NOSCO Cupcake Queen

I belong to MOSC (Marine Officer Spouses Club) here, as well as NOSCO (Naval Officer Spouses Club of Okinawa). I served as a rep on the NOSCO board for a year and a half, but now I'm just a regular member. There are lots of opportunities to volunteer and donate time and money to charity, as well as social and cultural events, too. I take advantage of what I can. NOSCO is broken down into "coffee groups" that have a common workplace or community, and the chaplain spouses group is one of the biggest, if not the biggest as far as participation. Back when I was on the board, I was asked what we did to have such high numbers. I had to think about it, and admitted that I didn't think it was anything we did in particular, it was just that as "pastors' wives," we are used to being involved with the ministry and fellowship, and that it seemed to just be understood that involvement came with the territory. I wish I could have been of more assistance with fabulous ideas to help them with recruitment, but that was all I could figure.

Anyway, each month, one of the coffee groups takes a turn hosting a social event for the NOSCO membership as a whole. This month it was the chaplain spouses' turn to host, and they selected a cupcake night. I happen to love decorating cupcakes. I love this book, even though I have yet to make enough of them to justify the purchase. Needless to say, I was excited about their choice.

A professional cake decorator came in and taught us all kinds of tips and techniques. I didn't remember to bring my camera to get pics of some of the creations (from beautiful to bizarre) OR me standing with the group holding my winning, sakura cupcakes.


But here they are at home, properly staged on their matching cherry blossom platter. As beautiful as they are, the thought of eating all that frosting and fondant makes me ill. I would scrape it straight in the trash. These were for my kids, though...and they loved it!



I had to take a pic of these cupcake wrappers the instructor brought. I'm going to have to go to Jusco and buy my own, since they are personalized and all.

Cupcake Queen...another title to add to my repertoire.

Easter Traditions 2011

Easter was really late this year...and it's a good thing, too. It gave Jake and I a chance to get home to enjoy it with the family.


Flashing gang signs while waiting for the hunt.



Jake was worried how he was going to find his basket on crutches, so I went easy on him. Turns out the shoe basket was too easy. He found his first.



Coree was next...clever girl.



I'm pretty sure we do the dryer every year. 25% chance you'll find yours there.



Patrick over-thought his. Not that we haven't done the dishwasher, but he was climbing on counters and being ridiculous.



The coat closet was the last place he looked. OK, well...I guess that's true for any place you hide it.



Cliff was thrilled to learn he had a surprise Easter basket and hunted enthusiastically.



Charlotte was hoping for Whiskas. Bummer.



He was a little sheepish that he hadn't gotten me anything...



He needn't be. I was prepared with two of everything. ;^)



Easter basket hunt 2011: Success. Notice the utilitarian baskets? I got rid of the Easter baskets. They took up too much space. These work just fine and are useful more than one day a year.

Next on the agenda? The Jerusalem dinner! Here's some of what was on the menu this year:

lamb and barley
mustard glazed rack of lamb
flat bread
hummus
nuts and dried fruits
asst. cheeses and olives
grape juice

And since we didn't get any honeycomb from my dad this year, Honeycombs will have to do.

This is what it looked like.



The rack of lamb was new this year and it was a huge hit.



Even Coree ate some!



It was so awesome to sit around and listen to everyone rave about how this is their favorite tradition. You know, we try different things, and some stick and some don't...but I'm glad this one did. We don't do everything perfectly, we don't do near as much as some people...but I love the memories we've created...and I love this family so much.



And this guy? He's my hands-down favorite. I couldn't have done it without him.

The Animosity Quilt Club, or...What I've been doing instead of blogging

Have you ever heard of a friendship quilt? It's where you get together 20 insane people friends, you each agree to make 20 of the same quilt square of your choosing (usually within a theme) and then on a predetermined date, you get together and exchange your quilt squares so you end up taking home 20 different squares to make into a themed quilt to love and cherish (or look at with disdain and PTSD flashbacks...either way).

In a moment of grandiosity, I joined such a group. The Okinawa Memory Quilt Group. In the emailed invitation, we were given a list of possible choices we could make for our square, such as, "Japanese and American flags", "shisa dogs", "kokeshi dolls", etc. We would be responsible for designing a pattern, choosing fabric, cutting and assembling the pieces, fusing them together and stitching the quilt squares. Knowing myself as I do...I should have chosen something simple. Like castle ruins (how hard can it be to stitch a crumbling wall?), but no. That's not how I roll...


Sushi was on the list of possibilities, sushi is my favorite thing about Okinawa, and no matter how complicated or time consuming, how could I do anything but sushi?

Pictured above are all the traced and cut out pieces which will go into constructing twenty. sushi. squares. I was lucky in that another friend had done this square and she passed along her basic pattern, along with notes she used to tweak it. It put me a little step ahead...but not as much as I had fooled myself into believing, unfortunately. No matter what, you still have to figure it out and make mistakes.



This is my test square, which I will not be able to actually use as the machine stitching is too poor and there are some frayed spots. From this I learned I needed much bigger margins on the fabric. I did some practice blanket stitching, but won't be finishing it since this one isn't usable. I think I've got it down now, though.



Jake thought I looked stressed and in need of chocolate. He made me a microwave cake in a mug. Not sure why he put a candle in it. I'm not feeling much like celebrating, that's for sure.

