"Enriching" Recipes

Last night, for our ward's Relief Society Enrichment, we had our monthly recipe exchange. We had some great ladies over at our house and each brought copies of a recipe they loved and we all did a switch-er-oo. At each exchange night, we have a different theme, and last night's was "Italian fare". I'm posting the recipes I shared last night with YOU! The first is a truly torturingly tasty set of instructions for very fine alfredo. I learned it from my dear friend, Becky. Thanks Becky!

Better Than “The Olive Garden” Alfredo Sauce

8 oz. cream cheese
1 stick of butter
1 ½ cups milk
1 cup Parmesan cheese
½ tsp garlic powder

*In a sauce pan, melt the cream cheese, butter, and milk. Add the parmesan cheese and garlic powder and stir until combined and smooth. Toss with pasta and serve with an extra sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and a garnish of parsley. Serve, and weep with joy.

This next recipe is one my family and I grew up on. My mother was given the recipe thirty years ago and made some changes to improve on it. Eating it now, reminds me of my mother and how much I love her. Now, I must say, out of pride, that I added my own little addition to the stew. Corn! That vegetable/grain adds so much love to most recipes, and this one is no exception. This stew is delicious and easy to prepare! It will send you all into convulsions of happiness.

Hamburger Stew

Brown and drain:
½ lb. ground beef
1 medium onion chopped
Then add:
2 cans Campbell’s minestrone soup
2 – 16 oz. cans of pork & beans
1 – 8 oz can tomato sauce
2/3 cup corn
3 cups water
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
1 beef bouillon cube or 1 tsp beef bouillon granules
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil

*Let this simmer for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving. I also like to add cheddar cheese cubes.

Well, I guess you all have your menus for the rest of the week now. Try these entrees if you want to, and let me know what you think!

Hey, It's OK!

In every issue of Glamour magazine, there is a page under the Life & Happiness section that is titled, "Hey, it's OK!" It's a list of things we as women do that could, perhaps, by snooty snoots, be considered a bit on the dorkier side of the quaint and quirky. For the rest of us - it's OK! So here is a list of my OWN perplexing peculiarities:

Hey, it's OK!

... that I can openly admit to subscribing to "Glamour" and "Allure" magazines. Seeing those shallow monthly beauty gazettes in my mailbox is like Christmas morning!

... that I feel a warming stir in my heart at the weather forecast of precipitation. Let it snow, let it rain, let it sleet!

... that I always keep my fingernails short, sweet, and to the point...or should we say rounded edge? Nail polish always. Daggers? No!

...that I have no qualms at all about throwing an apple away after the first bite if the texture is at all mealy, mushy, or mucky. It's an insult to the human palate! Give me crunchy, cold, and crispy ones with a rosy flush to its skin - along with a side of sharp cheddar cheese. That's just poetry!

...that I feel I must deep clean the kitchen before even attempting to cook, bake, blanch, boil, simmer, or sizzle any foodstuffs. If a mess at all exists, I may as well tear out my hair in frustration and cook that for dinner, because I simply cannot concentrate on my cooking if surrounded by clutter and chaos!

...that I have to turn out the light before leaving the room and have the closet and kitchen cupboard doors shut. Hey, the light thing saves energy, and the cupboard thing, well, that affects no one but me!

...that 99% of the shoes I own are high heeled backless sandals. I wear them with with pride year round!

...that I'm an unapologetic milk snob. I only drink the organic variety because it's healthier and it tastes sweet, clean, and fresh - minus that nasty, sour aftertaste that plagues the ordinary milk on the store shelves. Also, it must be served on ice because no one wants to be reminded through lukewarm, ripe, soiled, and beastly taste, that the beverage being consumed once resided in a cow!

...that I ended every list item with an exclamation point. It quite dramatically drives each element home. Don't you THINK?!

A Pocket Full of...POSES!

Here is some word alliteration usage for you - a post of pictures of poses! Each shot is of us hamming it up for some photographic fun.

Summer is the princess of posers. These two "denim" shots were taken at church during her nursery class.

Look - in the picture above, she even has the Christie Brinkley pout thing happening in abundance!

Summer and I were heading out for a run-of-the-mill errand to the grocery store, but she looked so vastly darling, that I HAD to have a mini photo shoot with her on the stairs. Oh, how I love her!

In March, our ward Relief Society had their birthday celebration for Enrichment. What an exciting night it was! We had a dinner and fashion show with the young women of our ward modeling dresses that belonged to their mothers or grandmothers. I had so much fun being the emcee for the show with Jerald there to provide hot eye candy and piano loveliness. I modeled a beautiful dress worn by my Grandma Bubbles in 1973! She passed away in 1998, but I felt very close to her that evening.

Jerald took the microphone and described the dress to the audience as I posed away.

Jerald's piano playing was, as always, melodious and harmonious!

