Blogger ∙ Keith Fisher - LDS Outlet/Dutch Oven

We ran into a little bit of a quandary on what our bloggers should cover in the Newsstands of the LDS Outlet and LDS Department Store blocks. The answer came to me in a blinding flash of the obvious. I checked around Blogland for people who covered things interesting to LDS People and found C.L., Keith, Barbara and Linda.

Keith Fisher is the brave lone man in a slew of women bloggers for yourLDSNeighborhood. He brings his incredible Dutch Oven Cooking skill to the block to give you tips, tricks and advice on how to make the best of your Dutch Oven.

Keith Fisher is a writer of fiction. His hobbies include Dutch Oven Cooking, Gardening, camping, and fishing. he has competed for years in outdoor cooking competions with his wife and they won the IDOS World Championship cook off in 2005. Keith loves to share tips, and advice that will help you be the champion cook in your campsite or backyard.

Keith answered a few questions for us, the same questions every other Neighborhood Blogger has been asked. It's sure been interesting to see the variety of answers:

1. What brought you to the Blogging World and what is your favorite thing about blogging?

A couple of years ago, I was asked to join the LDS Writer’s Blogck as one of the weekly writers. I discovered a showcase that helped me improve my talents and get noticed.

2. What intrigues you the most about blogging for yourLDSneighborhood?

I love to write and I love outdoor cooking and camping. I can mix two of my favorite things

3. What is your favorite thing about yourLDSneighborhood?

It is a trusted resource of timely and appropriate information for LDS parents and families.

4. Tell us a little about yourself: What your likes, dislikes, hobbies, hopes, dreams, etc . . .

I hope to be a published author of books that can change lives, and write full time. I like spending time in the mountains with my family. I dislike mean spirited and selfish people. My hobbies seem to center around the outdoors.

5. Tell us something unique about yourself.

My wife and I won the 2005 IDOS World Championship Dutch Oven Cookoff. We made Guard of Honor Pork Roast, Braided Butter Bingo Bread, and Orange Coconut Almond Cake

This is Candace. Keith made a wonderful Dutch Oven Dinner for our writers critique group that I hear blew everyone away. I missed it . . . yeah, I'm sad. Oh well, I live in hope he'll be willing to go through all the work again and I'll get to taste this food everyone has been raving about.

6. What has been your greatest challenge to date?

Getting out of bed is the greatest challenge I face every day.

7. What books/projects/songs are you working on right now?

All of them—seriously though, I am working on twelve novels at the same time. Three mysteries, one fan-fiction, one historical, and the rest are contemporary. One book is in the hands of a publisher, two are in editing Two more are in re-write. The rest are in various stages of development. When I get stuck or tired on one I work on another for awhile.

8. What obstacles have you run into?

The biggest obstacle is keeping characters and events separate when I move from one book to another.

9. What advice do you have all the browsers in Blogland?

Don’t assume everything you read is true. Glean what you can and move on.

10. If you had three minutes to give advice to someone headed into danger, what would it be?

Keep your head up and your mouth shut. Pray about it and wait for the answer.

Keith is a valuable asset to yourLDSNeighborhood. We are so excited to have him on board. I, for one, have broken out my Dutch Oven and wait every week for his tips and advice. Check him out on Mondays and Thursdays on the LDS Outlet Block.

Return to the Neighborhood!

Blogger ∙ C.L. Beck - LDS Outlets/Humor

Today I am delighted to introduce you to one of our quirkier, or should I say brilliantly funny, bloggers. C.L. Beck, otherwise known as Cindy, is blogging on our LDS Outlet block newsstand. She is one of two bloggers for that block and will be writing about her perspective on life with a humorous twist!

C.L. enjoys tickling funny bones and making people laugh. However, to be honest, she has also written serious, heart-warming stories for the Cup of Comfort anthologies and the Ensign. She lives in central Utah with her husband, Russ, and their short-legged dog, Corky Porky Pie, who thinks the world adores him.

1. What brought you to the Blogging World and what is your favorite thing about blogging?

I arrived at the Blogging World quite by accident. I was trying to find SeaWorld, but I've never been very good with maps. Apparently the Internet is nowhere near Orlando, FL.

