Sweet Pickled Zucchini Relish

After eight years without a garden, we enjoyed a summer of fresh zucchini.  Two plants were ample to keep us and the neighbors in zucchini all summer! 

Now we can keep enjoying it as sweet pickled zucchini relish. 

The recipe is kind of vague - just how big is a large zucchini???  If you have doubts about it, use this recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation:  Summer Squash Relish

Annette's Sweet Pickled Zucchini Relish

                                                   Grind together:

                                                    * 5 large zucchini

                                                    * 3 sweet red peppers

                                                    * 3 green peppers

                                                    * 5 onions

                                                    Add:

                                                    * 1/2 c. salt

                                                    * 1 t. alum

                                            

                                        Allow to sit overnight.  Drain off the juice,
                                        then rinse in cold water.  Squeeze out as much

                                        liquid as possible.  May use a cheesecloth bag.

                                                    Bring to a boil:

                                                    * 5 c. sugar
                                                    * 5 c. apple cider vinegar
                                                    * 2 T. celery seed
                                                    * 2 T. mustard seed
                                                    * 2 T. turmeric

                                        Add strained vegetables and simmer for 20

                                        minutes.  Pack the relish into sterilized canning 

                                        jars, leaving 1/4" headspace.  Wipe the rims
                                        with a clean, wet cloth.  Add sterilized new lids,

                                        finger-tighten the rings, then process in a hot

                                        water bath for 15 minutes to seal. 

                                        (10 minutes if elevation is below 1000 ft.

                                        20 minutes if elevation is above 6000 ft.)

                                        Allow jars to cool.  Refrigerate any jars that
                                        do not seal.  

This relish is great on hot dogs, burgers or bratwurst, or sandwiches.  We like it best in tuna sandwiches!  Mmmm!

Check out these other delicious Zucchini recipes: Zucchini Bread, Lemon Zucchini Loaf, Spaghetti Zoodles, and Quiche.   

These and 150 more great recipes can be found in our Family Recipe Book, "Home Cookin'"!

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Now, what do I do with all of those green tomatoes??  Stay tuned!

~ the Momma

What's for Dinner?

Chicken Pot Hot Dish!!

Here is Chicken Pot Pie with a twist!  Instead of making an actual pie crust, skip it altogether!  Instead, grab a bag of frozen tater tots for your crust. 

Here's the recipe, with my adjustments.
Melt:        3 T. butter
Add:        3 carrots, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces       
                1 small onion, finely chopped
Saute for about 10 minutes.

Stir in:     5 T. flour
Cook for 1 minute.

Add:       1-1/2 c. milk
Stir continuously until thickened, about 5 minutes.
Repeat with another 1-1/2 c. milk

Stir in:     3 t. chicken base (I prefer Better than Bouillion Roasted Chicken Base)    
                1/2 t. Thyme
                A few turns of fresh ground black pepper

Add:        1-1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped into 1/2 to 3/4-inch pieces.
Cook until the chicken is no longer pink, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Adjust seasoning if desired.

Add:        1 c. frozen petite peas

Pour into a 9 x 13" casserole dish. then top with a 32-ounce bag of Tater Tots.  I prefer Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Tater Tots seasoned shredded potatoes.

Line up the frozen tater tots to cover the top of the filling, then bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Mmmm!  It's beautiful, tastes great, and is so easy to make!  Definite comfort food, and we love it.  Sometimes I split it into two 9 x 9 dishes and either freeze one or give it away.

Tasted so good, my honey offered to do the dishes!

Evan:  "No man was ever killed while doing dishes."

He's a keeper, all right!  Now, this post is making me hungry!  I wonder, what's for dinner??

~the Momma

Tabernacle Choir Retirement

Today marked the end of a ten+ year chapter of my service as a musical missionary, singing in the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.   I joined the choir in 2012.  A person can sing in the choir for up to 20 years, or age 60, whichever comes first.  And, thankfully, my musical mission was extended beyond that age because of the Covid pandemic, and I was able to perform for General Conference twice more, sing for the annual Christmas concert, and weekly broadcasts from Sept 2021 through May of 2022 before retiring. 

