Uncle Ben's got nothin on me.

Hold the phone. I just made THE BEST rice of my entire life. No joke, I could enter it into a fair and win EVERY prize. It's that good.

It all started with a giant package of cranberries I bought at CostCo and the desire to not go to the store. That desire frequently overtakes me and produces such gems like Zucchini Bread BLTs and Cabbage PB&J . . . both of those were surprisingly better than I thought they would be. But this masterpiece, man, it's just fantastic.

I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll give credit where credit is due. The inspiration came off the package of cranberries, but then pretty much the only ingredient I had was the cranberries. So, let me share Ocean Spray's version, which I'm sure is good, then I'll give you the real recipe that I made. I'm sorry, did I say real recipe, cause I meant real good.

Ocean Spray's Wild Rice with Cranberries and Carmelized Onions

2 c chicken broth
1/2 c brown rice
1/2 c wild rice
3 TBSP butter
3 med onions, sliced in thin wedges
2 tsp brown sugar
1 c Craisins
1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest

(feel free to skip all this if you want to enjoy extreme deliciousness) Combine chicken broth & both rices in a med sauce pan. Bring to a boil over med-high heat. Reduce heat to low. Cover & simmer 45 min or until rice is tender & liquid absorbed. Meanwhile, melt butter in a med skillet over med-high heat. Add onions & brown sugar. Cook 6 min or until liquid is absorbed & onions soft & translucent. Reduce heat to low. Slowly cook onions, stirring often for 25 min or until they are carmel in color. Stir in dried cranberries. Cover & cook over low heat for 10 min or until cranberries swell. Gently fold cranberry mixture & orange zest into cooked rice. Makes 4 to 6 servings.


Rachel's Rice

2 c water
2 TBSP olive oil (I'd have used chicken broth but . . . didn't have any)
1 c brown rice
1 pkt onion soup mix
1 c Craisins

Cover and cook the water, oil, rice together about 30 min.

Add in the onion soup mix and Craisins, cover and cook 10 min. Put some of it in a Tupperware immediately or you will eat it all.

That's it, I may have just given you the secret to happiness.

ps, putting cream cheese in acorn squash, also a good idea. Rach scored 2 tonight.

it's time i come clean

It being a new year and all, I feel like it's time for a confession. I like facial hair. On men. I think it's hot. I guess I also have to admit I've never kissed a guy with facial hair . . . that may change my perspective a bit. But if I'm just looking at it, admiring it, I think it's sweet. Most of the time. I do NOT condone nasty facial hair with food stuck in it or that's too sparse or that looks creepy. But I do like facial hair with a little personality.

Exhibit A:


Steve from Arthur Christmas. Can anyone do this with their face? I would love to see a Christmas tree goattee. Please. Jay Leno maybe?

Exhibit B:


Duck Dynasty. Okay, seriously, I'm confessing, right, so don't go crazy on me, but I really like these guys and their beards. Would I ever date one of them? No, I'm pretty sure the only one that's not married is Uncle Si. Would I date a guy with a beard like this? Probably not . . . maybe . . . I don't know . . . but these guys definitely have personality and so do their beards.

Please don't think I only like weird facial hair. I totally dig a scruffy look and appreciate short beards, goattees, and on rare occassions, the lone mustache. Maybe the two exhibits I showed today are somehow related to my weird penchant for the euro-mullet. I may need help.

Thanks for letting me come clean. I wanted to start 2013 right.

note: there is no connection between my love of facial hair and camoflauge clothing, it is purely happenstance that those two are both present in the images shared within this post.

There are some pretty incredible pictures in the world.



David Nemcsik's Levitation Project is a collection of pictures that I REALLY like. Sometimes you've got to just hang out. I've put a couple other fun projects in the Show & Tell section of my blog.

Pres. George Albert Smith #22


This lesson is entitled "Bringing Up Children in Light and Truth". I'm having a bit more difficulty with this lesson than most I teach. I go to church in a congregation of LDS Single Adults. All of us are under 31, but all of us are also unmarried, with no children. Here are my ideas so far:

• "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" states, "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. . . . Extended families should lend support when needed." In my ward, or congregation, each of us likely have some interaction with children. I could have everyone think of one child they could have a good influence on and try to apply our lesson to their relationship with that child.

• Pres. Smith tells a story of two young boys who each work on a farm and go into town. One father asks his son to complete all his chores, then let's him go. This son arrives in town after dark and ends up experiencing the rough side of town. The other father helps his son complete his chores and then takes him into town. He introduces his son to his acquaintances there and this boy develops relationships that will be healthy and wholesome as he grows. I like this story, I thought we might discuss our responsibilities and the way we fulfill them.

• In the section titled "By loving and teaching our youth, we can help safeguard them from evil." he says, "Let us teach our children to be pure in their lives, to be upright. Teach your boys to safeguard the virtue of their sisters and their girl companions. Teach your daughters to safeguard the virtue of the boys they associate with." We can discuss the idea of helping those around you to make good choices, how we can help others keep the commandments and avoid temptation.

• Under the section in the lesson titled "Parents have the primary responsibility to teach their children the gospel." Pres. Smith says, "Nobody else can perform the part that God has assigned to us". We could discuss the responsibilities we have and somehow recognize that our efforts are necessary and unique.

