Birthday

Last week I turned 25. Quarter century.

It was a pretty great birthday, landing on a Saturday and Rhett was able to be home all day. I had a chance to sleep in, which I loved. Then we went to Provo that evening to use the gift card I won with the recipe contest--a restaurant called Chef's Table. It was good and the fanciest, most formal restaurant we've ever eaten at. I can't remember anywhere else I've eaten where they put your napkin on your lap for you...wasn't expecting that. My hair was awfully 80s that day unfortunately...unintentionally.

I should give credit where it's due. Lynette designed that zig-zag dress when she was in high school. I stole it out of her box stored in my parent's basement and it is my favorite dress. So it's all Lynette.

Sunday we had a birthday dinner with my family.

Here are all my siblings. I chose Cafe Rio salads for my dinner and my dad hated them. About half way through dinner he said: "Are you telling me this is your death row dinner?" (meaning the meal you would eat if you knew it would be your last) I told him no, I'm still working on my death row meal. His reply: "Well I could give a few tips...this crap stinks!!" But everyone else liked it because everyone else is normal! Kind of funny. Maybe one day I'll do a whole post on Scott's death row meal. If he ever is on death row, he'll have to be executed in the late summer, because much of his death row meal involves fresh produce from the garden.

Thanks to everyone who wished me Happy Birthday! I appreciate it!

Peppermint Bark

Oh how I love this stuff. When I lived in Kirksville one day my friends all got together to master peppermint bark. There wasn't much to master, but it was really fun. This is a super easy, pretty, holiday treat. Great to give to neighbors or eat all yourself.

Ingredients:
1 pound (16 oz) bittersweet chocolate
¼ tsp peppermint oil
1 pound (16 oz) white chocolate
¾ C (about 10) peppermint candy canes, crushed/ chopped

***I used chocolate chips. Gourmet chocolate would be great. I wouldn't recommend using Almond Bark though...but maybe I'm wrong. To me using Almond Bark instead of real chocolate is like substituting Velveeta when a recipe calls for real cheese.

Directions:
1. Line an 11x17-inch baking sheet with foil and set aside. For thicker bark, use 9x13. Put 5 or so candycanes in sandwich baggie and crush with rolling pin until chunks. **
2. Melt bittersweet chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring constantly. Stir in peppermint oil.

***Or melt the chocolate the best way you know. I invested in a double boiler, but putting a smaller pot inside a slightly larger pot works too. Put a couple inches of simmering water in the big pot, and just make sure the little top pot isn't touching the water. Or you can always microwave the chocolate a few seconds at a time to get it all melted and smooth.
3. Pour chocolate onto prepared baking sheet spreading evenly using an off-set spatula. Chill until set, about 1 hour.
4. Melt white chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring constantly.
5. Spread white chocolate mixture over chilled dark chocolate. You kind of have to spread fast as the white chocolate will begin to melt the dark chocolate underneath. You want it to melt a little, to seal the two layers together, but it's prettiest without dark chocolate marbled through I think. Sprinkle candy cane pieces over the white chocolate gently pressing into chocolate.
6. Chill until set, about four hours or overnight. Refrigerate until just before serving then break into pieces and serve or package as gifts. It will keep in the fridge for 5-6 weeks.

Grandpa Herschel

For anyone that knows my Grandpa, and may be interested, tonight I found out someone wrote a biographicallish book about his life experiences, mainly as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Who knew? Here's the link if anyone's interested in it.

https://www.digitalegend.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=97&osCsid=bf64bb8993b4b80a74acca01644d7997

The cover of the book is a watercolor painting by George Durrant painted years ago. I think we all like it because it is typcial of my Grandpa. If he's not dressed up going or coming from the temple, he's in overalls working in the yard, and reading or quoting scripture all the time....occasionally he also does wear sweats too when he watches ball games.

He's a great example for our family. Once I read a quote somewhere, that basically said: "we need to believe in our abilility to do wonderful things for God," and it reminded me of my Grandpa. Just a normal, average guy that has done wonderful things for God and his family.

Lady Danburry

Lady Danburry Tailoring & Design
55 North University Avenue Suite 100
Provo, Utah 84601
801-513-8357
ladydanburry@hotmail.com

Last weekend Lynette had a little grand opening party. It was a lot of fun. She just opened a tailoring/ alteration business in downtown/ historic area Provo. She's a great seamstress and has the lowest prices on clothing alterations in the area. So if you know anyone in the Provo area that needs pants hemmed, jackets taken in, etc. go see Lynette!

