What Samantha has been up to lately.....

Recently Samantha got out her trusty High School Musical Cookbook and asked if we could try some more recipes. A while ago, we had made "perfectly paired cookies", "Name-in-lights lemon bars e, (both subpar) and "Top Billing Taco salad (which was pretty good) and had shelved it for a while. This time, She wanted to try some Ryan & Sharpay recipes

Sharpastries

"what better way to start your day than with Sharpay's favorite food- Pastries! These peach packed turnovers are easy to make and sure to please, even without imported ingredients"

1 12-ounce package refrigerated cinnamon rolls

• 1/3 cup of peach preserves


• 1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon


• 1 15-ounce can of peach slices, drained

Steps to Make Peach Pastries:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Coat foil with non-stick cooking spray. Save for step 3. Open package of cinnamon rolls. Separate dough into rounds. Use the palm of your hand to flatten each round, into 4 1/2 inch circle. Save for step 2.


2. Put peach preserves and cinnamon into small bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to mix well. Use table knife to spread preserves mixture over each dough circle. Place one or two peach slices on each dough round. (If necessary, use a sharp knife to cut peach slices to fit.) Fold dough over to enclose peach slices. Use fork to seal sides of pastry.


3. Place turnover's on prepared baking sheet. Bake about 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn off the oven. Use hot pads to remove baking sheet from oven. If you like, drizzle turnover's with icing, from package. Cool slightly, serve warm. Makes 8 pastries.

(We left out the cinnamon)

Everyone liked them except Jacob (big surprise). They looked kind of weird before we put them in the oven but looked much more appetizing after baking & actually tasted very good. We had trouble with the dough falling apart where it's separated into rings for the cinnamon rolls even though we flattened it out really good. When we folded it over to make the turnover it tended to open a bit where the lines had been. It's probably because I bought the storebrand cinnamon rolls... definitely not up to Sharpay's glitzy high class standards but alas, we do not all have Sharpay's rhinestone studded Gucci wallet!

Our 2nd HSM cooking project was

Ryan's Co-president Potatoes

which was pretty much a funeral potato recipe with frozen hash browns and sour cream, cheese, cream of chicken soup, minced onion.

However, I really liked this recipe & will make it again because it wasn't as saucy as most funeral potato recipes. It came out kind of crispy on the edges and bottom of pan and had a good flavor. It filled a 13 x 9 pan and fed our family. Carly disagreed with me- liking the saucier, more traditional funeral potatoes better but if you think you might like a slimmed down version here's the recipe.

Ryan's Co-President Potatoes

"As co-president of the drama club, Ryan knows supporting roles, like choreographer, are important to putting on a great show. Serve this side dish with a fantastic entree to put together the perfect meal"

1 32 oz bag frozen hash browns, shredded style

1 C shredded cheese

1/2 C sour cream

2 T minced onion

1 can cream of chicken soup

3/4 C milk

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C crushed cornflakes

1. Let potatoes stand at room temp. to thaw or place in colander in sink and rinse with cold water to thaw. Turn oven to 350º. Lightly coat a 13 x 9 pan with vegetable spray.

2. Pour soup , cheese, milk, sour cream, onion, salt & pepper into a large bowl and mix together. Add potatoes and stir to coat.

3. spoon potato mixture into prepared pan, spreading evenly. cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Remove from oven, remove foil and stir potatoes if desired. Top with crushed cornflakes and bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes til heated through and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 12 servings.

We probably used more cornflakes than that. I didn't measure. I also tossed the cornflakes with a little bit of melted butter before putting them on top.

(Even spooning out the soup can be dramatic! Ryan & Sharpay would be so proud)

Samantha had a couple sick days from school this week but is feeling much better now that she has passed it to me. I spent my saturday in bed and am feeling a little better today. She took very good care of me yesterday however. Her older sisters were gone to work and a choir trip and she very capably assumed the female nurturing role much to my appreciation. she checked on me in my bed often, heating up hotpacks, getting me tylenol, water, movies, whatever I needed. The boys were sweet too, about checking on me and getting me something if I asked but Samantha very much has the female instinct for mothering and caretaking.

Because of both of our illnesses we forgot about her primary talk til last night but I was too worn out last night to worry about it. I told her we would work on it this morning. she got up this morning early and I woke up to her very quietly placing the tylenol bottle, a peeled orange and my water bottle on my bedside table with a note. I thanked her and told her to get completely ready for church and then we'd work on her talk. She did all she was asked and about 9:30 we sat down to write her talk. We brainstormed and wrote down her thoughts on the primary theme and discussed her experiences and scriptures she liked and how they related to each other and did a little study on LDS.ORG and this is what she came up with. It's not memorized like we like to do but it's done and it came from her heart. She wanted to share it with her grandparents so this is for you Grandma Donna, Grandpa Mike, Grandma Carla and Papa: