Pass It On!

I've never been very good at passing along information because 1.) I figure I'm the last one to know, and 2.) I don't want people to think I think I'm a smarty-pants. But sometimes you get something that just needs to be passed along. So I hope that some of you already know this, but I also hope that some of you don't so I can feel useful.

There are children's games hidden deep within the church website. They are actually on The Friend's website. My lovely young mother friend and college roommate showed me how to get to them on her blog.

Go to LDS.org
Then Gospel Library
click on Magazines
Select The Friend

or

Just go to http://friend.lds.org

Then save that webpage to your favorites and revisit over and over again. I just put together three puzzles and now I'm humming "Do What is Right." What a great way to entertain your computer savvy children any day of the week.

I just wish I could put it on my Public Library blog. I'm half tempted too anyway.

Happy Cinco De Mayo

The view outside my apartment May 5, 2007

I like to call it May 5 because it reminds me that no matter what holiday it is, it really shouldn't be snowing!

This is what we were doing in May 5 two years ago . . .

Me getting a shot with the mariachi band.

I was handing out info about the library at a community Cinco de Mayo festival. See how I'm wearing my coat? Yah, it's snowing out there.

Have you ever heard the story of Matt's and my first date? It's a good one. Matt called me up on Monday for a Saturday Night date. (Smart guy . . . except that someone else asked me on Sunday Night for Saturday Night.) I was already comitted, so he asked me for Saturday Morning. But I was going to this Cinco De Mayo festival for work from 10-4. I said, "If you bring a truck and help me move a table and some chairs across the river, I'll go golfing (the proposed date) with you before." We made a deal and we had a date.

But then, it snowed. I called at 8:30 and said, "I don't think it's a good day to golf; will you still help me move those chairs and table?" And he said, "Of course, but let's go out to breakfast first." I think the most amazing part of the whole day was that at 2:00 he came back to hang out with me and put away stuff so we could get me home by 4:00.

Here we are. Hanging out on Cinco De Mayo, 2007. (that's May 5! It shouldn't be snowing!)

I'm #1000

I just happened to look at the people counter today and notices that I'm my own 1000 viewer!!!!

*Yaeh, Cheers, Confetee, Frollicing*

I think that's really funny. Thanks you guys for reading about Matt and Me and our adventures. I know I don't visit often enough to make it all the way to 1000 alone. Keep checking because this summer will be a very very fun one.

xoxoxox,
Team Svedin

Never Before, Never Again

Yesterday, the fam came over and we had breakfast for lunch, then we bought some seeds for the garden, checked out the new plot and picked up our new canoe!!!
It was starting out to be a pretty great day.
Then, it started to rain, so we went home and pulled out RISK!


This is the beginning board. I'm blue and pretty equally dispersed around the world.

I had never played RISK before, and was honestly a little afraid for the following reasons:
1. This game is notorious for taking HOURS to play.
2. Everytime I've seen people play this game (except that one time between M. and N., who are both really good natured girls) at least one person leaves the room early, angry, and hurt.
3. Every game hits you at a different psyphological level, and this one hits me at a level that is way above my ability to maturly cope with loss. (I mean come on, someone is attacking you (and probably verbally insulting your intelligence for no reason) and you get less opportunity to win back your pride than you attacker gets to take you over. It really is like a war.)
4. I don't know how to play, it seems really confusing, and I already have a complex about looking stupid when I do something new. Why on earth would I want to do something new, and confusing, in front of one or more people who are (see above) attacking me and verbally insulting my intelligence for no reason, especially when my odds of success are so calculatedly low?

I'm not going to tell you how the game ended. It's not important. But now I can say, I know how to play RISK, and if I can help it, I will try very hard to avoid ever playing it again.

Fancy!

Friday, I got an exciting new post from Perry's Plate. They made some sushi at their house! I thought, "Wow that's amazing!" I love sushi and always have to go to a fancy restaurant to get it. So, I read though the instructions every carefully and looked at all the pictures. Then I visited For the Love of Food and watched all of the videos about making perfect sushi rice. Then I went down stairs and made a shopping list and told Matt we needed to go to the store!

Sunday morning we made a cup of sushi rice and rolled a few crab and salmon rolls with avacado, green onion, and cucumber. We quickly realized that one cucumber can fill more than one cup of rice worth of rolls, so we made LOTS more rice and rolled 10 sushi rolls!

I was pretty hungry by this point (even though I had two helpings of german pancakes just 2 hours before), So we tried a few with pickled ginger and wasabi (they were on the shopping list). Then we packaged the rest up. Some we took to Matt's roommate and his wife who served us dinner Sunday night. Some we took to our neighbors who both served Asian missions. (Mary, I wore my Tai shoes to deliver and they both noticed them and were really excited to hear they were from Taiwan.)

And we are slowly eating the rest. Sushi = very fancy! Sushi = very yum!

The Soup is Hot!

I'm no good at coming up with my own recipes. Most of the time I don't even know what spices to use. That's what I use cook books for . . . to look up what exactly it is that makes that piece of meat or potato dish taste so good. So when I stumble across a good recipe I either hoard it (like my amazing coleslaw that I know none of you would really like anyway) or I have to share it with the world.

Here is a chowder that my relief society served at our Birthday Celebration. Which brings me to another fun bit of news. They emailed the recipe to me because my new calling is to put together the Relief Society bulletin every week. I love it. And you will LOVE this soup.

Corn and Potato Chowder with Ham

1/4 cup butter

2 1/4 cup water

4 cups raw potatoes

3 sliced green onions

2/3 cup chopped celery

6 T. flour

6 T. butter

2 1/2 cup milk or half and half

1 tsp. dill weed

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 cups grated cheese

1 can corn drained

2 cups diced ham

Place 1/4 cup butter, water, potatoes, celery, and green onions in large pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Do not drain. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in saucepan. Stir in flour till smooth. Remove from heat. Gradually stir in milk or half and half and return to heat, stirring until thickened and smooth. Add seasonings, then cheese, stir until smooth. Add drained corn to vegetables and water. Add cream sauce to veggies. Heat thoroughly, but do not boil, the bottom can scorch easily. Add ham, Serve.

coloring eggs is for kids!

Yesterday, Matt and I had some friends over to BBQ on our new grill and decorate Easter Eggs. I love Easter, and I especially love eating very colorful hard boiled eggs on Easter Morning. So, we invited some people over and had burgers and played games and colored eggs. Matt was emphatic that coloring eggs was something that only kids do, so it was the perfect opportunity for me to invite over my friend Emily and her three boys. We had so much fun. This year I just made dye from food coloring, boiled water, and vinegar. The burgers were great, the eggs were every colorful, and a good time was had by all.

Egg dye recipe:

1/2 cup boiling water
1 tsp vinegar
as much color as you want to put in. (at least 10 drops of your of your main color if you're mixing)