I will keep you updated on the progress...or at least let you know if I survive. The deadline is Oct. 15th. Wish me luck!

Family Home Evening

I wish I knew who I could contribute this often used (by me) quote: "The human mind has an infinite capacity for rationalization." I know my mind ROCKS when it comes to rationalizing. Take Family Home Evening.* We are not consistent at holding it weekly like we should. My rationalizations..."We read scriptures together every night...with discussion questions. That's like FHE (only without the singing)." or "We do SO much as a family, every night is FHE." I'm sure I could think of others if you gave me a minute. Oh, here's another one..."Cliff is responsible for sponsoring the YSA (young single adult) FHE on the base and has to be there." You get the picture.

Regardless, we are trying to be consistent WEEKLY as we have been counseled to do. Cliff did a great lesson on The Living Christ and we each were able to share our thoughts. It wasn't complex or time-consuming, but it was wonderful. It didn't require me to cut, paste or color anything, nor were there costumes involved...but the Spirit was there.



Can you guess what we are doing here?
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Luckily, we had ice cream ingredients just begging to be used, so we combined the activity and treat together in one...



For Ice Cream in a Bag.



Cliff calls it Scout Cream (popular activity for Cub Scouts...only you play catch with the bag until it's ice cream) and I countered it should really be called Home School Cream (popular, edible science activity).



This is mine. I added Ovaltine and mixed in a chopped Take Five bar. It was heavenly.

Wish us luck in our endeavor to be more consistent. Which will most likely need to include chocolate. Just sayin'.

*I included a link to the "text book" definition, but on a more personal note, Family Home Evening usually consists of a lesson on a gospel topic (hopefully prayerfully considered to benefit the family needs), an opening and closing hymn, opening and closing prayer, a fun activity, and a treat. It is absolutely adaptable to your own family, but should at least include a lesson, even if you have preschoolers and that lesson is two minutes long because that is all they can handle. Some families do more singing, some add in scripture reading or even a talent. Some have dubbed it, "The family fight that begins and ends with prayer." Sometimes...it's just like that.

Kompasu Scones

Well, while the typhoon was somewhat of a disappointment (not that I'm complaining) it was cool to see the sideways rain and bending of the palm trees from our safe, cement bunker...and we didn't lose power. And best of all, it gave us an excuse to bake!


Scones seemed in order. A quadruple batch. (That should sustain us if things turn ugly.)



Yes, those are mini chocolate chips, not raisins. (Gross!)



Don't they look wonderful?



I think these will be our new typhoon tradition. Or maybe just when it rains.



Considering we get 3 times the rainfall of Seattle...we'll all be fat and happy.

Brazilian Shrimp Soup

My friend Stephanie shared a link to this soup recipe on Facebook last month, and I was salivating the moment I read it. It was a fortunate day for me, as I had every.single.ingredient on hand with the exception of the cilantro, but I knew my friend/neighbor Brenda would have it because we always borrow it from each other. (Which she did. And can I just say she says it WAY cuter than I do? She has the authentic accent. I just sound white and nerdy even if I try.) I sent a kid over to fetch it, and I was in business.

Anyway, so I made it that very night...and I must bear you my testimony that this is the finest soup ever invented. And I have made and eaten some excellent soup in my lifetime. I'm not sure if it is authentically Brazilian, but if it is, they should be more known for this soup than anything else. More than Carnaval, more than that baby doing the Samba on YouTube, more than their wax...anything!

I made it again last night, and my family once again worshiped me accordingly.


I should probably print it out, in case I ever want to make it when the internet is down. (I drag my laptop into the kitchen to cook a lot.) This is me slicing all the shrimp down the middle.



Look at all those yummy onions and peppers.



The shrimp only go in for the last three minutes.



Perfection!



Wanna come over?

Or...you can find the recipe here for yourself. Let me know what you think!

Checkin' another one off the list...

Teaching Jake to make bread...CHECK!

I didn't plan on doing this today, but Jake had other plans. He came into my room early, asking if I had any bread cookbooks he could look at, because he wanted to make a baguette. (What 11 y.o. American kid wakes up in the morning and thinks, "I'd really like to make a baguette today."? I hadn't even heard the word until I was an adult...and didn't know the meaning until the advent of the WWW. Am I raising nerds? Am I OK with that?) I just so happened to have a kids' bread cookbook, so I got it for him and told him to knock himself out. He found a French bread recipe he liked, and started throwing ingredients into the KitchenAid. (With only my supervision and occasional advice...so was I really "teaching" him? I was getting off easy, me thinks.)


This is how it looked after the first two risings. We just decided to go with a traditional loaf for our first time. I wasn't sure it was headed in the right direction, but I figured it would still taste good, even if it wasn't attractive.



Ready for the oven...



It was very crusty...and Jake was very proud.



Not a bad texture at all...probably wouldn't win any ribbons, but it was not bad at all. Next time, we're going to roll up the dough for a rounder shape to see if we can pull off the baguette. Learning is so fun when you get to eat your practice!



THIS is what I'M talkin' about!

And within minutes, the entire thing was gone. Hours of work for minutes of pleasure. Next time we'll make two loaves.

(Trivia: Can you believe my mom used to make bread every. week when I was little? And she'd grind her own wheat, too. Anyone else out there grow up with a wheat grinder on their kitchen counter?)