She also is selling her clutches and some clothing. Lots of people have enjoyed coming and designing their own clutch from her fabric and button collection.

Plane Movie

On the airplane to Hawaii they showed the movie: Juliie & Julia, about a blogger who cooked all the recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. The movie parallels the life of Julia Child and the, in my opinion, kind of lame blogger. But I don't want to give you a movie review, the thing that stuck out to me the most was how they portrays Julia Child's size. According to Wikipedia, which we all know is the absolute fact, Julia Child was 6' 2".

Michael Scott: Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write
anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best
possible information.

I'm only 5' 10", so Julia Child wase more like the size of a couple of my cousins, but this is what I identified with so much...and her insatiable love to eat of course. One scene she was chopping a mountain of onions, and the table seemed practically at her knees. THAT'S HOW I FEEL ALL THE TIME! Especially folding tables or pic-nic tables. The worst is at my in-laws. We all get together for some quality family time in the shop to bag rocks into kits for their business, and the tables are normal, but my back is always killing by the end, they are so low when you are bending over for a long time.

Anway, the biggest thing was the emphasis they gave to Julia Child and her husband's height difference. He was shorter than her. They also portrayed him a lot smaller too. I wondered if this bothered people as they watched the movie. It shows the Child's marriage as a happy one and that they are totally in love, which I think most people enjoy, but I wondered if people were just irritated and uncomfortable with it.

But I really liked it. Obviously because I'm taller than my husband. It's surprising how many people gawk or have asked how we could get over it enough to actually get married. A lot of people said they would NEVER marry a man shorter/ woman taller. Obviously I think that is stupid to base your potential compatibility with the length of your long bones, but whatever. When I was engaged a certain person was trying to talk me out of marrying Rhett, because our height difference, and I remember explaining, when you find someone who is perfect for you, the length of a femur is the last thing you're worried about. And it has been a non-issue with us. People ask me a ton if Rhett will let me where heels. It always makes me laugh, thinking of Rhett inspecting my shoes, and analyzing the soles: "Nope this heel exceeds the sole thickness, out with it!" Like he cares or even knows which shoes I'm wearing.

I wear heels.

We don't care.

Because something I don't even think about, can sometimes make us feel like a freak show, I really get excited when I see other couples where the chick is taller than the guy. So I liked this aspect of the movie, but I wondered if it bothered other people, as I'm sure Rhett and I bother other people because we are different than societal height expectations.

And usually height-opposite relationships are usually used in TV and movies as comical pairs. For example, did George Castanza ever date a woman shorter than himself?

But there are some celebritites that are actually married, although I don't know if anyone is shorter than Danny Devito,

And there are definitely couples that I wouldn't want to be put in any category with...

like Flav A Flav & Brigette

For us, the height difference is insignifigant, and it was refreshing to see another couple in a movie, and in real life that were in love too.

So sorry to those who know us and are always bothered at our decision to marry each other, and are still trying to figure out how a marriage can work with a 2 inch difference in height!!!

Shabby Apple Finalist!

Lynette's dress design is one of the winning finalists for a design contest through the company Shabby Apple. They specialize in unique, modest dresses.

Click HERE to see all the other dress designs and leave a comment to vote on your favorite!

Lynette is NUMBER 12!

The winning dress design will be part of Shabby Apple's spring line 2010.

photo of the sisters: Lynette, Heather, Me

The Troll Behind the Roll!

The recipe contest was published in the magazine. You can see the other recipes and better image quality here. My recipe is page 38, so you have to click a few pages over to get to it.
I am just kidding about the blog title, thanks to Natalie's long distance make-over, I don't look too trollish.