It was a glorious experience each week, raising my voice with 359 other singers, the Orchestra at Temple Square, and the Bells of Temple Square under the genius of Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy. 
I was happy to represent my family, hometown, and friends around the world who love to listen to the choir and play "Spot the Stott".  I will miss those weekly exhilarating, sweet, spiritual moments; the joy of singing such a variety of inspirational music through so many different genres.  I'll especially miss my choir family.  God be with you 'til we sing again!

Twenty-seven retiring choir members and five orchestra members share thoughts about their experiences in 90-second videos.  Posting this link here in a semi-permanent place:  

TABERNACLE CHOIR 2022 RETIREMENT VIDEOS

 https://f.io/q--gucJh 

God be With You 'Til We Meet Again.

~ the Momma

He is Risen!

Easter Special with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square

- Prologue - 1) Christ the Lord Is Risen Today 2) That Easter Day with Joy Was Bright - The Savior's Atonement - 3) How Great the Wisdom and the Love - The Savior's Resurrection - Accounts from the Holy Scriptures 4) Unfold, Ye Portals, from The Redemption 5) In the Garden 6) He Is Risen, with audience - The Promise - 7) And What Is It We Shall Hope For? from The Redeemer 8) Tree of Life - The Plea - 9) Interlude for Brass and Percussion 10) Love Divine, All Loves Excelling - The Benediction - 11) Worthy Is the Lamb That Was Slain, from Messiah

Our Prayer to Thee

What a privilege it has been to sing with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square these past 10+ years!  The mission of the choir is to provide inspiring music that has the power to help people feel closer to the divine and celebrate God's love for all His children.  

How appropriate that the closing song of my last General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a member of the choir was the hymn, "Our Prayer to Thee".  The words, penned by our current president and prophet, Russell M. Nelson, really struck me as I sang them and I could hardly hold back the tears:  "We yearn for Thee, we pray in meekness."  And then, the camera caught a closeup of me singing the final phrase, "Thy trust in us, may we fulfill."

And then in that tender moment, believing that the camera would pan to the men as they sang the next phrase, I reached up and wiped my nose, which the camera also caught!  Ooops! lol, I guess they'll have to let me go now!  

I was set to retire two years ago, but then the Pandemic happened and we had a brief hiatus for 15 months.  During that time, the 90+ year broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word continued every Sunday morning, showing re-runs and compilations of previous broadcasts with new messages each week.

We also got to participate in a virtual choir by recording at home for the choir's 2021 PBS Christmas Special (< see previous post).  It took a few dozen tries, but I finally got my part recorded!  

Welp.  That's not going to work...

As Covid numbers climbed in January, choir was cancelled again, but we were able to meet again a month ago to prepare for April's Conference.  

They still need me for a few more weeks for some special events and recording, then official retirement will be May 15th, 2022.  

Our Prayer to Thee  "Thy trust in us, may we fulfill."

~the Momma

Shine, Girls, Shine!

Last Fall, six of my sisters and I, and some of our girls congregated in Arizona for a Hen Party!  For something that did not have a lot of pre-planning, a lot of stars aligned to make it happen!

I was scheduled to teach a class at the Lake Powell Quilt Retreat in Page, Arizona, and my sister and daughter came with me.  

We left early on a Thursday morning and stopped to check out Lake Powell before the class.  My sis told me that the waterline in a normal year is about halfway up the rock!  It is about 35 feet low this year!  A sobering thought - hopefully it will be a good winter and we will see the water levels rise.   The girls explored the area while I taught my class that afternoon.

I had been scheduled to teach a second class Friday evening, but there were not enough sign-ups and the class was canceled.  That turned out to be fortuitous!

