"Night in the Holy Lands" & Recipes

A huge thank you to Ann, Nanette, and Molly for sharing their amazing experiences with us, so that we could vicariously "visit" the Holy Lands!  It truly was a spiritual feast filled with interesting insights into scriptures, events during the Savior's life, and parallels with events of today in preparation for His Second Coming.  It was a great workshop!

Also, we sampled a few recipes enhancing the fun evening.  For those sisters not able to attend, below are some of the recipes and a few others we didn't get to try, but would be fun for a FHE or other ethnic activity. 
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Tarato (like  a cold yogurt soup)

3 c plain yogurt
3 c water
crushed nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds)
dash salt
1 tbsp. vinegar
2 cucumbers
2 tbsp. olive oil

Finely chop cucumber and combine all ingredients except nuts.  Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.  Sprinkle crushed nuts on top before serving.

Carrot Salad
4 carrots
1 handful raisins
1/4 c. orange juice
1/2 tsp. sugar

Grate carrots.  Mix carrots with raisins and orange juice.  Add sugar to taste.

Jewish Honey Candies
(You may want to half this recipe.)

1 c. sugar
2 c. honey
4-6 c. finely chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds)
Optional:  ginger, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, matzoh, carrots, spices

Cook sugar and honey over medium-low heat on stove, stirring often, until sugar is dissolved (about 10 min.).  Gradually add chopped nuts and keep stirring until mixture reaches soft-crack stage.  Mixture should be chewy.  Remove from heat and pour mixture onto a wet board or baking sheet.  Spread to thin out.  Let sit about 10 min.  Using sharp knife (but, be careful - speaking from experience :) ), dipped in hot water between cuts, cut in squares or diamond shapes.  Can be wrapped in plastic wrap for individual servings. 

Passover Rolls

1 c. water
1/2 c. oil
2 c. matzo meal (medium)
4 eggs
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Boil water and oil.  While boiling, stir in matzo meal.  Remove from heat.  Beat eggs.  Combine eggs with sugar and water.  Vigorously, stir eggs and mix into water.  Refrigerate until dough is hard.  Shape into balls.  Bake 325 degrees for 60 minutes.

Israeli Salad

3 cucumbers
3 tomatoes
1 green or red pepper
3 green onions
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
zaatar (hyssop spice)

Chop veggies in small pieces.  Mix together and lightly season with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and zaatar.  Serve immediately.

Easy De-cluttering Ideas

Organization Tips:

Here are some quick and easy ways to de-clutter your home:  http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-home/cleaning-organizing/article.aspx?cp-documentid=23711930>1=32026 .  Try it, and see what a "cleansing" feeling" it can have!  Let us know of your successes and challenges by leaving comments (just below this post).  We can work together to help solve organization dilemmas and celebrate triumphs!

April Activities and Workshops

"Unless we understand this concept of renewal, it’s difficult to understand the resurrection and atonement of Jesus Christ. What our Savior made possible was not just the eternal renewal of our bodies and a renewal of innocence that will qualify us to dwell in our Heavenly Father’s presence; the reach of his gift extends even further. Because of our Redeemer, we can renew and refresh and rejuvenate our spirits here and now in a manner just as miraculous as anything we see in nature." (Darin Cozzens, Ensign, April 1993)

May we refresh and renew our spirits as well as our devotion to our Heavenly Father and the Savior as we reflect upon the redeeming and enabling power of the Atonement and the glory of the Resurrection during this Easter season and during General Conference.

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April Activities and Workshops...Join us for one or many!

*Saturday, April 3rd/Sunday April 4th - General Conference

*Sunday, April 4th - Happy Easter!

*NEW DATE!...Tuesday, April 20th - New FamilySearch 101 at Amanda's at 7pm-8pm. Come learn helpful tips as you navigate New FamilySearch and prepare to take ancestors' names to the temple. We will also discuss Record Search and Indexing.  Bring a laptop, if you have one. Also, if you haven't yet registered, bring your birth date, confirmation date, and Church Membership number. (*We'll have another night in April to have this workshop.*)

*Thursday, April 22nd - "A Hair Affair" at the ward bldg. at 7pm.  Three classes to choose from or attend all of them. Come learn basic cuts for your kids, yourself, bangs, etc. from our resident ward hair stylist expert, Nicole. We'll also be making white ponytail scrunchies as a service to the Temple Baptistry, and utiize our creativity by making some easy, cute hair accessories.