I'm being teased about it:

** My mom called me to tell me the magazine came in the mail. I asked how I looked, and I heard my dad say in the background--"Awful! She looks like she's trying to be a hot mom!" laughing. Mom: "He's just kidding honey. You look good."
If you need further clarification on what a "hot mom" is, I could make a whole post about this stereotype.
***Rhett saw the magazine and told me I "sold out".
Rhett: What's with the line over the A?
Me: So it reads [cray-poe] rather than [crap-o].
Rhett: How dare you change my name?
Me: Get over it.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
original recipe by Jessica CrApo
light pumpkin flavor makes these sweet rolls great for holiday gatherings--for dessert or great served at a brunch

INGREDIENTS:

DOUGH:
1/4 c. warm water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
1 c. canned pumpkin puree
1/3 c. margarine, melted
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
5-6 c. flour

FILLING:
2/3 c. canned pumpkin puree
1/2 c. butter, room temperature
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 T cinnamon
*optional: 3/4 c. raisins, 1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
3 T butter1/2 tsp vanilla
2 - 2 1/2 c. powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine warm water, yeast, and teaspoon of sugar in small bowl. Stir until yeast is dissolved. Let stand until froth doubles.
2. In mixer fitted with dough hook, combine milk, eggs, pumpkin, margarine, the 1/2 c. sugar, nutmeg, salt, and cloves. Mix until smooth.
3. Add 4 cups flour to mixing bowl. Pour frothed yeast mixture on top of flour. Knead about 5 minutes, adding flour 1/2 c. at a time until dough barely begins to clean the sides of the mixing bowl. Dough should be smooth and moist, but not sticky.
4. Spray a bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Place dough in greased bowl. Cover with wet towel, or plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Allow to raise until doubled, about 1 hour.
5. While dough is raising, prepare filling. Place room temperature butter and pumpkin puree in small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until mixture is smooth. In another small bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon, set both bowls aside.
6. Pour dough out on slightly floured surface. Roll into a rectangle 16x21 inches, dough should be about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the pumpkin/butter mixture over rectangle. Next, evenly spread the sugar/cinnamon mixture on top, slightly pressing it into the dough.
7. Roll up long side of dough, forming long tube. Cut tube with sharp knife about every 2 inches, making 12 rolls. Place rolls in lightly greased 9x13 baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 9. Bake rolls in oven until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to make frosting. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.
**Optional: Sprinkle a little nutmeg on top as garnish.

Happy Baking!

Halloween 2009

1. Sheep Herd on the way to Delta

This was so great. We were stopped on the road to make way for a herd of sheep crossing the road. I jumped up through the sun roof to catch the video. I was really impressed with the sheep dogs' herding abilities.






2. GOLF TOURNAMENT
Sunset Golf Course....last place

Cole wanted to enter the couples golf tournament with our niece, Tana, but she couldn't make it. So after calling tons of girls and women, I ended up being his last desperate option. To make it fun, we brought the 6th graders too, Jared & Brooklyn. The tournament was a scramble, which I learned is everyone drives, then you pick the best shot, and everyone plays from there, so the round of golf is only the best shots from your group. We shot 40, which I thought was pretty good.

3. Trick Or Treating

cousins Emma and Hannah

RJ being a wild thing, using his tail to sweep the gravel in grandma's driveway

Cole took RJ around trick or treating while I hung back and chatted with the other moms.

Candy all over his face, belly full of chocolate, and favorite polar bear.

Cole carving RJ's pumpkin

"Eewww!" RJ says

Trying to sneak and go to sleep in Grandma's bed.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

You Probably Hate Me....

...because I am loving the fact it is snowing outside! I realize most people are probably gagging on the snow, but I love the first snowfall. We always listen to Karen Carpenter's "The First Snowfall", which gets us listening to the rest of the CD, and then to Christmas music the whole day. And by "we" it's my mom and sisters, but I'm the only one here today, so I've respectfully taken my Christmas music in a back room as to not gag the rest of the people (Rhett home barfing, and don't want to gag him worse).

These are the last of my mom's fall roses, blanketed in snow. I LOVE it! I'm going to go watch a cozy Christmas movie, watch the flakes fall outside the window as I finish sewing my swimming suit for next week.

I'd really like to set up the Christmas tree, but I think my Dad would freak. He is Scrooge...or just normal. If you didn't know what a freak I am about Christmas, this is just the intro!!!

Confession of A Dork...part 1

I'm sure everyone already knows I'm a dork/ nerd/ lame-o. So I've decided to start a running thread of things to further illustrate that reality...stay tuned. This story isn't so great, but I think the photos are worth a gander. Lurp.

