Tomato Surpriseby Angie
26 Mar 2011
4:03 pm2
I have a wonderful, darling friend named Kjelene who thought of me on Friday when she heard that a nursery in Sunol was giving away free tomato seedlings. She drove down and picked up a bunch for herself and several friends, and came by my house to share the bounty. She dropped off seven little seedlings, each about 6-8 inches tall with an inch or so of roots, all packed into some wet potting soil in a plastic sandwich bag (I wish I had taken a picture). They were unlabeled, too, so besides knowing that they are all heirloom varieties and that there were a variety of sizes, colors, and types available… I have no idea what I’m getting!
It’s still pretty cold, so I really should have waited until next week to put them into the ground, but they just looked so miserable in their little plastic bag that I couldn’t help myself: the rain had stopped and the sun was shining weakly, so I spent that evening planting them all in a row. I’m glad my soil was already prepared, since I had turned it over twice and added some manure, peat moss, and topsoil already – it was perfect for planting. I pulled off the lower leaves and planted them quite deep, so now they’re just tiny little things poking out of the ground. 
It’s not likely to freeze anymore, but It’s still cold enough that I’ll be covering them at night for another week or so. I got pretty creative… between garbage bags and plastic drop cloths, they should be nice and snug. With so many plants this year, I’m going to try a year of severe pruning and training. It will mean fewer tomatoes, but I’ve been reading that it’s good for the roots and makes for higher quality fruit. I look forward to lots of canning this fall – who wants to come help??? 🙂
For my Dad’s benefit – at his request – here are also pics of my perennials: The strawberries are starting to get their buds, and my raspberries are doing great, too; you can’t really tell, but there are several new shoots mixed in with the strawberries. 
My poor little artichoke plant is kind of hanging on for dear life. I think it must just not get enough sun in its little corner: the fence blocks it from both the south and the west. I thought it had died completely last fall, but since it seems to be hanging in there, I’ll give it some more time.
Happy Pi Day!by Jim
14 Mar 2011
7:03 pm1
To celebrate Pi Day, we decided to statistically calculate Pi using nothing but nails, sidewalk chalk, a straight edge, and a pen and pad of paper. After 100 tosses, we calculated Pi as 3.278688524590164, which is within 5%. Not bad, if you ask for my opinion.
Waking Up The Gardenby Angie
22 Jan 2011
4:01 pm2
My garden has been dormant for the last several months (as has the blog – sorry about that!), having been abandoned in the middle of the harvest season because of my surgery in October. From the surgery up until our Thanksgiving trip to Atlanta, I kept looking outside, meaning to get back out there, as soon as I felt “up to it.” Well, when we returned from Georgia, the frost had come and completely demolished what was left of my struggling plants. It was very demoralizing. I never even got up the gumption to winterize everything, so the backyard has looked awful all winter.
Finally, this week, I’m getting back in the groove. The weather has been gorgeous – hovering between mid-40s and mid-60s during the day, with lovely clear skies. I can hardly believe it’s January! Over the past few days, I’ve pulled down all the dead plants from last year, pruned and tied back my raspberries, thinned the strawberries, weeded the herb plot, built a compost container, and turned over the dirt in my garden strip along the fence. Whew! THIS is what it should have looked like all winter. Now, though, it’s time to set up some trellis lines, clean up the lawn, and get some peas, lettuce, spinach, and carrots in the ground!
WHIAT in the garage!by Angie
18 Jun 2010
1:06 pm1
My Kathy-Mom has been visiting this past week to help us with our big move – and what a help she has been! Thank you, thank you!
As we worked together one day, we discussed the all-too-familiar feeling at the end of a long day that prompts us to ask, “what have I accomplished today?” Well, this post answers that question in regards to today’s assignment: clear some space in the garage! Her are before and after photos… and, yes, I even fit two loads of laundry in, too!
WalMart – Taking a Leap of Faithby Angie
26 Feb 2010
10:02 am2
All you out there that know me well may know that I spent many years of my life as an anti-Walmart-ite: complete boycott, nasty grimace whenever they were mentioned, the whole shebang. Well, my tune has been changing over the last few years; I’ve read a lot of positive press, and have even started shopping there now and then, always being pleasantly surprised.
Today, I discovered a new reason to be a fan of Walmart: They are the first general retail chain to give a chance to a little Utah company called Lightstone (the makers of the Liken the Scriptures series). Beginning March 2nd, their nationwide stores will stock Esther & the King, “a musical adventure in faith,” through the Easter season. Hooray!!!
Yes, yes, I know I’m biased – the cast and crew of Lightstone’s films are filled friends of mine from BYU and Savior of the World …but, nepotism aside, I’m still so very pleased, because this is the type of wonderful, uplifting stuff we need on our favorite retailers’ shelves all over the country! Future contracts will depend on the sales of this first try – I hope it does well, so Walmart will stock more of Lightstone’s films.
“Breakfast Roll” Fiascoby Angie
26 Jan 2010
4:01 pm2
Sorry this post won’t be quite as exciting as the last one, but it has a happy ending as well!