*DATE CHANGE - Sign-up in Relief Society - "Food for Thought, Caring, and Sharing" at Alison's home.  This month, Alison will be sharing salad and soup recipes.  If interested, please let her know, email her, or sign-up in Relief Society.  You'll receive an email with the information.

*Thursday, April 29th - "Book Club" at Toni's at 7pm.  The book is, "The Last Chinese Chef" by Nicole Mones.  It's an entertaining story highlighted with the philosophy of Chinese cooking and culture.  Feel free to come even if you haven't read the book.  For a book review, click here.

*Date/time to be announced - "Sisters of Service" workshop. We'll be finishing the quilt we had planned on finishing at our Relief Society Anniversary dinner. The quilt will be donated to the Humanitarian Center is greatly needed with the increasingly frequent natural disasters that have recently occured.

*April Emergency Preparedness Goal - attend the Home Depot Family Safety/Preparedness Fair on Saturday, April 24th at the Home Depot.  More details to come.  This satisfies our monthly preparedness goal, too!

*Coming Soon - "Girl's Night In" - Come enjoy a relaxing and fun night "off" at Cathy's. Lots of laughs, socializing, and goodies to enjoy.

**New ideas for activities and workshops always welcome.**

Coupon Crazy

As a follow-up to our recent "Cooking on a Budget/Couponing" workshop, click here for many more coupon-cutting and money-saving tips.  With some planning and effort, you and your family can save those hard-earned dollars!  Happy Couponing!

March Activities and Workshops Calendar

Happy Anniversary, Relief Society!  What a profound blessing it is to be part of the largest worldwide women's organization, divinely inspired, where we have the opportunity to serve, share, uplift, support, and strengthen.  It truly is a time to celebrate together as we support the purpose of Relief Society (http://www.ldschurch.org/):

• Help sisters and their families come unto Christ

How do we do this? 

• Build faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and teach the doctrines of the kingdom (see 2 Nephi 31:20-21; Omni 1:26).
• Emphasize the divine worth of each sister (see D&C 25:2-3, 15-16; Moses 6:9).
• Exercise charity and nurture those in need (See Mosiah 4:26; Moroni 7:46-48).
• Strengthen and protect families (see Mosiah 4:14-15; D&C 130:2).
• Serve and support each sister (see 1 Corinthians 12:13-27).
• Help sisters become full participants in the blessings of the priesthood (see D&C 66:2; 84:35-39; Moses 5:1).

What a privilege and a joy it is to be in this organization with each of you!  May you know and feel of the Lord's infinite love for you.  (Click HERE to view the Relief Society Commemoration video.)

We look forward to celebrating this special time with you!  Please share the blessings of Relief Society with other women you meet, so that they, too, may feel of the Savior's love for them as a beloved daughter of God. 

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March Activities and Workshops

*Monthly Preparedness Goal:  Update or assemble your 72-hour kits!!

Tuesday, Mar. 2nd @ 7pm @ Amanda's...New FamilySearch workshop.  Come learn tips, tricks, and resources for using New FamilySearch.  If you haven't registered, please bring your membership number, confirmation date, and birth date.  Bring a laptop if you have one.

Also, Dry Pack at the local cannery from 6-8pm.  Please reserve a spot by calling Gloria.  This is a great opportunity to build up your emergency food storage and support our monthly preparedness goals.

Thursday, Mar. 11th @ 7pm in the Relief Society room..."Don't Put it on the Back Burner" planning workshop presented by Mark in our ward.  He will be giving this presentation at Women's Conference in April. 

Tuesday, Mar. 16th @ 7pm at the ward bldg...House of Order: Organizing Paperwork, Files, and Offices. Join us as we share ideas for reducing paper, de-cluttering office spaces/desks, and creating a method to our paperwork madness.

Wednesday, Mar. 17th...Relief Society Anniversary & St. Patrick's Day

Tuesday, Mar. 23rd @ 6:30pm in the Cultural Hall..."Angels Among Us:  Relief Society Anniversary Celebration."  Join us for a special night celebrating the largest, worldwide women's organization!  We will enjoy a wonderful dinner, program, and participate in service as we share, strengthen, and support one another.  It will be an "angelic" evening!  Please invite and bring your fellow sisters:  neighbors, friends, roommates, etc.

Thursday, Mar. 25th @7pm @ Christene's...Book Club.  We'll be discussing "Etta" by Gerald Kolpan.  (For a book review/synopsis, click HERE.)  Even if you don't get to read the book, join us for a fun and entertaining discussion and socializing.

