Saturday, April 26, 2008

So what do you do for fun? - Fly Kites

I have been so envious lately of the people I see flying kites. My dad always had a hobby or two that he would get really into, one of which was kite flying. Now I am not talking about your typical kite that you buy at Wal-mart. My Dad has hundreds of two and four string kites. At first I wasn't that interested in kite flying myself, I was perfectly content getting my little one string parachute kite in the air and then watch my dad with all his tricks. I eventually graduated to the two string kites. Figuring out how to control the kite was really hard for a long while. My Dad would get those kites in the air with ease, but for me it was a different story. When I would finally get the kite in the air I wanted to do all the cool tricks my dad could do. And I did some pretty cool tricks myself only after the kite would flip around really cool the trick would end by the kite zooming to the ground. My dad got pretty good a fixing kites.
My Freshman year of college I brought some kites to school with me. The couple of times it wasn't freezing cold and I was able to tear myself away from the library I had a lot of fun flying those kites. When I went on my mission those kites rejoined my fathers collection, and in the 30 seconds I have been at my house since I haven't thought to grab some kites. The absence of having kites has made me so sad the couple of windy days that I had some spare time. I am ashamed to admit even a one string kite has caused me to experience jealous. But the jealousy is soon to be reversed
I just asked my mom do bring me some kites with her when she comes up for Women's Conference and I cant wait for a windy Saturday to come, it is going to be great.
Then when people ask me (like my new roommates just did) “what do you do for fun”? I can answer “fly kites”, of course with a subsequent explanation of the difference between one and two string kites.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

French Toast

So I love French toast, it is in a competition with omelets as my favorite breakfast food. My Mom would make a tasty breakfast on Saturday Mornings and my favorite was the classic french toast. She would generally use the bread that she was afraid was about to go bad, dip it in a simple mixture of eggs and milk and let it cook on the skillet. It was very important to me to be close by at this time to ensure that the butter got spread while it was hot, otherwise if the butter did not melt it wouldn't quite hit the mark.

Also I recall the camp outs where one of my amazing priesthood leaders Brother Seamons would make his special recipe of french toast. His recipe included several particular ingredients like nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, french bread from Albertsons sliced at about a 30 degree angle and his secret ingredient of sour cream (if I recall correctly). Even though I worked hard to not let it show, I loved those mornings where despite sleeping in a tent we had one of my favorite meals for breakfast (as long as the toast got the butter on it in time).

My next significant experience with French toast came living with Maria and Scott. They would also make french toast in a simple manner like my moms only using the Delicious white bread they buy (a tad more expensive than the 1.32$ bread I buy from Wal-mart) . Up to this point I was perfectly content with my French Toast Experience, I was confidant in my knowledge of the varieties and more importantly how to make it to my satisfaction. Then my understanding of the french toast world was altered in a way that will never allow me to look at it the same way as before.

I was quite excited when I heard that the closing social for my student ward would be a French Toast Breakfast. I should probably mention at least half of the excitement came from the knowledge that I would be getting free food, I in no way anticipated that the main course would please my taste buds like they did. To make a long story short after wondering how the french toast could possibly become so good I called one of my friends that was in charge of the Activity and the secret was Kneaders Cinnamon bread with the simple egg and milk mixture. For those who are so fortunate as to have a Kneaders Bakery close by, I hope you would allow yourself to have the same experience I did, if not I will let you know if I can find a less expensive Wal-mart alternative that will improve the taste to cost ratio.