"Good, Better,

  and best."

My mind has been weighted down lately with thinking about how I use my time.  I am reminded often of the short scriptural account of Mary and Martha in the New Testament.

"Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.  But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.  And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:  But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.  Luke 10:38-42

I can relate so well with Martha.  I do feel "careful and troubled" about many things.   But they are generally not the things of importance. (Things like, why did the cupcakes I made last night fall in the middle?).   In fact, I often think I fill my life up with busy work to avoid feeling overwhelmed with the needful things.  The better things.   But when I start thinking about all the needful things, the things that truly impact lives, I get overwhelmed with the "overwhelmingness" of it. 

Then I am reminded of the story of the man walking along the shore throwing starfish back into the sea.  He is questioned about what difference it made to throw one back into the sea, when there were so many more he did not save,  His answer to that was something to the effect of "Well, it made a difference to that one."

I think it gets back to my "all or nothing" mentality.  If I can't make it all better, then why try.  I hold back from giving or being a little involved, because then I will see more that needs to be done, and it will consume all of my time and thoughts.

Yes, I do feel careful and troubled.  But I'll work it out.  It's about balance, and priorities, and choosing the good part. 

Anyone who

knows me or reads this blog,  knows that I am a mess in the kitchen.  Actually, I probably shouldn't limit that comment to the kitchen.  Let's just say that I make a big mess anytime I am cooking or working on any project.  And usually it is not limited to the one room the project originates in.

Anyway, as I spent the day yesterday cleaning up from the cupcake class, I was reminded of a comment Tiffany made in August.  While we were cooking in the kitchen she said, "Mom, I'm proud of you.  I've noticed that you haven't left any paper towels (wet ones, dry ones, messy ones) in the sink or laying around on the cupboard." 

I laughed and told her why I was reformed in that aspect of messes.

Gary is the Ward Clerk in the ward, and because he has a lot of papers to deal with, he was always rustling through them during Sacrament Meeting.   It was distracting and noisy and was taking away from the reverence of the meeting (along with really annoying me).   After being annoyed by it enough, I called him on it.  His response was, "Ok, I'll quit doing that if you'll quit leaving paper towels on the stove and in the sink and on the cupboards."

Fair enough.  I took the challenge.

And the result is:  He doesn't rustle papers in church any more, and I don't leave paper towels around anymore.  And Tiffany even noticed.

I guess we should use that kind of bargaining power (or is it competition?) more often.  It gets results.   

A friend asked me to

teach a "Cupcake" class for her Relief Society tomorrow. 
She wants me to give tips and tricks, recipes, 
and demonstrations on piping on frosting. 
So today I've been baking cupcakes
(and ruining one batch of cupcakes because I forgot to add the flour). 
So here are the tips I wrote down. 
Now if I would just follow them.

Cupcake Making Tips I've learned

from lots of Trial and Error!

• Trial Cupcake: If using a new recipe, fill up just one cupcake liner and bake it. This way you can know how much batter to put in the cups and how long to bake them (without ruining a whole batch). Do the same if you are using a different oven than you are used to. Baking time can vary as much as 5 to 10 minutes depending on the oven and altitude.

• Assemble all ingredients: Measure out all ingredients before you begin adding them. (I've had far too many experiences where I've left something out).  Crack eggs in a small bowl before adding them to the batter to avoid getting any shell pieces in it.

• Prevent Sticking: Once you have the liners in the cups, spray Pam over the whole pan. Then fill the cups with the batter. This will make it much easier to remove the cupcakes if they spill over a little.

• Scooping Batter: Use an ice cream scoop to put the batter in the cups. It makes less mess and helps make it easier to get consistent cupcake sizes.

• Always let cupcakes completely cool before frosting.

• Salted Butter? Many recipes call for unsalted butter. If I only have regular butter, I reduce the amount of salt called for in the batter by at least ½, and it seems to work fine.

• Buttermilk Substitute: I seldom have buttermilk, and many recipes call for it. A buttermilk substitute is to put 1 Tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in a one cup measuring cup. Add milk to fill to 1 cup. Let sit for 5 minutes (it should look like it is curdled) before adding to recipe.

• Soften Butter: Make sure butter is soft before mixing into batter or frosting. If I haven’t remembered to get it out of the fridge, I soften it by putting it in the microwave at half power, starting at 30 seconds, checking it, and doing more in small increments if needed. You don’t want it to melt.

• Most Common Problem: My most common problem is sinking in the middle. Possible reasons for this are: over-mixing the batter (once the flour is added); too much baking powder or soda (measure carefully); overfilled batter in the cups; or oven temperature too hot. You may need to experiment and adjust one of those

• Perfect Frosting: Follow frosting recipe directions. Consistency is important for piping on frosting. Add more liquid or powdered sugar in very small increments, if it is too runny or stiff.

• Shortcut to Piping Frosting: You don’t need fancy tips or bags to frost the cupcakes. You can fill a freezer bag with frosting and cut a small hole in one corner. Hold it over the cupcake and start squeezing it in a circular motion, starting at the outside and ending in the middle. You can also buy large tips, for as little as a dollar, if you want it to have a more decorative look.

