Merry Weekend Mirths

While most of you probably aren't thinking one tiny bit about Christmas, I still am :)
Mostly because things got a little crazy and I never finished posting about it. It was the Klis' first Christmas, we had our own little celebration and started some fun traditions, so I'd like to give it due documentation...then we can get back to the future.
Here, a photo profile:

{Christmas Eve Dinner: Roasted Duck, Brussell Sprouts Au Gratin. Sweet Potatoes with Orange Zest, and Blanched Green Beans with Toasted Almonds and Lemon}

{showing off some of my Christmas bounty}

{Park City, weekend after Christmas. Lovely.}

Merry Weekend Mirths

...a little late, but better than never!
Christmas month Weekend Mirths for December 11-13 were postponed due to very unmirthful and unmerry finals this week. But as I has just finished finals and can now breathe again (as well as sleep, eat, and do something other than sit on my roundside and study), mirth has come back into this Klis!

Highlights of finals week:
1. I got a 95% on my physics final. Yeah.
2. I spent at least 12 hours a day in the Maeser building, the same building I work in, studying. Or working.
3. I have suffered from a bulbous neck muscle all week. It is seriously very large and lumpy and in the front of my neck where my collar bone should be. Don't worry, this always pops right when I'm stressed (I like to think it's just like the little red pop-up in the turkey), would you know, it sure pops up often! But this weeek....this was BAD.
4. On Tuesday, Mama's finals care-package detailing the many ways to eat her homemade granola came...my preferred method was whenever, however, with the maximum amount possible packed into my little mouse mouth.
5. We ate Ramen. It is gross. I don't know how people eat that stuff. Eating Ramen shows how desperately busy we've been ( and how tired I am). Foods like that have no home in my home!
6. Finally....Being done! Oh it feels so good!

And now for highlights of the previous weekend!

{that's not fire in the corner, just the light of Christmas Spirit in our home :)}
{we decided to trim the tree...}

{but then ran out of lights....to be continued}

{krista distributed Christmas gifts early}

{among my favorites, a spoon cradle, handmade}

{salt and pepper dishes, handmade}

{adorable snowwoman, made by our sweet little neighbor}

I also managed to pack in some Christmas baking. From the pictures below, can you guess what I made? If you guess most of them correctly....I'll send you a treat!

The answers (in their entirety) will be revealed as I post each amazing recipe, and you're gonna want the recipes....trust me.

Sweet Nothings

Robert Browning was a Victorian poet who may not have been so very popular back in his day, and although I can't say I love all of his poetry/prose (or poetic novels for that matter), right now he's soothing my burning eyes and feeding my tired, tired soul.

"Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!"

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"


“Truth lies within ourselves: it takes no rise from outward things, whatever you may believe. There is an inmost center in us all, where truth abides in fullness and to Know rather consists in opening out a way whence the imprisoned splendor may escape than in effecting entry for light supposed to be without.”


"Stung by the splendour of a sudden thought."

On a less serious note:

“So munch on, crunch on, take your nuncheon,
Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon!"

“Rats! They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles, And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats By drowning their speaking With shrieking and squeaking In fifty different sharps and flats"

Merry Weekend Mirths

Celebrations from the first weekend of Christmas month!

It snowed! And suddenly even our grimy street was beautiful.

{the Klis residence, street view}

We also took the first step toward family traditions and bought our first Christmas tree on this weekend! It was freezing cold, and had just started to snow, but we loaded up in my brother-in-law's truck and went searching for a tree. A real tree. I can't abide the fake ones. No sir, not in my house. But sadly we had to buy a pre-cut tree rather than timber one down ourselves, because as Jeffrey kept saying, "They just don't have trees in Utah! I mean, there's a tree farm in my yard back home!" (I thought to myself, "Yeah well I have like 10 tree farms within a 10 mile radius back at my home. And they give you hot chocolate. And it's not -10000 degrees outside at my home, and they put lights up on the town square, and a nativity scene, and they usually leave that nativity scene up through February"....there's no place like home :))

{the tree that Jeffrey wanted, a thin little thing}
{the tree that I wanted, a plump little delight}

{Jeffrey's tree, the tree that won a home}

{and, dare I say, our hearts??}

Once we got the tree into our house, it was perfect. Just the right size: good height so it doesn't look too Charlie Brownish, good width so it doesn't block our entrance to the kitchen. Now all it needs is some suitable ornamentation, oh and a tree stand...aparently cups and pitchers weren't made for this sort of thing.

