Sweethearts 2012






















Tonight Maddy went to her first High School Dance, attending Sweethearts with Craig Applegate, a friend from her drama group. Maddy looked beautiful in her semi-formal dress and her hand-picked shoes. Add this one to the list of "You know you're getting older when..." Maddy certainly has grown up into a beautiful young woman. Below are pictures from the night including the group that helped Maddy get ready - Grandma Rae, Grandma Kaye, Jen, Kara and Taylor.

First Flight






















For Christmas, we bought Joey a remote control airplane. This week Joey took it out for it's first flight and it was a great experience. Joey got the hang of it quickly, however not ever having flown before proved challenging and the plane took a nose dive and cracked the fuselage. Thankfully it was repaired later that evening. Below are some pictures from the experience and a video of a later flight.

Citrus Confit
















A "Confit" is derived from an ancient method of preserving meat by salting and cooking and then storing it in its own fat which acts as a preservative. That method is followed using fruit and sugar in this recipe which comes from my "Chocolates and Confections" book by Peter Greweling. I grew up loving these treats and used to get them from time to time from Boehms Candy shop in Issaquah, WA. I tried making them once before but the recipe didn't work so thankfully this one did and they came out just as I had remembered them; slightly chewy, strong citrus flavor, sweet and nicely balanced with the chocolate covering. I took the recipe below and julienned the quarters which yielded over 100 pieces, and then dipped them in tempered chocolate.

For step by step instructions and pictures on my cooking blog, click here.

Character

Madelyn taught our family about Character last night for family night. She had written the text below for a paper in her health class at the High School and I asked her to share it with us. 

"I believe character is what our heart truly wants and it is what we do and think even when no one is watching us. Have you ever heard someone say, “And then his true character came through.”? When a really difficult or really stressful situation comes at us, all facades go down. The way we act in those situations reflects who we really are. My mom is a great example of having good character. In a very trying situation she was still able to be selfless, kind, and loving. 

A few years ago my mom had two strokes. It was a crazy time and in my mind I just remember it as a big jumbled, confusing mess. She wasn’t supposed to have a stroke; she was only thirty-five. I wasn’t supposed to be so close to not having a mom. I remember being really upset and sort of becoming an introvert. Yet, through all that my mom went through, through the immense pain, she still thought of others instead of herself. When I’m in a lot of pain, I get ornery. I become angry which proves I need to work on my character. But my mom becomes even more of an angel. She wanted my dad to specifically not tell my brother and me things so that we wouldn’t be any more scared. She hated herself for not being the mom she wanted to be. She didn’t blame anyone or anything for this wretched, awful pain she had to go through, but herself. She would never even think of inflicting hurt on anyone, but herself. She has a heart bigger than I’ve ever seen.

She did end up recovering from the strokes although she still stays in bed a majority of the time to keep herself from having seizures. When she feels a seizure coming on, her first thought is always us. She doesn’t think of the heck she’s about to endure, she thinks of getting us out of the room so we don’t have to witness it. After her seizures she always apologizes over and over again in her slurred, quiet voice. She has absolutely no reason to be sorry! We are all so sorry that such a perfect person has to go through so much! She’s never ever done anything in her life that would cause her to deserve this. Yet, she never becomes angry. If anyone has the right to be a bitter, loathsome person, angry at the world, it’s her. But she never complains. We all wish we could take some of the pain upon ourselves so she wouldn’t have to suffer so much. But that’s just not the way God wants it. 

I believe that everything happens for a reason. We have hard times because it makes us who we are. It gives us character if we handle it the right way. If we keep our heads held high and a smile on our face, if we think of others automatically and not of ourselves, if our only regrets are that we could’ve helped even more, then we truly have character. Then we are truly a good person. We become a person people love to be around, a person people trust and truly appreciate. I believe we’re here on Earth to prove that we can achieve that."

New Camera

Jeni surprised me with the most amazing camera for Christmas this year, a Canon Rebel T3. I have had so much fun learning how to use it. I've always been impressed with great photography. My dad has a very artistic eye and so does my sister who takes incredible photographs. I have a feeling that food photography is going to be just as big a hobby as the recipes themselves! One of my goals in the last year was to get some pictures accepted by foodgawker.com, a website that features wonderful food photography. In the last week I've now had two of my pictures accepted! You can go to my profile by clicking here. Below are some pictures I've taken while learning how to use this camera.

Chocolate Ricotta Pudding with Strawberry Coulis

This Giada DeLaurentiis inspired recipe is a classic Italian dessert combining the wonderful flavors of ricotta, chocolate, orange, almond and cinnamon in a smooth, creamy pudding, topped by a very easy to make strawberry sauce. I loved the presentation on this one as you can get very creative with the sauce as well as using a fresh strawberry for garnish. The recipe below yields 6 servings. Enjoy!

