New traditions

The other day I found a recipe on the internets and thought I'd share it here.

Pillow Mints!

Makes 1 pound (about 225 mints)

Make these Good Friday morning or the night before. They're ready to serve Easter morning.

1 stick salted butter, softened
A one-pound box powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
2 Tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk
1 teaspoon mint extract
Red, green, yellow food coloring

In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. With mixer on low, add sugar (sift it so there are no lumps) to the butter along with cream and extract until creamy and smooth.

Turn dough out onto a work surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar; knead until smooth and satiny. Divide mixture into thirds: Tint one-third pastel pink with 1 drop red food coloring, one-third pastel green with 1 drop green and one-third buttery yellow with 1 drop yellow. Cover each portion with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out as you work.

Note: I have altered the original recipe's number of drops of food coloring. In the photos above (the first time I made these mints), I used no yellow food coloring and 2 drops red for the pink mints and 2 drops green for the green mints. I think a single drop of food coloring in each third division would achieve much softer pastel shades.

Line 2 baking sheets with nonstick foil. Lightly dust work surface with powdered sugar. Working with one color at a time, roll out ¼ cupfuls of the dough, using your fingers, into a ½-inch-thick rope. Cut rope into ½- to ¾-inch pillows. Transfer mints to prepared baking sheet with a spatula. (Be careful—mints are soft and will squish easily). Repeat with remaining mint mixture.

Let air-dry at room temperature for 2 days until firm enough to handle. Transfer mints to covered containers.

Storage Tip: Store in a container that won't allow moisture to become trapped inside at cool room temperature up to 2 weeks.

5 mints = one serving
Per serving: 62 calories, 0 protein/0 fiber, 11 g carbohydrates, 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 6 mg cholesterol, 15 mg sodium


I haven't tried them yet, but will soon. The plan is to make them each year on Grandpa' birthday.

Also, I've been adding pics to the flickr page; start commenting, PEOPLE! I speak more specifically to the 4 special ladies, as they have info to share about the pics.

Side Note

Dad/Grandpa was released as Bishop the Sunday before I started High School, so August of 1978. It was just 13 months later that Mom/Grandma died. Heavenly Father has very good timing for getting done what he wants done.

An Enlightened Moment

I was at Food Ranch today and Sandra Huntington asked me how old I was when my mom died. I told her I was 16 and we talked about how that is very young to lose your mother. She asked how old my mom was when she died. I told her that she had just turned 45. We talked about how young that was to be taken from your family.

She told me she could still remember where she was when she got the news that Nell Ware had died. And we chatted for a minute about all of this and then I was out the door and to my car.

As I drove home I thought about Dad and how he was 48 when he lost his wife. In all these years no one has ever asked me how old Dad was when Mom died. Or said anything about how young that is to lose your wife. Many, many people have said just what Sandra said about my age, and about Mom's age. But no one has ever asked about Dad.

48 is a year older than my age right now. So think of Todd Jeffs or Garth Luke. They are 48. That is very young to lose your wife and be left with a daughter still at home and one just starting out on her own and two others with babies. A husband who was looking forward to just the two of them at home with grand-kids entering the picture. Bishop"hood" was over and he was home more.

Wow, I just had a thought. When Dad was called to be the Bishop, he was rather young for a Bishop at that time and in this area. Now I see the wisdom of a Heavenly Father in calling him when he was called. Dad was released in August of 78. The next bishop after that was called after Mom had died so that was like the only opportunity for Dad to be Bishop. Very interesting.

Maybe it's just me and my being only 16 at the time, but it doesn't seem like many people "worried" about Dad. He was a strong man in the community. He bore everyone's burdens. And then this happened and again, people relied on him and his strength.

Just a thought I had today and wanted to share.

Just a Thought Today

I heard at school that Norma Fox had passed away. My first fleeting thought was "Oh, I need to go call Dad." How long does it take before that doesn't happen any more? Does it ever go away?

A sticky situation

Today we went out to play (oh what a perfect day it is today- no jackets, hot!!). Daphne was exploring, as she does, and got some sap on her fingers. She immediately wanted to go in the house and get clean (she's a little compulsive about dirt).

We made a beeline for the house and began the cleaning process. The dirt came off quickly, but we had to get the butter out for the sap.

Every time I get butter out to clean sap from skin (which, truth be told, is not often), I think of Grandpa.

We were all out playing hide and seek in the yard, and I had gone to hide in the yews and junipers amongst the large lava rocks on the west side of the driveway. I grabbed a branch, and got some sap on my hands. As I made my way to the house, I passed Grandpa; who asked what I was doing.

