Archive for July, 2008
At her request, I made pies today with my mom at her house. We made four. She seems to really like them. Great-Grandma Hansen also requested apricots for her apricot jam. So between family and neighbors, we are getting good mileage out of the apricot tree this year.
In the evening we went to a baby shower for my cousin Chanel at Gardner Village. It was fun, with good food and good presents (I brought books, my mom brought a super-cute blanket and musical stuffed toy).
Oh, and Happy Birthday to Thack!
July 30th, 2008
Yesterday my mom asked me to bring her a bag of apricots so she could make freezer jam. For some reason that didn’t sound too appetizing to me. Since freezer jam isn’t cooked, I was picturing weird chunks of peel in it. Apricot peels aren’t bad, but I don’t want peely jam. Then my mom reminded me that my Grandma Hansen has been making apricot freezer jam forever. This brought back memories of visiting my Grandma when I was a kid, and her making me a hot breakfast, whatever I requested (usually either pancakes or french toast). So yummy. There was never syrup, just butter and three kinds of freezer jam - light red (strawberry), dark red (raspberry) and orange (apparently this was apricot). She always used berries from Grandpa’s farm or from Bear Lake to make jam.
So anyway, I took the apricots to my mom, and she explained that you blend the apricots to make them smooth. This makes much more sense. Today I made a batch and it is tasty - not peely at all.
July 29th, 2008
Two summers ago, our apricot tree was completely overloaded with fruit, and I had no idea what to do with it all. Maryanne (Bryan’s mom, who is an excellent pie maker) offered to help me make as many pies as we could. We made a deal - she would do the actual pie making (crust, rolling, etc), Bryan would pick the fruit, and I would prepare the filling and try to learn by watching her. For her efforts, she would keep half of the pies. Apricots come on at the hottest part of the summer (mid-late July), and we had a swamp cooler that was not cooling very well. And I was about seven months pregnant. It was hot. I don’t know how many pies we made, but it was close to two dozen. We baked them up four at a time, then when they cooled, we vacuum-sealed (Maryanne has a little trick) them into freezer bags and put them in the freezer. We’ve been enjoying them ever since. When you want to eat one, you just throw it in the oven for an hour and it comes out like fresh-baked.
Our apricot tree is very old and large. It’s the biggest apricot tree I’ve seen. We had it pruned the summer we moved in, and they took off about the top third of the tree. It has definitely rebounded, and because we haven’t had it pruned again, it has gone into bi-annual fruit production. This means that it mostly produces fruit every other year - a little one year, a ton the next. We have to pick up the mess every day or our lawn is completely covered. The raccoons make a big mess, throwing pits everywhere. It’s a big job.
Maryanne is busy right now, so Bryan and I have been making pies. Today we made eight. He does the picking and filling and I do the crust. I am getting pretty good. My recipe is a little different from Maryanne’s, but Bryan still seems to approve. Apricot is fast becoming one of my favorite pies. I like it warm with vanilla ice cream (gotta have the ice cream because it’s a little tart). My favorites pies are still Maryanne’s Fresh Strawberry Pie and my own pumpkin pie.
Oh, and if you’ve never seen Pushing Daisies, you should watch it.
July 26th, 2008
After being sick and going overboard on Tuesday, I was down for the count yesterday. After much sleeping, I have recovered nicely. We watched the Days of ‘47 Parade on TV. Camping out to watch a parade in really hot weather in a huge crowd is just not my cup of tea. We had to watch though, because our family helped assemble the Wells Stake float (#90-something) - celebrating the first Boy Scout troop in America (it was our stake!). Rees and I spelled out the names of some people at the First Encampment on some “rocks” on the float. Bryan helped install some coolers under the float to hold drinks for the float operators. Rees was strangely mesmerized by the parade on TV.
We went to my parents’ house tonight for a little fireworks show. We brought KFC for dinner. Michael and Sarah came as well. There is something funny about my dad and fireworks. He seems like about the last guy who would buy his own fireworks to light, but for some reason he does. Maybe because he’s a dude? Anyway, he picked up the classic I remember from childhood - Killer Bees - plus some fireworks that shot out little parachutes (Rees LOVED those) and a giant $20 thing called a Nuclear Bomb (or as Sarah called it, “Stadium of Fire in a Can”). We also brought some sparklers and some of those spinning colored ball fireworks we found in our pantry (probably five years old). Michael commented that “…the Pioneers would be proud!”
