Truck Boo-Boo

John came home from work to let us know he had gotten a note on his truck while parked in Cheney. A car had to maneuver the narrow roads, so it was either get too close to John's truck or run into the city bus. His side mirror scraped along the side of John's truck and broke the rear light. The other driver's insurance paid for a rental car while John's truck was being repaired and repainted. Within a week after dropping off the truck, everything was back to almost new.

Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder

This was a quick and tasty recipe. Perfect for a weeknight.

CREAMY CHICKEN CORN CHOWDER
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
32 oz chicken broth
1 c. half and half
8oz cream cheese
1 package frozen S&W sweet petite white corn
16 oz Pace or other salsa
3 c. cooked chicken, shredded
1 tsp cumin
Optional toppings:
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Avocado
Sour cream
Chopped tomato

Saute' onion and garlic in 2 TBS olive oil, add broth, half & half, cream cheese, corn and salsa. Bring all to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and add the chicken & cumin. Cook just until heated. Serve in bowls and top with cilantro, avocado, sour cream and diced tomato.

Wreck-It Ralph

Audrey and I went downtown to see another movie without John. He's been spending a number of Saturdays "playing" with his brothers Ralph & Steve while they do updates to Joan's lake cabin. Today we saw Wreck-It Ralph. Cute movie. Afterwards we did a little shopping (Auntie's Bookstore, Kmart) and ended up at Senor Froggy/Bruchi's for lunch.

Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner

John's mom had a great idea to get the family together before Thanksgiving, but not conflict with any in-law plans. She had her Thanksgiving dinner on November 15th at the Golden Corral buffet restaurant. Here are a few crazy pictures. Not everyone that lived in Spokane made it, though Susan who lives out of town was able to get away and make the trip. Susan, Celia, Angela/Steve, Audrey/John/Sam, Lisa/Trinity, Marcie, Joan, Ralph/Joann, Nancy/Verne were all able to be there. I think this was a great idea and a way to allow everyone to relax (no meal prep) and just spend time visiting.

Banana Bread Bars with Brown Butter Frosting

BANANA BREAD BARS WITH BROWN BUTTER FROSTING
1 & 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
12/ c. butter, softened
2 eggs
3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 & 3/4 cup)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Frosting:
1/2 c. butter
4 c. powdered sugar
1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 TB milk

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 9x13 pan. For the bars, in a large bowl beat together sugar, sour cream, butter and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, salt

and blend for 1 minutes. Stir in walnuts. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Frosting: Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a light brown and remove from heat immediately. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Whisk together until smooth (thicker than glaze but thinner than frosting). Using a spatula, spread the frosting over the warm bars.

Roadshow

Our Stake held a roadshow this year. Well, kind of a roadshow. Each Ward had to get on / off the stage in a set amount of time, but we only held it at one location. (A traditional roadshow would actually be multiple locations and multiple performances in a single night). Below are some pictures from the dress rehearsal. Our production was "We Believe that with the power of God anyone can be a Hero!" This was written by Arah Kunz and Lisa Farman. They did a great job and it was very clever tying in all the various superheros.

Basic story line: Sister Primary (Nicole Simmons) was trying to find a new Sunbeam teacher as her current one was moving. She sang a song "Holding Out for a Hero" (accompanied by me, with revised words and while the YW did a dance number in the background). Her son came into the room (wearing a super hero cap) and gave his mom some encouragement "Never give up! Never surrender!" and zoomed off the stage. Then she took a nap and the Dream Sequences started. #1 Brother Gordon (that would be Flash Gordon) started teaching the class but as soon as someone needed help, he had to run off stage and save them. The Flash theme song played in the background. #2 Brother Parker (as in Peter Parker) came in to the music of Spiderman. And of course as soon as someone yelled help, he ran off the stage. The dream sequences ended with Sister Primary exclaiming that a super hero was not the answer. She got inspiration to have Sister Prince (as in Diana Prince, Wonder Woman) to be the new teacher. She sang "I'm No Superman" (with revised words) accompanied by guitar. Even though she was not sure how she could juggle everything, she was willing to try. The final line (Dakota G) was "Remember, that in a world of ordinary mortals, you are a wonder woman". And the Wonder Woman theme cued up. I helped during the auditions and rehearsals for our ward but accompanied just the one number. Audrey was in charge of collecting and cuing up all the background music during the performance. And while the other wards did their productions, both John and Audrey were in charge of the spotlights. Our friend Richard H did the sound/technician stuff with Doug T. After our ward finished, I went back to the refreshment table and volunteered my time for the remainder of the evening. (They served cookies, popcorn and licorice). It was a fun activity!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Look what came in US Mail today? Kathy made these at her Relief Society craft day. I had her order one set for me. She called me and asked if I should send the kit "done" or "not done". Done for sure or else it would become a to-do pile in my craft closet along with a few other things... Thanks for completing it for me Kathy!