Sometimes I feel like this

Cookies

James and I had a craving for cookies just now so some cake cookies are in the oven. They're my lazy alternative when I don't feel like or have the time to measure out ingredients for complicated cookies.

Recipe:
1 box cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil
Splash of vanilla
A handful of chocolate chips or nuts or toffee bits, or you can have them plain, they're all delicious.

Mix. Form into dough balls and bake at 350*F for about 8 min.
Yield: Approx. 2 dozen

My favorite variations are:

• Yellow cake with nuts
• White cake with toffee or chocolate chips
• Butter pecan cake with extra pecans
• White cake with a tad more oil and some rolled oats and nuts, it makes it a crunchier consistency, it's a good change of pace
• Just plain yelllow cake, plain white cake isn't as good- you can taste the baking powder a little

I'm glad I'm not the only one...

I was reading old posts over at ZD and I ran across this comment by Lynette. It's long irked me the LDS teachings can be so contradictory when it comes to my role as a woman and it's reassuring to know that it's not just me, other people feel the same way.

"There are several contradictions in LDS teachings related to gender that I’ve found particularly challenging:

–We say on the one hand that Eve made the right choice, and she is honored for it. However, the Eden story remains the basis for the ritual subordination of women. Are women being punished for Eve’s transgression?

–We talk about God being no respecter of persons, and say that every human being is a child of God with divine potential. Yet while men are told that they can become like God, and are authorized to use God’s power, it’s much less clear what the eternal role of women consists of–and there are disturbing indications that their ultimate purpose is to facilitate male exaltation (along the lines of Paul’s observation that “Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.”)

–We emphasize that personal revelation is available to everyone, and yet in our most sacred spaces only men covenant to hearken to God directly, whereas women’s access to God is formally mediated through their husbands.

–We talk about marriage being both patriarchal and egalitarian, asserting both that the husband “presides” and that the two are “equal partners”. I see these two principles as being fundamentally in conflict.

–We say that motherhood is of the utmost importance, and that the most important thing a woman can do is raise her children–and yet we have no information about Heavenly Mother, and in fact are explicitly told that communication with her is off-limits.

Christmas

I just got my flight confirmations and everything for going home for Christmas and I'm so excited! I haven't seen my sister Katy in forever and I haven't seen my parents since January. I'm really looking forward to seeing my grandparents and siblings and aunts and uncles, my family is cool. We may not always agree on everything but at Christmastime we set everything aside and be a family.

I voted!

I just voted in my first presidential election, how cool is that? The line was approximately 4 people long (myself included)- Kansas turnout isn't very big. James came to vote too, so I guess there were of us, but still, we voted.

In order of coolness...

This is what I got for my birthday. A voice alert thermometer (for bread baking, it's waaaay overkill but so so cool). I can program what temp. for it to alert me at then it's all "Your item is finished", heck yes!Next is the chopper/dicer/slicer/wedger/corer. How cool! You just change out the blades and viola! you can chop or dice or whatever your heart desires! I love it. I'm using it to make ratatouille tomorrow- it's definitely going to cut down on the prep time!
And last but not least, the greatest gift of all... a kitchen aid artisan mixer in grass green! It goes perfectly with the retro look of my kitchen and will be great at mixing my bread- I'm going to get great gluten formation! Tonight I used it to make pumpkin muffins* that I'll have for breakfast during the week and it was so fast. 3 minutes worth of blending and I was ready to go.

*I'm totally proud of these muffins. I used an actual pie pumpkin, not the canned stuff, and it was definitely worth it. I bought the pumpkin for a dollar and got 4 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree out of it! You definitely can't beat that price and the taste is so amazing! I love pumpkin with a deep and abiding passion and this was the best I've had so far. I froze 3 1/2 cups (2 c. in one bag, 1.5 in another) for use later because the muffins only needed one cup, but I'm stoked. I've also stocked up on other winter squashes because they were on sale, I need to do a pantry post.