a lawyer, a birthday, economics,and a national holiday

Happy 4th of July everyone. We ended up with a full yet incomplete day. I actually need to begin with last night when Nathan wen to work at 5:00. We shared birthday cake with a friend, red velvet with white and blue coconut, pecan, cream cheese frosting.It was fast Sunday and I am being a military single mom again. Church was great! We had some wonderful testimonies born and went 15 min. over. We also sang some of my favorite hymns today. The patriotic ones. Primary went well. My two rowdiest students were not there:) so the class flowed pretty well. We had a great sharing time lesson on the Nephi's vision of America being a free and blessed land.
Next we went to an open house for a lady in our ward who just finished her law degree and is already in a new practice.She amazes me. Between "His" and "Hers" they have 14
children. She home schools.And now she has passed the bar for law. Had a great time there getting to know some of the ward members that I really haven't gotten to know yet.
We got home about 6:00 and Nathan was just changing out of his uniform so we had very good timing. We ate dinner and then had family home evening.
Our months topic for FHE is finance. Last week we covered debt and interest. This week we covered wants vs. needs. The girls did very well until we came to taking family trips. Want?or Need? We explained that trips were a want but the girls argued that we nee to spend time with family and you have to go on a trip to see family. Nathan got the very unpleasant task of sharing that no going to see grandmas and grandpas wasn't a NEED. All three broke into tears. because when they grow up coming to visit mommy and daddy won't be a need it is a want. Too Sweet huh? The lesson went on for a record breaking 11/2 hours.
Today is July 4th. The day we celebrate our independence from religious and economic oppression. It is a day of tradition. None of which we kept this year. No steak on the grill and corn on the cob, no baked beans or apple pie. And worst of all no FIREWORKS. I love this Holiday and usually we go all out but it just didn't come together this year. WE are already planning next year so wish us luck.
And here we are now 12:30 wishing you all a very good night. Hooray for freedom.
Nina
P.S A friend of mine and I recently processed 150 lbs. of peaches that we paid about $5/30lb. box. After that I processed on my own 26lbs. of blackberries that my family went to a farm to pick ourselves.How crazy and wonderful is that?

Its been a while

Summer is here which means life is busy. We are all melting here. It was 99' when we left church at 1:00 today:::[ The home remodel has been put on the back burner, a bit, largely because I just couldn't handle the mess it creates any longer. The girls are doing well. Nathan's schedule is wonky, as usual. We adopted two little kitten that we named Pigeon and Shadow. A friend of mine told me about a utube video she had recently been told about and I thought I would send it on. It is worth watching and corny as ever:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

I hope you all have a great week and we'll see you soon. Mom, Dad, Gran, Branon, and Terie we are all so excited for your visits next month. Lots of fun things to do. NINA

The weeks of cakes

Last Saturday I made a double layered spice cake with an apple filling for Family Home Evening. On Sunday there was a sign up for food for a funeral. I signed up for dessert and a salad. So on Tuesday I made a double layer lemon cake with a blueberry filling. Today I made Nathan's birthday cake, a four layer german chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting. And next Sunday I will be making a Tres Leches cake for a "Cafe Rios" night with friends. Thats a lot of cake! Surprisingly enough I have also lost three lbs. this last week (hopefully it will stay off). I thought I would put the recipe on for the german chocolate cake and tres leches. Enjoy!
NINA

I like a richer chocoloate cake than is traditionally in german chocolate so I went with Hershey's "perfectly chocolate" chocolate cake

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min
Skill Level: Beginner
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)

Directions:1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.


I got this recipe from www.allrecipe.com
Here is the frosting. It says to cook until thickened this means until its about the consistency of sweetened condensed milk.
Cooking Level: Intermediate
German Chocolate Cake Frosting By: Denise
"Coconut Pecan Frosting for German Chocolate Cake."
Customize Recipe Kitchen-friendly View Prep Time:
20 MinCook Time:
10 MinReady In:
30 Min
Servings (Help)
Original Recipe Yield 1 frosting for 2 layer cake
Ingredients
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup brown sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
Directions
1.In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, brown sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut. Let cool to room temperature before spreading on cake.