Rees and James liked the fireworks but were a little scared. They kept their distance. Allie, on the other hand, probably would have walked over there and picked them up while they were going off. She had no fear. We also had some neighborhood kids come and join - the fireworks do seem to attract them. 
The boys slept over and Bryan and I went home. I’ll pick them up tomorrow.
July 24th, 2008
I woke up this morning with a sore throat. I was in denial, and soldiered on to the zoo with the kids. It was fun, as usual (we have a membership). James is so cute, and gets so excited about every animal. “LOOK MOM! A (insert whatever animal we’re viewing)! RIGHT THERE!!!!!!”
We rented a wagon for the first time, which was great because the kids could climb in and out easily. It was also a huge workout for me, due to the hilliness of the zoo. I had to make Rees get out and climb the last hill to the exit. I was exhausted by the time we got home.
In the evening the boys went to Mutual with Bryan, where they shot rockets with the YM.
July 22nd, 2008
Today was Rees’ last soccer game. He did great. He really wanted to play and was disappointed when Coach Dad gave him his turns on the bench. Very cute. He got a little MVP trophy that he loves and is carrying around with him everywhere. Bryan was a great coach and all the kids loved him.
We came home to find the Gregory family helping themselves to our apricots. This is perfectly acceptable, since we have way too many to manage by ourselves. Thayne, Jakson, and Kassidy were daredevils, climbing the tree and onto the roof of the garage to get the ripest ones. Camillia was content to watch.
The boys had a sleepover tonight with the Gregorys. We took them over at about 7 and then went up to Market Street Broiler for dinner. We ordered artichoke dip with spinach and crab to start, then shared a dinner of filet mignon and a lobster tail. Yummy. We lucked out - a table on the patio opened up right when we arrived. Very nice dinner.
Then we went to Sandy to see The Dark Knight on IMAX. Unfortunately, I read the theatre map upside down when ordering tickets, so we were on the front row rather than the back! My horror was offset by all the people around us who also did the same thing. We were all able to laugh about it. The couple next to us purchased the very first tickets of the show - on the front row. Honestly, the first three of four rows of that theatre should not even exist. I was having serious flashbacks about my major hotel reservation error on our recent trip to San Diego (always save your original Expedia itinerary if you’re coming back later to buy, friends!).
I was able to mostly forget about that, which is a testament to the movie. It’s been said a million times, but Heath Ledger is off the charts - which is good, since he’s probably in it more than Batman/Bruce Wayne is. I have always liked him. He was excellent in Brokeback Mountain (I practically dragged Bryan to see it, and I think he may have ended up liking it even more than I did). My favorite quote, however, was from Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman):
Let me get this straight: You think that your employer, one of the richest men in the world, is spending his nights running around the city beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands? And your plan is to blackmail him?
Good luck.
July 19th, 2008
Today we went to see Kit Kittredge with my mom in Provo. She had seen it with a friend and thought that Rees would like it. He did, but much of it was over his head. He was good at the theatre though. He seemed to understand the ending pretty well - that was the part that interested him the most. He didn’t understand the more subtle storyline of the families having trouble making ends meet during The Depression. Or Kit wishing to be a real newspaper reporter. James was happy, but talking too loudly, so I spent the last half of the movie in the corridor with him (still inside the theatre). The story was cute and would be perfect for a kid a few years older than Rees.
In the afternoon I got a massage here. Inexpensive and not bad. We stayed over at my mom’s so Bryan could have a night to himself. He went shopping at Cabela’s for some fishing gear and then went to see Hancock. He says he thought it was okay.
July 16th, 2008
Bryan hauled me out into the yard early this morning to show me what he was doing last night while I was at work. The pergola is done! It looks great, too. Next we will make the pergola floor from flagstone. Woo-hoo!
July 15th, 2008
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