The Good Blog: Good People, Good Food, Good Books: March 2016

This is my 4th Birthday Party. I am in the middle with the
patchwork dress on. Stacy is in the green dress with pigtails.

Some people are lucky enough to have a life long friend. I am one of those people. Stacy Miner Pratt and I have been friends ever since we were 4 years old. I have always called her "Red." She is a red head, but recently went blonde. I love her with either hair color. But, I still call her Red.

Stacy Miner Pratt

Most of my memories from childhood involve Red. We are both the youngest in our families and we spent a lot of time together. One of my earliest memories is Stacy and I going to her Grandma's farm and picking Corn on the Cob. We would then put the husks of corn in a little red wagon and go door to door in our neighborhood selling the corn. Who could resist two cute little girls selling corn from a little red wagon? I'm sure we made a fortune. We had so much fun playing at both of her Grandma's House. Grandma Helen's house was on a farm and it had a great barn. We would spend hours out in the barn climbing in the rafters and swinging on the rope swing. Grandma Helen made one of my favorite things, Chocolate Sour Dough Cake. I can still picture sitting in her little kitchen eating that cake. I can even smell the smells of her kitchen and picture the paint colors as I write this. Grandma Harriet had a pool table at her house and we would sharpen our pool skills there! Stacy's family has a ranch up Spanish Fork Canyon. I would go with the Miner family quite often. Some of the memories on the ranch involve riding three wheelers, wrecking a three wheeler into a bunch of thistle and having Red pull the thistle out of my backside, riding on the three wheelers and pushing over hay bales so they would be easier for the boys to pick up, riding down the canyon in the back of a pickup, catching frogs at either the upper or lower ponds, cutting firewood, swimming at Clayson's pond, having to use the outhouse (scary), shooting pot guts with our bb guns, tying quilts, Red almost dying when she fell out of the back of the truck but somehow was able to grab on to the tailgate ( she is very athletic and everything turned out fine), eventually being old enough to take dates to the ranch, being scared out of our wits at the ranch by a group of young men, laying out on the upstairs deck, playing cards, riding horses with our husbands when we were both first married and thinking I might die on Shooter the race horse that took off across Spanky's flat! It was so much fun at the ranch. That place created the most amazing memories for me, I can't believe we survived some of them. I wouldn't have had them if Red wasn't my friend. I will be forever grateful to her and her family for letting me play! I have laughed out loud and teared up a little while writing this. I can't believe how lucky I was to have a childhood with such a friend.

Stacy is the kind of person that isn't afraid of much. In high school she would hook up the snowmobile trailer all by herself, load up the snowmobiles and take us snowmobiling up to the ranch. She didn't need any help from her dad or brothers. Our sophomore year of college Stacy took off for New York City to work as a paralegal. She spent a year working and living in The Big Apple. No big deal for Red. After all, she saved herself from falling out of the back of a moving truck. I think she would have made a great stunt actor! This past year Stacy has opened up her own clothing store called Big Bratt Boutique. It is a darling store on Spanish Fork Main Street. She has made a success of this store because she is not afraid to succeed. Red is one of the hardest working people you will meet. She is a goer and always has something going. I used to tease her that she would wake up in the middle of the night stirring and mixing with a pretend bowl and spoon! I have always been in awe of her energy.

Red at her store-Big Bratt Boutique

Red married Casey Pratt. They are the parents of three beautiful and talented daughters. Stacy has a wonderful home. You could drive there today and I bet she would feed you. Red is an incredible cook and can feed an army without batting an eye. She is just one of those talented people that could do most anything. She can sew, paint, create, organize, play the piano, cook, play just about any sport, run a business, cook, raise three daughters, Did I mention that she can cook? Stacy is an amazing cook. The Pratts have quite a few visitors to their home and there always seems to be enough food to feed everyone! She can cook anything. The recipe she choose for The Good Blog is a simple recipe but so, so yummy. She says this is her most requested recipe. It is almost as good as Grandma Helen's Chocolate Sour Dough Cake!

Sausage Dip

Brown Sausage

Add Salsa Verde-Let simmer for 20 min.