The Tres Leches or three milk cake is a trditional mexican dessert. It is vary simple and extremely moist. It can also be made completely from food storage. This recipe is from http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/sweetsanddesserts/r/treslechescake.htm

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 65 minutesIngredients:
•1 1/2 cups cake flour (I use all-purpose and it wourks just fine)
•1 pinch salt
•1 teaspoon baking powder
•1/3 cup oil
•1 cup sugar
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•5 large eggs
•1/2 cup whole milk
optional add 1/2 tsp nutmeg (I think it adds al little more and the first recipe I used called for it)
•Cream Syrup for Soaking (see recipe below)
•Whipped Topping (see recipe below)
Preparation:
Combine flour and baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add the eggs to the sugar mixture one at a time until well combined. Stir in the 1/2 cup of milk, then gently fold in the flour mixture a little at a time.
Pour batter into a lightly greased cake pan or baking dish and bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until it feels firm and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cake cool until it feels room temperature. Turn it over onto a platter with raised edges. Pierce cake with a fork 20-30 times. Let it cool in the refrigerator for an additional 30 minutes.

Cream Syrup

•12 oz. evaporated milk
•14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
•1/2 cup heavy cream
Whisk together the three milks. Slowly pour the liquid over the cooled cake. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Occasionally, spoon the milk runoff back onto the cake.

Whipped Topping

•3/4 cup heavy cream
•1 teaspoon vanilla
•1 tablespoon sugar
In a chilled mixing bowl add heavy cream, vanilla and sugar. Beat on high speed until peaks form. Spread a thin layer over the cake.

Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon or garnish with fresh berries.

I am keeping it short and sweet this week, here is an update of the progress of our kitchen in pictures. Nathan had a great time tearing out the dividing wall between the kitchen and living room. Even with wires still hanging from the ceiling it looks great. The mess has been awful. The dust has caused me to wash every dish we own at least once if not twice. That has been our week.
Hope you all have a great week.
NINA

A week worth documenting

A few pictures of the airshow This week has seen some major changes in our Kitchen, Hooray! We painted the whole of it, installed new outlets and covers in over half of it, and got on side top and bottom of the cabinets painted, oh and painted the pantry. We have also finished the major purchases for it except for the counter top because we need to wait until we get the kitchen sink in to make sure that when they cut the granite its done right. The Island ships out the 31 of this month and we will get the flooring and sink in mid June. This is all very exciting and I am so pleased with the progress so far. Unfortunately no major remodel is very kind to the rest of the house. all the stuff that was in the kitchen cabinets is now on the living room couch and the dining room table. This also means that bless their hearts our children have been left to their own devices for most of the week. We did manage to make it to the Andrews AFB air show to see the "Blue Angels" fly. Too bad by that they were very done my the time they flew having been there since 11:00 that morning. We all got sunburns although none quite a extreme as my own. We had a lot of fun. Nathan was working the squadron pizza shack while we walked around(glamorous huh?) Here is a quick tour of the kitchen
Here are Mara and Becca showing off the "moves" they have learned from watching "Dancing wtih the Stars"

New e-mail

I just changed my e-mail address if anyone wants it please let me know and I will e-mail it to you.
Hope you have a great day
NINA

How does one put into words the expression of love and admiration for a mother. The person who clothed, fed, diaper changed, let you hug her when you threw up, held your hand on the first day of school, told you to get beck and try again and then cheered the loudest when you finally got it, held you when someone did or said something unkind. My mother went through the destructive years of young boys and the tempestuous years of teenage girls. She went without many "comforts" so that my brothers, sisters and I could have them. I grew up in a military family, my dad was often away or had a crazy schedule but my mom was always there.
As a mother I now find myself becoming more and more like the woman I swore I would be nothing like(tempestuous years)and wishing to be even more like her. I now drag my kids all around the place following my military husband and trying to be the stabilizing factor my mom was for me.I hear myself singing "Love at Home" when my girls start arguing.
I grateful to more mothers than just my own. My husbands mom is an exemplary woman who raised three wonderful boys. Both of my grandmother's were and are great women who struggled to do the best for their children when they were in difficult situations. My sister-in-laws mother, who, when I was a teenager taught me many things, the least of which is to be grateful I came from the home I came from.
And so here it is my deeply flawed and inadequate tribute the mothers in my life. Thanks you and I love you all.
NINA

Here is a quick kiddie Quip from the dinner table tonight.
Mara - Teia you want to be a pilot like daddy
Teia - well actually now I want to be a dolphin trainer
Becca - I change every week