Cinco de Mayo in April

Our most recent ward activity was our adult (pre) Cinco de Mayo party on April 25th complete with sombreros, maracas, piñata and even the ever-popular boxes of Chiclet gum. We served a delicious taco soup (recipe below), garden salad with spicy vinaigrette , and chips and salsa (of course!). The dessert? Warm churros topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with caramel syrup--yum!

Though most of the evening was spent socializing and answering questions found on the scattered Penny Stones, the pièce de résistance was our little piñata. Due to technical difficulties (i.e. Nathan forgot to get the piñata moving) Chip had it down in one blow. But we didn't let that stop us! We tied it back up and watch as Lynn, Dave, Eric and finally Stephanie took a swing our two at the unlucky burro.

Speaking of burros, a big thank-you to Sarah for making the eerily Shrek-like donkey for our photo opp. The donkey along with the fabulous backdrop designed by Marianne and Adam made it feel like we were actually south of the border!

Enjoy the slideshow of our ward chicos and chicas followed immediately by the anxiously awaited video of the aforementioned ward members' attempts to take out our piñata. ¡Vámanos!

Cinco de Mayo Taco Soup
1 lb ground beef or turkey, browned
1 packet taco seasoning
1 green pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans (light or dark)
2 (16 oz) cans of corn (white or yellow)
3/4 cup picante salsa
2 (14 oz) cans stewed or diced tomatoes

Toppings
Sour cream
Shredded cheese
Green onions
Tortilla chips or strips
Hot sauce
Sliced olives

Place all ingredients in a large slow cooker and cook on low until hot and bubbly. Serve topped with your choice of sides.

Steph's Spicy Vinaigrette
1/2 cup white vinegar
6 T honey
1 T ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Add ingredients to a blender of food processor and blend well. Chill until ready to serve.

Note: Double the recipe when making a taco salad using a full head of lettuce and all the toppings (meat, beans, onion, tortilla strips, etc.).

Pennies for the P.E.F.

The theme for our ward Christmas party was "Pennies for the P.E.F." Starting in October we had members of the ward set aside an old (hopefully clean) soup can or Mason jar and attach the following label:

______________________________________________________

Where there is widespread poverty among our people, we must do all we can to help them to lift themselves, to establish their lives upon a foundation of self-reliance that can come of training. Education is the key to opportunity.
~Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

This holiday season we thought it made a lot of 'CENTS' to donate to the PERPETUAL EDUCATION FUND. Please place this label on a small can or jar and use it to collect your spare coins from now until December 6th. We can’t wait to see what kind of 'CHANGE' our ward can make in the lives of others!

______________________________________________________

We had everyone bring their cans and jars to our ward party, which we held on a Saturday morning. We served two yummy casseroles for breakfast (see recipes below), sang a few Christmas carols and had a special musical number by Alex.

Barbara and I with the help of George and Livi took the collection to Zions Bank. We used their coin machine to count the donations, jamming it once in the process due to overfilling it! When all was said and done we managed to collect close to $650 for the Perpetual Education Fund! (And the breakfast was a big hit so I'm sure we'll do it again this year!)

Unfortunately we were so busy keeping the casseroles and sausage coming we didn't take any photos during the party, but here's what it looked like before:




And here are the recipes for the two breakfast casseroles we served that morning. Yum!

Egg & Ham Casserole
8 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
6 slices of bread, cubed
2 c grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 1/4 c milk
1 tsp dry mustard
1 lb cubed ham (cooked)*

*Note: You can substitute sausage for the ham

Combine eggs, milk, salt, and mustard. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray. Layer bread crumbs in pan followed by ham and then cheese. Pour egg mixture over cheese, ham (or sausage) and bread. Refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Let set for about 3 to 5 minutes and serve.

Decadent French Toast
4 T corn syrup
2 c brown sugar
1 stick butter
1 loaf Texas Toast (12-16 slices)
5 eggs
1 1/2 c milk
1 T vanilla

Spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside. Heat corn syrup, sugar and butter to a boil stirring constantly. Pour into prepared pan. Layer bread slices in the syrup, making 2 layers (about 6-8 slices per layer). In a large bowl mix eggs, milk and vanilla. Pour over bread, covering all pieces evenly. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, heat oven to 350. Bake for 45 minutes (30 minutes covered; remove foil and cook for another 15 minutes). To serve, loosen edges and cut slices in half. Invert the pan onto a plate so the caramel is on top and drizzling over edges. Serve immediately.

Back-to-School Social

Unfortunately I don't have pictures from our Back-to-School social that took place September, 2008. You would have loved seeing our Sego Lily adults waiting in line for their cafeteria-style lunches, taking an ABC pop quiz on the Book of Mormon, participating in a hula hoop competition and trying their luck at Bingo. Fortunately we had no discipline problems and everyone aced the class!

If you'd like a copy of the quiz you can find it here, and Kaboose offers a variety of different bingo cards. I believe we used the "Learn" version for our bingo game!

Here is what we served on divided styrofoam trays, which we found at Walmart:

• A variety of Costco wraps
• Caesar salad
• Applesauce cups
• Individual bags of chips
• Juice boxes or Capri Sun drinks
• Individual ice cream cups topped with whipped cream and a cherry for dessert

P.S. I really, really wish we had photos of those hula hoopers. Does anyone recall who won? I couldn't remember if it were Lindsey or Dolores. I'm pretty sure Steve was knocked out before the final round!

Photo by Chris Campbell, shared via Flickr.

Chili cook-off

Even though it was April, Utah weather usually allows for some chilly spring days and a chili cook-off seemed fitting. With festive decorations and a "hot" raffle (hot sauce, chili peppers and Chill gift cards included) everyone enjoyed great food and even a little line dancing. Yee haw!

Yes, that's super cute Kelli teaching us how to line dance. She was hoping all that boot scootin' boogie-ing would induce labor...no such luck!

Do you hear what I hear?

I hope you all remember our wonderful bell choir! Our 2007 Christmas party featured a reading of The Polar Express by Bro. Johnson and special guests from the Utah Valley Handbell Ringers. We enjoyed a scrumptious dessert bar while listening to a wonderful collection of holiday songs. Ring out, wild bells!