I told him I was going to wash my hands. They were sticky with sap. As he was on his way to some project in the yard, he simply instructed me that the best thing would be butter.

So I went into the house and washed my hands with soap (Butter? Was his kidding?). It appeared to come off- he must have been joking. I reached for the towel and realized as I dried my hands, that they were still sticky.

I searched for the butter, opening the bread drawer (that I can still smell to this day) and others, until I came upon the desired item. I rubbed in just a bit of it, washed my hands again, and was relieved of my stickiness!

Thanks Grandpa! You made a little girl's life a bit happier today.

Signs of Spring

Why am I the only person posting anything here?

A few days ago I was driving home from school. Really, I was. It was about 5:00 and the sun was shining, which is odd around here this year. Since it was late afternoon, or early evening, which ever way you think, the sun was in the west so kind of low in the direction I was driving. I had just turned off Main Street heading west from the Old Fire Station and was struck with the most beautiful site. The trees looked like they had tiny little sparkles all over them. They were literally sparkling and glowing with the sun shining on them. So different from the gray branches of the previous days. It took me a minute to realize what was making the strange transformation. They were quakie trees, and the sparkles were the little fuzzy caterpillar-like beards that show up as the leaf-buds start to form. They only last for a few days, then drop off and the leaves appear. Of course, quakies make me think of Dad and his love for the trees. What a beautiful sight. I think it was the first time I ever thought of these messy beards as beautiful, but they certainly were. I had a camera in my purse, but forgot to get a picture. Then, again, I am sure a picture wouldn't have shown the beautify of the sparkles. Those trees were literally in a white glow of sparkles. It was a beautiful thing to see, and I bet I never get to see it like that again. Just happened to be there at the right time and place. Maybe a sign from heaven?

April's Fool's Joke

Every April 1st I would call Dad and we would laugh about the joke he played on me one WARM morning. I think it was his best ever, and I really got taken in by it.

I woke up to someone knocking on my bedroom window early in the morning, when it was just starting to get light enough to see. I heard Dad whisper/calling my name. I jumped to the window to see what was going on. He was right outside the window and backed up to talk to me. I could see he was kind of jumping around and acted like he was in a hurry. He said he was in a hurry, an emergency meeting at the district office. (He was still working there at the time.) Now, I don't remember if the state superintendent of schools had resigned, or if that was the time the superintendent was killed in a car accident, but at the time, there was no state superintendent and everyone was wondering who would be appointed to the position. Dad said he was called to this emergency meeting at the district office because our superintendent, Ernie Weeks (and we all know how much Dad LOVE him!) had been appointed to be the state superintendent and everyone at our district office was meeting to "rearrange" positions to cover what needed to be covered. Dad just wanted me to know what was going on before I got to school and heard rumors there. I kept saying things like "Really" "When" "What" "Did the state know what they were doing?" He kept answering my questions with really short fast answers. He insisted that he was in a hurry and needed to get off fast. He was talking as he was walking backward toward his car which was parked on the side of the road. As he reached for the door handle, he said, "Oh, by the way, check your calendar, today is April Fool's Day." Then he jumped in the car and drove away, laughing at me all the way, I am sure!

If there is April Fool's Day in heaven, I am sure he is laughing at me again, remembering how he snookered me that day!

Pictures

I'm writing this so you'll all hassle me about editing Grandpa's pictures. I've been meaning to start up again and hopefully saying it out loud to you all (so to speak) will get me off of my lazy butt.

I'm going to start right now. Really.

New links

Hi family,

I put more links to the side. They are the family blogs that I have. So now everyone who comes here can have easy access to the blogs. If you have a blog and you want the family to be able to read it, let me know and I will add that address. I also updated the background for an "outdoor" theme. Hope everyone enjoys it! Linda, I am still wanting to help you get hooked up on this so you can post. Please let me know when or how to help you.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa

I am reposting what I put on my personal blog...


Today is Grandpa Rue's birthday. He would have been 79. It is the "first" birthday since he has passed. Every year since I have been on my own I have called him to tell him Happy Birthday. I would wait for him to pick up that phone and hear him say "Oh my stars!" and then when I would tell him Happy Birthday, he would say "how did you know it was my birthday" even though it seems we all knew it was his birthday. It was always around Stake Conference and we always tried to have a family BBQ on the deck. I have thought of Grandpa all day today. Mom and Julie even said on grandpas blog that he would always remind everyone that it was around the first day of spring and growing up, that meant he could take off his undershirt. Well, it didn't feel like spring today. It has been snowing! I hope Grandpa has been enjoying his birthday today. I've been thinking of him all day! I love you grandpa! Always and forever!