A few thoughts...

This weekend was General Conference, which has always been a pretty big deal in my family. Normally we would all gather from the four corners of the earth to hang out with the family (our VERY huge family), watch Pride and Prejudice, and let the kids run wild in the orchard. It was a weekend of my Great-Grandmother Ashworth's Famous Home-Made Bread. She would spend the few days leading up to our arrival for the big weekend baking bread like a mad woman, and by the time we left we had usually devoured every single loaf. Sunday morning my Grandpa Ashworth would always make his amazing French Toast. There were lots of nights of bread and milk at one in the morning (only worth eating if it is fresh, home made bread) and a great "girl movie", and afternoons hiking in the mountains behind my Grandma's house or shooting targets and clay pigeons. I love it, and I have to say I'm a pretty good shot. My Dad always said that if I practiced I would probably be better than him. Considering he is Grizzly Adams that is saying something!

Well, in the last few years my Great-Grandmother has passed away. Boy do I miss her Famous Bread. It is a recipe that was perfected over 4 generations by the time it got to her. She made it so much that she never used a recipe, she just made it. My mom used to make it all the time too before she died. It was a huge deal in our family, it was a lot of fun. I hope I can get a hold of the recipe. Just thinking about it brings back such great memories. And, my Grandparents are currently serving a mission for our church in Chicago. I miss my Grandpa's french toast - I do have the recipe for it, but it was always so great to wake up Sunday morning to the smell of it filling the entire house. I miss my grandmother's laugh at the insane horde of kids and the mischief they got into in the small orchard. Last time they got a hold of a shovel and managed to dig a several-foot-deep trench around the tree swing in just a few hours. 

This conference I had to work on Saturday night. Getting home at one in the morning and then trying to pack up a sleeping child does not constitute good driving conditions for the trek up to a little town outside St. George, Utah. So instead my parents came to my house. I am becoming as "family famous" for my crepes as my grandfather is for his french toast. My little brother always asks me to make them for him, and how could anyone resist a compliment like that!! So, we did a marathon day of cooking beginning with crepes and ending with impromptu peanut butter blondies and including everything in between. It was a lot of fun, and we still made it a family day. It was just so different. There were so many things I missed.  Mainly the craziness I think. I love having a ton of people around, my mom was the second of seven kids and they all have big families - and all the cousins are great for a laugh. So just having my immediate family around was a little different. Good, but different. Maybe I can get a hold of that bread recipe. I have a feeling that tradition could fill a gap or two.