If you are thinking, "what? Pumpkin? In MAY?!?!?!" Then clearly, you don't know me. Yes, pumpkin, in May, because why not? Pumpkin is too good to be confined to one season, pumpkin should be consumed all year long.

A few weeks back a woman I go to church with let several people in our ward (congregation) know that she had several CASES of pumpkin. Yes, cases. Her neighbor has a job at the nearby air force base. He is somehow involved in the stocking of the commissariat, which results in her being the recipient of extra supplies.

Well of course, I jumped on the chance to get some free pumpkin.

Now, my husband definitely thinks I have a problem and need to go to Pumpkin Lovers Anonymous. I have no regrets. Well, armed with all of this pumpkin I needed to bake a cake for someone recently and I thought, a pumpkin bundt cake would be perfect. All I have to say is, I was not wrong. You are going to love this cake. You will love it in May like you will love it in September, October, and November. In fact, I believe you will love it in any month you choose to eat it.

There is something so elegant about Bundt cakes. I mean, they come out with a design with no real effort on your part. Just pour the batter into the Bundt pan and voila, you will have yourself a pretty looking cake!

Of course, pumpkin cake calls for cream cheese frosting. The frosting and the chopped walnuts are what put this cake over the top! Normally I am not a fan of nuts in my dessert. You could leave the walnuts  out and be totally okay. However, I used candied walnuts, and the crunch is just perfect.

​So, summertime is upon us. You know you have a BBQ to go to and you volunteered to bring dessert. Bring this cake. You will not regret it. I promise you.

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Hey! Alicia here with another recipe from a country of my ancestry. This month we're doing Denmark. Have you tried æbleskivers yet? They were so good and fun to make and eat.

This week we made smørrebrød, the Danish open faced sandwich.

In my research of Danish food, I kept coming across smørrebrød, an open faced sandwich that is basically the national lunch of Denmark. Believed to have started in the late 19th century when factory workers would pile leftovers onto a dense rye bread (rugbrød) to bring for lunch. From there a tradition was born, and it comes with some rules.

Smørrebrød, which literally translates to butter bread, always starts off with a rectangle of Danish rye. Rugbrød is dense and full of seeds and cracked wheat unlike what you normally think of rye. This makes using it for a regular sandwich too much. It's also difficult to find in the US so I had to opt for traditional rye. Next time I might try using a hearty wheat bread as a substitute, because when I tried to cut my rye into the traditional rectangle, it didn't work very well.

Once your foundation is set, you apply a hearty layer of butter. now that your bread is butter you have smørrebrød, and now you can add different toppings.  Toppings should be added with thinner toppings at the bottom and chunkier on top. If you're eating more than one smørrebrød, you should always start with the herring (the traditional starting fish of smørrebrød) and other seafood, move onto other meats next and end with your cheese smørrebrød. You don't use your hands to pick up the sandwich, rather you must use utensils to enjoy the smørrebrød.  

One chef I watched on Youtube said with a good smørrebrød you shouldn't be able to see the bread.

We didn't have herring, but I did get baby shrimp which I combined with hardboiled eggs and a delicious dill mayo. Our next course was roast beef with pickles, red onions, and prepared horseradish. Last we finished up with a cheese, apple, and slivered almond smørrebrød. The cheese we used was Grand Cru. It tastes similar to gruyere but is cheaper. I also found Danish bleu cheese, which I thought was serendipitous. But it is really strong so I don't recommend using as much as I did.

I love these smørrebrød! They were so delicious and filling. I love the artistry that goes into their preparation (though I think I went a bit overboard with the shrimp). I don't have any recipes for you but there are tons all over the internet. I say get creative and have fun with your smørrebrød
                                                                         toppings! Let us know if you give it a try!

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     Hi everyone! How was your Mother's Day?  Mine was awesome for many reasons.  #1, I have 6 awesome children. #2, I was able to speak with my youngest son who is serving a mission in Cote d'Ivoire, Africa! (Click on this post to find out why.)
      If you have ever had children traveling for an extended period overseas, you will know how great it feels to hear their voice and how often you think about them and worry about them each day that they are gone.  I have found a way, this time around, to keep track of where my son is and also create a keepsake for him to have when he comes home.  I hope that when he sees it he will be able to tell us stories about all of the places he visited while in Africa. 
     At this point, I need to apologize to all of my older children that I did not do this for when they were gone overseas on missions or at school.  Sometimes I am just a little bit too slow thinking of these things. Sorry kids.  But, on the bright side, when your children are old enough to travel overseas and/or go on missions, you will be able to do this for them! You're welcome!

