Dutch Oven Cooking: Monkey Bread

"Good Food is always sweeter when shared with Good Friends"

-Boy Scout Trail

   One of the presents we got for our wedding was a Dutch Oven. Now I've always wanted one and thought they would be a wonderful, but I didn't want to have to haul one around all the time. Well after taking one on our recent camping trip to Goblin Valley and cooking most of our meals on it I've loved it. Now we have been trying different recipes and let me tell you this Monkey Bread is a wonderful dessert for after dinner. We made it on a recent family trip and everybody loved it!

What you need:

• 2 cans of Jumbo buttermilk biscuits
• 1 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup of sugar
• 3ish tsbp of cinnamon 
• one stick of butter
• aluminium foil 
• cooking spray
• 1 gallon ziplock bag

   Throw the sugars and cinnamon in a bag. mix it all together. Open up the biscuit cans and tear each biscuit in four pieces. mix those pieces in the bag with the sugars. next take your foil to line your dutch oven spray it down with cooking spray. Then put in all the mixed up biscuit pieces. Melt the butter and pour over the top. Spread remaining sugar from bag over melted butter. Set it on the coals for about 20 minutes. We did a charcoal chimney worth and put about 2/3 on bottom and the rest on the lid. If anything I would put a few less on the bottom, but it still turned out alright.

   After 20 minutes check it to make sure they are done and not raw on the inside. You may have to sample one to be sure. you can make icing to put on top.

Very simple all you need to mix together is:

BUTTER (very important to use actual butter)

Milk

Powder Sugar

Vanilla 

   Pour it on top or dunk it in as you pull it apart to enjoy. Next Time I do this I want to use homemade biscuit dough so we will see how that compares.

   Like the quote at the top says it is always better to be around friends and family to share these good meals. I feel one of the ways to bring people together is through food. It's easy too, just throw on a couple extra burgers, make a little more stew, mash up a couple extra potatoes and invite someone over. It doesn't need to be fancy, it is a good excuse to share.

   I'm hoping to try out more recipes that bring people together. I've got a few but I'm happy to try any out that anyone has. 

I feel that Storm a comin'

"There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm" - Willa Cather

-ABC News

   This Week's weekend recap focuses on hurricane Harvey. A storm so bad the meteorologist in my newsroom said we have no idea what this is going to do because we've never seen anything like this. Harvey made landfall at Rockport Texas a place dear to my heart since serving there for about 4 months on my mission. It sounds like all my friends were able to make it out safe and their homes and businesses may have only had slight damage.

   When it made landfall it was a category 4 before moving up to Houston flooding the city. Google before and after pictures of Houston to see how much the water rose. Around 50 inches of rain came from the storm. With Texas being flat, that means there is no place for it to go. All the routes which would have been used are flooded so the city is soaked in water.

   And as of right now 9 people are dead. Many are injured and hundreds of thousands are displaced. To help you can donate to the Red Cross, the LDS Church has a great humanitarian fund for things such as this, but those are just the little things to replace it. 

   To really make a difference we can prepare for future storms, by volunteering our time to be train for emergency situations. Programs like CERT are great ways to learn what to do in all types of natural disasters. Yes manual labor will be great and very much needed, but that won't be until the water recedes and people need help immediately. Join a emergency preparedness program designed to help others for when the next storm comes we can rise up and help our fellow brothers and sisters.

For more inspiration check out what this reporter did to save a life. http://www.thedailybeast.com/watch-houston-tv-crew-saves-truck-drivers-life

Weekend Recap

"There must be a happy medium somewhere between being totally informed and blissfully unaware" 
-Doug Larson

Goblin Valley State Park

   In my job of journalism you would think I would be more aware of what goes on in the world.. but really I'm not. People need to take charge and get informed themselves and what will affect their lives. In that regard I've decided to try and do a recap of what people may have missed over the weekend. Yes I know it is Tuesday, but my weekend just finished so there. Here are a few stories you should know about.


1) The Great American Eclipse Happened
              For those that didn't bother looking up into the sky yesterday, the moon did something it hasn't done in nearly a hundred years. It got between the Earth and the sun for the Sun's entire journey across the United States. But what you didn't know is that if you tried to look at the sun for longer than 15 seconds or so even behind the safety of the moon you may need to go to the eye doctor.

             Apparently it still isn't safe to look at the sun even with it being covered, so if your vision gets blurry in the next few days go see your doctor. You may be fine and your eyes could take a while to heal. You could also have damaged your retinas which don't heal back.

Great American Eclipse

2) President Trump Announces plan for Afghanistan
              Following an attack which killed one National guardsmen and wounded 11 others President Trump took to the podium to declare his plan for the country we've had troops in for over 16 years. Trump originally said he would pull all soldiers out of the country, but then the recent surge of attacks as prompted the idea of more troops sent to fight.

                He didn't give a definitive answer on how many or when the rest would be brought back. It looks like there will be some addition troops added to the 8000 already there to help advise and train Afghan soldiers.

3. Spain Tracked down Driver of Deadly car Crash
                Officers in Spain not only found and located the subject they thought had fled to France in a small village outside of Barcelona. The man wanted for driving a vehicle into a crowd killing 13 and wounding more. The suspected ISIS terrorist was killed in the process as capturing.