My dad gave me this super cool new cookbook for Christmas called “The World Wide Ward Cookbook” and I had picked out a wassail recipe (since this morning would be cold and rainy) and a recipe for “Breakfast Rolls” that I wanted to try, as each of us in the RS Presidency was bringing treats to our Visiting Teaching Interviews today. The process for the rolls is much like cinnamon rolls, but instead of spreading butter, cinnamon, and sugar on before rolling them up, you spread cream cheese, ham, onion, cheese, etc. Instead of topping them with glaze or frosting, you brush with butter and sprinkle on poppy or sesame seeds.
My husband tries regularly to convince me that having guests over is not the time for a try-me-night. Somehow, I keep making the same mistake. Neon Sign Here: GREAT STRESS ATTENDS THE PROCEEDINGS when unknown recipes are tried on people you like very much but don’t know as well as your family. The wassail was great, but I had serious problems with the rolls:
1. Rather than a recipe for roll dough, it just said, “prepare a batch of your favorite yeast roll dough.” Well, my favorite rolls are my mom’s light and fluffy Sunday Dinner Rolls, and they have yeast in them… but they didn’t work. At all.
2. I decided to make the dough in the bread machine ahead of time, like I always try to do because I’m super lazy (and, in my defense, it has never before failed me). Unfortunately, it came out of the machine closer to a batter.
3. No matter how much I floured my table, hands, rolling pin, and the dough itself, it stuck to everything. When I thought I had things rolled out perfectly and spread and sprinkled everything on and tried to roll it up, it was stuck fast to the table again. With a spatula and lots more flour, I finally had everything rolled… but it oozed itself into a long, flat-ish loaf instead of a rolled up log.
4. As I sliced it up (achieving long ovals rather than lovely little rounds), each “roll” fell to pieces, stuck to everything it touched, and globbed itself into a lump of ingredients on the sheet pan.
5. Rather than rising, they settled into comfortable, gooey little puddles.
I think Heavenly Father was sustaining me because I would generally, at this point, have been in tears with frustration. I was up at 6:30 and fighting with these “rolls” until after 8am, I didn’t feel great, and I had other things to take care of before leaving at 8:45. Somehow, I held it together and decided that I didn’t care what they looked like and if they were just awful, I could live with that. I could always throw them out, and the presidency and first couple of sisters would be the only ones to know that, as much as I love cooking, I can’t BAKE my way around any kitchen in existence.
Amazingly, incredibly, absolutely flabbergastingly, they were a hit. They were light and fluffy like my mom’s rolls, and they were savory and cheesey and buttery. You would never know by looking at them that they had ever resembled a roll, but every single person who tasted them said they were great and they were almost all eaten up by the time we were done at noon. I re-christened them “Breakfast Biscuits,” and will definitely be making them again (without trying to roll them). Give me a few days and I’ll post my revised recipe on Sugar & Spice.
Car Chaseby Angie
19 Jan 2010
2:01 pm6
Well, it’s been a really long time since we’ve written, but I hope you’ll forgive me because I’m making up for it by writing a really exciting post.
Today I was a witness…and I’m not talking about sharing my testimony. Today I gave a police statement about seeing the culprits of a home invasion fleeing the scene of the crime. Kjelene and I were leaving Jollene Berghoff’s home after our Visiting Teaching appointment today at about 11:50. As we pulled up to the stop sign at the corner of Lobelia and Central, we saw two young adult men running toward the corner, then across the street in front of our car. As they ran, one of them glanced behind him and we realized that another man, a little older looking but still in is 20s or so, was running after them and yelling and dialing on his cell phone all at the same time. Kjelene rolled down her window and asked the guy with the cell phone if he needed help and yes said yes – his house had just been broken into.
Well, we had been about to turn right, but Kjelene whipped her car around to the left instead (south) and started to follow the first two guys, who were just climbing into a truck down the street. The truck started up fast enough that there was obviously a driver in it waiting for them. It sped off, but Kjelene followed and tried to keep up, calling out license plate numbers and details about the truck to me – I pulled out a pen and a little notebook I had in my purse. The pickup swerved around a FedEx truck and Kjelene tried to stay right behind him (we were honked at, vehemently, by Mr. FedEx), but when she saw that they plowed left onto Northfront without even slowing and flew around the blind corner toward Vasco, she decided that the chase was up for us and we’d better call the police with what little info we had.
We drove back to the house they had come from and called our information in to 911. The police asked us to stay there, so we did, and we talked to the homeowner and his wife while we waited. Apparently (this just gives me the shivers, I can tell you), they both work but she was home sick today. There was a knock at her door, but she never answers it when she’s home alone, so she ignored it. Then she heard someone coming into the house – they came in through the kitchen window! She ran upstairs to her bedroom, called her husband who works close by, and locked herself in her closet with their gun. She also called the police, but since it was from a cell phone, help was not forthcoming very quickly from that corner. When it sounded like they were coming upstairs toward her room, she fired the gun, there in the closet, and successfully frightened the intruders enough to send them running. Her husband had arrived home just as they were taking off to their waiting friend in the pickup.
So! The police came and attracted the attention of several supportive neighbors, and Kjelene and I waited in the car in the pouring rain. We took turns giving our statements to the police (they wanted us to be separated when we did so, so we took turns on the porch) and were sent home shivering with cold and adrenaline. They asked us if we would recognize the culprits in a line-up! So that may or may not be the end of that.