Why I love Utah in September

#1 best thing about Utah in September is fresh peaches, so many kinds of fresh peaches!

#2 best thing about Utah in September is tomatoes from farm to farm stand to me and not refrigerated even once so they are still full of flavor.

 

#3 best thing about Utah in September is fresh picked corn on the cob from the same farm stand.

#4 best thing about Utah in September and which will last long into October are fresh picked honey crisp apples newly picked and without a hint of wax.
 

#5 best thing about Utah in September is that the hills are starting to change color outside my kitchen window.

 

My camera does not begin to show how amazing it is to watch.  I noticed from the freeway the other day that the mountain peak outside my window really is the most beautiful of all!

I know I've said many times before but, "I love autumn in Utah!"

 

#5 best thing about Utah in September are a myriad of farmer's markets.  That cutie in the booth is my DIL.  She is up two late nights before Saturday mornings making empanadas for her booth at the Salt Lake City Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park downtown.

It is a huge market and the park is full of booths of all kinds many with amazing vegetables and fruits.  I got some blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries which were to die for.  Here are the men in her life coming to check on her.

They have been selling hundreds of empanadas.  If you go look for Argentina's Best, you won't regret buying one of their various flavors of meat filled or dessert empanadas.

 

This cute little family will soon be moving here.  It is a delightful tree filled, sun dappled place with a beautiful backyard and a basement for Oscar to run around in this winter.

What do you love about Utah in September?

Special note:  All these pictures were taken before all the smoke from the burning northwest flowed into the valleys of northern Utah.  That has not been one of the reasons that I love Utah in September!

Velva's Chocolate Chip Dessert

While in Kansas, I was reminded of my mother's great refrigerator dessert.  Nephew Gary had made a pan of Velva's chocolate chip dessert for his mom on Mother's Day.  Because I arrived late in the evening of that same day, there was a serving or two left for me.  I kept thinking about it when I got home, so made a pan of my own.  It really is a perfect summertime dessert, no baking required nor the hot oven.  Now that I look at my pictures I realize that this dessert is a bit like glorified s'mores!

Soften marshmallows in milk over low heat, then add chocolate chips and continue stirring until marshmallows and chips are melted.  Set aside and cool until slightly congealed.

Place graham crackers in a ziploc baggie and crush with a rolling pin.  Place a generous layer of crumbs in the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch pan..

Whip cream in a clean glass bowl just until peaks form not butter.

Gently fold whipped cream and walnuts into cooled chocolate mixture.  Pour carefully over graham cracker layer.

Sprinkle leftover cracker crumbs over the top then place in refrigerator for several hours to firm things up.  Mom would make this for us on special occasions.  My guess is that she found it in a magazine sometime in the early 60's or late 50's.  I do remember having it when we still lived on the farm in Idaho.  Maybe she first served it when it was her turn to have the ladies club at our home.  Those club meetings also initiated a whole house cleaning.  Miss you Mom!

Chocolate Chip Dessert
recipe of Velva Ostler
of Sugar City, Idaho

32 large marshmallows
1/2 cup milk
1 six ounce package chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup of graham cracker crumbs

Soften marshmallows in milk over low heat. Add chocolate chips and stir until all is melted.  Remove from heat and let cool until mixture congeals.  Fold in whipped cream and walnuts.  Spread 1 cup of cracker crumbs in bottom of a 9 x 9 inch pan.  Pour chocolate mixture into pan and cover with the remaining crumbs.  Chill several hours or overnight.  Serve with additional whipped cream and garnish with maraschino cherries if desired.

Serves 6 - 8

Good works = food prep

Yesterday at church a young women gave a talk about "Good Works," one of the Young Women Values which she had chosen to address. As she spoke about the ways we serve others, I realized that most of the service I had rendered during the last month was food related. I had prepared and served food for several large gatherings, as a part of our family Christmas traditions, and as gifts for friends and neighbors. All that cooking and baking included dozens of rolls, dozens of doughnuts, dozens of cookies, 40 chimichangas, a Christmas ham dinner with all the trimmings, and 20 pizzas prepared on the grill and served with salad from the garden.

I started to do some number crunching in my head after church. That means:
* 50 lbs. of flour
* 12 lbs. of butter
* 6 dozen eggs
* 10 lbs. of sugar
* tablespoons of yeast
* several pounds of ham and beef roasts
* pepperoni and shredded mozzarella
* 40 large flour tortillas, two heads of shredded lettuce, a dozen diced tomatoes, salsa and guacamole, plus sour cream by lemon tree (do you recognize the melody?)

I've always felt that when I put on my apron I am putting on an apron of service. Good food shared brings us together and leads to good conversation and special times remembered. Bon appetit!

Doughnut Day 2011 and the first annual Jensen Family Olympics

Doughnut Day 2011 was much like Doughnut Day 2010 except that these two loving brothers decided that we needed some physical activity before making and eating calorie laden doughnuts. Nathan and David also wanted to race one another, so we met at Red Mountain High School track for the First Annual Jensen Family Olympics before traveling the additional couple of miles to Eric's house and kitchen for doughnut making. (Notice how David is dressed for the season?)

There was a variety of events for both young and old.

Fast and slow.

Boys and girls.

Cute cousins.

Best buds.

The oldest of them all.

And the BFFs.

They threw paper airplanes from the bleachers.

And threw sand on the track until the track coach told them to "stop it!"

A fun, fast day

for all kinds of footwear.

Then the children played, just like last year, while the adults rolled, cut, and fried dough.

David was the first fryer. Notice the towel covered pans in the background. We soon figured out the the doughnuts raised faster in the sun.

We were occasionally joined by reinforcements.

Really cute reinforcements.

This year the babies were walking.

Our three youngest grand children are growing up too fast.

