Kelly Times Two

For a refreshing and simple treat, I made these individual Haunting Berry Salad mini dessert cups for a Relief Society event that I attended last night where we were invited to take a Halloween themed goody to share.  The original recipe is called Holiday Berry Salad , but I put a plastic spider on top and renamed it.  Actually, I was calling them Haunting Berry Salad of Death last night while I was assembling them with Megan, because that's what my husband does when he puts on a fireworks show for us each July, everything gets the "of death" added to the end, Sparklers of Death, Roman Candles of Death, Forbidden Fountain of Death. I felt like I was being quite clever, but he never commented on my Haunting Berry Salad of Death name, so it was probably just comical to me. Typical.  I'm funny. Just the right serving size. I bought some black cheesecloth at Target yesterday when I picked up the little package of sparkly spiders to line the bottom of my trays, ...

On a hectic Friday, with a typically tightly packed schedule, we squeezed in time to celebrate Christopher turning sweet 16.  The morning of October 4 began with seminary at 5:40 am, and I sent in treats for breakfast for his classmates, some savory quiche Lorraine tartlets, and mini banana chocolate chip muffins, and individual bottles of Simply Orange brand orange juice. Seminary ended at 6:30 am, then the band rehearsal arrival time started at 6:45 am. Friday band practice ended at 8:30 am, and school started at 9:05 am.  School continued until 4:10 pm, with band call time starting again at 4:30 pm, where the band kids get a pre-ordered catered meal before boarding the buses for the football game. It was a home game, which kept them either practicing, on their feet marching, or playing in the stands for several hours to keep the crowd enthused. They arrived back at the high school by 11 pm, and were at our house around 11:15 pm, almost everyone in the trombone s...

Step One (slow cook pork) pork loin (about 2.25 pounds) 1 can (10 ounces) red enchilada sauce 1 chicken flavor ramen noodles seasoning packet Cook pork for several hours in a crockpot with the seasoning packet (not the noodles!) and enchilada sauce.  NOTE:  This will make enough meat for TWO batches of the recipe.  Freeze the other portion to have on hand for a quick meal for a later time, or take a meal to someone. Step Two (pull the pork apart) 1 1/2 cups sour cream 1 can (7 ounces) diced green chilis When the pork is tender and easily shreds, then using two forks, shred the pork, leaving small shreds, without any big chunks of meat.  Add the green chilis and sour cream. Step Three (assembling)  1 package of 10 corn tortillas  HALF of the pulled pork mixture, warmed for assembly (if you refrigerated it previously) 1 can charro beans (can substitute for any other kind of beans), drained 1 can hominy (or corn), drained 1 jar (11 oun...

  Obviously, this isn't the actual picture of the finished enchiladas, but for now, this is all I've got.  I was too busy making a bajillion batches of chicken ahead for my Activity Days girls' cooking class, to actually take any pictures of the finished casserole.  I should be making it in the next few days, and will be sure to add some pictures of it. Thanks to my friend, Stephanie, for sharing her delicious recipe with me.  I've made a few minor changes. Step One--cook chicken in grill pan skinless, boneless chicken breasts to yield 2 cups, cubed Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning olive oil Season the chicken breast halves on each side, then drizzle approximately 1 tablespoon olive oil in a hot grill pan on medium high, then heat the oil a bit, then place chicken pieces in pan, and place grill press on top of chicken.  Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes per side.  Be sure to only turn the chicken once, to leave the grill marks in the chicken and t...

Christopher, 10th grade, and Hannah, 5th grade, are very eager to begin a brand new school year. This will be Hannah's last year of elementary school. Christopher will be getting his drivers license during this school year, assuming he will meet or exceed our family requirement of getting at least an 87 or higher in every class.   They hope to have perfect attendance this year, and my fingers are crossed that they are well enough to reach that goal.  I always look forward to this time of year to get into new routines and habits. We had root beer floats to celebrate last night, and gave them a pep talk for success this year, followed by two beautiful father's blessings from Kelly. Best wishes to our wonderful children for an awesome school year. We love you both and are so proud of you.

Hopefully this title, Book of Mormon Stories Pool Party , does not sound irreverent, because as an Activity Days leader, I felt compelled to come up with a fun end-of-the-summer event that is also uplifting, and after all, who doesn't love a splash in the pool on a hot day in August?  My current church calling, or official role that I volunteer for, allows me to plan two activities each month for girls ages 8 to 11, that will encourage them to learn and live the gospel, serve others, and use the talents Heavenly Father has given them, to learn to do many good things.  This year's seminary course of study for high school students is The Book of Mormon, and since I am a huge fan of this inspired book of scripture, I came up with this idea to have each girl show up to my house with a written summary of one of her favorite stories from within its many pages, and share it with the rest of the girls, while outside in our swimsuits near our backyard swimming pool!  As each girl ...