Busy week

This has been a swamped week. Here's a very brief overview, Tuesday was the Taste of Manassa, Wed. was bake a cake to get ready for... Thursday which was our fund raiser for Cub Scouts, and I had to take a cake and 2 gal. of chili, which I made when i got home from work. Friday I cooked for the missionaries, Sat morning was the LAST football game from 11-1, with our church party and supper from 3-5, then trick or treaters till 9. Z & A came to the party and stayed till 10:30. She was never allowed to trick or treat, nor did they give out treats, so she enjoyed all of it and dressed up (and looked ever so great) to pass out the treats.
My A got to play most of the football game which they won 26-12. His body aches everywhere today.
Z & A came today and we made two of the recipes from the Taste of Manassa. Crepes which were not new to either of us but that niether of us have made for a while, and the Italian meal
Pasta Fagioli
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 onion diced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 Tbsp. oregano
1/2 Tbsp. basil
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 lb. Italian Sausage
2 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes or 10-12 fresh peeled and diced
1 14 oz. can dark red kidney beans or black beans
1 cup cubed mozzarella cheese
1 lb. Penne pasta cooked al dente

1. Over med-high heat, saute onion in oil until clear. Immediately add minced garlic cloves, oregano, basil, and pepper. Stir together for approx. 1 minute.

2. Reduce heat to med. and add the uncooked sausage, stir until sausage is brown.

3. Add tomatoes and beans, cover and simmer 10-15 on med-low. If using fresh tomatoes, simmer 2-4 hours on low heat.

4. Pour cubed cheese on top of pasta, pour sauce over that, serve with Parmesan cheese (fresh grated if possible).

Serves 6-8.

It is an authentic Italian recipe and is very good. Worth a try.

Beans, beans, beans!

I have just been to the 'Taste of Manassa' and enjoyed it immensely. A my son's wife went with me. For those of you who are not privileged to have a 'Taste of Manassa' I will explain. (The rather long version, sorry.)
A number of years ago I went to some homemaking meetings in Lamar. These were put on by businesses. This group of promoters would come into a community and approach many businesses and get donations of goods and appliances. They would then advertise and hoards of women would flock to the show- it was free then. At the show there would be demonstrations given on how to cook new and delicious recipes. Everyone attending received a bag of free items such as; a cookbook (of the recipes they were showing plus more), a pencil, magnet, post-its, tomato corer, jar opener, other priceless indispensable kitchen accouterments (with advertisements coating their surfaces). Everyone entered their name into the drawing boxes on the way in and during the evening (which became incredibly long) names were drawn and bags of groceries, casseroles they had just made (in some incredibly lovely dishes by the way), some extra items donated by the stores, were given away. And all were excitedly awaiting the sound of their own name being called out indicating they had won some fabulous prize. I loved them. We would carpool planning weeks ahead. Then they started selling tickets and I was not quite as thrilled. I stayed home.
Well, on a much saner note that is sort of what the 'Taste of Manassa' is. We have several demonstrations of recipes (of which we receive copies), then we get to taste them, also if we are lucky we might take home a new apron, dish towel, jar of honey, or a can of food storage. It is a wonderful time, put on by our 3 church wards.
Tonight it's theme was international recipes. We had Samoan, Italian, Creole, French, German, Mexican-now this is where this whole thing was leading-she told us some awe inspiring news. "If you will cook a carrot with your beans they will not give you gas!" Now that is important news and such a simple solution, don't you think? I will for sure be trying that one!

PINK!

I went to visit my sister this summer. She is a quilter! She is in charge of charity quilts for her church and they were making "wonky" log cabin blocks out of scraps. I tried it and it was soo fun that when I got home I started cutting pink scraps, so I could start another quilt. Pink, "wonky" log cabin blocks 10"x10". Well I was stringing along sewing block upon block and having a great time. Thursday night I decided to take some time and count how many I had finished. I needed 42. I had 32 done and trimmed to size. I had 32 more started so Friday morning (since I don't go to work till 11am) I spent about two hours and the last 10 were finished and trimmed to size. I now have a stack of not needed "wonky" pink log cabins, most about 6" square. I see a baby quilt in my future. Z and A are not quite ready to have a baby, but they better have a girl first. (I have put in my order, do you think it will work?)
Now to, the not quite as fun, part. I have a fabric for the edge border that my mom helped me pick out. But I need a fabric to put between all the blocks. That means I have to find a fabric, of quality, that is compatible with the border, and suits me. There are very few resources here, so this next step may take me a while.
I have to finish my "strings, basket weave" quilt as well. I can sew on that while I hunt for my other pink fabric.

Cub Scouts-Flag Ceremonies

We had a Cub Scout Committee meeting tonight. Unremarkable really since I have been doing Cub Scouts since 1995 with only 2 years off. I am not exceptionally good, just willing. I do really enjoy the boys. I have always been concerned about the quality in the program and find if I'm participating I can at least make sure my part is well prepared and on target. (I can't say I have never fallen short, but over all, I am always there, and most always very prepared.) Sometimes things go well other times, a bit chaotic. But we always accomplish something leading toward badges. It is nice to work with other leaders who are willing to volunteer for refreshments and leading the activities. Anyway we discussed among other things the fact that our boys do not want to wear their shirts and neckerchiefs or to tuck them in to look their best and do not seem to show respect for the flag during the ceremony that they are performing. We do try incentives, yet are falling short of a nice well done presentation of the flag. I need ideas, successes, and although I have used many different methods through the years right now they are failing me, so I need new ones.

New start, again

My mother is urging me to blog. Could it be possible for me to learn this well enough to get comfortable with it? I tend to avoid things that make me too uncomfortable.
The thing is I love reading blogs of those far and dear to me. It helps me feel a part of their lives. I love the stories they tell of their little ones antics and I remember more of my little ones (grown tall) unrecorded antics as a result. I will try again to learn this process.

All is well here. Z is happily married. He is even happy to come and visit for a few hours here and there. We had another birthday... a happy one... Z's wife A made me a wonderfully delicious beautiful cake. They came, we sang and we ate. It was scrumptious. It was delightful not to make the cake myself. She is a dear.

Sorry no pictures. I tried 2x, but no go.