THREE

When we moved out to little Sparta, WI where there is only a branch instead of a ward, I knew we would be needed here but I didn't expect THREE callings. Yes, I got another calling today. This morning our Stake High Councilman wanted to meet with me (and Jaren) and extended a call to be a Stake YW Camp level leader (Laurel age) for Stake Girls Camp this summer. So my current callings now include:

- 1st Counselor in the Young Women's Presidency
- Branch Missionary
- Stake YW Camp level leader

I may not have a job here but I am definitely keeping busy! It should be fun going to camp! They are dividing the girls up by year and having a couple of leaders stay in each cabin with them. I will be with about 7 Laurel age girls to "be their friend, set an example, and show them how camp works." I won't know a soul going out there but I'm sure I will by the time I leave. Jaren and I aren't sure where we will be headed when his assignment here is finished in July but I'll just get done with camp right before we move. Hopefully things go smoothly!

Cherries and Blueberries

I have been looking for dried blueberries a long time and finally found them the other day at Walmart. I have looked there before but they just recently turned up along with dried cherries. Jaren loves homemade granola so I was going to make some and add these to it but then I thought, these would be great in cookies!



I made a good oatmeal cookie dough then added chocolate chips and the dried cherries to half of the dough...



...and blueberries, white chocolate chips, and some coconut to the other half.



They are both delicious but my personal favorite is probably the Cherry Chocolate Chip because of the chocolate. I also thought these would be fun "Red, White, and Blue" cookies with cherries, blueberries, and white chocolate chips. I made these cookies with a cute little girl in mind who cannot have any dairy products so you could also leave out the choc./white choc. chips and just have the fruit. Here is the dairy-free recipe:

Oatmeal Cookie Dough
1/2 c Crisco
1/2 c Coconut oil *
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 c flour
1/4 c corn starch
1 1/4 c quick-oats

Beat the Crisco and coconut oil together in a stand mixer. Add sugars and beat until fluffy then add eggs and vanilla and beat again until fluffy. Add dry ingredients. Once choc. chips and fruit of choice have been mixed in, use a cookie scoop (2 Tbsp size) to place dough on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes. I did exactly 11 minutes in my oven. You want them just barely underdone. Let them cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*I used a non-flavored/refined brand called LouAna found at Walmart above where the Crisco is. If you wanted more coconut flavor with the blueberry you could use a flavored/unrefined brand like Nutiva which is usually found in the natural foods section of a grocery store.

Note: If you don't mind having dairy in your cookies you could substitute the Crisco and Coconut oil for 1 cup butter.

Blueberry White Chocolate Chip:
1 1/2 - 1 3/4 c dried blueberries (for a whole batch you will need two 4 oz. bags)
1/4 c water
1 c white chocolate chips
1 c sweetened coconut

Place blueberries and water in small saucepan and bring to boil. Remove from heat, cover and set aside. Prepare dough as above and add coconut. Drain blueberries of excess water then stir into dough by hand along with white chocolate chips.

Cherry Chocolate Chip:
1 1/4 c dried cherries
1 1/2 c chocolate chips

Prepare dough as above then add dried cherries and chocolate chips. You may want a few more or less of either cherries or chocolate chips. Add to taste.

Note: You could also do 2 cups chocolate chips or 2 cups raisins instead of cherries or blueberries. For Oatmeal Raisin cookies, bring raisins and 1/4 cup water to boil then remove from heat and set aside while preparing dough. This plumps up the raisins (or blueberries). Not necessary for the cherries.

Tip for keeping cookies fresh: When cookies are completely cooled, place in Ziploc freezer bag and place in freezer for long term (1-2 weeks) or refrigerator for short term (2-3 days). This is great for packing lunches because the cookies thaw out by the time you eat them but don't get crumbly like cookies normally do after a few days. They're also good cold or you could take a few out when needed to have a few fresh cookies available in the cookie jar.

Have fun trying these out!

It's Garbage Day!

(Yes, this is a picture of our garbage can.)

Every Monday morning here in our part of Sparta is garbage day. I always remember the night before to set the garbage can and recyclables out on the street. I don't know if it was because of the Super Bowl that I forgot but the garbage did not make it out last night.

Because so many soldiers were going to be getting drunk watching the Super Bowl, Jaren's unit decided to give everybody a half day of work on Monday where everyone would come in at noon. This would give the soldiers enough time to recuperate from any hangovers and make it to work. This being the case, Jaren and I got to sleep in!

At about 7:30 am or so, I heard a loud truck on our street and the thought struck me "It's garbage day!" Since taking the garbage out is the man's job (or should be), I quickly told Jaren it was probably the garbage truck coming down the street and I didn't get the garbage out the night before. He was probably thinking we could make it another week until the garbage truck came again. I put that thought out real quick when I explained there were some raw meat remnants which STUNK and the garbage really did need to be picked up. At the mention of this he threw the covers back, hopped out of bed, threw his sweats and a shirt on, slipped his shoes on and ran to the garage like the most chivalrous husband would. At that point it sounded like the garbage man was right next to our house. After a few minutes laying in my nice warm bed waiting for Jaren, he came back in. "Did you make it out there in time?" I asked. "No!" he replied, "So I ran down the street to get it to the garbage truck." I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Jaren running down the road in his sweats with the garbage bin in tow, trying to catch the garbage truck. If I could have caught that Kodak moment, I would have posted that instead of just a picture of our garbage can. But it's still funny to think about (he he he). What a sweet husband :) Just a little insight to our eventful lives.
Have a great week!