Food, Glorious Food

We've shared some yummy food with each other over the years. It's always fun to see what's going to show up at our semi-annual potluck dinners. Remember the time when everyone brought dessert?
But we've never spent a whole evening on food before--until last week.
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Hermana brought:

SHRIMP NEWBURG

1 Tbps. butter

2 Tbps. green onions brown in butter

1 can small shrimp, drained

1 can shrimp Campbell’s soup

Warm together.  Just before serving,  add 1 cup sour cream and 1-2 cups peas.  Dilute with milk, if needed.

Pour over patty shells or over rice.

(You can substitute medium to large shrimp, if desired.)

She brought two old cookbooks . . . .

and some family cookbooks.

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Jade brought:
7^th Day Adventist Cookbook

Old Alaska cookbook

2^nd great grandma Gunderson (1894)

From My Grandma Gunderson who just celebrated her 92nd birthday last week. This recipe was from her Grandma who made the potato starch from soaking potatoes and straining the starch water, then drying it and collecting the starch. Way easier to go to The Good Earth.

STARCH CAKE

*Preheat oven to 400 (but follow temperature guide below during baking)

8 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup potato starch (I bought mine at the good earth)

3/4 tsp cream of tarter

Separate eggs, beat whites until stiff, then mix in the cream of tarter. In a large bowl, beat yolks with sugar until creamy. Fold the potato starch into the yolk/sugar mixture. Finally, fold egg whites into the batter. Grease a tube pan generously (but leave the tube ungreased).

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes

then turn the oven to 375 for 15 minutes

then to 350 for another 15 minutes,

then down to 300 for the final 25 minutes

Total time in oven 65 minutes. When done, run a sharp knife around outsidge edge of pan. Turn onto brown paper bag and let cool.

Serve with fruit and whipped cream.

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Queenie likes these cooking magazines:

MICROWAVE APPLE CRISP

6-8 Medium tart apples, peeled and sliced (8 cups)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1/2 cup flour, divided
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats (I use regular)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine


Toss apples with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 2 T flour; place in a greased 8" microwave-safe deep-dish pie plate (I use 9-10").  In a bowl, combine oats, cinnamon, and remaining brown sugar and flour.  Cut in butter until crumble; springkle over apple mixture.  Cover with waced paper.  Microwave on high for 10-12 minutes or until the apples are tender. Yield: 8 servings.

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Juicy brought:

+ Ward and Family Cookbooks

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Jeeves brought:

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Moab brought:

She likes 101 Things To Do With . . . . cookbooks. I don't know if she likes these particular ones, however.

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Apple likes the Lion House cookbooks.

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Shulamit, one of our original members, returned after many years and brought:

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Legacy brought:

BUTTERSCOTCH BUNDT ROLLS

Also known as Sticky buns!

18 frozen dinner rolls

1 (3-ounce) package butterscotch pudding (not instant)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup melted butter

Arrange frozen rolls in a greased bundt pan. Sprinkle pudding, brown sugar, and pecans over rolls.  Drizzle butter over all. Cover bundt pan with a dishtowel, plastic wrap, or waxed paper and let rise at room temperature overnight, or about 12 hours.  Remove distowel. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Cool 5 to 10 minutes before inverting to a serving plate. Serve warm. Makes 18 rolls

P.S.  Don't be tempted to add more than 18 rolls or they will run over the pan like Legacy's did!

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Two of my favorite cookbooks:

The authors of Our Best Bites also have a popular blog by the same name. Check it out {here}. One of the authors served a mission to Brazil and she has some Brazilian recipes that I love. Check out the easy cheese rolls (also known as pao de queijo) {here}. It's great for people who have gluten intolerance because there is no wheat flour. It's made with tapioca flour instead.

I watch The Food Nanny on byutv and she inspires me to put love into my cooking.

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Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op that was recommended. You can order a basket of fresh produce and pick it up on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. Check it out {here}.


If you are interested in starting your own co-op, learn about it {here}.

Bon Appetit, Interrupters!

