von Niederhausern Family

Annual 4th of July bash at Fred and Norma’s house…we ate yummy food, watched the fireworks, watched “Kung Fu Panda” outside…this is my favorite party of the year

Trip to “The Place” in Driggs, Idaho with Steve’s family…the biggest windstorm I have ever experienced one night…many tents were ruined but it was fun watch Mother Nature unleash her fury…we got to see the old schoolhouse where Grandma Norma went to school as a young girl…Ava and Lauren drew pictures of their favorite parts of the trip…Ava said her favorite thing was seeing the hot pots in Yellowstone…Lauren said her favorite thing was having a bonfire at the cabin

24th of July reunion at the farm in Pocotello Valley…all of the Whitney siblings were in attendance…we slept-over at our farmhouse and had great fun shooting fireworks, eating, watching Forever Strong…in great Whitney style my dad got an “event grill” that I think could cook 70 hamburgers at once…below are pictures from both events

Cache County Fair…there’s nothing like the fair to take us back to our farming roots!…my brother Jacob and his lamb, Richard, won first place in their class for Showmanship and second place in another category I can’t remember right now…Ava, Lauren, Lily, and Meg all got to walk Richard and Dolly around the ring in the Pee Wee Show and received a blue ribbon and $3 for doing it!

Ava and Rachel’s  first violin recital…Emly Harvey is our teacher…the recital had a western theme and I was so worried about finding Ava cowgirl clothes to wear…it turns out only about four kids wore western gear and the rest wore skirts, there was even one child in capris and flip-flops…and that pretty much sums up my life…I usually worry WAY to much about things that DON’T matter!…Ava did two numbers with another little boy named Tyler, they plucked the “Ant” song and used their bows to show Up Like a Rocket, Down Like the Rain, then Ava played “Here We Go”…Aunt Emily gave Ava the violin pin she is wearing in the photo…Rachel played “May Song” and was by far the oldest student…

With my garden in full bloom I love finding new recipes to use up my produce. This zucchini bread recipe from Gayle Buxton is my new favorite thing to do with zucchini! Do you have a favorite summertime recipe? I would love to get it!

Zucchini Bread from Gayle Buxton

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar (I usually cut this down to 1/4 cup)

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup oil (I use ½ cup oil, and ½ cup applesauce)

3 cups flour (I use 2 cups wheat flour and 1 cup white flour)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini

½ cup nuts, optional

½ bag chocolate chips, optional

Mix sugars, eggs, and oil in bowl. Add dry ingredients. Stir in zucchini, nuts, and chocolate chips. Put in 2 medium-sized greased bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

I have been wanting to try making my own yogurt for awhile, and last night I finally did it. It was very easy, but did take a lot of time to heat the milk slowly, let it stay at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, and then cool it slowly before adding the cultures to it. All-in-all it was about a two hour process. Following is the recipe if anyone else wants to give it a try. I added about 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract to this batch and can’t wait to experiment with other things like fruit, etc. Does anyone have tips or secrets for making yogurt? Thanks for this recipe Brooke!

Yogurt
Ingredients: milk (about 1/2 gallon) and 1 cup plain yogurt from store (to get bacteria culture).
Tools: big pot, a couple towels, and a food thermometer.

Step 1.) Heat milk to 180 degrees; make sure to stir a lot and heat slowly enough that it doesn’t burn.
Step 2.) Keep at that temp for 20-30 min. Don’t forget to stir. (The length of time might be optional here.  I’ve heard others say that they don’t do it nearly this long.)
Step 3.) Cool to 113-115 degrees. Add yogurt and stir to mix.
Step 4.) Wrap in towels and place in oven (heat slightly, then turned off) or other warm spot and let sit for 5-8 hours or until firm.
Step 5.) Refrigerate.

Directions are from Harold McGee’s book, On Food and Cooking.  The basic idea is to heat the milk sufficiently to make it safe and so that the proteins in the milk unwind and stretch out (helps it form a solid later).  Then you cool the milk before you add the bacteria so that the bacteria don’t get killed in the hot milk.  Lastly, the bacteria are most active in temps between 95-110 degrees, so wrapping the pot and placing somewhere that retains heat will help preserve the conditions that help the bacteria thrive.  Then you just have to wait. That’s all.  It’s not hard, but it takes a little time.  About 2 hours total.

Here are the things I have been meaning to write about but haven’t yet:

Easter…not during the summer but that’s how behind I am!…we had the annual easter egg hunt at my Grandma Morris’ house…the little kids also painted flower pots and planted flower seeds to remind them of the resurrection

Trip to New Mexico in May…Aunt Emily and Aunt Sarah went with us…Grey’s first birthday…trip to the children’s museum in Farmington…Cinco De Mayo Party with tacos and flower pinata…haircuts by Aunt Ruthie (we are sooooo lucky she does our hair!)

Photo shoot with the kids…captured some of their personality on camera, which is always fun

Visit from some one of our favorite people, Rachel and Charlie Johnson with their little boy Evan…we met them in the USU 12th ward…yoga and oatmeal with blueberries…cleaning swaps…Charlie’s ti-quan-do tournament…these are some of our favorite memories…they live in Washington now…too far away

T-Ball games…Ava played T-Ball for the first time this summer and had a blast!…she played for the Giants and was one out of two girls on the team…she loves sports and still loves wearing the ball cap they gave her

Morris Family Reunion in Caldwell Idaho…it was great to see some cousins on my mom’s side, like Jared and Tracy, that I haven’t seen for 15 years or more

Weekend in Sun Valley with Teresa…Sun Valley is heaven on earth and Teresa is so lucky to live there!…while we were there we went swimming at Zenergy, the spa where Teresa works, ate sushi, and went to an ice show