ON TO CHRISTMAS

I got the whole Thanksgiving Dinner done and over..hurrah!!! It seemed to be harder this year than years past, could be that I am getting older. I even had less people this year, only 38 and the average in past years has been 45. I had more help this year too. I got Dana and her family to take all the tablecloths and decorations up to the Community Center and set that up, what a great help that was. Hans helped on the day with some dish washing as I cooked and he sampled, tasted and told me what was needed in some of the dishes. He is a really good cook and I love working in the kitchen with him. Everyone raved over my creamed corn this year. I think it was that good Colorado corn that I got and put in the freezer. It was so sweet everyone thought I had put sugar in it, which I hadn't. Colleen and Jeri did most of the clean-up and washing up, which was wonderful because by that time I was done in. Holding with past years we put everything in the fridge and went home to come back on friday and heat it all up and lots came back for leftovers. Got fridays mess cleaned up and still left everything there. Hans and Shawntell went up on saturday and brought all the my round tables, decorations, crock pots, utensils, etc. home and put away. That was a feat in itself and one that was much appreciated. Saturday was a complete vege out day for me!!!!!

Now it is time to get on with Christmas. Julie Newberry and I will shop for the school kids on the 2nd and hopefully get that all wrapped over that weekend. I have sent in the list to Help of Southern Nevada for toys, bikes and groceries for families that need help this year. Phill and I will go to Vegas and get that all picked up around the 17th. Then the real work will start with sorting all the canned goods and getting the boxes made up for the families. I have a list of about 32 families for this year. Some of the families are in Primm so that will involve getting them out there. The boxes for here in Goodsprings I can have most of the people come to the Community Center and pick up. I still have my own family to shop for of course and will do that when I find the time.

I need to make some Christmas candy before I get to busy. I want to make some cream candy, pecan roll, fudge and caramels. Hope the weather stays cold and dry as that is best for candymaking.

Oh yes, I forgot we are having Community Christmas get together at the CC, which is something else I have to organize. We will sing carols, have cookies, hot cocoa and spiced cider and just have a good time.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and you are all getting in good shape for Christmas!!!

IT"S FRIDAY

Okay it is less than a week to Thanksgiving, gotta get cracking! I can't believe how fast this year has gone, seems like a couple of months ago I was planning and cooking last years Thanksgiving dinner. I must be getting old, can't seem to keep up like I used to.

Haven't accomplished as much as I wanted today. I still get to crawl around in the storage closet and get out all the Thanksgiving decor, still have to iron all the tablecloths. I do have the menu planned and organized,so I know when I need to do what.

We are going down the hill to the casino tonight to have dinner with Doris & Dick. They finally arrived yesterday afternoon from Florida. It doesn't seem like time for them to get here yet but it is. Can't wait to see them and have them here for 4 months. We have a standing dinner every friday while they are in town and look forward to it all week.

Hope everyone is healthy & happy, talk to you later.

HALF THE WEEK IS GONE....LOL

Well it is wednesday and half the week is gone and I haven't done much but vegetate after the big weekend..so this morning I got busy..I've got 4 dozen rolls in the freezer, 2 loads of laundry done and folded, beds made and another boiled raisin cake made (Phill didn't get enough at the party cause he had to share). It is only quarter of 12 and now I am spent so guess I'll just putter the rest of the day.

We went to town last night with Hans and his family. We just needed to run by the bank, grocery store and grabbed a burger at In-n-Out. I picked up a few things for thanksgiving dinner..Smith's had some great looking yams so got 25 pounds of those..last year I had the dickens of a time trying to find yams at a decent price..last year they wanted $2 a lb. so I grabbed them last night at $1 a lb..that is way too high but better than last year. Also got some cranberries, last year I had to go to several stores before I could find any..these stores just don't stock up fresh items for the holiday anymore..guess most people just buy already prepared or go out to eat..yuck..years ago when we weren't having any children for Thanksgiving dinner Liz conned us into going out to dinner with her and Claude..big, big mistake..we had the worst dinner and we've always vowed never again..there is nothing better than a big ol' home cooked turkey dinner!!!

Well better find something to putter around with and get this cake iced.

Recipe for Gram's Boiled Raisin Cake

So many requested copies of this recipe at Phill's party, thought I would post it on here.

BOILED RAISIN CAKE

1 LB. RAISINS
3 tsp CINNAMON
2 tsp ALLSPICE
1 tsp CLOVES
3 CUPS SUGAR
3 CUPS WATER
1 CUP CRISCO/BUTTER
4 CUPS SIFTED FLOUR
1 tsp SALT
1 tsp SODA
2 tsp BAKING POWDER
1 CUP CHOPPED NUTS (OPT)

PLACE RAISINS, SPICES, SUGAR, CRISCO/BUTTER AND WATER IN SAUCEPAN AND BOIL TOGETHER FOR APPROX. 5 MINUTES..COOL..IN LARGE BOWL ADD SIFTED FLOUR, SODA, SALT AND BAKING POWDER..SIFT ALL TOGETHER..ADD IN THE COOLED RAISIN MIXTURE AND ADD NUTS..MIX WELL..DON'T OVER BEAT..PUT IN FLOURED, GREASED 9x13 PAN OR 2 ROUND CAKE PANS..BAKE FOR 1 HOUR AT 350 DEGREES.