Byrd Baylor

Byrd Baylor is 87 years old. She has written 30 or so books, four of which have received Caldecott Honor Awards. Her books are her love letter to the desert she loves. She is currently working on a book of personal essays about her unusual life.

Her name, Byrd, is her mother's maiden name. The family descended from General Byrd. She also descends from the founder of Baylor University.


She lives in a solar-powered adobe house 50 miles south of Tucson, Arizon. She has a generator for the little electricity she uses and she types on a manual typewriter. She gets her news from a portable radio and her friends drop off newspapers at a cafe six miles away.

Read articles about her in the Arizona Daily Star [ here ] and the Arizona Public Media [ here ].

Listen to an interview with Byrd Baylor [ here ]. She reads an essay, "Good Women Who Love Bad Trucks."

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site has some ideas on how to use her books [ here ]. 

Jeeves, Girl Wonder and her son have done a fabulous job making recordings of some of her books.

Check it out!

I'm In Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor

Listen to the recording by Jeeves [ here ].

Before You Came This Way by Byrd Baylor

Listen to the recording by Jeeves [ here ].

If You Are a Hunter of Fossils by Byrd Baylor

Listen to the recording by Girl Wonder's son [ here ].

The Desert is Theirs by Byrd Baylor

Listen to the recording by Girl Wonder [ here ].

The Way to Start a Day by Byrd Baylor

Listen to the recording by Girl Wonder [ here ].

Your Own Best Secret Place by Byrd Baylor

Listen to the recording by Girl Wonder and her son [ here ].

The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor

Listen to the recording by Jeeves [ here ].

Our Visit to Rwanda

For our discussion on The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba, Girl Wonder welcomed us with African bookmarks that she had made . . .

and treated us to luscious fruit and cream . . . 

Girl Wonder says:

The whipped cream is shelf stable whipping cream purchase at Gossner's Cheese Factory in Logan, UT. They also have shelf stable milk. One problem about shelf stable milk and cream is that has only has a 7 or 8 month shelf life... It tastes wonderful, but doesn't store for long periodsl. It is really great for camping and when you run out of milk and it's Saturday night."

and sweet potato cookies.

Cake Mix Recipe
1 yellow cake mix
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
Optional: 1/2 cup of sweet potato, or oatmeal, coconut, etc.
Mix everything together. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes exactly. Allow cookies to set up as they need to finish cooking on the cookie sheet.

Here are the links that were shared:

Moab's link to article about baptism for dead controversy [here].

Sereia's link to the Washington Post article about The Book of Mormon musical [here].

The Help Movie

Watch the first trailer for The Help, which arrives in theaters in August 2011, { here }.

And if you're interested in some behind-the-scenes info . . . .

Watch this:

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Amazing what a boy, a library book, and some ingenuity can achieve.

At nineteen, William's English was limited.


Four years later, William's English is good enough to jest with Jon.

The Daily Show - William Kamkwamba
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

William with Bryan Mealer

In 1996, the fighting in Rwanda spilled over the Congolese border, sparking a conflict that would eventually claim more lives than any other since the Second World War. Based on Mealer’s three years in Congo, All Things Must Fight to Live is an unforgettable tour through the aftermath of war and colonialism, in a country that is still the site of the greatest humanitarian catastrophe on earth. It is nonfiction at its finest: harrowing, gorgeous, and in the end redemptive.

When Crickets Cry is a book with heart

about hearts.

We all enjoyed it.

For some of us, it was in spite of the contrived plot and excessive metaphors.

Thanks, Legacy, for a great discussion and for the yummy cheesecake.

Who knew that so many of us had heart problems?

Hermana is one of those, and she confessed that she lied on her mission application. She also made sure we all knew what to do in case we found her passed out on the street. Nothing! And she shared a dishwashing secret she received from her repairman.

One half teaspoon of Spa Down will make the dishes sparkle.

It's available here:
Clear Springs Pool and Spa
235 South State St.
Orem, UT 84058

(801) 226-3950

It's also available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Leisure-Time-Spa-Down-2-5/dp/B000V8BUBE.

