25yrs of Recipes and Cookbooks

Mike and I did the most rewarding thing together this morning - We cleaned out the cookbook cupboard! I wish I had taken a before picture. That cupboard was crammed full of books and papers, several layers tall and wide. I seriously don't think I have ever gone through that cupboard since we moved into this house in 2001. Looking through everything was like taking a walk down memory lane. So much fun!

This is almost everything that was in there. (and i also went through my recipe box)

Walking through history, starting with . . .

1988

This is probably the 1st recipe in my collection - from my high school cooking class :)

1989

When my brother got married and we made Cheryl's pizza all the time :)

1991

When Mike and I got married - Cookbooks from the ice cream maker someone

gave us a wedding gift. We still have it! And our very first blender which is long gone!

I think maybe Mike's mom got this for us from Crate & Barrel

when she worked there. We used it so much that it started falling

apart and I had to buy a new one! We still make the calzones. :)

1992

From our time living in Paul & Dena's basement 

while we finished up at BYU. Good times for sure!

1993

For some time I thought that Mike's famous guacamole came from 

working at Los Hermanos when we first got married, but then I came across the

book once and remembered the true story. Anyone who has ever had Mike's

guacamole has his parents to thank! And the book came from Sedona! Ha!

1998

Lived in Spain for two years. Barely cooked there. Ha!

1999

When we lived in San Jose for 9 months in Bishop Crawford's ward.

We had the best activities in that ward! This is the award winning chili

recipe Mike found on the internet (with our first dial up connection) 

that won first place at the chili cook off. This is the best chili ever!!!

2004

Oh, the FASB days (the card was a bookmark) ... We liked to watch Lidia's Kitchen :)

2006

My all-time favorite soup. Recipe from Kelly Chiarandini. Fun visiting teaching luncheon! 

2007

Book Club recipes! I remember Mike Saunders & Mike Peterson cooked the kabobs :)

Was this one from Liz Brown? I can't remember. And I never made it!

School Days

Matthew and Michael had the same teacher at different times :)

I love that these recipes are from my mom and Mike's mom. It's all about moms!

2009

More Book Club recipes! This one is from Sue Wutzke.

A favorite from the book club days at Linda's clubhouse.

Thayer's Chili Verde. Because one print out is never enough. :)

I most often make this for the missionaries, and always tell them it's Sister Smock's recipe.

2010

The treat at Michael's baptism

because he was living on Nabisco S'mores at the time.

Which brings us to now. Can you believe it?

This is one stack that is going to Good Will :)

And what we saved. Lots of smiley faces in this post because it makes me so happy. :)

4th of July in NH

One of our absolute favorite places to visit is Lincoln, New Hampshire. We just can't get enough! So we went there for the long 4th of July weekend. We left in the evening after Mike got home on Wednesday, and drove the five hours to get there. We did stop for dinner at Plan B Burgers in West Hartford where the waitress spilled an entire Diet Coke on me and Matthew. Thankfully we were sitting outside and it was super hot, so it dried.

This time I decided to rent a condo so that we would have enough space for everyone to be comfortable. But then Collin decided not to go. Party pooper! Oh well.

On our first morning we went directly to Flapjack's, our favorite. 

They had special 4th of July sprinkles on the hot chocolate. Fun!

After breakfast we went down the street to miniature golf at Hobo Hills. 

We've been going there since Michael was two years old!

The picture in the big chair is tradition. :)

Gosh, it was hot. Like really super hot and humid. I had sweat running

down the front and back of my neck. Pretty disgusting. But we still had fun!

The boys were kind enough to fish my ball out of the water. haha

Mike won, so he was happy. :)

We stopped by McDonald's to hydrate with some fruit smoothies, and then headed 

over to wait for the parade to begin in North Woodstock. It's not a huge parade, but it's fun.

They throw candy as they go, so we collected a bunch. (but then threw out most of it!)

I loved these ladies representing women through the 250 years since North Woodstock 

was established. This next week they are celebrating their Sestercentennial. Cool!

Clark's Trading Post

The fire department brings up the rear with all of their noise and horns.

We were sufficiently melted by then, so we hit the local movie 

theater to see Despicable Me 2. Funniest movie ever. 

The fireworks show that night was cool.

Lauren got these shots with her new camera.

The clouds moved in during the show, which made it interesting. But, hey, 

we were just happy it wasn't raining! And the clouds made for some neat pictures.

Isn't that awesome? Definitely not an iPhone picture!

All in all it was a great day. :)

NH Day 2 - Lost River Gorge

On our second day in New Hampshire we set out to explore Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves. We hadn't gone there since Collin was somewhere around Michael's age. I guess that was the first time we went to New Hampshire nine years ago. Wow! Anyway, no one wanted to go (haha), but they all ended up having a great time. Of course. :)

Thanks to the nice lady who took our group shot.

So, you literally walk down into this huge gorge. Tons and tons of stairs.

And then you go up and down stairs all around the gorge to see waterfalls and caves.

GORGEOUS VIEW

Each of the caves has a name and information for it.

There was nothing silent about Lauren in the Cave of Silence.

She was so funny. Everyone could hear her!

As the sign says, you must fit through the gauge in order to enter.

Mike went with the boys while Lauren and I watched. :)

This is halfway through.

Mike had a little trouble maneuvering
through, but they all finally made it.

And Michael got this cool shirt to
commemorate the experience.

Before we left we decided to let the kids try out the sluice.

You buy these little bags in the gift shop, and then sort through it.

What a crack up. They were all so into sluicing!

After a little bit Michael said,
"Ok, Dad, you can go help someone else now." LOL!

When we got back to our little condo, the kids spent a long time sorting

through and identifying everything. They said it was the best part. :)

We were going to go back to the movies in the afternoon to see The Lone Ranger since Mike wanted to see it so badly, but Mike and I both fell asleep. And then it was too late. So, we pulled out the Phase 10 cards. I love that game!

We played for too long, and then we had a hard time finding a place to eat dinner. Lots of places were closing or were full. We ended up eating at Subway where the sandwich nazi worked. This kid was really upset about making Lauren's sandwich the way she wanted it. And then he messed it up. She just didn't want the avocado next to the bread. Put the lettuce next to the bread, then the tomato, then the avocado. He put the tomato next to the bread like an idiot, then the lettuce, and added the avocado saying "Just so you know, your sandwich is really going to be messy now." Then closed it in a huff. I told him she wanted oil and vinegar too, so he put it on the bottom under the meat!  We had to go back to have her sandwich remade. He hid in the back once he saw us. Haha! When we drove by the next day Mike said that he wished we could stop in and throw avocado in the guy's face. I would yell, "Who's messy now?!" But we didn't. Darn.