Add 1 Cup Sour Cream and Block of Cream Cheese

Serve Warm with Tortilla Chips- It is delicious.
As Steve and I were eating it we both said it reminded us
of Stacy and Casey's first little kitchen in Brookside!

Stacy's book she wanted to put on The Good Blog is
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
I haven't read this. It looks good and I am excited for a new book to read!

Thanks Red for being on The Good Blog. I have loved going back down memory lane.

I will be forever grateful for our friendship! You know I left quite a few stories out. We will have to go to lunch to laugh and cry about those stories! I also refrained from putting some of our awesome high school pictures on! Some were very tempting. You are the best life long friend a girl could ask for!

Love ya, Molly

"Mom, will you please say your friends name for me?" This is what my husband Steve would ask his mom when he was a little boy. She would say "Mary, Connie, Constance, Conover, Cox!" Steve would laugh and laugh. I guess he loved the alliteration. Little did Steve know at the time that Mary Connie Constance Conover Cox would become his Mother- in- Law one day.
Our moms went to school together from Kindergarten on up through graduation in the little town of Springville, UT. These two women, my Mom and Mother-in-Law are the most important women in my life. They truly are amazing people, each with a wonderful outlook on life. I have chosen them to be my first interviews on The Good Blog.

MARY COX

My Mom

Being a mom is not easy. I only have two boys and a very supportive husband and there are trying days. I can't imagine how my Mom did it as a single parent from the time I was 13. I am the youngest of three and my older siblings were pretty much raised when my parents divorced. Mom had to go back to work. To make ends meet she worked a full time job at the local newspaper and part time on the weekends at 7-11. I never remember her complaining. She later began working at a local doctors office and clinic. I have ran into a number of patients that went there and they would tell me how much they love my Mom. She was so helpful to them and kind when they would go the the clinic. She has since retired from the clinic and is enjoying retirement. She always has some kind of craft project going. She has ever since I was a little girl. She loves to read. She loves politics, just ask her about the current election! She helps me in my classroom every Tuesday. My students yell "Hi, Grandma Mary" when she comes in. My mom is a kind, fun, generous, patriotic, friendly, amazing human. I am so grateful she is my mom. She taught my brother Brad, my sister Kelly, and myself to be hard workers and to be kind to others. I think we all turned out ok. Well, on most days!
When I asked her about her life, she said "It has been good." Then she thought a few minutes and said, "Well remember that year that your Dad left, Kelly (my sister) was in her bad car accident, Grandpa Harrison died, and your brother left on his mission?" I told her I remembered that year. She said "That wasn't a great year. That was hard." I asked her how she got through those hard times. She told me "I didn't always do good getting through those hard things. But I would say hard work got me through it all!" My Mom, Mary Connie Constance Conover Cox works hard, serves others, and makes the best Chocolate Chip Cookies I have ever had!

FAVORITE RECIPE-CHERRY RINGS

I thought Mom would choose her Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe to share on The Good Blog, but instead she picked her famous Cherry Rings. Mom makes these every Christmas to hand out to friends and neighbors. It has become a tradition in my sisters and my home as well. These really are yummy and an incredible treat. When I was making them for the Good Blog my kitchen smelled like Christmas and home.

Cherry Rings

Items you need for Cherry Rings. (I forgot the stick of butter. I am new at this)!
Crisco, flour, sugar, cherry pie filling, yeast, 2 eggs, brown sugar, powdered milk, cinnamon, salt,
and yes, butter.

Dough:

Mix 1 Tablespoon yeast with 1/4 cup warm water. Set aside and let foam.

I mix 1 Cup Crisco and 3 Cups flour until it looks like small peas in my Kitchen Aid.

Add:

2 Beaten eggs

1/3 Cup Powdered milk mixed with enough water to make 1 Cup

1/4 Cup Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

Add in the yeast mixture

Slowly add 1 and 1/2 Cups Flour

Knead together and let raise about 2 hours in a covered bowl.

After it rises, punch down and divide into thirds.

Roll each third into a rectangle shape. Cover dough lightly with melted butter. (I use a pastry brush, Mom uses her hands). Sprinkle on a mixture of cinnamon, sugar, and brown sugar.

Mom sprinkles on chopped walnuts, I don't because of boys with allergies.

Spread Cherry Pie filling on one side of the rectangle and roll over until

you have formed a cylinder shape.