• Cupcake Toppers: Picks can easily be made to place on top of the cupcakes. You can run off small pictures, cut any shape, or run off any message and punch out into a shape. Then you can glue a toothpick between two sides and stick on top of the cupcake. You can also add a something on top that shows what type of cupcake it is (lemonheads, strawberry slice, chocolate chip, etc).

• To Share a Cupcake: One fun way (especially if it didn’t turn out perfectly!) is to layer it in a jar. Cut the cupcake in half, pipe some frosting in, put the other half in, more frosting, and more cupcakes and frosting until the jar is full. You can use a cupcake liner over the lid and tie a spoon to the jar.

• Freezing: Cupcakes can be frozen easily. When completely cool, place them in a single layer in a zip lock freezer bag. They can also be frozen with the frosting on, as long as they are in a container where the frosting does not get smashed and it is made airtight. I also freeze left over frosting in zip lock bags. I hate running out of frosting and having to make more, so I usually make extra and freeze what’s left.

• Just Have Fun! There are so many cute and elaborate cupcakes that can be made. You can search for, and find, directions for just about any theme you want. Those are fun occasionally, but I prefer simple piped on frosting, adorned with sprinkles or a pick.

Thanks to Misty and Tiffany
for helping me proof-read these tips.

 

Anyone have any more to add? 

Some of the documents

I have been scanning in:

Grandfather Edward Owen Hall

Grandmother Pearl Averet  Hall

Favorite Poem of Grandmother

(I did the calligraphy for our family reunion)

Mom

Mom's obituary

Mom's Funeral Program

Dad's obituary

I'm glad to be getting these scanned in.  More to come!

I feel like I got a

"get out of jail free" card today. 

Let me explain.   About a year and a half ago I got a call from a son of one of my great-uncles (his Dad was my grandpa's brother).  I had no recollection of meeting him, though I must have at his parent's funerals.  He's been by several times to bring copies of documents, and he is such a nice guy. 

Anyway, he is an avid geneologist, as was his dad, Uncle Theron.   To make a long story short, I volunteered to type in indexes that could go on the website that he and his nephew were developing for the Hall family.  He didn't ask me to do it, I told him I wanted to help and volunteered.

Well, all this time later, I was only into the "C" last names.  It had taken me hours just to get that far, and it was very tedious.  But that is no excuse.  I spend hours on many things that are tedious, but frivolous. While this geneology project is something that does matter and is long lasting.  It has just not been a priority to me.

So, everytime I saw his name on caller ID, I would cringe.  Sometimes I wouldn't answer, because I felt guilty about not spending any time doing it.   Then I felt badly about not returning his calls, but I was tired of hearing my own excuses.  Finally, I decided I was going to answer his calls, but I wasn't going to make any more excuses.  He's never once pressured me, but just calls to report on the exciting things happening with the website.  So I talk with him and truly am excited about what is happening.   I just quit making excuses, because none of them are valid.  After each phone call, I would be motived to work on the index more, but that would last about one day. 

Anyway . . .  He called last night and left a message and said he would call back.  He called today, and I cringed, but answered it.  We chatted for a minute, and then he said, "I feel badly telling you this because of all the work you've done on the index, but we've found a way to put a search engine on the website.  So if a name is searched it will take you to everything about that person (including the the information on the indexes.)"  He felt badly that I had done "all that work," and that now we didn't need it.

Wow, I was so glad I answered today's call.  I didn't tell him that I felt I like I had been given a "get out of jail free" card, but I let him know that the news made me very happy and that he had absolutely made my day. I also told him that I would scan in and send him more pictures and documents of my grandparents, so he could put on the website.  That is a commitment I plan to keep.   Really.   To prove it I'll post them on the blog as I do it.   

In the meantime, here is a really cool website (that I've contributed very little to).   http://josephsmithhall.org/

I'm feeling very

relieved.  This was one of those events that involved a lot of planning, and also a lot of emotion. 

We were asked to put on a fashion show that emphasized modesty.  
The difficult part was deciding how to present it without hurting feelings or appearing judgemental.   It was completely out of my comfort zone, and I struggled with it.  But, there were many, many women who pulled through by finding the models, performing, planning the meal and decorations, and putting the program together.   

It's amazing what the energy of willing people will do for you.

I'm so grateful for them.

I'm also grateful for the 80 plus people who attended and supported it.  

I love Racheal and Kori, who were willing to to put their inhibitions aside and play the part of news reporters with me.   What a boost.  
They made it fun and comfortable.

The highlight of the evening for me was when Mona, who is 94, came out modeling a beautiful dress and blew kisses to the audience.   What an inspirational lady.


We had the lighting dimmed, so I've had to "auto adjust" the pictures so they could be seen.  But, here are some of the other pictures from the night.

Here's the table Donna put together for the necklaces we made.

(By the way, Valerie, thank you for sharing the idea with me and Tiffany!)

 


Gary knew how worried I was about it, so he was interested to hear how everything went.  Then he, very nicely, happened to mention that as he'd walked through the house and observed that I had been in project mode.  That is a kind way of saying that every room in the house looks like a hurricane hit.  I can't disagree.  That's what I'll be working on tomorrow.

Let me just say,

that I'll be very happy when tomorrow night is over.