Tender Mercies

I am always trying to figure out what kinds of snacks and foods my husband really enjoys eating, but the one trick is that he doesn't always articulate exactly what he wants.  "I just want food," he tells me.  While I am grateful that he is not picky, I know he has opinions.  So I was grateful to find a sticky note on the desk one day that he had written.  "Marshall approved Snacks," it read.  Hallelujah! One of his "approved" snacks is Fig Newtons.  I've looked on the ingredient list of Fig Newtons before, and I haven't been too impressed, and I don't want to pay for mediocrity.  So I thought that I should make my own.  I immediately went to work to find a homemade version of the cookie bar that seemed delicious enough to make and eat.  After reading dozens of recipes, I narrowed down on one, and altered it to fit our taste buds.  It only cost me about $5, and it made 48 cookies the size of the commercial brand.  I also did a glu...

As an Army wife without any kids, I find that I have a lot of time to devote to my husband. Coaching does not take up all of my time, which I am grateful for, because I get to focus on ways to strengthen my marriage, show love to my husband, and take care of my own needs.  And through this new full-time job of being an Army Wife, I have found a new hobby:  creating commercial foods and snacks at home.  While it may not be convenient or fast, I have a handful of reasons why I do this.  1). It is often times cheaper than the store-bought version 2). It is a time for me to be creative in the kitchen 3). I can control what I put in, so I know there are no strange chemicals or additives 4). I can improve in my baking and culinary skills 5). I can use ingredients that are not genetically modified (GMOs) 6). It's a way for me to show my love for my husband, because it is something I created, rather than the manufac...

Happy Halloween!  While I may not be too keen on dressing up and trick-or-treating for Halloween, I do love carving pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds, cooking with pumpkins, and everything that has to do with pumpkins, butternut-, carnival-, acorn-, spaghetti-, and every other kind of squash out there!  Normally I would say I like the autumn colors outside, but as it is already winter here in Alaska, that is not a perk of Halloween anymore, at least for the time being.  We had another couple from church come over to our house on Saturday to carve pumpkins with us.  I made chili and we enjoyed being together.  I had a difficult time coming up with what to carve, but I knew that if I wanted it to look good, I had better keep it simple.  So I decided to stick with an Alaskan theme and carve the big dipper that is on the state flag.  Marshall was a little bit more creative than me, and carved a p...

Wasn't Conference so wonderful this past weekend?  I sure enjoyed watching all the sessions with my husband and friends.  Although I take notes and pay attention to the speakers, after it is all said and done, it is hard to remember specific points that stood out to me...because so much was said. So I tried something this year.  I took a 3X5 index card and wrote a point or two from each talk.  Now I can keep that card with me in my scriptures and always have it to joggle my memory at a moment's notice.  A 3X5 card has all of the highlights from the most recent conference. I highlighted each name so that I can differentiate easily between the  First Presidency, The Twelve, The Seventy, and Auxiliary leaders. 

Last Friday, my husband and I went out for a lunch date.  It had been over a month since we had eaten out, so we decided to go out for lunch on his day off (since of course, lunch is going to be cheaper).  I think what made this date so much fun was that we had planned for it on Monday, so I had all week to look forward to it.  From the many restaurants in Fairbanks, I think I found my new favorite, though I am ALWAYS up for trying something new.  From the moment we sat down at Pad Thai Restaurant on College Road, I knew it was a good pick.  The waitress was so cheerful and the occasional voices heard from the kitchen were speaking Thai, a good sign when eating at an authentic restaurant. It is a slight pet peeve of mine when I go to a Japanese steakhouse, only to be served by someone from Korea or Mexico.  Not that I have anything against them...but I digress.        Not the best picture, but it does capture the m...

The Aurora in Fairbanks, Alaska on October 8, 2012.  (My friend, Janye Wallace, took this beautiful picture from Ft. Wainwright. Thanks for sharing!) It seemed like every time I would get on facebook, I would read posts about people seeing the Northern Lights in Fairbanks.  I would see their gorgeous pictures of the dancing lights, and then grab a coat and run outside, or even drive out away from the city on one occasion, but would still see nothing but a black sky.  I felt like I would never see them!! Last night started out like the one described above.  Out of frustration, I downloaded an Aurora forecast app for my phone, and then opened it up.  It said it was at 70% strength, so Marshall asked if I wanted to run out to the Creamer's Field behind our house to look, just in case.  We only got to the parking lot of our Apartment when I looked up and saw green dancing lights above my head!!  The experience truly was magnificent.  If I ha...

I love Japanese food, and I just picked up a great cookbook from the library that has helped me produce 3 wonderfully delicious Japanese and Chinese dinners over the past week!  Tonight I made tonkatsu , breaded pork cutlets pan-fried to deliciousness (though I used turkey cutlets instead, because they were on sale).  I served the crispy breaded cutlets on top of a bed of cabbage, with a sweet sauce on top that reminded my husband of an Asian-infused barbecue sauce.  On the side we had tomato wedges, brown Japanese rice, and tamagoyaki--a slightly sweet Japanese style egg omelet, often times served in sushi. My hungry stomach was oh so happy with the results, and my husband was pleased as well.  I had no complaints whatsoever about dinner tonight, and that is a big deal for me!  I have posted the recipe below for your enjoyment :).     Our dinner.  Tonkatsu, shredded cabbage, rice, tomato wedges, and tamagoyaki. S...

I've watched flash mob videos on YouTube, and I've always thought they were pretty darn clever. But I never imagined I would be in one. A lady from church had her birthday this week, and since she had always wanted to be in a flash mob, she organized one as a way to celebrate. And this is where I come in. About 25 participants showed up to her practice on Friday night to learn the dance, and then we performed tonight at the Bentley Mall at 5pm. The important thing to understand is that we live in Fairbanks, Alaska. In order to have a "successful" flash mob, you need to do it in a large crowd of people. Ya, there are none of those in Fairbanks. Actually, the mall was the most crowded I had ever scene it. (And that was probably because all of the Alaskan residents received their Permanent Fund checks in the mail, so they had extra spending money.) I know it was a success because as the third dancer started to dance, a person in the mall said, "it's a flash...