Next, Fold edges under and form into a horseshoe shape. Slit the top to within 3-5 inches of the bottom of the horseshoe.

Let Raise for 15 minutes, then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 min or

until Golden Brown.

While they are cooking I make a glaze on the stove made of melted butter, powdered sugar, and milk. I never know the exact measurements of this, it depends on how much I want,

how thick I want the glaze.

Spread glaze over Cherry Rings while still warm.

Finished Cherry Rings. They are so good, especially warm out of the oven
with a glass of milk.

I broke with tradition two years ago and made "Mini Cherry Rings."

When I have ruled up the dough into a cylinder I cut them like you would

cinnamon rolls. These are so good, but I still make the big rings too.

These are approved by Mary Connie Constance Conover Cox!

MOM'S FAVORITE BOOK:

Mom's Favorite book is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. She also loves The Exodus by Leon Uris.
I couldn't get an image to come up here of The Exodus. These are both 2 of my favorite books also.

CAROLYN MURDOCK

My Mother-In-Law, Carolyn Murdock

I live next door to my Mother in law. Can you believe it?? Who does that? Well, I do and I love it. Carolyn is such a wonderful, calm, non-evasive person that she makes it easy to live by my Mother-in-law. I am lucky to have such awesome neighbors.

Carolyn and her husband Kent have raised 6 children. 3 boys and 3 girls. They raised them in the old family farm house. The house sat on a beautiful 40 acre farm on the East Bench of Springville, UT. There was only one bathroom and a tub with no shower. Yep, 8 people with no shower and only a tub. All of my in-laws are pretty patient people! Carolyn raised her family with not the greatest health. She struggled with chemical sensitivities for years. For a while she wondered if her not feeling well was all in her head. But with study, persistence, blessings, and a never quit attitude she has figured out a way to live life healthy. She and my Father-in-law are two of the healthiest people I know. They are not fanatical about their health, they are just smart about it.

The Farm house has since been torn down for development and the farm sold. That is why I live next door to my in-laws. My husband built them a house next to us. They bought five acres next to our house so we all would have somewhere to put the horses. Carolyn has done well with her new house. We were all worried that the new smells would aggravate her chemical sensitivities, but she has done great. I think moving out of the old house which probably had some mold, and it had a coal furnace in it for years, which the coal dust would bother her has helped. Her diet and supplements also help.

I asked Carolyn what helped her the most through all her health troubles and she said "My family. My family kept me going." I would add that her faith kept her going too. She has great faith in The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I admire my mother-in-law. She has an amazing way about her. She also has a way with toast. There is a legend in the family that Carolyn is the best Toast maker in the galaxy. The story goes that her dad told her when she was a little girl that she makes the best toast around! Well that gave her confidence in the toast making business. Her sister told me that she remembers one early morning their dad asking Carolyn if she would get up and make toast. Carolyn was a little bugged by this because it was early and she said " I wish I wasn't such a good toast maker!" Oh the burdens of success! All of the grandkids love Grandma Carolyn. They all think they are her favorite. And, they all love her toast-of course!

FAVORITE RECIPE-MEAT ROLLS

Carolyn can make other things besides toast. She makes some of the best pies I have ever had. Her Pecan Pie is my favorite. I could eat a whole pie. I'm not saying that I have, just that I could. Carolyn choose to put her Meat Rolls on The Good Blog. I was so happy. They are delicious. I have watched my Mother-in-law share these with many people. I have never made them and I had a ball making them. They are pretty simple, but taste like you spent hours in the kitchen. These Meat Rolls are another good reason I am grateful to have Carolyn in my life.

Items you need for Meat Rolls:

Bacon, strips of steak, 1 cup water chestnuts, 1 onion,

Bar-b-que sauce. I added salt, pepper, and Tony Chachere's

Tenderize steak, (I used a Petite cut Sirloin Steak 1 1b.) cut into strips a little smaller than the bacon. Drain water chestnuts, and cut onion into chunks. Lay out each bacon strip. On each bacon strip layer a steak strip. On the steak put on a chunk of onion,

then a water chestnut.

I don't know if Carolyn does this, but I added salt, pepper and a little Tony Chachere's for extra flavor.