              Officers believe they have dismantled this cell but are investigating to see how they form.
              they also say they hope this brings some comfort to the families killed in the crash.

there you go. 5 minutes of your day well spent getting a little more informed and much better opinion on different topics.

Picking the Right Carry Gun

"God Created man, Samuel Colt made them equal" - Old West Adage

   This is a very dear concept to me. The right to bear arms and how to pick the right one to bear. The hard part about this question is there isn't a right answer. There are a few guidelines and tools I would use to help pick, but there is no checklist. The decision to conceal carry is a very personal one and should not be impulsive.

    First some general guidelines when choosing a gun. Just because your best friend loves it doesn't mean it is right for you.  Second you might not need a $2000 gun, but maybe a cheaper gun and more practice. And an important, but hard to define one is it will just "feel right". Your carry gun will just fit and feel natural.

   So where does this leave us in the process. It's always good to get advice see what people like and what they avoid. Don't base your purchase of these alone, but it's a good jumping off point. Do some research on your own. What can you afford, pros and cons of different firearms, and most importantly what would you be willing to carry everyday. why is that important? Here is why.

   Just because a 1911 shooting a .45 round will leave the biggest hole doesn't do you any good if you never carry it due to its size. So before you laugh at the person who says they carry a .22 as a defensive handgun realize they probably have it on them. Take a look at what Matt Best says about his Top 5 conceal carry choices with Rated Red.

Check out Rated Red for more great videos

   So you have all your information and have narrowed down your list. What's next? It's time to get our hands dirty. Go to your local gun shop and hold as many of the guns on your list as possible. Get the feel of the ones you've looked up and see what feels good.

   The reason for doing this after your research I believe is simple. If you get in the Audi when you know can only afford the Toyota you'll get your gun, but always think it wasn't quite the one you wanted. Same with guns, higher price tag can mean extra features and a lack of satisfaction with your choice in firearm.

   Now after you have narrowed down your list to ones that feel good, are in your price range, let's go shoot some targets. If possible this is a step everyone should take before the buy a gun. Maybe you like how the gun feels empty, but add bullet weight and recoil to different calibers may influence your decision. Some guns even come in the same size with different calibers so try them out. I helped one person who was adamant they wanted a .40 caliber handgun until they shot the .45 and realized it just felt better. So try it out if you can.

   So there you go do your research, hold all the ones you can in that list, shoot off the ones that make it through and find that one which feels "just right". If you have any advice on what else to look for when buying a gun a conceal share it with everyone.

Gun Board

Stresses of Life and Adapting to them

(Canyonlands National Park)

 "Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative." H. G. Wells

     It's been a long time since I posted anything so here is a little catch up. Since my last post, I have met the woman of my dreams, asked her to marry, and will be married to her shortly and I couldn't be happier. That being said, I'm more stressed out now then ever before with life. With work, wedding planning, and getting a new apartment ready to move into life has been crazy, but exciting.
   
      One thing I've learned is no matter what life is never going to give you a breather. So you might as well get use to it and enjoy it when you can. Since there isn't a lot I can change about the world around me I can just change myself to adapt better to my circumstances.

     One point of this is I decided to make a change for myself in the better. That being I was just graduated from the college where it is almost a sin to be older and single without any chance for a wedding in my near future. Instead of moping about it I decided I should improve myself and do what I need to for when the time comes I will be ready. Heavenly Father blessed me and as soon as I started making changes the most wonderful came into my life and I have been happy ever since. Now I'm not in La La Land where everything is peachy, but overall my outlook on life is more positive and it is easier to find joy in the world.

(Just a funny thought)

    So how did I do it. Well it had been a rough little period and I decided to take a hard look in the mirror to figure what was wrong in my life and why I wasn't happy. After some very deep introspection and goal setting I got on my knees and prayed to God above to help me with the decisions I made and if he would so kindly offer me the strength I would need to get started and would need later on to continue. Then I went out to do it.
 
   This is a key aspect in the process. You can talk all you want about doing something, but if you never take the steps nothing will happen. I knew the first steps would be tough, but as soon as I made the effort I was blessed with the encouragement and strength I needed to keep going. There are rough days that I need support and I'm so lucky to not only have family, friends, and Heavenly Father around me, but also a loving companion that is nothing short of a miracle and pillar of strength I can rely on.

   You need to surround yourself with these positive influences. The are more help than you can imagine. People are generally good and want to help others, the problem for a lot of people is they don't want to be burdens on others. That will be a whole different topic of discussing how to be a pleasant burden on others.

   This is just one aspect of my life that has improved and I'm working on others. Life is a continual journey towards perfection, we won't get there in this life, but the path is a lot more rewarding the harder you work at.

   One thing I want to address is adapting is not giving up on your principles and beliefs, but taking them and using them to shape yourself into something able to handle what life throws at you. If you can't adapt to change you will be left behind by it.

    I hope anyone that struggling that needs some support knows that I am here and am happy to help anyone I can. Your Father in Heaven also loves and is there to give you help if you talk to him everyday or if you have never talk to him once it is a blessed easy way to get a little extra help.