Christmas is on it's way!

Weekend Mirths

First, 11/26-11/29 Weekend Mirths, starring two Thanksgivings, two apple and one cherry pie, from scratch, to-die-for stuffing, and one successfully roasted juicy turkey :)

{See those layers of flaky crust? See 'em? I had a really good baking day}

{We found out why people argue over who has to, I mean, who gets to, carve the turkey}

Jeffrey and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving at his grandparent's house on Thanksgiving day, but Krista and I have been wanting to do our own Thanksgiving for the longest time, so we did a second dinner on Friday. It was so much fun!! And so delicious!!

The downside: two Thanksgiving dinners in a row means that one must suffer the lesser appetite. Unfortunately, the sister dinner suffered...we had turkey for DAYS....

Blog Love

I think that I haven't whole-heartedly blogged lately because I've been so busy reading other blogs, one blog in particular, thepioneerwoman.com. She has a delicious cooking blog, (I love the love the look of her rosemary bread, and I know someone who will LOVE the bleu cheese), photography blog, home and garden, and you must, must, must check out the story of how she and her husband met. I'm addicted to the story itself.
So in love.


Check it out....her blog is just so fun in general. It almost makes me want to live in the boonies. Almost.

Weekend Mirths

This weekend we caught up and made ready for the upcoming week.

We went out on a long-awaited date (well, I waited three hours while Jeff prepared for, then took his math test) to a super tasty Greek restaurant in Orem, New Ultimate Broiler. That may not sound too Greek-y, but it is delicious and pretty well-priced.

We cleaned house (and I reviewed all my winter/Christmas decor, day after Thanksgiving it's going up!)

Ran errands and picked up some baking trinkets at Bed Bath and Beyond (that store stresses me out. I could not find anything! Does anyone else agree with me? Jeff had to find everything, he'd come over and be like, "Is this it Rach?". Jeff is really good at finding things. :)

We watched some good (my choice) and some not so good (Jeff's choice) movies while avoiding the encroaching cold weather.

And we finally used up the last of our carefully rationed, $21 a pound, smoked, aged Gouda. Delicious! Especially with Shrimp and Rigatoni Aglio et Olio.


Shrimp and Rigatoni Aglio et Olio with Smoked Gouda
a Rachel original

2 C dry, uncooked rigatoni
3 T olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 C diced onion, optional
1/2 lb-1lb uncooked fresh (or defrosted) shrimp, peeled
salt
pepper
Smoked, aged Gouda (or any other cheese of your preference such as Parmesan, or Mozzarella)

Cook pasta. Drain, and set aside in a serving bowl. We like to make as little dishes as possible around here, so I put the same large saucepan back on the stove, you can too...who wouldn't want to?
Add olive oil and minced garlic, and onion if using, to the saucepan and cook over medium (kinda medium-high, if you can set it in-between medium and medium-high) until garlic is fragrant and onions are softened. Add shrimp. Cook until pink and firm. Add pasta back into saucepan and toss/ mix to coat and combine.
Put all back into the serving bowl and finely grate cheese on top. Mix one last time, and serve.

We ate all of this...either it was really good, or we were really hungry, or both!

Making Pies

Say these words to the tune of the Patti Griffin song, "Making Pies" :)

And then get pie making! I've got some pie baking to do for Thanksgiving, namely some apple, more apple, and possibly a cherry. AND I have some reserved peach pie filling that my sister and I whipped up back in August when peaches abounded. Every time I open up my freezer I see it and I just think, oh peach pie...I'll be using it in the deep winter when some summer is needed, but for now, feast on these and dream of the over-eating, pants-tightening, food fest coming up in less than a week:

{peach pie, ready to cool}

{peach and apple pie, more to come on apple...}

What the....

