Ho Ho Turkey Highlights

The highlights of our HO HO TURKEY DAY 2010. 

• Lawyer Girl home for just a blink but what a sweet blink it was
• Beautiful babies (sans Olivia...they were visiting Bob's family)
• Delicious food...enough for a small country
• Chocolate cornucopia
• Discovering Chet's old choo choo train
• Izzy eating leftovers on my fine China...nothing but the best for my pooch
• Utah in a Box (Everyone knows I was the winner...Dean the loser)
• After pie yoga...Izzy does an awesome Downward Facing Dog

The Garlick Press hopes that you and yours had a Happy Ho Ho Turkey Day also!

Blizzard Anyone

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING FOR THE STATE OF UTAH BEGINNING TUESDAY AFTERNOON NOV 23 AND CONTINUING THROUGH WEDNESDAY NOV 24 2010
.
SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 6 TO 12 INCHES OF NEW SNOW IS EXPECTED.
VERY STRONG WINDS...BLOWING SNOW...WHITEOUT CONDITIONS...AND FRIGID TEMPERATURES.


HAZARDOUS WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED DUE TO SNOW PACKED AND ICY ROADS AND WIDESPREAD BLOWING SNOW.  TRAVEL IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.  IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU.  IF YOU GET STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

When the blizzard hit your house last week what were you doing?  Here at the Garlick Press...we hunkered down, had warm soup for dinner and admired Mother Nature's handiwork.

The Bee Master decided to venture out to clear the sidewalks because a plan was brewing in his head.

Early Wednesday morning the storm had cleared and the plan was put into place.  Izzy pouted and howled at the door until she was finally invited to come along.  Then there was Chet's game face.

Anyone up for some skiing at Beaver Mountain?  The resort is not scheduled to open for another 10 days, but that means nothing to this crowd.  When there is fresh pow...we will find a way!  Snowmoskiing anyone?

Amazing...I've never seen The Beav looking quite like this.  We had first tracks of fresh, deep powder on every run...Ego Trip, The Face, Stan's Bonanza, and Lou's.  Are you getting the idea?  The Hlavaty family and the Garlick family had an absolutely fantastic time on the mountain.  Winter fun is unlike any other!

At the top of the Mountain...Jocie's monument stands proudly under a thick blanket of snow waiting for winter friends to ski by and tap their ski poles on the great stone.  My heart beats quickly just seeing it again.

Scott warned us to be careful of frost bite...the temperature was around negative 15 degrees at the top of the mountain.  So cold... but so worth it.  

And then there was the time that Scott tried to ride his snowmobile up a tree.  Actually, the throttle stuck on the machine and he bailed out just in time to not get hurt...the same can't be said for the sled.

Last run of the day...Dean and I alone at the top of the mountain with Jiggy's monument.  The sun bursts through and casts long shadows on her still grieving parents.  Winter is here, and I am happy about that.  The next day would be Thanksgiving and I have so much to be grateful for.  But on this day I am thankful I'm able to fight the demons that might keep me from Jocie's mountain...the place where her spirit skis freely down each and every run.  Thank you Jocie for gently guiding me back to your mountain.  I can almost feel you making turns right behind me...and I miss you always!

***

The inscription on her monument reads...

This site is dedicated to the memory of Jocie "Jiggy" Garlick.  On a beautiful spring day, Jocie skied her last run at Beaver Mountain at the tender age of fifteen.  Jocie's long red hair and easy laugh were frequent sights on the runs at the Beav, which she considered her second home.  Skiing was her greatest passion and she was a beloved member of the Beaver Mountain family.  Her spirit will remain where she was the happiest, here on the mountain.  Her friends and family donate this monument to her memory and encourage all to live life to its fullest, as Jocie did.

"Go Big or Go Home"

And now for your viewing pleasuring...click on this link to see Dean's youtube video of our day.  You may want to let it load all the way before playing.


Big shout out..."Yeaah"...to Scott for arranging the day! 

Banana Pancakes

Saturday morning at the Garlick Press...post sleepover...tired faces...puffy eyes...breakfast.

"Can't you see that it's just raining

Ain't no need to go outside...

But baby, you hardly even notice

When I try to show you this

Song is meant to keep ya

From doing what you're supposed to

Like waking up too early

Maybe we can sleep in

I'll make you banana pancakes

Pretend like it's the weekend now

And we could pretend it all the time
Can't you see that it's just raining
Ain't no need to go outside."


PS...It was my birthday and I still said yes to the sleepover...I'm a softy that way!

Fruitcake Night Anyone?

I found myself standing behind a sweet older woman in the grocery store yesterday.  I was trying to get in and out quickly with my pancetta and asparagus.  When it was her turn to check out, the woman gathered up 14 Skor candy bars, gave them to the clerk and then looking guiltily at me...she obviously wanted to explain.  "My husband has to eat one of these a day...keeps him smiling"  I assured her that if a candy bar a day kept her man happy then it was worth it. 


She then began telling me that she had to hurry home and get some baking done.  OK I jumped into it and asked what she was baking.  "Fruitcake...I'm already a little late to have it ready by Christmas.  I usually like to let it age longer."  


Fruitcake, does anyone ever really eat that stuff, or even know how to make it? And what...age longer?  Are you kidding me? 


The cute little lady then told me all her secrets about making a good fruitcake.  The brand of cherries that taste the best...what other types of fruit...and the best nuts to use.  I asked her where she learned to make fruitcake, she said from her mother, who learned from her mother.  And she's been making it ever since.

Fresh Peach Pie with Coconut Crumb Topping...possible pie night candidate

And then I had an epiphany...  If this new friend of mine (and other women like her) hasn't passed on her fruitcake secrets, someday fruitcake may actually become extinct.  

