Tulip Festival

We have a yearly tradition of going to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah, to their tulip festival. Each year they plant 250,000 bulbs. Man, are they amazing.
The first time we went, just on the drive into the lodge, we were amazed at the tulips lining the street. We were blown away at the inside of the gardens. There are individaul gardens enhanced with tulips. There is the butterfly garden, the secret garden, and the Italian garden-just to name a few.
This year we went without kids (although they are very kid friendly, signs say "please walk on the grass"). We were able to peacefully stroll through the many acres of lush lawns, beautiful tress and shrubs. Then to see the plentiful varieties and colors of tulips is so amazing.
Have I said that tulips are my favorite flower? Well, they are my absolute favorite. I love them!!! They are in my wedding photos and I planted 300 in my front yard. I can't get enough.
We love to look at each tulip and try to pick a winner. This year it was a purple, pink, and orange mix. The tulip was pink, but the outside bottom of the leaves was brushed with purple, and the inside bottom of the leaves was brushed with orange. Gorgeous!
This year we planned ahead and brought books to read, this is my other favorite pastime. We sat at the top of their outdoor amphitheater, with the view of their man made waterfall and read until we knew we had to leave. What a peaceful moment that was.
Each year we learn something new about the gardens and this year was no different, on our way out, just as we were passing behind the waterfall, a volunteer was kind enough to point out an owl who was nesting on 2 chicks. It was fun to sit and watch the owl keep her babies warm, one even snuck out to let us have a peek.
The festival only runs for 2 1/2 weeks every April. If you live close, I highly recommend this activity. It is great for children, they have a hill right at the start that is the best hill rolling hill I have ever seen. (At least 200 feet long.) I found $2 off coupons at the Utah Valley tourism site. Thanksgiving point is a wonderful place for me to enjoy the beauty of the earth and to feel relaxed and peaceful.
What a great day!!!

Treat of the Week

I love treats! They are my food of choice. I especially love baked goods-not so much the candy. It will do in a pinch, mind you, but I prefer to sink my teeth into my treats. So, to celebrate my love of treats, I am going to give you the recipes of the treat I made that week.

Truthfully, I made 3 things this week. The first was two-tone fudge brownies, then what my niece calls $250 cookies, then finally I made cinnamon rolls. Mostly I make them for my kids' lunches, but everyone enjoys them all the time.

You may say that is a lot of treats, but I freeze them and we grab them when we need them. It is handy for lunches, and for after school snacks.

This is all the more funny when I say that I have not eaten treats for 5 months now. Why? When I moved I battled my loneliness by eating. 10 lbs later I decided I needed to do something. So I just decided to stop for 1 year. I only have 7 to go. Most days it isn't bad-but some days it just kills me not to eat the good stuff. Which is why you are getting the favorite of the week-the brownies.

I got this recipe from the taste of home magazine. We love it-I hope you do to.

Two-Tone Fudge Brownies

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (opt.-I leave out)
cookie dough layer:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour (I usually add 1/4 cup more)
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips. Cool slightly. In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in melted chocolate. Combine flour and baking soda; add to batter. Stir in walnuts
Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in milk and vanilla. Gradually add flour. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls over cooled brownies; carefully spread over top. Cut into squares. Store in the refrigerator.
Yield: 4 dozen. Note: Cookie dough layer is not baked and does not contain eggs.

My Meat Locker

I recently moved from a big city to a really small city. That has been an adjustment! I went from having every choice available within 5-10 minutes, to having very few choices. And by choices I mean shopping, restaurants, and entertainment.
We are renting a house while my husband finishes his masters degree. The house is an old ice house and the first grocery store in the area. Our door is in the back, it used to be the loading dock. Our living room used to be where they stored the ice. The room is really tall, there are 19 steps to get to the upstairs. Upstairs the side walls are slanted like a barn roof. That is fine everywhere but the showers. I can't tell you how many times I have hit my head on the side of the wall.
But my favorite part of the house is the meat locker! I mean it is literally a meat locker. They have taken out the refrigeration unit, but it is still in its original shape. Th floors are old wood and the threshold is rounded from 100 years of workers. There is a notch in the door, where they ran the slabs of beef into the meat locker to cut it up. I still have the meat cutting table-it is my craft table.
What I love about this room besides how cool it is and the awesome door, complete with blue metallic paint, is all the storage space it gives me.
I left a full sized house with and over-sized 2-car garage, and I have 1 room to fit my garage, fruit room, and storage room. Thank heavens for my meat locker. It holds all my stuff.
This week I did my monthly grocery shopping, and case lot sale shopping. This gave me a chance to re-organize my food. Man! I love a full and organized shelf!

Organized doesn't mean clean!

My mom is the organized one! She loves it-reads about it- everything. I always felt like I was not organized. I was talking to my friend Tiffany and she said to me, "being organized does not mean your house needs to be spotless." What a revelation that was! I lived by 2 women who are the epitome of organization and cleanliness. You know those homes where there is nothing out of place and no papers lying anywhere.


So I started looking around at my house and realized that I am organized. There is a place for everything and it eventually gets there. I am often hard pressed with a busy 2 year old around the house. My house is not always spotless, but things are in a certain place.


It was further reinforced when we moved this summer and our landlord brought his electrician into our meat locker (that's another fun story) to see how organized it was. I was taken aback-me! organized! But he said, "look at everything grouped together and all the cans are facing forward." I just assumed everyone lives this way-don't they? This made me look around my house and realize I do have a system to stay organized. It may not be the spotless variety-but it is organized.