It's happened....I am finally writing a research paper and (gasp!!!) I am ENJOYING myself! I'm wishing I could write more pages than the requirement dictates so that I could go on spewing my knowledge on each page, excitedly clicking the keyboard, frantically looking back to see what I've already covered and what I have yet to share, bemoaning the fact that I have to use a schematic or table or figure because the silly thing is taking up needed word space....What is going on?!

Must be the major. Bless you, dear sweet speech patholgy.
Welp, back to writing my paper!

Just so's you know, I've decided to post my blog post from yesterday...I was having trouble deciding whether or not to do it, but what the X, I'm in such a good mood, come what may!!

Grateful...

I was in an accident yesterday. I’m not sure if I should share this story, but I’m extremely grateful for the way things worked out, and it was a nice little reminder that Heavenly Father is always watching out for us.

Here’s the story:

I had gone home to pick up Jeffrey’s clothes and such for his flag football game and noticed while driving that the traffic on one of the main streets, University Avenue, was worse than usual. I started grumbling to myself as I always do while driving in Utah-I HATE HATE HATE driving here. I swear, I’ve never been around so many dumb, non-law-abiding drivers anywhere. It’s ridiculous. Anyway, that was a rant, back to the story. I decided when on my way back up to campus that instead of enduring the traffic on University, I would turn off as soon as possible and take another street.

I turned down this one street (300 S, if you’re curious) and just continued driving, minding my own business, no cars around me, when all of sudden, a car pulled out from a side street (200 N) looking to turn into the left lane going east. I was in the left lane going east. I swerved but I knew before I even heard the “pop”, the disheartening, life shattering, blood run cold “pop” from the sound of your car being hit, I knew she would hit me. We both pulled over, and I started to call Jeff, I felt so sick, and I was really scared.

You see, here’s the real quandary: I don’t have insurance. Due to issues with the title of Jeff’s car, I’ve just been waiting to get insurance until the car was in our name and Jeff and I could sign up for a plan together. Adding to this dilemma was the fact that I also don’t have a current driver's license-mine expired on my birthday (and I’ve already ranted about Utah drivers so don’t get me started on the idiocy of the DMV and government agency daily hours of operation). Basically, this accident was a NIGHTMARE. One we had worried over, but were too complacent with our current conveniences to really do anything about. I was looking at jail time for driving without insurance, and not having a license sure wasn’t going to give me a low bail.

But when I got out of the car to survey the damage, I had to put my call to Jeff on hold. I couldn’t believe my eyes; I remember thinking: “Did she really hit me? I know she hit me…” There was little to no damage. The driver’s side bumper was scratched up and her green car paint was smeared on it a bit, and the bumper had been concaved-not dented-just barely popped out of the car (we’re talking like a centimeter, possible a half centimeter of poppage). I was so relieved! An just kept staring at the car in disbelief. Her car was essentially undamaged as well, and we were both driving our husband’s cars, so we decided to just go our own ways.

Now you know why I had some qualms about sharing this story, and some of you may think that there is little to be grateful for-the car is still damaged, the other driver got away without being punished for her bad driving, the general illegal-ness of the whole situation-but I am grateful. Grateful that I’m not in jail. Grateful that I’m not hurt. Grateful to not be paying hefty fines I cannot afford. Grateful that the car will be still look and function just fine without paying to have the small damages fixed. Grateful that even when we’ve been consistently irresponsible and thoughtless in the things we ought to do as good, law-abiding citizens, the Lord will still look out for us, because He loves us and does not want us to suffer.

I’m treating this experience as a nice little hint, and I have officially stopped driving and am in the process of getting car insurance with USAA.