Scrapbooking Fun!

For those of you who are interested in scrapbooking (traditional or digital), cardmaking, etc., check out this blog for local classes:  http://pebblesinmypocket.blogspot.com/.  They are fee classes, but Christene passed this along for anyone who might like it.  (Thanks, Christene!) Plus, there are some great ideas on their blog, too!

We haven't done a scrapbooking workshop/class in a long time, so if this sounds like something you might enjoy (great for family history, too!) and a fun time to get together as sisters and socialize, leave a comment with your area of interest such as:  digital scrapbooking, traditional scrapbooking, journaling, card-making, other?

We always appreciate your feedback and opinions! :)  Have fun!

February Activities and Workshops

"Sisters, it is a glorious doctrine to me that we can choose to give Christ all our heart—that we can choose to put our Savior and Redeemer at the center of our heart. In each of us, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ can be “written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”  (Anne C. Pingree, former General Relief Society 2nd Counselor, November 2003)

*Yoga - every Thursday @ 7pm @ Lynette, Julie, and Lisa's place.  Bring water and yoga mat if you have one, and wear comfy clothes.  This is a great way to relax after a stressful day!

*Tuesday, Feb. 2nd - "New FamilySearch 101" @ 7pm @ Amanda's place. This is going to be a monthly "open house" style workshop, where you can come/go as you please. We can work on registering, useful resources, troubleshooting, and becoming more familiar with the program. Bring any questions you have and a laptop if you have one.

*Wednesday, Feb. 10th - "Easy Valentine's Flower/Candy Bouquets" @ 7pm @ Haley's.  This is a great idea for a simple and easy gift for friends, sisters you visit teach, family, teachers, etc.  If you'd like to make one, please bring a container (about the size of a 3" clay pot) to put the flower/candy bouquet in.).  Questions?  Contact Haley for further details or see sign-up in Relief Society.

*Sunday, Feb. 14th - Happy Valentine's Day

*Tuesday, Feb. 16th - "Emergency Preparedness:  Family Plans" @ 7pm @ the ward. bldg.  Spouses are welcome to attend this workshop as well. We'll be discussing/creating family plans.

*Monday, Feb. 22nd - President's Day

*Tuesday, Feb. 23rd - "Food for Thought, Caring, and Sharing" @ 7pm @ the ward bldg.  Topic: Getting Creative with Cooking on a Budget. We'll also have a segment devoted to couponing and money-saving strategies at the grocery store as well.

*Thursday, Feb. 25th - Book Club at 7pm at Catherine's.  The book for this month is "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See (which can be found at the library or paperback at a bookstore).  This book takes place in nineteenth-century China.  "An engrossing and completely convincing portrayal of a woman shaped by suffering forced upon her from her earliest years, and of the friendship that helps her to survive."

*Saturday, Feb. 27th - Stake Relief Society Humanitarian Activity @ 9:30AM @ the stake center.  Before then, please begin bringing fleece pieces (size 72" x 60") to Relief Society.  We will be cutting/tying fleece blankets for be given to Primary Children's Medical Center as they are in need of many blankets.  We will keep the fleece pieces you bring in the closet until the day of the activity.  Light breakfast will be served.

*RS Temple Day - contact Siv for date/time/details.

*Tuesday, March 2nd from 6-8pm at the Murray Cannery.
**If you want to participate we need to reserve a spot for you. Call Gloria by Sunday, February 28th.**

ARE YOU PREPARED?

Do you have the Basic Storage Items? Grains, Legumes, Powdered Milk, Cooking Oil, Sugar or Honey, Salt. . . .Now you have your Basic Storage you need to:

“USE IT OR LOSE IT”

Using your food storage - recipe for the month:

WHOLE WHEAT RAISIN NUT MUFFINS

2 cups whole wheat flour ½ cup chopped nuts
¾ cup brown sugar, packed ½ cup raisins
½ cup nonfat dry milk powder 1 egg
1 ½ tsp baking powder ¼ cup oil
1 tsp soda 1 cup plus 2 Tb Cold Water
¾ tsp salt

Mix together flour, brown sugar, nonfat dry milk, baking powder, soda and salt. Stir in nuts and raisins. Beat egg with a fork and stir in oil and water. Add to flour mixture. Mix just enough to combine and ingredients are moistened. (Do not over mix) Spoon into well greased or paper lined muffin tins. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Makes 12-18 muffins.