NANNIE'S CARAMEL FROSTING
1/2 CUP BUTTER
1 CUP DARK BROWN SUGAR
1/4 tsp SALT
1/4 CUP MILK OR 1/2 & 1/2
2 CUPS ICING SUGAR

MELT BUTTER IN A SAUCEPAN OVER LOW HEAT. STIR IN BROWN SUGAR AND SALT. BRING TO A BOIL OVER MEDIUM HEAT; BOIL HARD 2 MINUTES, STIRRING CONTANTLY. REMOVE FROM HEAT. STIR IN MILK. RETURN PAN TO HEAT; BRING TO A FULL BOIL. REMOVE FROM HEAT; COOL TO LUKEWARM. STIR IN ICING SUGAR AND BEAT UNTIL SMOOTH. IF FROSTING IS TOO THICK, BEAT IN A LITTLE MILK.

THIS IS PHILL'S MOTHERS CAKE RECIPE AND MY MOTHER'S ICING RECIPE AND THEY GO GOOD TOGETHER. GUARANTEED TO BE A CROWD PLEASER!!!!

WE ARE STILL ALIVE AND KICKING!!!!!

Well after seeing some other family member's blogs, I thought I better get to blogging again..Where to start.

So much has happened since I last posted I'll just hit some of the hightlights of the last year.

We had a wonderful Christmas with all of us going to David's in Pahrump. We had a greaaaat Easter fishing at Sunnyside. All of Mark's family and all of Hans' family along with Phill and I. We had snow, rain, wind and sun, but most of all we had a blast..There is nothing better than a camping trip with your kids, grandkids and great grandkids..Popo and Gramma are truly blessed!!!

I did get a garden in of sorts with the help of Hans and Mark. It did terrible this year..Why, I have know idea. I ended up buying 2 lugs of blueberries and made jam, 40 dozen ears of corn and put it in the freezer and a bushel of green beans which I canned. I got 10 pints and 22 quarts of green beans. I have yet to pull my beets and pickle them, which is a project for this week. We had tomatoes to eat but not enough to can, which is a great disappointment..I have always tried to can around 100 quarts of tomatoes every year. Our home canned foods are going to be skimpy this year.

In May I had to move Lulu into our home, as she was not able to take care of herself anymore. That worked okay for awhile and then she got so she wouldn't go outside and walk. She stopped eating and that started a real decline. On 9/28/10 it seemed like she might have had a stroke so called 911 and had her taken to the hospital. Yes she did have a stroke, but they discovered also that she was full of cancer. The doctor said she had to have had it for 3-4 years to be spread thoughout her the way it was. I had to put her in a Hospice center and on 10/10/10 she passed away. She would have been 85 on 12/27/10. After 40 years of friendship and looking after her it has left a great hole in our lives. She was cremated and we will place her ashes in the Goodsprings Cemetery.

September was a bad month!! I took my neighbor and friend Pat Cash in to the hospital on the 18th and she died in the car on the way to town. Pat was a member of the branch and had lived here in Goodsprings a couple of years longer than us. She had a son Matthew that was Ronnie's age and they were great friends growing up. I had to contact Matthew in Germany and break the news and then I helped him with memorial service and cleaning out the house. Pat so enjoyed our monthly dinners that we have here in Goodsprings and we will miss her alot.

Other than 4 or 5 parties this summer it has been very quiet around here. We did go to Ralph and Linda's mission report in Cedar City and that was fun. We got to see lots of family and that is always a good thing.

Phill had his 80th birthday on friday November 12 and we celebrated with a big bang-up party on saturday the 13th. Some family and friends chipped in and got him a flat screen TV, which he is really enjoying. Lots of family came: Ralph & Linda, Joanie, Debbie, Earl & Annie, Doug & Nettie, Davey & Danessa, Naomi, Airdree, David & Belinda, Hunter, Heath & Christi, Crista, Junior, Lacie, Lori, Remi, Asia, Hans & Shawntell, Carley, Mark & Terry and lot of friends. First Phill went for a glider ride in the afternoon and then we had his party up at the Community Center. Counting Phill and I there were 64 party goers..Phill said he didn't think he knew 62 people and was pleased as punch that so many showed up. I fix a baked potato and salad bar and that seemed to go over good. We had birthday cake without ice cream and I also made Phill a boiled raisin cake..Of course after spending $30 on ice cream I forgot to take it up to the center..DUH..What a fun time we had and how blessed we are for such wonderful family and friends!!!

Now it is time to get my Thanksgiving dinner together. This will be the 4th year I have cooked dinner and served it at the Community Center for anyone in Goodsprings who wants to come. We have averaged around 44 people every year, so am planning on the same again this year. I'll cook 3 turkeys, 1 of them I am going to smoke and not have a ham this year. I usually make the rolls ahead and freeze them, which I should have started doing today and didn't. It takes about 10 dozen every year. My menu this year is: turkey, stuffing (Grams recipe), mashed potatoes & gravy, candied yams, green beans, red cabbage, corn pudding, frog eye salad, strawberry pretzel salad, relish tray, rolls, pumpkin pies, lemon merinque pies, pecan pies, mincemeat pie and boiled raisin cake. Sounds yummy doesn't it!!! You better come to Goodsprings for a truly homemade dinner, I make everything from scratch.

I don't do black friday, so can relax and vegetate the day after all the cooking. I will be up and running on monday the 29th as Julie Newberry and I will go shopping for all the school kids and preschoolers in Goodsprings for our annual Christmas program at the school and where Santa will give each child a present..This tradition was started around 1906 here in Goodsprings and we have kept it going all these years.

Guess that somewhat brings us up to date..I will try and keep this going once again.

Phill is doing good healthwise, we just take it day by day. Heavenly Father has blessed us in so many ways!!!