Monday, January 31, 2011

Bee There

We had our Visiting Teaching Conference yesterday. I was very glad to see the amount of sisters there that we had. I seem to remember last year's conference being a little more sparsely populated.

My RS President and I had this great there of asking the sisters to "Bee There" for the sisters they visit teach. These cutie little chocolate bees were made using a Wilton truffle mold with yellow melting chocolate painted in it for the stripes and a Popsicle stick inserted before they cooled. The head and wings were free hand on parchment paper and attached using melted chocolate.Once assembled, they were inserted into the cupcakes.I made 48 cupcakes (24 chocolate and 24 strawberry). There were 8 colors in all. Instead of cleaning out the icing bag between colors, I just kept filling it. It made some interesting variegated roses. These are some of the best roses I've ever done, and they're HUGE!
After last year (with so many left over) I was hesitant to make more than 4 dozen. As it turned out, there were some sisters that didn't get any (I'm SO sorry). Some day I'll get the ratio right. We handed out updated directories and new VT routes. I have a companion this year! :) I can't wait to start visiting!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Strangers' kindness

We got more snow Wednesday.

OK, so that's nothing new. I met Tim at Lowe's to pick up the kiddos. The roads weren't too bad, but I wasn't going any faster than 30 mph. Even driving on the highway was slow because they hadn't cleared it yet. So far we'd only gotten 2 inches.

After I got off of I81 and headed toward Gerrardstown, the roads got bad. I kept it in a low gear and took my time, and the kiddos were so good behaving in the back and letting me concentrate. We were all saying little prayers to overcome our obstacles on the way home.

The first obstacle was going up the mountain. We got 1/2 way up and had to stop for a stopped car. We ended up sliding, and only through his help and the help of a truck that stopped behind us, we were able to go back down the mountain and into the Post Office's parking lot to turn around. By then the snow plow had made a pass, and we were able to make it to the top.

The second obstacle was going down the mountain. Again, we kept it in a low gear and stayed far behind the car in front of us. We only slid once during the trip down, and there was a long line of cars, but we made it safely to the bottom and into Glengary.

The third obstacle was the bridge. I made it almost over the first time, but couldn't quite get all the way up. I started to back down, but ended up sideways across the road. I cranked my wheels all the way to the left and put it in reverse, and it walked me to the right until I was pointing down the hill again. I decided to go down, turn around, and give it another try. In the mean time, I waved down and warned a man in a big silver truck about the bridge (remember him for later). He made it over OK, and with a running start, we did on the second try.

The fourth obstacle was going up the mountain road of our development. Remember that silver truck? He was sitting at the bottom waiting for his neighbor to get up the road. If he didn't make it, he was going to give him a ride home. I decided to try it, but didn't get 10 feet. It was far too slick for me. The man in the silver truck, Brian, offered us a ride home, so I parked the car at the bottom and climbed into his truck with the kiddos. I told him I'd make him a cake for helping us. He looked at me and asked, "Did you make a cake for someone last year?" I told him that I'd made a cake for someone who'd helped my husband out of a ditch. Would you believe it was Brian? How cool. He drove us all the way to the house and even backed up our driveway so we didn't have to walk it. Wow, our neighbors are cool!!!

So, 2 hours after this ordeal began, we were home. I immediately called my boss and told him that there was NO way I was going to be able to get to work Thursday. He understood. Tim made it home with some difficulty that evening, but safely. We spent the day Thursday trying to shovel the driveway. Tim finally talked one of our neighbors with a suped-up Polaris go-cart and plow combination to plow the driveway. She will be getting a cake as well.

The kiddos helped me bake 48 cupcakes for Sunday, 2 cakes for our neighbors, and our second attempt at the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Lots of baked goods in our house, and I still have Amish bread to bake tonight.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

More Snow

I got a text on my phone this morning notifying me that school was closed today.

Wonderful.

Note the sarcasm? It only snowed an inch, and the plant is still operating normally. I waited 2 hours for the sun to come up before I was brave enough to venture out in the slush again. I drove Tim's Nissan today, and the funny thing is, I did better in his front-wheel two-wheel drive car than I did in my rear-wheel four-wheel drive Trailblazer. Go figure. It did take me longer to get to work because I was paranoid about the road conditions. I took my time. Oh, boy did I take my time! I wasn't taking any chances!

The fun part will be getting home this evening.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Honey Chicken (again)

You know, since I first tried the Chinese honey chicken recipe a few months ago, I wasn't expecting the reaction I got from it. Yowsa! At least every other day, my kids ask me to make it for dinner. Mom and I tried making it with breaded/baked chicken pieces instead of battered and fried. I liked it, but apparently it just wasn't the same. So, if we make it, it has to be according to the original recipe. I think this one has earned a place in my recipe keeper book...

you know, the one with all of the cake recipes and desserts.

Yea, that one.

I'm not sure my little book will know what to do with itself. :)