My New Blog

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:25:21 -0400

It has come to my attention that some people thought I stopped blogging. I didn’t, I just moved my blog to wordpress. So this post is a reminder for all you feed reader people. Update your reader folks.

www.sommerkorn.wordpress.com

New Blog

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:38:29 -0400

I seriously can’t handle my stupid blog anymore. It’s the worst.

I jumped on the wordpress wagon. So far I transfered most my recipes over, but I’m not exactly sure how I want to structure it and what I want to include.

It’s a work in progress. As I’m working on it I still have things to say, so I guess from here on out I’ll do most of my posts over there.

Don’t unsubscribe to this blog yet because I don’t really have a game-plan and I might end up back here.

www.sommerkorn.wordpress.com

Kirtland temple dedication

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 23:25:50 -0500

Yet another seminary glue-in...

Here is a glue-in for section 109, which is the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland temple. The glue-in is layed-out as a “program” for the dedication which was on March 27, 1836. I’ve included all the details of songs, prayers, speakers, etc.

Can you imagine sitting through a temple dedication from 9am-4pm? I wonder if they brought snacks...

Click here to download the printable file.

Recycling pop cans

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 19:06:32 -0500

Ok, so first I hated recycling, then I learned to like recycling, and yesterday I had another positive recycling experience.

I'm a caffeine free diet coke drinker.

I know, embarrassing. I never thought I would be, but I was sucked in a few years ago and never looked back. Don’t hate, I only drink 2-3 cans a week.

The first time I bought a case of pop here in Portland, I noticed a “deposit fee” on my receipt. What the heck?

I learned that when you buy pop in Oregon, you are charged a small “deposit fee” ($.05 per can) with the idea that you will recycle your can after you drink it in order to get your $.05 back.

Another way that the great state of Oregon “forces” me to recycle. SUPER lame.

A few months after we moved in, I had a box of empty cans ready to be recycled. I took my box to the sticky recycle station outside of our grocery store. You have to put in each can, one at a time, and wait for the machine to crush it. I did this 42 times. With each can I got more and more excited about the money I was going to get in return. I was thinking about all the ways I could spend my money. I was incredibly pleased with myself for being so "green" and recycling my cans.

When I was done, a receipt with a store credit printed out. It gave me $2.10.

I was a little ticked. It was not worth $2.10 to stand on the sticky sidewalk holding my breath because of the stale beer smell for 30 minutes while feeding old pop cans into a machine. I decided I’d never do it again.

This week, however, I reminded myself that my time isn’t worth as much as it used to be, and that it wasn’t that big of a deal to take 30 minutes of my un-valuable time to regain my “deposit fee”.

I found a recycling center that allows you to put all the cans in at once! Woot woot! This time it took about 3 minutes and I made $2.05. The perfect amount for some chocolate milk.

I was pleased with my green-ness, and also with my delicious chocolate reward.

Recycling Update

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:24:36 -0500

When we first moved to Portland, I complained about the trash services. I’m happy to report that my waste has significantly decreased since then. Each week I throw away an average 1.5 kitchen trash bags. TOTAL. For the entire house! Only 1.5 bags! I feel so awesome.

Last night Peter was throwing away an empty milk carton and I got after him to put it in the recycle bin rather than the trash can. He gave me the stink eye and told me I was turing into an Oregonian. Hahaha, not likely.

Young Women cupcake toppers

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:28:06 -0500

When I was in Seattle last week, Molly and I made these cute cupcakes for her New Beginnings program.

The mutual theme this year is the 13th article of faith. We made each cupcake say a different part of the theme. We printed them out on cardstock then attached them to suckers.

Cute, eh? I didn’t attend the program, but apparently they were a hit.

Download printable toppers here.

Seasonal oreos

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:56:25 -0500

Spring oreos are here!

I’ve posted my feelings about seasonal oreos before. In case you missed it, seasonal oreos are my favorite. I love them for two reasons:

1. They are fresher than regular oreos. If you don’t believe me, test it yourself.
2. Seeing them in the store helps me gauge the passing of time.

When I was a missionary, it was my fingernails. I would look down at my hands and think, “Oh wow, I need to file my nails again. did another week pass already?!” On the other hand, sometimes I looked down and thought, “Oh wow. My fingernails are still so trim. Has it only been two days?”

There are so many little things like that in life. Things that happen if you want them to or not. Things that prove that time is time and you can’t slow it down or speed it up, even if you want to.

I spent last year wanting to slow time down. Each time I saw new oreos in the store I thought, “Oh no! Is it time for new oreos already?!” I practically ached for more time to savor every minute of my life. Think “ached” is over-dramatic? It’s not. It’s accurate.

Each time I walked into a new pizza place, I spent the first 30 seconds memorizing every sight and sound, then the next 10 seconds with my eyes closed memorizing the smell. I did the same thing the last few times that we went into the city, and my last time crossing the GW bridge. I tried to memorize the scenery on my drive home from work, the menu board at the Jefferson Dairy, and the man who made my grilled cheese sandwich lunch every day. I didn’t ever want to forget the energy at the street fairs or the rush of seeing a bear in my yard or neighborhood.

This year I found myself sighing with relief when I saw the spring oreos at the grocery store.

-------

Oh, yeah. The point of this post was to show off my new recipe.