So maybe this year instead of Pie Night...I should initiate Fruitcake Night.  


Naaaa........maybe not, it doesn't have quite the same appeal!  Pie Night is just around the corner, are you ready?

Newborn Math a Few Weeks Ago

1 invitation from Momma Cass to help with Olivia's newborn photo shoot

plus

precious 10 day old grand baby girl

plus

30 different hair bows

plus

10 tasty fingers and 10 tiny toes

plus 

90 degree house to keep naked baby asleep

plus

1 beanie borrowed from Auntie Jocie

plus

2 adult women fussing over an 8 pound baby

plus

1 of Momma Cass's favorite books

plus

1 blue binky soothing the pink cherub...setting up the perfect shot

plus

1 suddenly pooping naked baby

equals

photo shoot over!

And you should have heard us giggle!

The Desk

Upstairs, is where the teenage boy lives.  Different than it was a couple of years ago, it's typically very quiet up there...unless the electric guitar is in play.  I popped in one evening recently to check on homework progress.  The teenager was sprawled across his disheveled, quilt laden bed scratching out Geometry problems.  The dim overhead designer light cast long shadows across his notebook. "Buddy, how can you study like that" I asked.  In true teenager form, he just shrugged his shoulders.

Somewhere in the past couple of years, the boy with coloring and word search homework had grown into the teenager with geometry theorems.  It seems just a blink ago...or quite possibly my eyes have only been partly open.  

It was time to purchase a new desk and lamp, to prepare the teenager for the next stage in homework progression.  With sleek jet black paint and perfectly wood-worked drawers Pottery Barn had just the answer and could get it here in less than a week.

Dad made a trip to the dreaded basement storage room and came back with an idea... his Grandpa Chet's old wooden desk.  We have been hauling that heavy wooden thing around with us as we bounced from house to house and across the country.  I first became acquainted with the desk when I was a newlywed. Sadly, I would never meet Grandpa Chet as he had passed away just before Dean and I met. I knew however, the desk was very special to my new hubby. Between Dean and I, three college degrees were earned on that very desk.  Lawyer Girl even found it comfortable when she moved into her first apartment at USU.  

Over the years, many aspiring scholars have studied for hours on it's rough, slightly ridged wooden top. And like a good friend...Grandpa Chet's wooden desk stands sturdy and at the ready...just waiting for the call to assist again. As I finished off the polishing and dusting of the wood surfaces, I could faintly hear the memories of the desk being uncovered as well.

Chester Owen Garlick known as Chet was born in 1902 in Richfield Utah.  He and his lovely and stylish wife Lila firmly planted their roots in Farr West Utah.  Dean distinctly remembers the desk being carried directly from his Grandpa's study room in his house, across the back yard and down into his own basement room. That must have been pretty exciting to live next door to your Grandpa.

After some further conversations with Dean's father Owen...it turns out that Grandpa Chet got the famous wooden desk from his father Joseph Elsbury Garlick. Joseph who is the teenager's great great grandfather was born in 1872 in Fairview Utah and somewhere, somehow he acquired a wooden desk.

And Chet my teenager...I believe this old wooden thing will do just nicely...I think you're in good company. Now get back to Geometry.

Coming Soon To A Location Near You

Following a lovely honey harvest this fall, the Bee Master Dean took notice of the leftover beeswax, sweet smelling and golden in color, and he had an epiphany.  It began as a thought...a crazy thought...rolling around in that math brain of his.  Upon consulting his bee friend Mark (aka Papa Smurf) the wheels were set in motion. And since that epiphany there's been no looking back.  When the Bee Master gets something in his head, it's best to either get on board or just "move...get out da way"!

This project would take extreme hours of Internet investigation and then precise computations and formulas.  How do you compute fluid ounces to ounces to grams?  What ingredients will be the smoothest?  What scent will be the most pleasing?  Where can I find Essential Oils?

 

This would require the expertise of Chemistry Girl known these days as Momma Girl.  Don't worry...I'll take care of Olivia while you both postulate formulas and play with pipettes.  We all have our strengths and abilities and I know mine! 

Beeswax...Shae butter...sweet almond oil...oh my!

Chemistry Girl will need a trusty assistant...one she can order around.  Ahem...I mean ask for assistance, and K-Dawg is up for the job.  This is wonderful news considering the pay is lousy!

 

And then we will need to sample the product.  Several packages of the lip balm were numbered and sent to a test data group.  The Bee Master sent along an evaluation form with strict instructions.  

Everyone knows that I am the queen of lip balm...it's in my genes...and also in my jeans.  I once had an awakening while watching Tom Hanks become a "Castaway" on that deserted island.  I could never be without lip balm, ever!  I now carry one in every pocket I have.  I also have several in my purse...car...craft room...office...kitchen...sewing kit...fridge...I think you get the idea.

It was a tough job, but I couldn't wait to try out all the different lip balm formulas. 

Evaluations were made.  A label designer was hired.  Health Department regulations were consulted to verify compliance. Paperwork was filed with the government.  Display boxes were crafted.  And then final choices for formula and scents were chosen.
 

Fast forward a couple of weeks and it's time for the actual production process. This time, careful consideration was given for a "clean" environment including gloved hands.

Do they act and look like they are father and daughter or what? 

And so...without further ado...I am thrilled to introduce...

 

The Jiggy Stick

Brought to you with introductory flavors of Coconut Lime, Vanilla Mint, Lemongrass, and Mountain Snow.

Coming soon to a location near you... try the Jiggy Stick for yourself!  Tell them the Bee Master sent you.

 

Congratulations Bee Master...and Papa Smurf...and Chemistry Girl...and K-Dawg!
 
I think Jiggy would be very proud of the Jiggy Stick!

I wonder when his next epiphany will come?