Stockings and Skiing

For the FHE before Christmas we decided to try our hand at the fine art of stocking-making. We learned a couple of key things in this process:
1) Never trust ehow.com for accurate instructions on how to make a Christmas stocking
2) Always have a husband on hand who thrives off of jimmy-rigging things -- it saves a wife like me from having a sewing melt-down five days before Christmas


Turns out, they look quite nice (just don't look too closely!) and they were perfectly functional come Christmas morning, stuffed full of fun goodies.

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One of the perks of watching three ski movies in a span of a month or so is all the free stuff they gave away/raffled off to viewers like us. At the first movie, Gregg won a sweet Flylow ski jacket, which was too small for him, but just happened to fit me perfectly! (Score!) The next two movies provided free day passes to a couple of ski resorts, so we decided to put both the jacket and the pass to Wolf Mountain to good use on the 28th. While it wasn't the sunniest of ski days, we still had a marvelous time.


(Coincidentally, it was also our four month anniversary. Yeah, this is the life.)

100 Days

.... and counting*

*at the time of publication of this post we're up to one hundred and three

O Tannenbaum

one freshly cut fir = $14.00

one heavy duty tree stand = $12.00

(we don't have a saw, but that didn't stop Gregg from using our 'saw knife' from the knife block)

(note the swell tv fire, complete with popping fire sounds to add to the ambiance)

four hundred twinkling, colored lights = $11.52

our first Christmas tree = priceless

All the way home I'll be warm

You may have heard about the gigantic blizzard of doom that was to wreak havoc across Utah on November 23rd. Well, it sure did hit Logan. The wind a howlin' and the snow was a swirlin' for a solid four hours. We hunkered down, turned up the heater, ate some yummy dinner, wrapped up in a blanket and watched Home Alone.

Then ... after the snow stopped ... we ventured out to enjoy the magical beauty of this winter wonderland.

Our first view from the front door.
(Notice the edge sticking out into the doorway -- this blizzard was crazy!)

This is where we live.

As happy as a little boy on Christmas!

Cozy little cottage.

Frisbee in the snow = super fun.

The sweet and very aerodynamic (looking) Saturn.

Let it snow! Let it Snow! Let it snow!

A Reason to Celebrate

On Saturday (November 6th) we broke out the 1 and 0 candles for another milestone celebration: 10 weeks of wedded bliss. And we needed something to put the candles into, so I whipped up a batch of my new favorite breakfast/dessert/mid-day snack.

Here's the recipe for the deliciousness:

Apple Lemon Oat Muffins

1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1-1/4 cups unsifted flour
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup (about 1 medium) finely chopped apples
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Lemon Icing

Preheat oven to 400°F. In medium bowl, beat egg; stir in milk, oil then lemon juice. Add oats; mix well. In a separate bowl sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add to oat mixture with apples and nuts. Mix only until moistened (batter will be thick). Spoon batter into greased or paper baking cup-lined muffin cups. Bake 20 minutes or until golden. Spoon Lemon Icing over muffins. Remove from pan.

Lemon Icing: Combine 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon melted butter. (Makes about 1/4 cup.)

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That night we continued the celebration by cheering on RSL in the second half of their first round playoff game. Unfortunately it was the end of the road for Real Salt Lake, but we enjoyed the evening and the atmosphere anyway. (Minus the beer-soaked purse and inhaled confetti compliments of the folks sitting right behind us.)

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

Tonight it's Tortilla Soup ... though it probably could be called Enchilada Soup because that's what it tastes like. Pure heaven. Try it yourself!

Camilla's Tortilla Soup
(with a couple minor additions/alterations by Kim and her mom, Peggy)

3 cans chicken broth (or ~4 cups H2O + 2 chicken bouillon cubes if that's what you have, like me)
2 cans cream o' chicken soup
1 med. onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 large pepper, chopped (we prefer red bell pepper, but green works, too)
3-4 chicken breasts (we had tenders, and 4 of those is plenty)
1/2 cup salsa
1/2-3/4 cup uncooked rice
pepper, garlic powder and cumin, to taste

Boil the chicken. Remove from water and shred. Saute onion, pepper and celery (and season with a couple shakes of garlic powder) till barely crisp. Mix broth and soup in a large pan. Heat till boiling. Add onions, peppers, celery, chicken, rice and salsa. Add pepper and cumin to taste. Simmer until rice is cooked (or until your dishy husband gets home from class ... whichever comes last ;). Serve with avocado slices, shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream and a handful of crushed tortilla chips. But it's even really awesome all by itself. Dig in!

