envelopes whipped topping mix
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 3.4 ounce package instant pistachio pudding mix

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, oil, water or soda, eggs and chopped pistachios. Beat for 4 minutes. Pour batter into a greased and floured tube pan, and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack. Frost and garnish with nuts. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For Frosting: Combine whipped topping mixes and milk. Beat until soft peaks form. Add pudding mix and beat until fluffy.

Magnificent!

U2 on Letterman last night.





They just get better with age.



I think this would be a great song for Breaking Dawn!

WHY???

It seems like every time I find a TV show I like, BAM, it's pulled off the air. Never fails. This season's victim is "Pushing Daisies". I kept looking for it, even though it was in a horrible time slot; Wednesday's at 7:00. (so maybe that's why it didn't take off!) So quirky and witty! Kristen Chenoweth was hilarious as Olive, and Ned and Chuck, the main characters, were so likeable. Guess I'll have to move to the UK to see the rest of Season 2, though. Maybe Monie will move with me.

I thought victim number 2 was going to be Medium, a show about Allison. She sees dead people. With a time slot of Monday nights at 9:00 (after Family Home Evening and putting the kids to bed) I could usually manage to catch it. I'm happy to say that it's back! I can get my laundry folded while I watch Allison and her family deal with everyday life while she helps the DA solve crime. She's such a multi-tasker.

I'm usually commitment-phobic when it comes to TV shows. Sometimes I get tired of them after a few seasons (Law and Order) or I like them but they're on at a bad time (Survivor) or it is just so stinkin' long and takes up two nights that I can't even think of wasting that much time on it (American Idol). So for now, it's Medium. And Numbers if I can get to it.