What I'm Wearing to Baccalaureate...

This last spring, I was walking through the mall with my mom.  We weren't shopping, we were just running into a store quickly to return something.  In the window of a store, I saw this outfit.  It was a store that I had never heard of before, Madewell (a couple of days before, though, my mom had seen someone with something from this store on their blog).  I thought it was cute and so did my mom.  We peeked into the store.

I ended up trying the shirt and skirt on that the mannequin had on, which I am wearing hear (the mannequin was also wearing a jean jacket).  I loved the outfit.  Skirts are so comfy!  We bought the outfit, saving it for me to wear to baccalaureate.

It has been hard saving this outfit to wear... I can't wait to wear it!  I did wear it for Mother's Day though, and that is when these pictures were taken.

In the pictures I am wearing my new rain boats from Joules, but I don't plan on wearing them for baccalaureate.  I just got some red sandals from Target the other day, and I am thinking I am going to wear those... I have had a hard time finding shoes to wear.

I love the things I can find when I am not really looking for anything... that is when I have the best luck!

Swedish Meatballs with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

 This is one of those recipes that everyone in our family likes and that my mom has made several times.  It is really really yummy.

This meal can be made the day before and then put in the crock pot the next day to have ready for a meal.  I made this meal yesterday for us to have for Sunday dinner.  And, I found out that it is really easy to make.

 Make sure to save any drippings from the meatballs for the gravy.

 Make the gravy while the meatballs are in the oven.

 When the meatballs are done, put them into the crock pot if you are going to eat them later in the day or the next day.  Or, if you are going to eat them right away, just add them to the gravy and let simmer for a little while.

 Add the gravy to the meatballs in the crock pot.  I just refrigerated all this for the next day.  Then, before we went to church, I got them heating up.

When we came home, we had a delicious meal waiting for us.

Swedish Meatballs with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Meatballs:
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground pork sausage (they are still good with just ground pork)
1 cup finely chopped onion (usually do less)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
2 T. parsley
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. allspice
2 t. worcestershire

1. Mix the meatball ingredients together and chill for 2 hours.  (Mix with hands, wash hands really good before and after.)
2. Form the meat into balls and place on a jelly roll pan.  Spray the pan with Pam or use parchment paper so the meatballs don't stick.
3. Bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees.  Save the drippings for the gravy.
4. While the meatballs are baking, make the gravy.

 Gravy:
1/2 cup flour
4 T. butter
2 cups milk (skim)
2 cans Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 T. Better Than Beef Bouillon
1 t. dill weed
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Melt butter in a large skillet over low.  Mix the flour and 1 cup milk in a separate bowl.  Add the other 1 cup milk to the butter.  Now add the flour/milk mixture to the butter and milk.  Stir to blend.  Add remaining ingredients, plus the meatball drippings.  Stir until blended and as thick as you like.  Turn the heat up and add a little flour if you like your gravy thicker.
      
      5. When the meatballs are done add them to the gravy and let simmer if you are going to eat them right away.  If you are going to eat them later, put the meatballs in a crock pot and pour the gravy over them and get them heating up.  Or, refrigerate them and the heat them up the next day.

Make Ahead Mashed Pototoes:
5 pounds potatoes
6 oz. cream cheese (1/3 less fat)
1 cup sour cream (light)
2 t. onion salt
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 T. butter

Peel potatoes.  Rinse off and cut off any bad spots.  Cook in salted, cold water - bring to a boil and cook until tender.  Drain and mash until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and beat until light and fluffy.  These potatoes can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

You can use these mashed potatoes to make potato bread.  Potato bread goes excellent with this meal.  I would have made some, but I didn't have time.

Enjoy!!

Anna Marie's Famous Sugar Cookies

Whenever we get together, usually for a special occasion, my great aunt Anna Marie makes us these DELICIOUS sugar cookies.  They are soo good... melt-in-your-mouth.

Around last Christmas, I set out to try to find the best sugar cookie recipe... I was hoping to find one as good as Anna Marie's.  I got close, but it wasn't the same.  I had my brother John's help.  He would do "taste-tests" for me.

At the beginning of last April, I got a phone call from Anna Marie.  She told me that she was going to give me her sugar cookie recipe.  I WAS SUPER EXCITED!!

She told me that for a long time she had a favorite sugar cookie recipe.  But, when her daughter moved to the cities, she got into a cookie exchange.  And, there were sugar cookies BETTER than Anna Marie's.  So, Anna Marie did some looking through cookbooks to find some sugar cookie recipes to try.  She found the same recipe throughout the books, but with just different amounts of flour, they ranged from 4 to 5 cups flour.

Anna Marie would try a recipe, and then her daughter would test them to see if they were as the ones she had at the bake sale.  This reminded Anna Marie of me and John.  I bake something and John does "taste-tests" for me the help me to find the best recipes.

Anna Marie found that the less flour you do, the more tender they are.

These cookies are super tender and are very crumbly... and super delicious.  They don't transport very easily, but you do find yourself bringing them somewhere, it might be better to go with a greater amount of flour.

Anna Marie's Famous  White Sugar Cookies

1 c. white sugar
1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter
1 c. oil
2 eggs
2 tsp. almond or vanilla extract (or one of each)
4 to 4 1/2 c. sifted flour*
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar

*I would suggest to do 4 c. + 2 T. flour for really tender cookies.  If you need them less tender, do more flour.  Anna Marie wrote that recipes vary about flour (4-5 c.).  The less flour - more tender.

Cream together the white sugar, powdered sugar, butter, and oil.  Add the eggs and almond/vanilla extract.  Mix in the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.

Make balls.  Dip in sugar.  Press with the bottom of a glass.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Anna Marie always dips them in colored sugar (sprinkles) to make them with a little color.

