Welcome Home Elder Alan!

This past Friday John's younger brother Alan returned home from a 2 year mission to London, England. John hadn't seen him in 2 years and we wouldn't be able to return to Utah until Christmas, so when we found out that Alan had a short layover in the Atlanta airport we decided to make the trip up to see him. We expected to only be able to see him for an hour or so but we didn't expect his flight to be late... we ended up only being able to see him for about 10 minutes! Just long enough to get a spicy chicken sandwich at "God bless Wendy's" (Alan hadn't enjoyed his staple Wendy's food for 2 years!) and then run him back through security. Family is really important to us and we were really glad that we were able to see him even though the visit was short. It was long enough to get pictures and send then home saying "we saw him first!" Welcome home Alan, we're proud of you!

Alan with dad and mom Colver back in Utah, several hours after we saw him in Atlanta

Alan and John

A Wendy's Reunion after a two year absence

Ward Boating Party

This weekend we had a ward boating party out at Ft McAllister. There was a lot of food to eat and fun to be had. We had a great time playing Bocce with the Applemans and then out on the Hutcheson's boat. We went out on the boat with the Applemans, the Fougerons, Donald Hutcheson, and Jess McConnell. It was so fun. We got out wakeboarding and kneeboarding. Donnie and Angie even jumped in the water in their clothes since they hadn't planned on going swimming and didn't bring their suits. It made me want to buy a boat... someday.

The gang riding down to the boat dock: Dallas, Don, Donnie, Jess, John, Jerry, Angie, me

John wake-boarding

Victoria wake-boarding

Drive-in movie with the Ballards

This weekend we went to the drive-in movie theatre out in Hilton Head with the Ballards. We saw Transformers II. We had a really fun time, it was a great idea! First we went to Outback for dinner and then drove out to Hilton Head Island for the movie. The "theatre" had a big concession that smelt like funnel cakes and reminded me of being at the Fair grounds. I love that smell. We had a great time as always, thanks Cody and Gina!

The Concession

John and Victoria in front of the big screen

Having fun at the drive-in

A Greek Weekend

This weekend I decided to have a greek theme for all our meals. I hate buying something for a specific recipe that I don't normally buy, then not being able to use for anything else, and ending up throwing it out because it goes bad. So I picked three recipes that used similar ingredients (in this case plain yogurt, pitas, and feta cheese) that I could use throughout the weekend. Friday we had greek pizzas that were really yummy and a fun change, Saturday we had Gyros with Tzaziki sauce (its a cucumber dill sauce that you can dip plain warm pitas or really anything in), and then Sunday a little more formal grilled fish (I omitted the olives). I thought it was a great idea and it worked out well. It was a nice change from our routine meals and well worth it!

Greek Pizzas

Ingredients

• 2 whole pita breads (6 inches)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
• 4 cups torn fresh spinach
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh dill
• 4 tomato slices, halved
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

• Place pita breads on a baking sheet. Brush each with 1/4 teaspoon oil. Broil 6 in. from the heat for 1-2 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn pitas over; brush with remaining oil. Broil 1-2 minutes longer.
• In a microwave-safe dish, microwave spinach on high for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes or until wilted; drain well. Add onion and dill; mix well.
• Top each pita with four tomato pieces, half of the spinach mixture and half of the cheeses. Sprinkle with oregano and pepper. Bake at 450° for 7-9 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned. Yield: 2 servings.

Gyros

Ingredients

• 1 cup (8 ounces) plain yogurt
• 1 cup diced peeled cucumber
• 1 teaspoon dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1-1/4 pounds lean boneless pork, thinly sliced
• 6 pita breads (6 inches), halved and warmed
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, cucumber, dill and seasoned salt; cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
• In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the oil, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, oregano and thyme; add pork. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
• Drain and discard marinade. In a large skillet, stir-fry pork for about 4 minutes or until juices run clear. Stuff into pita halves; top with cucumber sauce, tomato and onion. Yield: 6 servings.

Greek Grilled Fish

Ingredients

• 8 tilapia fillets (4 ounces each)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup pitted Greek olives
• 1 teaspoon dill weed
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

• Sprinkle tilapia with salt and pepper. Place on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray.
• In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, butter and lime juice. Stir in the onion, olives and seasonings. Spread down the middle of each fillet; sprinkle with feta cheese. Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 6-9 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Yield: 8 servings.

Paula Deen's Orange Brownies

This is a really yummy, moist orange brownie-like cake. There's no chocolate, it's just a brownie consistency. John really liked them, although when I made them I did a cream cheese icing with orange juice instead of milk and some orange zest added.

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure orange extract
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Glaze:

nocoupons

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan and set aside. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter, eggs, orange extract, and orange zest and beat with a handheld electric mixer until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until light golden brown and set. Remove from oven and pierce top of entire cake with a fork.

Glaze:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring until smooth. Pour glaze over cake. Cool cake and cut into squares.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 stick butter, room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon orange zest

Beat the butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer until fluffy and light. Add the powdered sugar and beat until combined. Add the orange juice and zest and beat until thoroughly combined.

