UPCOMING EVENTS

Just a reminder that the WILD WOMAN TRIATHLON is taking place this friday, Aug. 19 at Lake Elmo. You still have until tomorrow Aug. 17th to sign up. Give Brenda Snizek a call at 256-5476 or email at bsnizek@bresnan.net.  Participants need to arrive by 5:00 at the boat dock. Families and friends are welcome! Come and cheer for all the Wild Women!

STAKE CONFERENCE is scheduled for Saturday, August 27th and Sunday, August 28th. The Saturday schedule includes Priesthood meetings at 4pm, dinner at 5:30 and an adult session starting at 7pm. The Sunday meeting starts at 10am at the Stake Center. Hope to see you there!

READ KIDDO READ

If you are always looking for a good book for your children to read you might want to check out www.readkiddoread.com. The web site was started by the author James Patterson to encourage his son and every other kid to develop the habit of reading. The site gives a rundown of the best books for kids, broken down by age and genre. I find it easy to navigate and plenty of books to choose from. And of course just because these books are labeled as children and young adult literature doesn't mean that adults won't enjoy them. I think of them as books the whole family can read and enjoy and build a connection with. Of course many of the books suggested are popular so trying to check them out at the library can be discouraging. Sometimes it is easier to just put a hold on a book and pick it up when it is available. Check it out! and Happy Reading!

GENEALOGY FAIR

Who Do You Think You Are?

Saturday, August 27, 2011

10am-2pm + 1711 6th Street West (Ave. D Chapel)

Free to the Public!

5 PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

*LDS Family History Center

*Yellowstone Genealogy Forum

*Big Sky Paf Users Group

*Germans From Russia

*D.A.R. (Daughters of American Revolution)

Each organization will have a booth/table at which to provide information & display what can be accomplished when tracing family history, plus Mini-workshops: how to fill out pedigree and family sheets, Using websites for research & Genealogy 101.

This should be a great event for those interested in family history. Both stakes are involved and working hard to make it a success. And of course, lunch will be served!

Freezing Tomatoes

I just picked my first 2 tomatoes from my garden. You know how as your tomatoes ripen, you often have more tomatoes than you can eat, put not enough to preserve?  Or maybe you have some ripe tomatoes but no time to use them.

Last year at the Stake Relief Society "What To Do With Your Garden" seminar we held, Jodi Gorham gave us one of my favorite tips ever.  She told us you can freeze a whole tomato and use it later. Here's how:

1. Wash a whole tomato well.

 2. Pop it in a baggie. Just leave the stem on, and don't forget to label the bag.

3. Now sometime in January or February when you need a tomato for a recipe, pull out your frozen tomato.

4. Run it under warm water.

5. The skin will now slip off easily.

6. You can now crush , dice, or use the tomato whole.

7.  You can use the tomato in any recipe that calls for cooked tomatoes. They are also great in soup.

Last summer, I froze about a dozen tomatoes this way. They were wonderful to have on hand and I had used them all within a couple of months. I definitely plan on freezing a lot more this way this summer!

Second Annual Wild Women Triathlon

 

Friday, August 19, 6 pm-9 pm
Lake Elmo State Park
Are you ready?? The triathlon is less than one month away. Last year's event was so fun-check it out here.

There are women of all ages and all fitness levels participating--come enjoy the company of our sisters! You can even volunteer to help if you don't want to participate.  We need people to pass out water, help with snacks at the end, direct traffic along the way, and cheer our runners on.

Contact Brenda Snizek (Skyview Ward) or

Ranee Berg (Hilltop Ward) 

for more information, or check out the facebook page.

Couscous

Couscous is a common ingredient in North African and Middle East cooking. It is made from semolina and is considered neither a pasta nor a grain. It has more riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, thiamine and pantothenic acid than pasta and more protein than rice.  Couscous available locally has been parboiled, meaning it has been steamed and dried, making cooking time for you at home very short. Couscous needs only 5 minutes to cook, making it perfect for a quick meal.  Couscous is good hot or cold, and can be substituted for quinoa, rice, or pasta in a variety of dishes.  It keeps well for at least a year in your pantry.

I tried couscous in this summer salad recipe:

 Chicken Quinoa (or Couscous) Salad

2 cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained (or couscous)
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken breast
1/2 cup diced yellow or red sweet peppers or bell peppers
1/4 cup fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 avocado, diced
1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Transfer to a large bowl, stirring every 5 minutes to break up. Let cool for 15 minutes. Or use couscous, cooked according to package directions and cooled.
2. Place broccoli, chicken, peppers, and Parmesan cheese into a large bowl. Add quinoa and stir to combine.
3. To prepare dressing, place olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper into a medium bowl, whisking to combine. Pour over quinoa, stirring then gently stir in cubed avocado.
4. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Makes 8 servings

Lengthen A Skirt: Letting Down Hems

Sometimes a dress is just on the edge lengthwise-long enough to be covered, but not quite long enough to be comfortable.  So many dresses these days don't really come with hems, but even a small hem can be let down to lengthen a dress. 

This is my daughter's dress. It is one of those "long enough" dresses, but she wishes it was just a little bit longer to make her feel more comfortable when sitting and bending.

It has a small hem. After measuring the hem on this dress, I determined I could lengthened it by 3/4 an inch.  That doesn't seem like a lot, but even 1/2 an inch can make the difference between "just barely" and a comfortable length.

I used a package of hem tape, which you can buy anywhere sewing supplies are sold. It is a lightweight flat lace.

Carefully unpick the old hem and press open gently.  When you iron something, use up and down motion, not forward and backward. That way you won't stretch out the item you are ironing.

You can see that I left the edge finish on the dress when I unpicked the hem. This keeps the fabric from unraveling, so leave it if possible.

Pin the lace to the right side of the bottom of the dress, matching the edge of the lace to the bottom seam of the edge finish.  This means the lace and the dress overlap about 1/4 an inch.

Now use your machine to sew along the lace, taking care not to stretch the dress fabric.

Now fold the lace and about 1/8 inch of fabric over to the wrong side and pin. If you have a hemmer on your sewing machine, stitch in place. I hemmed this dress by hand. There are many methods to hand hem, but I learned to hem by taking a small stitch through the lace edge,

then a tiny stitch through the fabric about 1/2 an inch away from the last stitch.

This leaves a kind of zig zag hem that will stretch with the dress.

When you are done, iron using a pressing cloth. You can buy a cloth from your fabric store meant for pressing or use a clean, thin, 100% cotton cloth (dish towel) like I am. A pressing cloth allows you to press without worry about scorching your fabric and creates more steam for better results.

Wet the cloth and wring out well, then place on the hem on the wrong side of the dress. Press, remembering to use an up and down motion.

It took me maybe 30 minutes to lengthen the dress.  It didn't change the look of the dress, but it will now be more comfortably modest for my daughter to wear.