Canning with Billy

Last Friday I had the unique and wonderful opportunity to learn how to can pinto beans with Bill, my incredible father-in-law. It was an all day affair and Lori was on hand to assist with the help with her mischievous little boy Logan (Dakota was there too but he slept or ate most of the time-he was our mascot). Bill taught me things that his mom had taught him and things that him and Loretta and learned together. It was very neat! He had several neat little tricks he had learned from his mom. My favorite trick that he had learned was how to take the "farts" off the beans (taking the foam off the beans after they boiled) which his mom "Grandma Freida" swore helped decreased the amount of gas in the beans. He also educated me on how to prepare the mason jars, where to keep the pressure of the cookers, how much salt had to be added, and to boil the lids. It was all very fascinating!

My mom used to be very big on canning when I was a little girl but of course I don't remember how to do it now. With all we have been told from our Leaders about food storage Rob and I have been trying to do as much as we can. Due to this fact, we recently made a big purchase with our Relief Society of items such as flour, wheat, dry milk, and pinto beans. Bill offered to spend the entire day (Bill started at 6am before I even got there and I left at 6pm) teaching me and helping me do it. On top of that, Rob came back the next day and did the same thing since I had to work. We did 25 pounds per day. What a trooper Bill was! That was two 12-hour days canning beans non-stop! Thanks Bill!

Bill, Lori, Logan, Dakota, and I had a great time. Logan asked "Papa Bill" so many questions that I though his ears would fall off! Bill was just so patient and answered every one of his questions making Lori and me laugh with some of his answers. He was Papa Bill's big helper and was sure fun to have around. It was a great day and I learned a lot. I'm not sure I could do it totally by myself the next time around but I would spend the day with Bill anytime! I'm sure glad I had Lori's and Logan's help too. Thanks guys! Now I will have plenty of beans for green chile, chile burgers and and anything else you can put beans in! Maybe I will turn into Susie Homemaker after all. I said it would take baby steps didn't I? This is just the next step.

Little Susie Homemaker..............Almost

Recently Rob decided that he really wanted some homemade bread and asked if I would make him some. Well those of you who know me know that I am a little......well...um...impaired shall we say, when it comes to homemade items like bread and cinnamon rolls. It's not that I can't do it. It's that I have no patience. If it doesn't come out perfectly the first time I don't want to do it ever again.

We got a breadmaker from one of Rob's missionary companions for our wedding and tried it a few week's after we got it. It turned out terrible! Only half of it actually turned into bread and the rest never even mixed but stayed as dry ingredients. We apparently didn't follow the high altitude directions. I was ready to be done with the dang thing after that and we haven't used it since that first awful attempt. After some prodding from Rob I decided to give it another try and to just watch it more closely AND follow the directions. To our surprise and amazement it turned out PERFECT!

I had forgotten how much I missed the taste of hot, freshly baked bread. Of course it still can't compare to my mom's REAL homemade bread but this will just have to do until I am ready to attempt the real feat. This works great right now with how busy I am with school and work. Next I might even attempt cinnamon rolls! Baby steps right?

M' M' MMM Good!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, & Happy Birthday Rob!

Of course this is after the fact but the last few weeks have been absolutely crazy and have gone by in a blur! We had Christmas which is always a hurried and hectic time (although we did manage to find time to reflect on Christ and the reason for the season), New Year's Eve (I managed to stay up until 2:30am which was a miracle in itself), and of course it was Rob's birthday and we had to celebrate that. Whew! We had a great time and spent a lot of time with family and friends. Rob and I even made a REAL gingerbread house!



The highlight of the holidays for me was trying to be sneaky and surprise Rob with a new XD .45 handgun for his birthday! I set the stage by telling him for weeks that he didn't need a new handgun and that he had plenty of hunting riffles and shotguns. I had to use almost everyone in his family (Thanks Bill, Ray & Lori, Trish & Bryan, and Curtis!!) and also Rusty (his boss) and his wife Melissa to make sure that I got the right one. I had Bill hide it at his house until the day I gave it to him and Rob had NO idea!! I even had him open it on New Year's Eve (his birthday is New Year's Day) at a party at his sister's house (Trish) so the rest of his family could see his reaction since they all helped me. While everyone was talking upstairs I went and got the gift-wrapped box that Ray had secretly stashed downstairs (Ray and Lori brought it to the party) and then took it upstairs with a card taped to it with Rob's name on it. I told him that I found it downstairs and that he needed to open it. By that point he knew something was up because Lori had my camera out. When he finally opened it and realized what it was he was so excited!! These pictures are priceless.....




Of course I don't know how happy he was when he found out that his new gun is registered in MY name (hehehe)! He has always wanted me to go hunting and shooting with him and now I even have the perfect excuse-I own the gun! Happy Birthday Rob, I love you!