Oh. My. Gosh. Jerald is SO hot and dapper in this picture! He mastered the whole "casual-with-hand-in-pocket" style of pose that is so arresting! I so loved having him there with me that night. xoxo

We had three display tables of the ladies' momentos from the past. We showcased more of my Grandma Bubbles' dresses on mannequins and in the above shot is a beautiful gold-framed picture of her in a fur coat.

We also displayed my mother's fox coat, which I couldn't resist trying on. Being in New York, she couldn't attend and everyone missed her, but she was definitely there in spirit! Hmm...behind me is Jan Pack from our ward looking FIERCELY disinterested :)

My sister, Stephanie, came that night and it was wonderful to have her support and someone to giggle with :) She and I are always poised for a pose!

TRUE Romance

There are many actions from a man that are considered romantic, such as bouquets of flowers and boxes of truffles. I've had many of those niceties from my Jerald, but yesterday, he showed his love for me in the tenderest way a man ever could.
Let me start by saying I was icky sicky in a strikingly violent way, due to side effects from some pain medication. I enjoyed dizziness and nausea, with severe stomach cramping. I vomitted into the bathroom sink because I always refuse to disgorge into a toilet. It's too dry heave-inducing with all of that dank and cold toilet water glaring at me. I threw up an apple I'd just consumed, and I must assert that we could speculate and theorize MANY metaphors of THAT rough and chunky mixture. Ugh! Anyway, a woman never feels her most desirable when she's gagging. There's just no graceful way to do it! Jerald, though, stood behind me as I "liberated" that apple laced with bile and held my hair back, rubbed my shoulders, and told me he loved me. He caught me as I collapsed. He held me as I cried. He looked at me as though I were beautiful. He carried me back to my recliner chair. He gave me a Priesthood blessing of healing and comfort. Yes, it was the truest love a guy could ever give a girl. Romance in its sincerest and most softhearted form. I was sure to kiss my thanks - after I'd brushed my teeth, of course. XOXO

Singin' and Dancin' in the Rain

I recently learned a resplendently beautiful quote at Relief Society and just knew I should share it with you.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain."
-anonymous

So let us toss our umbrellas away and tilt our faces to life's raindrops. We'll let them cleanse our souls as we kick up our heels and jump in the puddles!

Much Love,
Zanny ~ xoxo

Six Years Down...Eternity to Go!

(One of our engagement pictures)

The night before Jerald's and my wedding day, I could NOT sleep. No. It was finally 4:30 in the wee small hours of the morning before I entered Dreamland City. The excitement and enormity of it all insisted I stare at the ceiling in wonder. After my two hours of "beauty sleep", I arose feeling amazingly rested. Oh, what a lovely and perfect wedding day it was! Cinderella would have been proud. We were married at 9:40 am in the Bountiful temple on a surprisingly warm March 13th in 2003. The sealing was so spiritual and beautiful - truly the highlight of our lives. Our photographer and family/paparazzi took pictures outside the temple after the ceremony. We then we hurried to our wedding luncheon, and later spent four hours grinning while we stood in our receiving line to thank our guests for coming to our red rose-filled reception - and no our facial muscles didn't hurt from smiling all day because, hey, we're always smiling anyway!

Happy anniversary, darling! You're still the hottest.

Happiness Headquarters

This is called "The Happy Six Tag". Here are six things that happened today that made me unabashedly happy.

1. For a mere ten minutes this morning, the sun shone through our front door's window, casting a colossal sunbeam across the family room, as well as a dozen tiny rainbows on the floor and walls. That was a moment of speechless proportions.

2. At lunch, Jerald and Summer and I downed a plate of sumptuous cheese fries and dipping sauce from the Training Table restaurant. Pure, golden, culinary delights.

3. After lunch, we perused our favorite antique shop, and as usual, I felt swept away with the history surrounding me - vintage jewelry, 200-year-old furniture, and interesting knick-knacks, but my most esteemed item ... a still-in-its-box Peaches and Cream barbie from 1984! Its price was $90, so the miser in me wouldn't let me splurge. My mother had purchased one for me when I was little and it was ALWAYS my favorite barbie, and now one is being sold at an antique store? Am I old? No, please, no.

4. For dinner, we dined like British royalty with a traditional English meal - roast beef, mashed potatoes, yorkshire pudding, and peas with almonds. There's nothing faster or easier to prepare than a crock pot roast, is there? Five minutes prep time of seasoning and browning, and we let the slow cooker do the rest! Oooh, I should post my simple recipe sometime soon! Boy, I think about food a lot, huh?

5. I sit here, relaxed with my laptop on my laptop multi-tasking. I'm blogging and taking care of my American Idol needs. At this moment, we're waiting to see who is going to be eliminated from the show. Oh, the antsy anticipation. I'm just glad I don't have to be on that stage awaiting my fate, but rather, writing to you about happy things.

6. I periodically looked over at Jerald feeling thrilled that on Friday we will have been married for six years. Hot man...

I tag anyone who wants to find themself happier by finding the happier moments in THEIR day!