I love blogging because it gives me the chance to write whatever comes to mind. Alas, that's also what encourages me to write answers like the one I gave to "What brought you to the Blogging World?" Plus, blogging gives me a perfectly acceptable excuse for staring at my computer screen for hours on end, while eating Cheese Doodles and humming aimless tunes. "Sorry, Sweetie," I'll say to my husband as I wipe Doodle dust off my fingers. "I can't possibly fix supper right now ... I'm blogging."

2. What intrigues you the most about blogging for yourLDSneighborhood?

First of all, it seems like such a nice neighborhood. So much nicer than my own--no kids throwing rotten tomatoes at my dog, or leaving a sharpened hack saw blade at my front door as a present. Or as a warning. I'm not sure which it was supposed to be.

Second, I can use words like, "Oh my heck" in a blog, and all the visitors will completely understand what that means. Not to mention the fact that if I were to blog about baptisms for the dead, no one would wonder if I was talking about putting sprinklers in the cemetery.

3. What is your favorite thing about yourLDSneighborhood?

Oh, you mean outside of the fact that no one has left a sharpened hack saw blade as a present?

Okay, I suppose I'll be serious for just one second. I love the bright colors and the way the home page is set up like a neighborhood. The images and graphics are very inviting. I feel like I've stepped into an LDS Mayberry. All it lacks is Aunt Bee, Opie and a cold glass of lemonade, sitting by a rocker on the front porch.

I think it's great to go to a site that's geared toward Latter-Day Saints, where you don't have to worry about content that you might find insulting or offensive. I love the fact that I can read blogs and not have to worry about what wording they'll contain. Oh my heck, yes!

The stores contain items I'd be interested in buying; the blogs are writings I'd be interested in reading.

I think that pretty well sums it up, don't you? So, okay then, back to the Cheese Doodles.

4. Tell us a little about yourself: What your likes, dislikes, hobbies, hopes, dreams, etc . . .

Likes: Cheese Doodles, donuts, chocolate cake.

Dislikes: Liver, and Brussels sprouts.

Hobbies: Readin', writin' and NOT 'rithmetic.

Hopes: The only Hopes I know are Bob Hope and the Hope diamond. One has passed away and the other is beyond my budget.

Dreams: Last night, I had the strangest dream. I sailed away to China, in a little row boat to find ya, and ya said you had to get your laundry cleaned....No wait, that wasn't a dream, that was a song that was playing just before I went to bed.

Etc: I don't know Etc., but if you hum a few bars of it, I'd probably remember.

5. Tell us something unique about yourself.

Aw, drat, I'm getting tired of typing. Let's just skip this one.

6. What has been your greatest challenge to date?

Coming up with the answer to question number five, above, which is why I skipped it.

Wait. Did you mean my biggest challenge in life? That would be how to get the Cheese Doodle bag open without dumping cheesy puffs in my lap.

7. What books/projects/songs are you working on right now?

As far as books go, I'm working on a book of LDS Humor with my friend and co-author, Nichole Giles, who will also be blogging for Your LDS Neighborhood.com. The book has been requested by Covenant. Honest, I'm not making this up. It's for real.

As for projects, I'm trying to figure out why my dryer keeps overheating. There's nothing like charred and blackened socks to give you a clue that something is amiss with the dryer.

As for songs, I'm working on an opus. Or maybe it's a jingle. I've never been clear on the difference between the two. At any rate, I have the music written. It has eighth, quarter and half notes. Once in a while, for variety, I've thrown in a full note.

The lyrics are simple, so that it appeals to the common man. They go, "Dee, dee, dee. Dee, dee, dee."

8. What obstacles have you run into?

Whether "dee" is spelled with one "e" or two.

9. What advice do you have for all the browsers in Blogland?

Advice, huh? It's my considered opinion that you have to bookmark the places you really like ... for example, C.L. Beck's blog at yourLDSNeighborhood ... or you get totally lost in Blog World and end up at SeaWorld instead.

10. If you had three minutes to give advice to someone headed into danger, what would it be?

Unplug the dryer before trying to figure out why the socks are burned.

As always, C.L., thanks for dropping by. Your skewed outlook on life sure tickled my funny bone this morning. Remember, C.L. will be blogging on the LDS Outlet block, twice a week, every Monday and Thursday. You'll definitely want to drop in and check out what she's up to.Thanks for dropping by the Neighborhood.