• I don't know if I'll share this idea or not, but I keep thinking about it. There's a reason the people in my ward aren't married yet. There's a reason we don't have children. It's likely different for everyone. There are so many good people in my ward that would make great parents, there's got to be a reason. Some of us may not have met the right person, some of us may have more to learn, some of us may just be stubborn, most of us probably have something important to do until we have our own families. Whatever the reason is that we haven't started our own families—whether it's our fault or not—there's a place for us in the world. A work God needs and wants us to do. Something each of us can do better than anyone else available, and a work that will likely only be available to us in this time of our lives. We don't need to stress out about what that is, we should try to find out how we can be better and do it better. But, we don't need to freak out about it, because by being obedient, by praying, and by trying to do our very best, God will lead us to those tasks he has for us.

• In the final section, Pres. Smith reminds families to conduct Home Evenings. I thought we could talk about the importance of us attending our ward's Home Evenings—we have them together as many of us don't live with family. Also, I thought it might be good to discuss how we're setting patterns in our lives.

Like I said, I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out what to share in my lesson. If you've got ideas about adapting this topic to my ward, feel free to comment. I'll have about 30–40 minutes to teach.

29

Last Wednesday was my birthday. I had decided to try to take 29 pictures throughout the day in honor of the years I've lived . . . but I forgot. Brooke called me that evening and reminded me, so I did the best I could with what was left of the night. Thanks a bunch Brooke. So, here's what I saw/experienced/ate/etc the night of November 7.

I caught Nat at an "unexpected moment" :)

Nat made me a Matroshka Cake. If you look close I'm pretty sure Kate has a couple extra ears.

Sometimes you've got to lick the candle.

Never in my life have I seen a can of tuna this big.

We were all practicing our sleeping faces. Nat & Stewart did a fantastic job.

I thought I'd take a video of the ceiling. It seemed like a good idea.

We thought we'd play a game, Hand and Foot seemed like a good option.

But then settled on SkipBo . . . apparently Karen thought she could get the upper hand.

It was a great birthday.

Pres. George Albert Smith #20

(GA Smith was 16 in this picture! 16!)

This Sunday I teach at church again (as always, you're invited—just let me know and I'll give you the 4-1-1). The lesson is called "Temporal Salvation for Ourselves and Others". I think temporal means physical, in other words having enough food, health, and the means to survive.

You may think me strange, but I get excited about lessons on Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness. I don't know why, but I really do. I think this is going to be a fun lesson. I thought maybe I'd hold off to eat my second baby watermelon and bring it in (I don't know what I'd do with it during the lesson—juggle it? have a seed spitting contest?). I could also bring my 72-hour kit which has clothes from when I was 12 . . . that are too big for me now. I haven't figured out all the nitty-gritty, but here are some of the thoughts I've had from the lesson. Please tell me what thoughts you've had on anything I say below, or, the topic at large. You may just make my lesson better :)

• There's a story about how President Smith met with US President Harry S Truman in 1945. President Smith went to arrange a way to send food and clothing to the needy in Europe. President Truman said, "We will be glad to help you in any way we can. . . . . How long will it take you to get this ready?" President Smith essentially replied (I'm paraphrasing), "It's all ready. We have grain, flocks, herds, clothing, our Relief Society even made over two thousand quilts to send. We just need cars and ships to send it." Can you imagine President Truman's surprise? Two thousand quilts? Everything's already ready? I really wonder what President Truman's reaction would have been. Elder Uchtdorf has remembered being in Germany and eating canned peaches and smelling donated clothing that had been shipped by the LDS Church. I'm glad that members of the Church were in a place temporally that they could donate so much at this time.

• As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (1830ish), George Albert Smith said, "There never has been a time, in my judgment, when kindness was needed more than now. These are the days when people's souls are being tried, and when their hearts are being wrung. These are the days when many are facing hunger and distress even among the Latter-day Saints." I believe this is still true, and everything we can do to be kind, to relieve pain, of any type, is worth doing.

• President Smith talked talked about ants and how they use "harvest time" to store and prepare for what's ahead. He encouraged us to do the same. I'm wondering what sorts of things we can "harvest" now in our lives. Maybe some of us can harvest education, or some of us can harvest money, some can actually harvest and preserve food, while others may be able to harvest physical strength. This last week I've been trying to sleep 8–9 hours a night. That's what I've been harvesting this week.

• Finally, the following quote from President Smith I REALLY love. It makes me want to be so much better and, this idea may be the reason I love these lessons. He talks about helping those who are near and says, "Let us . . . look around us in our neighborhood—not leave it to the Bishop and the Relief Society, but let each of us be ministers of loving kindness to those who will need us so much. And whatever we do let us not make those who require assistance feel like paupers. Let us give what we give as though it belonged to them." Being in a place temporally to care for others is worth doing, and doing really well.

watermelon: part deux

That's what I ate a couple days ago. It was the size of a small grapefruit, although, it didn't taste anything like a grapefruit. I was actually pretty surprised, it tasted very watermelonish. It was pretty good. Because it was so small it was a little stringy and there were tons of seeds scrunched together, but the taste, surprisingly accurate. I got two watermelons this size. I believe my first efforts at gardening to be modestly successful.