Potpourri

...not the pokey, stangely colored kind, or the liquid kind that my Mama used to pour into a miniature crockpot, more like the conglomerate of "I don't know whats" kind. This is the kind of potpourri my life has been lately.

So here's a potpourri post of things that currently float about in my mind:

Date nights with Jeffrey...the other night we went to Chili's with the gift card Jeffrey won from his first place chili. Date nights are getting a bit less frequent with the latest onslaught of intramural football and basketball games, and the encroaching end of the semester, but I love them nevertheless because being with my best friend always settles the turbulence in my life (and consequently our lives!).

Family. Both present and future. Those with us and those far away. Immediate and extended. I can never express how lucky I am to be a part of such wonderful families.

Thanksgiving! This picture and this picture make me chuckle...I sure hope I can cook a good bird!


GRAD SCHOOL?
Kinda scary, kinda exciting, kinda competitive.


Anyway, there's just a snippet of what occupies my mind these days.
I hope your minds are considering all past, present, future issues, and that you are all finding joy in your journey.

Weekend Mirths

Oh the weekend was a relaxing one.

It snowed...winter now dusts the mountains. This is one of the times I love Utah best.

After class, I strolled through the Provo Library, just pulling interesting books off the (juvenille reading) shelf. I loved it. It felt so indulgent to just grab whatever caught my attention, and I felt like a little girl again in the days where I spent most every afternoon at the library.

With the snow-capped mountains around me and some light-reading in tow, I fixed myself a cup of tea, read, and waited for my Jeffrey to come home.

Saturday afternoon I wanted to do nothing other than bake. So I did. Then I dabbled in homework. Slowly but surely this simplest, homemade applesauce perfumed our home with the rustic smell of roasting apples.

{rome apples, peeled}

{apples, cored, peeled and ready to be grated}

{crockpot of apples ready to simmer}

So Cinch Applesauce

8 apples- I like to use Rome apples and sprinkle in a few Granny Smiths
1/2 C water
scant scant 1/2 C granulated sugar
cinnamon to taste (optional)

Peel and core apples, being sure to clear out all the core and seeds from the apples. Chop, rough chop, or grate your apples depending on your preference for super-chunky, chunky, or really not chunky at all (you can always put the applesauce in the blender if you'd like to smooth it out). Put the apples in the crockpot (we like to use crockpot liners-easy peasy clean-up for my honey), pour water and sugar and cinnamon over top the apples and mix. Cover, cook on "Low" for anywhere from 6-8 hours. If you cook it for over 10 hours, you could end up with apple butter, which is also delicious.
We like to let ours cool before we eat it, then we eat it a la carte, or on cottage cheese, or in oatmeal.

Sweet, Sweet Night

If you live in Provo and you've never been to Sweet Tooth Fairy gourmet bakery, it's time to find out what you've been missing.

Saturday night STF is hosting a date night from 7pm to 9pm and offering their delectable delights at buy one, get one half off.

...that's the sweetest deal you'll find all weekend :)




Some additonal info:

STF has been featured on Food Network, Good Things Utah, and even one of my blog favs, Cupcakes take the cake. I always go for the cupcakes which are so moist and are topped with smooth buttercream. They have awesome flavors like S'mores (!!), Dulce de Leche, Toasted Coconut, Gumball, Cotton Candy, Pina Colada and Key Lime. My personal favorite: Va-NIE-lla squared (not sure why they spell it like that, maybe they're attempting phonetics? I just know the cupcake itself is perfect). Jeffery's favorite: CHOCOLATE...anything chocolate including Double Fudge or Peanut Butter.

Stocking up

My sister, Krista, teases me about this.

But I think it's wonderful so I am going to share. Here's how to make superbly delicious broth at no additional cost to your budget-a kind of broth that will jazz up your soups and knock your slippers off. And since it's getting colder and soups are sounding more and more like a good dinner idea, consider this a timely suggestion.

