I Looked Out the Window and What Did I See...

I've got you singin' in your head about now, right?  Well, you should be because I did see popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

This was taken last week.

This is the tree right now.

You may or may not remember my post about my apricot tree last summer.  It's bigger than our house and just as decorated!  I was begging people to take the golden orbs so I wouldn't have to feel guilty for tossing the excess.

Some people took me up on the offer but when they came to do some picking, they were sorry.  One lady lamented that she thought she'd only be picking for 15 minutes and just have to stand on the ground.  She brought her 14 year old son but he didn't want to climb the ladder because of high anxiety! 

google image

It doesn't bother me to get on that towering ladder to pick apricots for the partakers!  As long as the apricots are gone, I'll risk life and limb.
When the "pickers" leave with only 4 boxes filled with apricots, I beg them to take 4 more!  I fall on my knees to show my sincerity then realize i'm kneeling in 3 inches of apricot squash. 
My hubs has suggested spraying the tree to prevent the blossoms from turning into fruit.  That seems immoral.   If the fruit was curbed naturally, I'd feel better.  It's supposed to freeze tonight.  Maybe I won't have to worry about adding to my supply of apricot jam, apricot syrup, apricot nectar, dried apricots, apricot leather and apricot pictures! (I sound like Bubba from Forrest Gump!)
I'll let you know what happens.  If the frost doesn't rid the tree of its fruit, you better keep your doors locked, because I'll be doing a drop-and-run to those who live close to me!

Lion House Pantry Rolls and Signs of Spring

The Lion House Pantry is a restaurant in Salt Lake City.  It's famous for their delicious food and especially the rolls.  They're big, fluffy and delicious!  I bought some the other day and they were on sale for $4.99 a dozen!  I think that's expensive but I bought them anyway.  After getting home I decided to check to see if there was a recipe for these delightful rolls!  I not only found a recipe, but a video on how to form them! 

Lion House Pantry Rolls
2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2 tablespoons dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder (instant or non-instant)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
5-5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine water and milk powder, stir until dissolved. Add yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups flour. Mix on low speed of mixer until ingredients are wet, then 2 minutes at medium speed. Add 2 cups more flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes as medium speed.

(Dough will be getting stiff and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand).

Add about ½ cup flour and mix again, by hand or mixer. Dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff.

(This is what mine looked like at the end. I tried to take a picture while it was still on the hook but wasn't fast enough.  I used 5 1/4 cups flour.)

(It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour.) Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about 1 T. vegetable oil all around the sides of the bowl so it is covered with oil.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in warm place until double in size.

(I sprayed a bowl with vegetable spray and placed the dough in that)

You can form it into what ever shape you want but if you want it to look kind of like the original rolls, watch this video.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Mine aren't as big as the store bought roll, but to be honest, they tasted better! 

........................................................................................................

Here are a few signs around our house that spring is on it's way!

Daffodils ready to bloom.

Forsythia bush with yellow buds.

Apricot tree ready to blossom.

Jordan heading to UVU in his shorts and pink shirt.  I think he's going to get beat-up.

Enjoy your day!

Ready? Giveaway!

Ready for Spring? I received this wonderful Garden book from AnnMarie at "An Old Fashioned Girl" and I love looking at the pictures of the beautiful flower gardens. Makes me excited to do some planting in a few months!

Thank you, Ann, for being so generous.

Ready for the next birthday installment?

I have two handsome sons-in-law whose birthdays we celebrated this month.

Andy and Vili are the same age.

Andy's married to our oldest daughter, Candice. His birthday is actually on New Year's Eve but we can count that as a January birthday. And yes, there is some confusion with the 2 Andys.  We have Andy the Elder and Andy the Younger.

Vili is married to our 3rd daughter, Jill.

He celebrates 2 birthdays.  One that his mom insists is his birthday and the other one, a month later, is on his birth certificate.  I think the records in Tonga are not very reliable.  I'm siding with his mom, she should know when he was born!

I hope that both of my sons-in-law know how much I appreciate their kindness and patience with their family.  They're the best!

Ready for visiting another blog?  It just so happens I'm a guest blogger for Camille. Come visit me at "Make It Work Mom" and see how Camille takes a day off!

She's sticking her neck out on this one!  It's a good thing she gets the last edit on the post.

Ready for a Giveaway? 

I found this cookbook at Barnes & Noble in the clearance bin.  When I took it up front to check out, it rang up the full price.  The manager was called to check it out and said that since it had the clearance sticker, they would honor it.  This cookbook is filled with delicious recipes that are cooked on a grill.  Pizza, flatbread, chicken, pork, fish, turkey, beef, and vegetables are the stars of this book!

Since Spring is just around the corner, (wishful thinking) you'll be ready to grill like a pro after perusing this book!

And - what better treat to munch on, while planning your next barbecue, than these?!

To enter this giveaway of the recipe book and M&Ms, leave a comment.  If you're a follower, you'll automatically be entered twice.  Giveaway ends Saturday.

See you at Camille's!