As a little bun-head ballerina, growing up, you have dream roles. I'd say most little girls dream of first being Clara in the Nutcracker, then as you get older, the Sugarplum Fairy.

Not me.

Clara was out early on because I was way too tall and a lurp. Don't get me wrong, I would have LOVED flying off the stage at BYU on that wooden snowflake, but I knew it would never happen. For some reason, I never wanted to be Sugarplum...maybe because she's BORING. As a kid, and even as an older dancer, who obviously appreciates ballet, sugarplum and her cavalier get so boring. The dancers are obviously the best ones around, but it drags on. Maybe different choreography breaks up all their variations better, but the company I danced with put them all in at the end, and it gets old. Plus the Sugarplum just looks pretty and dances around, zero character. My dream roles from The Nutcracker were always Snow Queen or Arabian. These had a little more edge to me, and the audience seemed to enjoy to watch them the whole time. I never danced any of these roles, so I guess I wasn't that great in the end, but this is about dream roles, not performed.

But before Nutcracker, my running dream role was from the little ballet, Hansel & Gretel. This was the first full production ballet I ever performed in. I was 10 years old and cast as a "peppermint guard". Basically, I stood as still as I could in front of the candy cottage for a long time. At one point, we came out in a line, jumped a little, and ran back to stare into the audience from the candy cottage. Our spots in the limelight were less than 20 seconds. But I LOVED it and was so proud to be in the ballet. As I found these photos, I had written on the page: "I was so glad to be a soldier because I didn't have to smile...I had crooked, yellow teeth." That I did. Here are the teeth I was grateful to conceal behind gianormous grease-paint lips:

MY WORST SCHOOL PHOTO. 4TH GRADE.

The nasty, ratty perm, bumpy gel crusted slicked half ponytail, huge bow, buttoned shirt to my chin...and THOSE TEETH I loathed. I was so excited for braces.

So as I stood there guarding the candy cottage scenery, I would watch the act enfold in front of me. I LOVED the witch. She was so amazing to me. Giuliana Bule. She had long hair to her waist they'd puff really big. I have this memory standing against a wall back stage watching them put her scary witch make-up on, just in awe of how great it was. She was so great as the witch. My favorite dancer in the whole ballet. I loved the part she'd check Hansel & Gretel's fingers to see if they'd fattened up. She seemed so evil. But in the end she died by being shoved into the oven. I was the peppermint guard right by the oven, and when she'd fall through, they'd blast out the fog machine, and I loved the smell, and felt really important, you know, being part of the scenery where the whole audience was watching. Although, at that point, I guess I failed to prevent the death of my evil master when I was standing right there, but just stared ahead as she fell to her death.

For years I hoped they'd perform Hansel and Gretel when I was older, in the hopes I could also wear black point shoes and pretend to cannibalize small children on stage, and the best of all...dance really creepy and mean with my hair down.

getting excited for trick or treating

to see more photos of the costume

Good Weekend

The weather was so nice this past weekend! We had a lot of fun:

1. I went to Odyssey Dance Theatre's Production of THRILLER. It's a great show, except for the in-between/ comical relief/ kill time/ crap.

2. Let our nephew who is 14 drive us around the back roads of Delta, and changed his life...probably not really, but he loved it.

3. Went to Rhett's grandparent's farm to see the animals. The pigs were gone, but they still have cattle and a few horses. The highlight was the new baby colt and feeding the horses!

4. We saw WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE! I loved it. Rhett hated it. I guess I related to wanting to run around screaming, jumping, sleeping in a big pile, and bossing everyone around a little more than Rhett did. It was great except that they changed all the wild things names. It's MOISHE not Carol.
5. After the movie, Rhett bought me a York Peppermint Pattie from The Quality grocery store to satisfy my craving. It was really good, except I couldn't enjoy it as much with my punk nephews saying: "Gross! Dark chocolate! That is disgusting!"
6. Finished off the weekend with bowls of Count Chocula. The kids hadn't had it before. They were a little interested in Franken Berry, but we steered them in the right direction. Dwight Schrute: The problem, Jim, is that people who are really suffering from a medical condition won't receive the care they need because someone in this office is coming up with ridiculous stuff. Count Choculitis.
Jim Halpert: Sounds Tough.
Dwight Schrute: Why did you write that down, Jim? Is it because you know I love Count Chocula?