Mother's Day Recipe Book (Recycled Post)

I used to dream of opening my own restaurant, I started making plans when I was about 8. I invented several tasty treats, arranged them on the kitchen table and stood behind it to sell them to Emily, Roger and my Mom. Our mom ooooed and ahhed and wrote checks to me at my "restaurant." Real checks!

Recipe for Little Karen's Tasty Treats
Ingredients: Marshmallows, Jam, Toothpicks
Directions: Coat marshmallows with a sticky layer of Jam. Stick a toothpick in marshmallow. Eat happily.

When I was 10 I wanted an apron for my birthday. Yes an apron. For my restaurant, duh. I still had big plans. Big tasty plans. Thankfully I have a wonderful family who loved me, cared for me and gave me an apron. Luckily they knew this was kind of a lame request and gave me other cool stuff. Jill and Suzy got me a swatch watch, and jeans from the GAP; way too cool for the likes of me. I dearly loved it though. And I loved them. My 10th birthday was shadowed with the death of my mother, but they were there for me and loved me through that hard time. They were like little moms to me. Cool college students. Suzy even took the semester in correspondent courses so she could stay with us longer. Gratitude fills me when I think of all the women who have blessed my life after my lovely mother's death. Kathy Pettit had Emily and me come to her house several Fridays after school for cooking lessons (getting closer to the dream of restaurant ownership all the time). She would always send us home with dinner and dessert, therefore blessing not only our lives with her tender care but that of our grieving father as well.

Recipe for Medium Karen's Chocolate Cake (From the kitchen of Kathy Pettit)
Ingredients: Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, toothpicks.
Directions: Mix and bake cake. Pull out of the oven and test center with a toothpick, spread with chocolate frosting. Eat gratefully.

This blog is my Mother's Day tribute to all of the wonderful women, truly kindred spirits, who have loved me and taught me so much, not just about cooking but caring and living the gospel too.

The Lord, in his wisdom and infinite goodness, has blessed my life through the kindness of others in many ways. None more obvious than in that of my wonderful mother, Judie, who lovingly joined our family and also our hearts. How lucky we were!
I'm sure that every one thinks their own family is great but secretly I know that mine is the best. Ok, ok! The best for me. We love each other, we love to be near each other and spent much of our teenage years crowded together with our mom on her bed talking and gossiping; our poor dad never had a spot to sit. He would come home, walk in, look around and then go make dinner. I love you Mom, you were the heart of our home. In honor of my parents, I offer this recipe to liven your next party.

Big Karen's Parent's Favorite Appetizers
Ingredients: 1 can whole water chestnuts, Bacon cut in thirds, brown sugar or BBQ sauce, toothpicks to hold it all together.
Directions: Wrap bacon around water chestnuts. Secure with toothpick. Place on cookie sheet, brush with BBQ Sauce or sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees until bacon is done, about 1 hour. Eat carefully. (there are sharp toothpicks inside that could poke your lip)

The dark side of restaurant ownership of course is washing the dishes when you are done making the mess. Although, my mom tried very hard to teach me to love cleaning (thanks Mom!) it's still a struggle. Here's a poem, posted in our kitchen by our mom, to help you love to wash dishes. Although, I still dislike washing dishes, I love this poem.

Thank God for dirty dishes,
They have a tale to tell,
While others may go hungry,
We're eating very well.
With health and strength and happiness,
I should not want to fuss,
For by the stacks of evidence,
The Lord's been good to us.

Doesn't this poem make you want to wash some dishes? Me neither. Many, many roommates will tell you the truth about me. That I am a nice person, with a good heart but that mumble, mumble, ...mmmbbb. What? What's that's noise I heard just then. Did you hear it too? I think it was my oven beeping. I have to go pull out my chocolate cake.

This post is dedicated to Judie, my Super-Mom, and to all of my other adoptive moms. Suzy, Jill, Grandma Marie, the Sumner/Puyallup/Surprise Lake Ward Relief Society. And to my sisters Amber, Emily, Siri, Honor, Veronique, Cori and Angie who are my heroes and friends. I love you each and all.