One of my sisters who lives in Idaho, had been wanting to go to Phoenix to visit our sister there, as a birthday present for herself.  She had planned it for the same weekend as the quilt retreat in Page. Then, about a week before, we learned that the rest of my sisters also decided to head to Phoenix and join her! Four of them live in Idaho near where we were raised, and three of us are in Utah.  It was shaping up to be a fun Hen Party weekend!  Our annual Hen Party began about 29 years ago, when my nephew was born in Arizona.  All of us sisters took a trek to visit her, and our Grandpa called it a "Hen Party".  It turned into an annual event, going to different places to spend time together without husbands or kids, and just cackle together for a few days.

Page is about six hours from Phoenix, so we decided to head south as early as possible the next morning.  We took the scenic drive through Sedona, which was only a little bit out of the way, but worth the time to drive down the canyon through this artsy, little town.  It was beautiful!  We all agreed, we need to make Sedona a destination some time soon.

We arrived in Phoenix with enough time to stop at the SAS fabric store before meeting up with everyone, and loaded up on minky fabric priced at $5 per pound!  It came to about $5 or $6 per yard (it's normally $14 to $19!) - such a bargain!

It turned out that one of our sisters did not make it; her father-in-law had just passed away, and there was a funeral to plan.  She met one of the girls coming from Idaho to send us some "Shine, Girl!" t-shirts she'd had made the day before, and wrote a sweet note to each of us!  So cute!  We had a yummy lunch of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches made with our brother-in-law's homemade sourdough bread.  Oh. My. Goodness!!  Sooooo good!  

Then we headed to attend an Open House at the Mesa temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It was beautiful! 

We walked over to the nearby Visitor's Center, where we could look up some of our relatives in the family history section and read some of their stories.  Afterward, we ordered scoops of ice cream at the BYU Creamery next door!  Mmmmm!  Great on an Arizona day!

That evening, the gang of us went to an entertaining evening at Medieval Times for somesword fighting, jousting, and beautiful horsemanship, along with a feast you eat with your hands!  We really enjoyed it!

The following day, we again made a trek to the SAS fabric store for round II!  I discovered that my friend, Lisa lived only about 10 blocks away, and she drove over to meet us for a few minutes and give a hug!  Such a treat for me to see her!

 

Afterward, we dashed back to my niece's home, where we met up with my grandmother's "little sister", "Aunt Lolly" as we sometimes call her.  Aunt Laurene is 96-1/2 years young, and such a darling!  She is the happiest gal, and always has been the sweetest thing!  She obtained two Master's Degrees in her 90s!!  An amazing woman.  So glad we got to visit with her and get her talking about how she met her husband during the war.  He was a POW in France.

We had a great Taco Bar at my niece's house, then went out on their motorboat in their backyard lake!  More fun times!

That evening, we did a little shopping; we were going to Aunt Lolly's granddaughters' Shine Girl, Shine annual dance party!!  Amazing that it was scheduled for the same weekend we were all there!  Yay!  We gussied up - put on sparkly shirts, everyone did their hair and put on fancy makeup and accessories, then we headed to this fun dance party gathering!  

We stopped at the Sparkle Bar to add glitz and glimmer to our hair, body, faces, got some photos, ate some snacks, then the music started in and we danced together for an hour!  Here's a sample of us DANCING! - I see a bunch of my sisters and nieces in the video ... Oh, my achin' bones!  But, boy was it exhilarating!  

We tried to learn a flash dance routine that afternoon, watching this video tutorial ← then tried to do the dance when they played the music... we were hilarious!  Oh, my, it was so much fun!  Here is a snapshot of me and my sisters in this GIF←, and a photo of the bunch of us here ↓↓.

Yep, we are SHINY!  Oh, it was delightful!  We got some good sleep, had some breakfast, picked some lemons and grapefruit from Annette's trees, then hopped back in the car and headed home!  Such a wonderful weekend!  

~the Momma

Baby J!

Joseph Ezra Barrowes, one day old!

This sweet little cherub joined our family last August!  Delivered at home with midwives that got there with just a few minutes to spare; it was an amazing experience!  Ask me about it sometime!

Now almost six months old, what a delightful child he is, so alert and happy, and can. not. wait! to walk and talk!   

Baby J, three months old!

Six months old

Precious moments!  And time passes so quickly!  I can't get enough of these little ones!

~ the "Gamma"