Again, there was the bagging of fresh, hot doughnuts which were then delivered throughout Mesa and Gilbert.

Grandpa took over the second shift of frying after a nap on the living room couch. Nate was everywhere, and finished up with glazing.

This year we did follow last year's final decision and made one additional Bosch Mixer full of dough. It was a great decision! Each family also took home their own large pan of doughnuts.

Doughnut Day 2010

Yesterday was our traditional doughnut day. This year Dave and Sally hosted. The school kids and BOMA business people had Friday afternoon off. We conveniently passed the doughnuts through the kitchen window to Glen the fryer.

This is a several hour project so deliveries of doughnuts are made to friends and neighbors while they are still hot. It always helps to have door runners.

Once the doughnuts are fried, they arrive at the glazing station. After being glazed, they move onto packaging.

The babies helped entertain each other while their mommas worked.

They older grand kids engaged in fort building upstairs and general mayhem.

As you can see, it was dark by the time we mopped up. There were not many leftovers. Final decision - one more Bosch mixer full of dough next year!

Favorite quote of the day - Ruby after Heather left early to attend a party for a friend, "Family is more important than friends!"

Thanksgiving Eve

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I love Thanksgiving because it is full of family, food, and my favorite fall things. It feels so good to think about what one has instead of what one wants. Blessings are acknowledged and gratitude expressed. What more could one ask for?

I had the privilege of visiting Ruby's 1st grade class as they presented a little program about Thanksgiving and then shared a meal with their families. As a part of the program, each child told of one thing for which they were thankful. My sweet Ruby was thankful for her family, not her dog or her wii or her bedroom. I was thankful for Ruby sharing the true love of her little heart.

Tonight the pomegranate beating crew arrived.

In no time at all, they had knocked loose the golden seeds of 15 pomegranates.

At the end, we calculated that we had freed at least 1000 pomegranate seeds which would surely make enough salad for 18 people after we added diced apples and bananas, walnuts, and whipped cream.

Heather was ready to tackle a few more. I told her I would have her come later to help me get the remaining pomegranates seeded and in the freezer. Thank you Bunker family for gifting us with a pomegranate tree start those many years ago and then passing on the tradition of pomegranate salad for Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow I am expecting the mashed potatoes, green bean snapping, and roll shaping crew that is Nate and Nichelle. The Palmer family will arrive with the stuffing and yams. Sally will keep it healthy bringing a fresh veggie tray after running the Turkey Trot. We will be off to Eric's home after dinner for pies and Julianna's birthday celebration. I also heard that Grandpa Glen has Bingo planned as well.

The turkey and I will be going solo. I'll be out first thing in the morning cutting fresh herbs from the garden to make it extra delish. There is an abundance of thyme!

Pumpkin Bars

Here is another easy bar cookie recipe. We served these at the Relief Society Broadcast dinner two years ago. They remind me of a pumpkin roll with cream cheese filling in taste but are so much easier to make. They are also nice to serve or share this time of year. So when you go to the store for Thanksgiving supplies, pick up an extra can of pumpkin and some cream cheese.

Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 cups canned pumpkin ( not pumpkin pie filling!)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda

Beat eggs until fluffy. Add sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Mix remaining dry ingredients and add about 1/3 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly. Spread on an ungreased 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese softened
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar ( or more as needed)
1 tsp. real vanilla extract

Beat together cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until proper consistency. Spread evenly on cooled bars.

Ebelskivers and grand girls

This morning it took me over an hour to prepare breakfast. My three oldest granddaughters had joined me for a "grand girls sleepover." I had planned for weeks to make them ebelskivers for breakfast.

I had purchased this cookbook at Williams Sonoma after Glen had presented me with the Lodge cast iron ebelskiver pan on a whim. I made the vanilla batter filled with cream cheese mixture ebelskivers. I was very good and got out all the necessary bowls, utensils, and ingredients before beginning. I even followed the directions and separated the eggs and whipped up the egg whites to be folded in at the end. No, that didn't take an hour, but cleaning the pan after trying to turn them before they were done enough did increase the time. I had to let the pan cool down enough to totally clean it so we could try again.


I filled the rounded depressions with two tablespoons of batter after brushing with melted butter and waiting for it to sizzle. I then quickly added a teaspoon full of the cream cheese mixture to each one.

Then one more tablespoon of batter was added to cover the filling. Then I patiently waited for the ebelskivers to be cooked through enough to turn over using these, also from Williams Sonoma.

Viola, this time it worked!

Two more times with all depressions filled and then an additional last four and we were done.

The girls tried to help me eat them up, which we were unable to do. Luckily, Dave stopped by on his way to work to check on his girls and ate a few.

We had our first 40's degree low this Fall last night. My long breakfast meant that sun had come to warm up in the backyard when they finally ventured outside. They love Grandpa Glen's garden paradise.


Both front and back. I love how their imaginations work and how creative they are in their play.

The movie "Ramona and Beezus" came out on DVD this week. I had taken Heather and TJ last summer to see it and Heather and I enjoyed it, so I made a point of purchasing the DVD so my girls and I could watch it at our sleepover. We laughed and laughed, ate popcorn, and danced through the closing credits. They also wanted to watch all the extras. Maybe they were trying to procrastinate bedtime!

Other highlights:
Oscar and Nichelle's visit
Story time and pick a "Children's Friend"
Fairy books and fairy drawing frenzy
Extended day as all joined in on going to Heather's house to watch Toby and Julianna while Susan was at the doctor
Making our own longest picture in the world
Playing in Heather's backyard as we watched a storm roll in over the Superstitions
Talking to Ruby and Sadie about growing up on a dairy farm and my father, Gary, as we passed the the Jersey dairy farm on Elliot Road