I bought a package of spring oreos when I was in Seattle last week, and Alex and I tried oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies from Picky Palate. They were super delicious. When they came out of the oven they looked like the photo on the left. Ooey, gooey. The next day they looked like the photo on the right. Yuuuuum.

Alex deemed these one of his new favorite cookies.

Seattle

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:34:21 -0500

I spent this week in Seattle with Alex & Molly. We had mucho fun. We made pie, went to storytime at the library, got the girls their first pet (a fish named Chester), celebrated Alex’s birthday, went to dance class, shopped, and ate like kings.

How cute are these videos of Zoie in my wellies?

Chocolate Muffins

Thu, 3 Feb 2011 22:25:08 -0500

This week I asked my students what they wanted for friday breakfast, because I seem to strike out with all my homemade treats. I’m always baffled that the kids prefer poptarts or fruit loops to homemade muffins or chili cheese puff.

Anyway, I asked the kids what they wanted besides donuts and they just stared at me blankly. Typical. But then one of my favorite kids shyly suggested chocolate muffins. I was happy to oblige this kid, he is so nice.

The muffins were super delicious. I will absolutely be making them again and again. They were really moist, sweet, chocolaty, and had a slight crunch on the top. Peter and the kids both loved them. The fact that I heard more than one kid say they were “so good” means a LOT coming from these kids.

Chocolate Muffins
Adapted from Food Network

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease muffin tin well.

Chop up the chocolate chips into smaller pieces. Do some of it finely, and leave some of it chunky.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa, sugar, and the 3/4 cup chopped chocolate chips into a large bowl. Mix the milk, oil, egg and vanilla together in a small bowl. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, mixing just until combined. Do not over-mix. Spoon into the prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chopped chocolate chips on top.

Bake for 18 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy. The top will be a little sunken-in where you sprinkled the chopped chocolate chips.

Enjoy!

I’m officially old

Thu, 3 Feb 2011 22:08:55 -0500

Yesterday I showed a video in seminary called “Light and Truth”. Anyone who has ever seen a seminary video knows how outdated and cheesy they are. Most of the fun of watching them is to poke fun at the ridiculous hair styles and unfashionable clothes.

The boy in the video, Allan, was wearing a polo shirt that was tucked in to wide-legged jeans with a braided belt. The girl, Crystal, was wearing a baby-tee with an over-sized shirt unbuttoned over the top. Her jeans were also wide-legged, her belt was braided, and she was wearing brown loafer-like shoes. Wow.

As we were watching the video I was chuckling to myself at the clothes Allan and Crystal were wearing. Then I realized...

“Oh wait, I think I had those jeans!”

I’ve since decided that the true mark of an old person is someone who can actually relate to the clothing choices in seminary videos.

Congratulations to me. I’m 28, and I’m old.

Cinnamon Bagel

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:13:35 -0500

Remember how I said that I was going to try a cinnamon sugar bagel? Well I did, and they were a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

To make them, I let them dry for about 15 minutes after the water bath and then dipped them in cinnamon sugar before I baked them. Yum!

Those lines all over it are because I let them dry on cooling racks after the water bath. Lesson learned.

Gingersnaps

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:07:10 -0500

I would have included a picture of these cookies, but they were gone before I had a chance to take one. I’m serious. They were SO good.

I got the recipes from the back of the can of crystallized ginger chips. Their website has lots of other ginger recipes, which all look delicious.

Chewy Gingersnaps
(I’ve added this gingersnap recipes to my dessert page.)

2 1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 c sugar
1/4 c dark molasses
1 large egg
3 1/2 oz crystallized ginger chips

Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar until light and creamy. Stir in molasses and egg. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture. Mix well. Stir in crystallized ginger chips. Chill dough one hour. Form 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375.

National Pie Day

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:42:31 -0500

Yesterday was National Pie Day, and of course Peter and I celebrated. We had Cheesy Vegetable Pie for dinner and Peanut Butter Pie for dessert. Yes, we had an incredibly fattening dinner. Don’t hate.

Cheesy Vegetable Pie

1 cup chopped onion (I omit this because onion is disgusting)
1 cup sliced zucchini
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups shredded swiss cheese
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup half and half
1 9-inch unbaked pastry crust

Saute onion and zucchini in butter in skillet until tender, about five minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in flour. Cool; toss with cheese and arrange in bottom of crust. Mix eggs and half and half; pour into crust. Bake at 350 until pie is browned and set; 40-45 minutes.

Grapes

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:36:10 -0500

Yesterday morning I woke up (at 5:20am) to Peter kneeling next to the bed patting my head saying, “Honey? Wake up. Do you know how much grapes cost?”

The day before I’d purchased breakfast items for seminary: poptarts, milk and marshmallows for hot chocolate, and grapes. I chose grapes because grapes are cheap, delicious, and don’t require cutting.

Or at least I thought grapes were cheap.

When Peter woke me up asking me about the grapes I was totally groggy and didn’t give the interaction a second thought until he got home that night. I asked him why he woke me up talking about how much grapes cost, so he asked me again, “Well, do you know how much grapes cost?”

“Um...I don’t know, not much.”

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the receipt I’d left on the counter the day before. He pointed to the grapes. Did you guys realize that one average sized bag of grapes costs almost $12.00? I was shocked.

I feel like such an idiot for paying $11.89 for a bag of grapes.