Chocolate Derby

After the "Big Wedding" we were all a bit jealous. People in the UK get to wear hats. In the US, if we wear hats . . . .well, we don't. The last time hats were in style is when Tiffany and Debbie Gibson were in the Top 10!

So, we decided to do something about it! For a friends birthday we celebrated with a
"Chocolate Derby."
Hats were required, and they could participate in the Chocolate derby by bringing 8 small portions of their favorite chocolate thing.

Not everyone wore a hat, but these were the few that did!

The Table Setting

Adorable Centerpiece!
The Menu:
Chicken and Steak Kabobs
Fruit Kabobs, Green salad and watermelon
We migrated into the house and gave presents and voted on our favorite hat:

Corrine!

Nothin says a good hat like,

"Feed the birds . . .Tuppence, Tuppence . . ."

We each had a plate and a lime wedge.

We started with the first dessert, she explained why she chose this item and then we tasted as much or little as we wanted.

Then we cleansed our pallet by licking the lime and moved on to the next person.
Once we had partaken of everyones sample, we ate what we wanted to and chatted till all hours of the night!
Good Fun!



Good Friends!

Inspirational Food Storage

I DO have a hobby or two, although I seem to forget it at times!

I am a food storage junkie, as you may well come to know.

Tonight we had a Relief Society activity with a guest speaker on Food Storage.

She talked about how she started her food storage and the method she was inspired to take.

I sat through the entire meeting nodding my head in 100% agreement.

If I were to write my experiences with food storage and the method I use it would be her EXACT SAME method.

I didn't get my method from a book. I got it from the Lord.
She didn't get hers from a book, she got it from the Lord.

I'm not saying it's the only way, but I am saying it's a good way, and a truly inspirational approach to it.

Out of the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses...

Exploring a Hobbie

I have no hobbies.

I know, it's hard to believe, but really. It's true.

Well, I guess it isn't true - Food is a hobbie of mine; cooking, eating, creating, spending way too much time there, just like a hobbie, right?

AND I do write. No I don't go to writing classes and seminars on becoming a writer, but I have always been a good writer.

So other than FOOD and writing, I have no hobbie.

HMMMM. What's the difference between a hobbie and a talent?

Anyway; Some people read, some sew, some quilt, some garden.

I can do all of those things and many more things but I don't LOVE doing it nor look forward to accomplishing projects in the name of "relaxing time away productively" in other words - Hobbie.

I blame my mother.

haha!

I blame my upbringing.

I was not taught to do things. We were not encouraged to try things. We couldn't afford to try things. We just had to deal with what we had and do what we could without structure or teaching or tools.

I didn't do little league, we didn't take classes, we didn't do things in our spare time. I did do piano for less than a year.

I never thought it would matter, that I didn't have hobbies.

It never does matter until I am a stay at home mom.

My life has been busy with work. If I had spare time, it was spent sitting, thinking, watching tv, sleeping, EATING, chatting,etc (as if there were more to it, but there really isn't.). And if I was bored I got a job, because, ahgmgm [clearing my throat] money solves ALL dilemmas.

In fact, I can also blame my hobbilessness on money as well.

Hobbies are very costly.

I can't really think of a free hobbie . . . okay, weeding a garden is free, but who enjoys just weeding the garden beds? The joy of that hobbie comes in the planting flowers and beautifying . . .plants and seeds cost money.

When I decide I would like to try something, you can bet the one thing that discourages me and changes my mind first is THE COST.

Now that I am a SAHM I want to be home with my children and for my children but there is at times, time to be filled.

So thus it is, the sneak peek at my trial hobbie

So far I have spent $15 on the beginning, and yet . . .I have only just after 3 days of working on it, figured out how to make it work. I haven't even started purchasing the supplies - and it will far exceed $15.00.

I have no books, I have no patterns, and not a whole lot of money to spend on it (but my family may starve for a while, I'll deal with it when that time comes). Just my creative mind, Minimal tools, My Husbands creative mind (which many times exceeds my own), and my husbands mathematical, practical, and artistic GENIUS ingenuity. he really is brilliant.

Tune in next time!

My Story

I am what I eat.

You’ve heard that before, but never before has it been so real to me. On the first day of school in 2010 I decided to change my life in a very dramatic way.

I was raised with food being the center of all. I think I realized it when I was first married. I was at work and having a bad day, my dad happened to come in to say “hi.” He and my mom were on their way to their Friday night dinner date, that week being across the street from my work. After they had eaten, they returned with food for me, “to help me with my bad day!” Food had nothing to do with my frustrations of the day, but it had everything to do with healing my frustrations.

On stressful days, I put the kids down to bed and I bust out the ice cream. On good days, I put the kids to bed and bust out the ice cream! When I am bored, I bake something. When I am feeling creative, I bake something! TO reach out and tell someone I love them, or was thinking of them, I make food for them! My greatest accomplishment of the day: the magical, creation of dinner.

Some people sew for a hobby, I can sew, but it’s not my greatest passion. Some people run, I don’t! Some people are crafty, I can do crafty things but once again, it’s not something I thrive for. I consider FOOD as my hobby. I shop for good deals, I create meals from scratch, and I bake amazing things and conjure up delicious flavors for dinner – just for the sake of tasting. I love food storage and creating from the shelf! Food is my hobby and my all!

When I am feeling anything, food is the comfort and the celebration of all things: I am what I eat.
I took my husband to Chicago, where I had lived for a couple of years; he wanted to see the sights of Chicago. Me? I wanted to eat and show him the foods of Chicago! It’s what my memories were based on. When we go places, it’s about the food! We go to the state fair and I top off the occasion with some certain “fair food” as a token memento. My husband says he wants to do something “different” or “special” for an occasion, to me that means RESTARAUNT! It’s all about the food.

It all changed in a way I never expected on the first day of school 2010. I decided that with my daily intake of sugar-based foods being near 2000 calories, I was addicted to sugar. I have no problem finishing a pan of brownies, cinnamon rolls, or a cake in only a few hours. I walk into the kitchen for lunch, and can’t decide what to eat so I “just have a brownie while I decide.” I can’t think of anything to eat for lunch, so I return in a half hour, perhaps then I something will sound good. I return in 30 minutes and while I think of something to make for lunch, I eat yet another brownie . . .or two. And then as the hours go on, I have eaten all of the brownies and have not decided what to eat for lunch, so I force myself to eat something “healthier” raising my calorie intake up and up for the reason of “balancing all of that sugar!”

SO, I recognized my addiction and I set out to overcome it. I thought it was simple, “just don’t eat sugar,” right? But I realized that by giving up sugar I have created an empty chasm in my life. I gave up my ONLY hobby: food.

With this void to fill, I find myself frustrated daily, bored daily, and struggling to fill the void with something of worth.

It may sound ridiculous to you, but to me, it is a true problem. I am as much of a recovering addict as anyone was an alcoholic or anorexic. This is my journey, this is my story.