Relief Society Birthday Party 2010

We had a great Relief Society birthday party in March. Great friends, delicious food, and a yummy dessert bar! We also had a fantastic slide show....if someone out there knows how to put it on the blog give me a shout and we'll get it on here because it really was lovely! David and Tia Palmer from Thatcher came and shared with us a beautiful lesson about the blessings of Relief Society and the Temple. It was so fun to have the Young Women hang out with us and watch them crack open a pinata! Take a peek at the pictures, and remember how truly blessed we are live among such wonderful sisters!

Man those are some GORGEOUS decorations!

This group thought they won every competition - but check out those faces, they really just had the biggest / loudest mouths! :)

Check out those lovely legs!

So many friends!

Fill up that bag!

We loved having the Young Women there!

Watch out!

How much candy could we stuff into the evening?

The ladies really cleaned house when it came to the candy....we were afraid we'd have tons of leftovers!

Until next year, it's all over folks!

Funeral

June Stalders funeral will be Monday at 1:00pm at the Solomonville meeting house. There will be a viewing one hour before at the church as well.

YW updated information

Young Women and Parents:
Just a reminder, that the Bishopric will be interviewing the Youth on Wednesday the 24th at the church during the Camp Clinic from 6:30-7:30p.m. for the Temple trip THIS Saturday, 27th.

On Saturday, we will meet at the Church at 8:15 a.m. The girls need be dressed in Sunday best and need to bring a sack lunch (or any snacks) and any personal items they may need after the baptisms. After the Young Women and Young Men's sessions, we will be going to an early dinner (provided by the church). We expect to arrive home around 8:30p.m, but will have the girls call as we come into town so that parents may pick them up at the church.

If you have any questions, please contact Sister Emily Hancock at 428-3552.

We aren't sure who had the best time....Callie teaching us, or we the students! We had a fun aerobics class though!

Pizza

Leiah’s Pizza Crust

Preheat the oven and your pizza stone for an hour at 500 and put your rack on the lowest position. (Let’s be realistic, I never heat my stone truly for an hour….we live in Arizona, are you crazy. I do try to do it for 15 mins.) If using a pizza screen oil it and put the rack higher or the crust might burn.

Makes 6 small individual pizzas or 4 large:
1/4 c. warm water
2 tsp. dry yeast
Soften yeast in water (I usually add a pinch of sugar)
4 C. white wheat flour
1 tsp. gluten flour (optional)
1 tsp. salt
Combine and then mix in yeast.
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 C. warm water
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Add to flour mixture
Kneed until smooth. Place in lightly oiled bowl. Cover. Let rise 1 to 2 hours. Punch down. Form into balls. Let sit 30 minutes then form pizza crust. Place on hot stone and let bake for 2 minutes. Pull it out poke it a few times with a fork and put toppings on it. Then bake for 6-8 minutes. Don’t let it burn, you’ll be sorry!

This recipe is very forgiving!!!! Sometimes I make 3 pizzas and then roll one out a bit thicker and bake it at a cooler temp. about 350 and slice into bread sticks…add whatever seasonings you might like. It can also be rolled thin and grilled to make something like Panini bread. And, my second favorite to pizza is rolling it about 1 inch think and cutting it with a pizza roller into small rectangles and frying them in oil to make sopapillas. I like to top them with cinnamon, sugar, caramel, chocolate, and whipped cream….yes, all at once. If you’re gonna go the fried in oil route, you might as well indulge!


Pizza Sauce:

White Pizza
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1/2 cup parmesean cheese, grated

Exquisite Pizza Sauce:

Red Pizza
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
6 fluid ounces warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt to taste

The possibilities for pizza are endless. It’s a great way to use up leftovers. Be creative!

Remember when your using a lot of veggies you should bake/broil them for a few minutes to dry them out a bit. If you don’t you may end up with a slightly soggy crust.

Backin' Black Benefit

On the right side bar you will see a square "button" for the Backin' Black Benefit. We felt it appropriate to let you know about this great opportunity. This is not a Church or Relief Society sponsored activity. This event has been organized by friends of Tricia Black. On April 3rd there will be a 5K (3.1 miles) in support of Tricia. Not all of the information is on the Backin' Black blog yet. Check it out and mark your calendars for this great event!

Book Club {Virtual}

A Mother's Book of Secrets by Linda Eyre & Shawni Eyre Pothier
Keys to Making Motherhood Memorable, Meaningful, and Magnificent

I have just finished reading this fantastic book. Linda Eyre has been a New York Times best selling author and she co-wrote this book with her daughter Shawni, who lives in Gilbert.

A Mother's Book of Secrets, is very sweet and inspiring. It helps us to remember to look at the big picture of raising children and find practical everyday ways to do so with a smile.

Shawni is a photographer as well, and the book is filled with beautiful and touching photographs.

This book has chapters such as: Look for the light in the trenches, Dinnertime, Creating great memories, Be your own kind of "best mom", goals, cleaning, and "the big talk".

I have enjoyed reading the simple and silly stories in the chapters. It has given me great ideas and reaffirmed that I really am doing this whole mothering thing pretty good, even though a lot of times I don't feel like it.

I highly recommend this book!
~Leiah