How to Make a Gromlet

When it comes to food, I eat more than a few gromlets. In fact, Tuesdays are starting to become the standard evening that I make gromlets for dinner. How does one make such a fine specimen of a mean? Funny you should ask:

GROMLETS
Unlike normal dishes, making gromlets has not only an ingredient and instructions list, but also a rules list. Well, just one rule actually.

The Rule
You cannot use a spatula or any other utensil/tool except to cut the gromlet in half

The Ingredients

• Frozen hash browns
• Some type of pre-cooked meat (chicken nuggets, ham, spam, corned beef, etc.)
• Eggs
• Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Salsa or Barbecue Sauce
• Tortillas

The Instructions

1. Add a table spoon or two of oil to a frying pan and put it to about med-high
2. Once hot, add your hashbrowns and meat till the bottom of the frying pan is full (the edges of the pan will give it it's round shape) and season with seasoned salt and pepper
3. Fry and toss a bit so they mix together and the meat is spread out evenly through the browns until the browns are, well, brown
4. Crack 2-3 eggs over it (4 if you've got a friggin' huge pan) breaking the yolks with the edge of the egg shells as you drop them onto the browns so egg gets into all the cracks, this will hold the gromlet together
5. Cook till once side of the eggs are done, then will your mad flap-jack flippin skills (sans spatula of course) flip the whole concoction over. It helps to jiggle the pan a bit so it's loosened from the teflon first
6. Once you flip it, throw some grated cheese on top. Wait about a minute, then turn off the stove but keep it on the burner
7. While that is still sorta cooking on the burner that is now off, put two tortillas out on two plates
8. Spread sour cream on one side and your salsa (or barbecue sauce, whichever you prefer) on the other
9. Use your spatula to cut the round gromlet right down the middle. Put one half on each tortilla. Fold the other half of the tortilla over and enjoy.

Blue Sky, Yellow Leaves, Green River, and a Red Canyon

Ever since Kim and I met, she has heard the tales of Red Canyon and how much I love it. Finally, a couple days off school for fall break gave us the chance to sneak away. We ate like champs, slept like logs, and enjoyed the trip thoroughly, despite taking an extra hour and a half to get there thanks to one stuck semi, one semi that caught fire ahead of us on the freeway, and two wrong turns from our crackshot driver. Seems it's been longer since he drove to Flaming Gorge than he thought.

Our menu/itinerary was as follows:

Thursday

• Wake up, finish some work and left 10:00am
• Lunch was sandwiches on the road
• Arrive, stop by the overlook, find a campsite
• Dinner, tin-foil dinners, biscuits, hot chocolate
  

Friday

• Wake up, have oatmeal, hot chocolate, and biscuits
• Hike the river starting at the dam, 8.3 miles round trip
• Lunch, sandwiches on a rock by the river
• Come back, nap, lounge read
• Dinner, beef stew, biscuits, baked apples, hot chocolate

Saturday

• Breakfast, corned beef hash, biscuits, hot chocolate
• Pack up, hike the canyon rim trail
  
• Lunch at La Beau's in Garden City on the way home
  

Here are the pictures from the official trip photographer. Kim.

One of many delays, a truck that burned to the ground as we watched

And there she is, Flaming Gorge. Our first view.

A sample of the aspens that we're 100% amazing on the mountain sides.

Kim's photographic skill never ceases to amaze.

Hangin' by the fire.

We had the river to ourselves for the first couple of hours.

One of the highlights, a bald eagle chillin' on a tree by the river.

Lunch on the Green. Ain't nothin' better.

Our campsite at Meadow Park, about 5 miles from Red Canyon.

Spending our last morning at the overlook. Lovely as ever.