LIfting Burdens

When we are racked, or harrowed up, or tormented by guilt, or burdened with grief - He can heal us. ALthough we do not fully understand how the Atonement of Christ was made, we can experience the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding."

- Elder Wirthlin

Through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ our natures can be changed, then our power to carry burdens can be increased more than enough.

- Elder Eyring

This is part of an audio that can currently be found here. I hope that your day is filled with peace and happiness.

Sick, sick, sick!

Harley is sick, people at work have sick kids and all around me I hear people coughing and sneezing. Am I the only one who wants to bath in disinfectant???

Between the weather changing and washing my hands so much, my skin feels like the Salt Flats look.

I love Utah!

(I am currently accepting airline tickets or cruises to anywhere warm.)

Thank you.

Pumpkin Roll

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet (I line it with parchment paper).

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in pumpkin puree, eggs, and lemon juice. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Spread the mixture evenly.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes.

Lay a damp linen towel on the counter, sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar, and turn the cake onto the towel. Carefully roll the towel up (lengthwise) with the cake in it. Place the cake-in-towel on a cooling rack and let it cool for 20 minutes. (It is important to do this as soon as the cake comes out of the oven, if you wait too long it will cool and crack when you try to roll it.)

Make the icing: In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and sugar with a wooden spoon or electric mixer.

When the cake has cooled 20 minutes, unroll it and spread icing onto it (Be careful, you do not need to roll it tightly - you do not want to squeeze out all of the filing as you roll). Immediately re-roll (not in the towel this time), and wrap it with plastic wrap. Keep the cake refrigerated or freeze it for up to 2 weeks in aluminum foil. Cut the cake in slices just before serving.

This is a family favorite! It stores great in the fridge.

You can find my other recipes here.

Stress Baking

This is my kitchen.

(No, it is not usually this clean - this was taken for the house flyer)

This is the room I spend a good portion (at least 75%) of my waking hours in. This also happens to be the room where I take out my anxiety and frustrations. I call it Stress Baking.

Last night as luck would have it I was running late at the office (which is midly frustrating on its own), but beyond that the elevator I got in to take me down 21 floors almost killed me. Truly - I am not making this up, it was shaking violently and making awful sounds. It turns out this morning that the motor had caught on fire and the building had to be evacuated. Then to add to the anxiety ball that was my stomach a Grandma tried to side swap me while turning a corner.

Needless to say by the time I got home last night I was wound up pretty tight!

So, I stress baked. I made a delicous apple cake with a carmel sauce and 6 dozen sugar cookies. Baking is therapy!

We're having a Football Party!

Monday Night Football - Packers v. Vikings

(Don't mind Kyah's jersey - she just wanted to wear a football shirt too.)

Jaxon was so excited to have a Football Party he hooped and hollered all over the place. He hasn't fully grasped the concept that Brett Farve no longer plays for the Packers - he was cheering for them both.


Kids are so much fun!

Cherry Bars

These are pretty and oh so yummy!

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 (21 ounce) cans cherry pie filling (I use 1 can)
GLAZE:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons milk

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the extracts. Combine flour and salt; add to the creamed mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread 3 cups batter into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan (I use two 8x8 pans). Spread with pie filling. Drop the remaining batter by teaspoonfuls over filling. (Be careful, this is a sticky dough.)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Combine the glaze ingredients; drizzle over bars.

P.S. My Mom doesn't like Cherry Pie or cherry pie filling and she really likes these, so give the cherry a try, but you can always swap out other canned pie filling if you so choose.

You can find my other recipes here.

Time for the Diet

I spent more time at my Parent's house this week than I have since possibly high school. Tuesday I went over to teach my Mom how to make a new pasta dish, which everyone was instantly a fan of. Thursday I went over just to hang out and let my Mom feed us, I was not making dinner! Friday I found out that my Grandpa Koerner and Aunt Val were coming up for dinner, so I went over to help my Mom, I threw together dinner and made Cherry Bars (which are awesome - recipe to follow in another post). Then I spent almost all of Saturday and Sunday there watching conference and cooking/eating. Saturday I made steak with blue cheese sauce (I don't even like blue cheese and I think it's yummy) and Sunday I made a pumpkin roll and pumpkin roll cake pops.

Do you notice a running theme?

Where there is my family there is food. It is ridiculous how much we like to eat and some of us like to cook/bake. Boy was I ready to go back to work on Monday (just kidding) I really needed the break from being home.