Several shared movies they enjoyed on heart transplants:

Tower recommended a restaurant in Salt Lake City, especially the stroganoff.

Copper Onion

111 E. Broadway, Ste. 170

801-355-3282

Beau Cheveaux recommended some French movies:

These two need to be watched together:

They are available at Orem Library and Netflix.

Charles Martin/When Crickets Cry

In preparation for our discussion tomorrow night, here are some interesting things about Charles Martin:

Favorite book: Robinson Crusoe

Three college degrees: BA in English, MA in Journalism, PhD in Communications

Time spent researching locations for When Crickets Cry: 1 year

Reoccurring themes in his books: broken people, love, hope

Martin was thrilled to have The Mountain Between Us, his seventh book, optioned for a movie by 20th Century Fox.

Watch a video of Charles Martin, where he explains what he intends to accomplish as an author:

When Crickets Cry is Martin's third novel.

Questions to Ponder:

1. Titles are always important. Why do you think the author chose this one? In Asian countries, the cricket is a symbol of luck and prosperity. What role do crickets play in this story? What do you think about Annie's comment that "they give their lives for mine"?  

2. One of the major themes in When Crickets Cry is love—both the nature of love and how it affects people. What are some of the examples of love from the novel (not just romantic love, but also the love of friendship and of sacrifice)? How did each of the characters grow in his or her understanding of love?  

3. An obvious symbol for love is the heart, and the author uses this symbol—doctors who "fix" hearts, people with diseased hearts, characters with "closed" hearts, and don't forget that heart-of-pine house—to draw our attention to the theme. In addition to love, the symbol of the heart can also be used to represent life itself, compassion, or the center of wisdom. How are these different aspects of the heart reflected in Reese's life throughout the story?  

4. When we first see Annie, she is wearing a yellow dress and selling lemonade. Considering that yellow is a common symbol of the sun and sunlight, what do you think the author wants us to think about Annie's role in the novel?

5. Another important theme in this novel is the concept of redemption. Who needs a second chance in this story? Who offers one? Does it seem as if each major and minor character falls on both sides of the equation—both needing redemption and yet somehow able to offer it to someone else? 

6. As in all of Charles Martin's novels, water is a recurring motif in When Crickets Cry. From the Tallulah River flowing into Lake Burton, to the leaking water pipe, a few rainstorms, and a recurring dream in which Emma pours water from a pitcher, this novel is full of water. Water is often thought of as a symbol of new life—such as when the spring rains bring the landscape to life with new growth and color. Discuss the ways that water represents both life, and new life, in the story.  

7. Boats are another powerful and evocative symbol in the novel. Reese spends time on the lake rowing, and he also builds little "toy" boats—it's no accident they call to mind a Viking funeral—to dispose of Emma's letters. Boats can represent a journey, a crossing, adventure, and exploration; discuss how each of these relate to Reese's progression through the story. 

8. Several things in this story have bbeen buried, starting with the town that is "buried" under the lake that Reese lives next to. What else is buried in this novel?  

9. Sometimes it seems as if Reese is hiding behind his literary allusions, holding his emotions at arm's length. From Donne's "No man is an island" and the castaway in Robinson Crusoe, to Shakespeare's "I will wear my heart upon my sleeve…I am not what I am," the author is giving us clues as to Reese's inner feelings, feelings he is often unwilling to give free rein to. The quotations are also used to foreshadow events in the story. Which reference did you find most meaningful? Why? 

10. Discuss the meaning of the scripture on Emma's medallion ("Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life; Proverbs 4:23"). What is the significance of Reese's deciding to give the medallion to Annie?

  

11. Blindness is a symbol that appears in When Crickets Cry. Emma's brother, Charlie, is blind, and Helen Keller is both referred to and quoted frequently. Blindness can represent ignorance, darkness, and error—or a refusal to see reality. It can also represent inner vision (as Hellen Keller said, "the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart"). Who is blind in this story, and who can see?  

12. Why do you think that Reese avoided reading Emma's last letter? Would you have saved it as he did?  

13. What do you think Reese whispered to Annie's heart?