When I was taking a BUNCH of pictures of the cookies, John said that the only good ones would be the ones that he is in.  Here is a picture for John.

Thanks Anna Marie for the recipe!  I have already made them a couple times!

Monster Cookies

Here is our favorite monster cookie recipe.  They are so good.  I made a batch for my track team to have after our meet last Tuesday.  Speaking of track, here are some pictures from the season...
Three of us are in track this year.

All John wanted to do in track was pole vaulting...

...but of course he has to do SOME running.

Thomas and I are distance runners... and distance runners only.

Now, back to the cookies.  These cookies are REALLY good.  It is almost like eating a granola bar.  This are soft, chewy, and thick.  But, better.

Monster Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3 cups creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp. corn syrup or honey
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
6 whole eggs
4 tsp. baking soda
9 cups uncooked quick oats (I did part quick & part old fashion)
1 (9.4 oz.) package M&M candies
1 (12 oz.) package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter, peanut butter, corn syrup/honey, vanilla, sugars, and eggs.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheets and flatten a little.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes.  Do not overbake or cookies will not be soft.

What I've Been Up To Lately...

Track started last March.  I pretty much had the first week of practice and then I went on the band/choir trip to NYC.  I did some running out there, but it was hard to get in any really good workouts.  The first three meets came along and my times showed that I was way out of shape (this last winter was a really hard one to get in shape after being out for a few months).  Then my ankle started acting up.  The more I would do the more it would swell.  It didn't swell anything like it did last fall when I had the stress fracture, but I didn't want to take any chances.  So, I took it easy and didn't do much running.  I went to the doctor and he said it was just some strained ligaments from doing too much, too fast, too soon.  I had started to do more speed work on the track and I am sure that running more on the track didn't help much... always turning left.

The doctor gave me a brace, and that has really helped.  It has been fine since.  I think my coach was kind of mad at me that I haven't been running like I was a year ago.  But, I really truly am not a good runner... naturally.  And, I don't think he remembers that.  This track season I am just trying to have fun.

Meanwhile, while my ankle had started to act up, my mom started thinking that maybe I need to reevaluate my future plans.  Last March I blogged that I had decided to go to University of Sioux Falls.  I was planning on running, but I hadn't decided on a major.  I was planning on starting with taking the general courses and to work on finding a major.

This last winter, I have found myself in the kitchen more often than not.  I love trying new recipes, comparing them, keeping record of how they turn, and kind of experimenting around.  A while back someone had suggested to my mom that maybe I should consider food science.

So, while I was out from running a little bit this spring, my mom and I started thinking that maybe running shouldn't be one of my top reasons for a college.  USF doesn't have food science as a major and we contacted that admissions office to see if I could create my own food science major.  They said that I wouldn't be very competitive for getting a job after graduating.

We started looking around at schools with food science.  Pretty much only the big state universities have it.  First we went to Iowa State University.  Both my mom and I were impressed with it.  We both went in thinking we wouldn't really like it, but we actually came out really liking it.  And, the food science program sounded amazing!

The next week we went to checked out South Dakota State University.  And, we both came out not liking it very well... beside the homemade ice cream they make on their campus!!!  I am glad we went to check it out, so that we had something to compare ISU to.

On Sunday night I sent in my admissions deposit to Iowa State University.  Picking a college is kind of stressful... I just want to do the right thing.  I know I can transfer, but I don't what to go into college with the mindset that I am going to transfer in a year or two... if I absolutely have to transfer I will, but that's different.

I feel that having the stress fracture last fall, and then having my ankle start to act up this spring has been totally a God thing.

I am pretty excited to go to Iowa State... it is going to be a BIG adventure.  And, now I know what I plan to major in.  I feel that it is the right place for me.

On our way back from SDSU, my mom and I drove through Walnut Grove.  This is were Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up.  My sister LOVES this show.  I had to take a picture for here!

So, what else have I been up to beside reevaluating what college I am going to go to?

Well, it is May.  That means I only have 11 days left of school... I mean 11 days left of high school.  Forever.

Last Friday we had our Pops & Pie concert.  The theme was Disney.  

We are busy around here trying to get as much done as possible to get ready for my graduation party.

It is starting to get really green outside!!

Mother's Day & A Chocolate Cake Recipe

We sent our Grandma a package in the mail for Mother's Day.  Happy Mother's Day Grandma!!

This was the example of the craft that we had (or tried to have) the 2 & 3 year olds do in Sunday School for their moms.

 After church we went out to eat for brunch at a fancier restaurant.

 After lunch we came home and spent the rest of the afternoon doing work around the house.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day.  Our family needed to to our road ditch pick-up for 4 -H, so my mom and I did that... everyone else was too busy doing other things and it needed to get done so my mom and I just did it.  We started to do a little work in the garden.  The rhubarb looks like it is doing well, the asparagus my mom and I planted last year and that my dad accidentally tilted up, is starting to grow back, and some onions survived the winter!

I made this chocolate cake for a Mother's Day dessert.  This is our favorite chocolate cake... so DELICIOUS!!!  Actually, I made it yesterday and we actually had some yesterday, but it was meant for today.  This cake is so good.  And, it is even better with age.  You should really make it.

You'll Love Me Forever Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 t. vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter & flour pans or line muffin pan.
Combine sugar through salt in a large mixing bowl.
Make a well & add remaining ingredients except boiling water.
Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Then stir in one cup boiling water.
Batter will be smooth & very runny.
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes.

 Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temp.
8 oz. cream cream from fridge
1 t. vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 cups powdered sugar
4 - 6 T. heavy cream

Beat until fluffy.
Frost completely cooled cake and enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day!  I love you mom!  You are the best!