What to do with a million blueberries

Getting all these blueberries I've been able to experiment with a bunch of recipes. Here are our favorites!
My favorite way to enjoy these berries is to eat them in vanilla yogurt with granola sprinkled on top, it's the best breakfast. We also had some amazing blueberry pancakes, the berries were so juicy they popped when you bit into the pancakes.


Fresh Blueberry Cream pie

1 graham cracker pie crust
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 small tub of cool whip
4C fresh blueberries

Whip softened cream cheese, beat in cool whip. Gently fold in blueberries and pour into graham shell. Refrigerate 1-2 hours or until set and serve.


Sasser's Blueberry Cobbler

1 stick of butter or margarine
1C sugar
1C self-rising flour
1C milk
2C blueberries or fruit of choice (drain if canned)
Cinnamon, optional

Melt butter in an 8X8 pan. Mix sugar, milk, and flour, pour on top of butter in pan. Sprinkle fruit on top, do not stir. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired. Bake 350F, 45-50min or until browned. (I had my doubts but the cake does bake up and the fruit ends up on the bottom, very cool.)


Blueberry Sherbet

1C sour cream
3/4C sugar
1Tbsp lemon juice
1/2tsp vanilla extract
3C fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Press through a sieve to remove seeds and skins. (I didn't bother doing this and it turned out well but I think next time I will so that it will be smoother.) Pour into individual 1/2C servings and freeze for 6 hours or longer. Remove 30 minutes before serving. (It freezes really even, I was surprised, 6 hours gave it the perfect consistency and we didn't have to let it soften at all.)


Fresh Blueberry Pie

1 9in graham cracker or single baked pie shell
3/4C sugar
3Tbsp cornstarch
1/8tsp salt
1/4C water
1T lemon juice
4C fresh blueberries, divided

In a large saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Slowly add water and lemon juice, stir until smooth. Stir in 2 cups of blueberries. Bring to a boil and cook for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Spoon remaining berries in crust and pour cooked mixture over the top. Cool and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until chilled. Serve topped with whipped cream.

Berry Trifle

1 angel food cake, prepared

1 package of white chocolate pudding, prepared

1 small tub of cool whip

blueberries (or other fruit)

Rip the cake into bite-sized pieces. Fold cool whip into pudding. Layer cake, pudding, and then berries in a trifle bowl or other bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Deep Sea Fishing

This week John and I went deep sea fishing in the Atlantic with Vince Reily, a member of our ward. I was really excited to go but we were worried about getting seasick and so we took a bunch of motion sickness medicine before, the only problem was that it made me so drowsy. The ride out to the reef was really rough but I still had a hard time staying awake, especially since we left at 5:30am. Overall we had a great time and caught a bunch of great fish. We had to throw some back because they weren't big enough so we came home with a red snapper, a king mackerel, and two sharks. When we got back to the dock there was a shrimp boat that was just getting in. They had some huge shrimp that we got for our first low country boil that we had with the missionaries that night. The next night we had red snapper, baked with a little olive oil, lemon juice, lemon pepper, salt and pepper. It was so good, a really soft texture. I never thought I'd like fish, but I love this stuff!

Blueberry Heaven

This year John and I found this great little U-pick farm in Midway that grows Christmas trees and blueberries. Kind of an odd combination but we decided that we would go pick some yummy, fresh blueberries. We actually had a such great time together and the blueberries were so good that even though we picked 2 lb the first time around we went back for more! They were really cheap too, only $1.50 per quart. We had to drive about 45min to get to this farm, it's in the middle of no where, and its just an older couple who wanted a fun place for families to come pick berries. They even have their picking on an "honor system" so you can come pick anytime and just leave money in a box. It is such a great place, we loved it. We've of course loved having fresh blueberries and I've had a lot of fun making lots of different recipes with them. For those in Georgia, it's Brewer's Christmas tree farm in Midway. In December they have winter festivals where you can go cut down your own tree too.

Happy 4th of July

To celebrate Independence day this year John and I hosted a barbecue. We had our friends Dallas and Harry Fougeron and the missionaries over. John made burgers and hotdogs on the grill that the missionaries gave us. I made some really yummy homemade fries from a recipe that my mom gave me, and sauteed vegetables like John's dad makes. I also made some blueberry sorbet from all the blueberries we picked. It was a great meal! Afterwards we went with the Fougerons to Hutcheson Island to watch the fireworks over the Savannah River. We had a great time!

John, Elder Barnes, Elder Howard

Dallas, Harry, me

Dallas, Harry, John

John and me at the fireworks

Happy Canada Day

July 1st in "Canada Day" when we celebrate Canada's birthday. Sometimes its hard for me to remember because its obviously not celebrated in the US (just like Canada does not celebrate Independence day, a US holiday) and I had to work a 12 hour shift, so it was a busy day. I'm usually good at remembering important days for everyday up to it and then forgetting completely on the day of. But when I got off work I checked my voicemail and who did I have a message from but Lily Brown wishing me a happy Canada day. Thanks girlie!