     Anyway, here is how it turned out and the instructions to make one for your own travelers! 

• From Dollar Tree, I purchased a sheet of foam core board and cut it to fit inside the wooden frame of the canvas. 

• I used a glue gun to stick the foam core inside the back of the frame. Now there is something to pin things to!
• Next, I painted the board a swirly blue color. I thought that kind of represented the ocean.
• I searched online for good pictures of where my son is. Since he is in Africa and spent his training time in Ghana, I wanted a picture of Africa as a whole, then I found a picture of Cote d'Ivoire alone. I also found a rendition of the flag of the country.
• I used scrap-booking paper to add dimension to the board by backing the main map, labels and by making a strip to use as a spot to change out pictures that we get from Jacob.
• This is the time to get creative! Arrange your maps and flag, etc on the board in a way that looks pleasing to you.

     I have to confess that I actually had to try creating this board twice. The first time I decoupaged everything on it.  That was a mistake because the paper and the canvas didn't mix well with the wet glue and there were tons of bubbles! So, the second time I did it, I just used a glue stick! Then, if any corners were coming up, I used push pins to hold them down.  

• I am also using these push pins to mark the places that Jacob visits while on his mission.  I really like these Jot pins that I purchased at Dollar Tree! The pack that I bought have blue and gray colors in the package and there are 80 pins in there so it is a really good deal for a dollar. I don't see the same ones online right now, but there are many other choices.  

     We don't have a ton of pictures of him yet because the WiFi in the little village he is in isn't very good so it is hard for him to upload them to his emails.  But, his language is very good now and he is doing so great! I miss him, but I am so proud of him and happy for him.

It is so great to look at the map and find out where he is! So, whether you have a missionary going out into the world to serve, or a student doing study abroad or someone you love taking a journey of discovery, this is a great way to follow along with him!
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     With Mother's Day just a few days away, we thought some last minute gift faves may be in order. it isn't too late to do something really thoughtful and memorable for the special mothers in your life. 

     Last year, we posted about Budget Friendly Mother's Day Gifts.  Some of the items on there are still doable, so check out that post! One of the things mentioned on that post is...

Printables:

• I love the printable that I mentioned in the above link.  There are a lot of choices on Etsy. If you want to know how to use printables as a gift and frame them, check out this article.  (And don't forget to check out our shop here!)
• I have a lot of good memories of Mother's Day Breakfasts in Bed from my children. 

Subscriptions:

     I sometimes consider signing up for some of those subscription boxes that are so popular now, but I usually chicken out, unable to commit! But, if someone were to give me one as a gift, I would be thrilled! There are different types of subscriptions to fit all budgets, styles and tastes. Here are a few that tempt me:

• Did you know that Target does Beauty Boxes? They aren't really a subscription, you have to order each one that you might want.  They put out different ones monthly for only $7.00.  They seem to go fast, so check for them quickly each month. These are perfect for any mom who would love a little pampering anytime of the year.
• Walmart does a Beauty Box subscription for only $5.00! It only comes quarterly, so you can give it as a gift for only $20! I think that I am even brave enough to sign up for that one! Go to that link and find out all about it.  The nice thing is that when you order it as a gift, you get to send a personalized message to your mom's email so she knows it will be coming to her from you. 
• A subscription to Audible would be an awesome gift for anyone who loves to read and/or listen to books while driving or exercising or who has trouble seeing fine print.  

• The gift of Amazon Prime is the perfect gift for anyone who doesn't already have it.  It is such a money saver and time saver! 

     
  The wonder of the Internet makes last minute gift shopping so easy! When time and confusion make gift shopping difficult, we now have the luxury of doing some online shopping and computer pizzazz to end up with a great gift.  
     My last gift suggestion is the gift of time.  Give the mothers in your life quality time with you and quality time for herself.  There is nothing I love more than to just sit and laugh and talk with my children and husband without any pressure to be anywhere else. 
     Have a wonderful Mother's Day everyone! I'll let you know all about mine next week! 
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