I call it "saving vegetable ends". I must admit this wasn't all my idea, it was a suggestion I found somewhere online at some time, but I implement the technique of saving veggie ends as I'm sure no one does. It's rather simple, really. Just whenever you are slicing and dicing vegetables, save the pieces you would normally throw away, put them in a large freezer bag, and stash them in the freezer. When the bag is full, it's time to make stock!

Some stashing tips:
Thoroughly wash all vegetables-you don't want dirt, etc. in your broth
Stash the onion skins! They give the broth a rich color and flavor
Stash unused fresh herbs! I had some leftover parsley that I threw in and it was delish
Stash chicken bones! I like to buy a rotisserie chicken every now and then, separate all the meat from the bones, and save the bones (some with bits of chicken and skin on too) to add to my broth. Bonus-rotisserie chickie makes delicious soups, salads, and wraps

The first time I made broth I let it simmer in my cast iron pot for about 2 hours. But I recently made some broth in the crock pot on the "Low" setting and let it cook for about 8 hours (I put all the veggies and things in, added about 8 cups of water and just a bit of salt, left for shcool, and when I came home it was ready). I think I like this method better, and I also think that next time I'll add 10 cups of water.
After cooking, I pour the veggies and broth through a large strainer, then again through a fine strainer which rids the broth of all the dregs and such. I then put it into a large jar. If I knew how to can things, I would definitely can this. Alas, I cannot (haha unintentional pun alert!!) so I just put a lid on and store it in my fridge. It never sits there long....delicious homemade soup calls my name....

Go ahead and try this! I promise you'll love it- even if your loved ones think you're a freezer-crazy, veggie stashing, frugal frump- it's so worth it.


jars of stock pic from elanaspantry.com

Novel Ideas

The leaves are falling now and I am constantly tempted to run around and try to snatch them right out of the air. I'm sad to see them fall, abandoning their trees and exposing bare branches to the infringing winter. The nights are growing longer and soon winter will frosting my windows and encouraging me to cozy up to a good book with a cup of tea.

Here are some never-fail favorite reads (children's books included):
Pride and Prejudice
The Scarlet Letter
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Ella Enchanted
The Walking Drum
The Alchemist
Ginger Jumps
Max and Ruby
Knots on a Counting Rope

And some that I am looking forward to discovering:
Atonement
Three Cups of Tea
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
Life of Pi-I started, but must finish
The Secret Life of Bees
Lolita
The Blind Assassin
?L.A. candy?- if I ever get to feeling the need for a gossip novel, it’ll be this
A Wrinkle in Time
The Sound and the Fury
The Inexhaustible Gospel

Hopefully I'll have enough time to ditch the textbooks and delve into these enticing novels. Here's to cozy winter nights and minute amounts of dry, textual discourses!

Milkshake Monday

Mondays tend to be hard days, right? In order to instill some deliciousness into the otherwise unsavory day, my high school runner friends and I used to gather at the local BK to get chocolate milkshakes after cross country practice. You might be thinking, "Burger King?", like, "that's the best you could do?" But really, BK choco shakes are sooo good! (Trust me, I've had a lot of them). There's something kinda marshmallow-y about them, which, as has been aforementioned, is superb in my book.

Sometimes I just need the comfort that good memories of friends and traditions can bestow, so when things got gloomy, Jeff and I got Burger King chocolate milkshakes.

{cheers to mondays... as long as there's milkshakes}

Weekend Mirths

Simply:
The parents were in town for Krista’s BFA Show

Said show, entitled, “As I Am”, is beautiful-a must see. It will be in Gallery 303 in the Harris Fine Arts Center (HFAC) on Brigham Young University Campus until November 23rd. Go.

Together as a family we shared a beautiful, meaningful weekend that so strengthened my testimony that families are forever, and that families are founded on love. I feel so blessed to be a part of the wonderful heritage which is my family; I am especially in awe and so grateful for my angel mother, and the matriarch of all, sweet Dorothy Hare, my grandmother.

To wrap up the weekend, we had a big family dinner at my aunt's house, after which Jeffrey and I creamed everyone in BS Webster...go team Klis!