For step by step instructions and pictures on my cooking blog, click here.

Brie en Croute

















I have been baking this amazing appetizer for nearly 3 years and realized a few days ago that I had never posted it here. I first saw this on the Food Network and over the years I've made a few modifications. Brie is one of my favorite kinds of cheese and "en croute" actually means "in crust" in French. This recipe takes a wheel of brie, tops it with jam and toasted pecans and then bakes it in a pastry crust. Your guests will never know how simple this is to make as the flavor combinations give this a very gourmet feel. The recipe below serves about 6. Enjoy!

For step by step instructions and pictures on my cooking blog, click here.

Merry Christmas 2011

















We continue our tradition of using our blog to deliver our annual Holiday greeting. If you'd like to see what we've been up to during 2011, feel free to browse through the blog posts from this year in the archives section on the left side of this page. You'll see milestone birthdays, school plays and musicals, scouting awards, braces on and off, family trips, links to Ro's cooking blog, filming the Church’s New Testament Project and just general craziness. Most of the major events of this year can be found here.

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is watching the many renditions of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” In this classic story, Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy but uncharitable banker, is visited by a series of ghosts on Christmas Eve. Of all the ghosts that appear to him that evening, one of our favorites is the first, Scrooge’s former business partner Jacob Marley. In a brief exchange that captures the central theme of the entire story, Marley, burdened with large chains, appears to Scrooge and explains that the chains were of his own making during his mortal life. Scrooge, confused at how this could have been suggests to Marley:

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. “Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” (Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, st 1, 1843) As much as Scrooge had tried to distance himself from other people and their needs, he came to understand that he truly was connected to “mankind” and thus he found great joy as he then went about serving them.

At this time of year, may we remember that the Savior’s life was infinite for all mankind. Remembering this should lead us to doing the same - devoting and dedicating our life to all in need. Is there a member of “mankind” that needs our help? Someone we should reach out to? Someone to uplift and encourage? Someone to mourn with? Someone to comfort? Someone to serve? Someone to forgive? In the midst of the hustle and bustle of this holiday season, let’s take time to pause and seek out those who might need our help so that we, like Scrooge, can make “mankind” our business and, by doing so, experience the true spirit of Christmas.

Speaking of that wonderful Christmas spirit, please enjoy the video below which was recently released as a “Gift to the World” by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This video is the first in a series of over 50 vignettes depicting scenes from the Savior’s life from the New Testament and are free to download by anyone worldwide. This video series is the same that Maddy and I participated in as Extra’s. For more information on that wonderful filming experience, click here. To see the other videos, pictures from the scenes or to download your own free copies, click here.

Wishing you and your families the choicest of God's blessings this Christmas and into 2012.

Ro, Jeni, Maddy and Joey Shearer

Midnight Clear

Several years ago I recorded myself playing Kurt Bestor's arrangement of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," one of my favorite Christmas time songs. I forgot all about the recording until recently. I hope you enjoy it and that it helps evoke the wonderful feelings of this special season.

Helping Hands

















Several weeks ago we had the privilege of participating again in the Wendy's annual Warm Hearts and Warm Hands clothing drive for the homeless in Salt Lake City. For a month our stores collected blankets, hats, gloves and other warm clothing items and then we went downtown on a Saturday to distribute them to those in need. It was a great experience once again, especially to see Maddy and Joey participating. At one point, a man was looking for gloves but we had given them all out. Joey willingly gave his own gloves to this man which left him with none. These are the kinds of experiences that money just can't buy. Click here for a link to last year's distribution. Below are pictures from the sorting party at the Wendy's division office and pictures from the day of distribution including a picture of me with Misti Scow, our partner for the project.

Maddy - Sweet Sixteen






















A few weeks ago Maddy turned 16! During the week she spent a fun day at the spa with Jen and her Grandma Kaye and then we hosted a party here at the house for some of her friends. It is so strange to have a 16 year old now with the driving and dating but Maddy has made the transition an easy one. We're very fortunate as parents to have such great kids who love life and love the Lord.

Below are pictures from the week including several from the party. For my birthday Maddy gave me a recipe book for gourmet cake bites so I tried a few for her birthday party and they were yummy! I also made her favorite Queso dip from Chili's and her favorite dessert, Chocolate Torte. Her friend McKenna who is an amazing artist decorated the top of the cake with a "16" made out of some modeling chocolate I had in the fridge. Also, her friend Madisen helped her make the amazing decorations pictured out of tissue paper.