Thankful for Thanksgiving.

This year we had a fantastic Thanksgiving! This entire week has been wonderful! It started out by me getting an A on my midterm for American Heritage! Yay, and then a mini vacay from school and work. 

We didn't go around the table this year and say what we are thankful for. So here is my mini-list; the gospel, my husband, my parents, my siblings, my aunts & uncles/cousins/grandparents, school, work, friends, and life. 

 We had a ton of family time and even a bit of shopping. I'm not much of a shopper, but I do enjoy the splurge on black Friday. This year we went to Wal*Mart at about 5 A.M. We only wanted a couple of their 9 dollar movies and Jason wanted some Xbox360 games, which were half off, so we got a few. The place was pretty insane. There were a ton of people, and even worse, they all had shopping carts! I understand the need for a shopping cart if you are planning on buying a Large TV, a bicycle, or even a trampoline, but if you are only getting some movies, LEAVE THE SHOPPING CART ALONE! There were seriously so many "traffic jams" inside that Wal*Mart it was ridiculous, but we eventually got everything we had gone there to get.

Oh ya, and the food was pretty darn good too! 

Coming March 2009!

My heart leapt for joy when I saw what movie is coming out on March 13 of 2009. I am thrilled for the remake of this very old movie. When I was young my sister and I would watch these movies constantly and I always wished they would update them, and my dreams have come true. 

Race to Witch Mountain is going to be great, and I can't wait for it to come out. 

Yummy yummy.

Mmmm marshmallows! Last week I decided to make marshmallows from scratch. They were delicious! 

Not hard to make at all, but pretty messy. Here is the recipe from the fantastic show "Good Eats."

Gelatine unflavored 3 packages 

1/2 c cold water

put in kitchenaid  let sit for a couple minutes.

syrup construction

 

small saucepan

1/2 cup water 

1 1/2 c sugar

1 c corn syrup

1/4 tsp of salt

medium high heat and cover for a couple of minutes.

remove lid and boil until temp reaches 240 degrees (about 8 minutes) (use a candy thermometer for exactness)

take liquid to mixer

put whisk attachment on

start mixing (on stir, or slowest setting) and slowly pour in hot liquid aiming for the side of bowl, not mixer.

once syrup is safely in crank up speed to high for about 15 minutes.

when mixture is 1 minute from being done pour in 1 tsp of vanilla extract.

metal 9x13 pan

spray pan with nonstick spray

 dust in mixture of 1/4 c confectioners sugar and 1/4 c cornstarch. (don’t use all mixture)

cover pan with aluminum foil and shake to coat the pan. 

spray rubber spatula with non stick spray and transfer the marshmallow to the coated pan and spread out.

sprinkle some of the cornstarch/confectioners sugar mixture on top. cool to room temperature and then put aluminum foil on top and let sit for at least 4 hours. 

flip marshmallow out of pan. 

use a pizza cutter and cut into size you desire. The inside will be sticky so sprinkle more of the mixture on top and you have marshmallows.

If you decide to make them tell me how they turn out.

You can also use molds to make different shapes, and dip in colored sugar to make peeps. 

Yay for wal-mart! (also, Pushing Daisies on tonight)

I have said it before, and I will say it again, Wal*mart is AMAZING!!! 

I am the kind of person who hates to buy things. Honestly, I hate spending money! Even more than spending money, I hate spending more money than necessary. Jason and I went to Kohls a few weeks ago to buy something with our credit card. 

There was a special promotion where you buy something from 5 different stores and the credit card company will give you 30 bucks. Since we shop at all of the places except for Kohls regularly, we decided to do it.

While we were at Kohls we found the kitchen section and I fell in love with everything! I love the food network and Kohls carries their items. I was very impressed. I was in need of a candy thermometer and found the one they use on the food network. I also found a flour sifter which I also fell in love with. Jason and I went home and I thought about it, and went back and bought the candy thermometer. The flour sifter was 14 dollars and I just couldn't bring myself to spending the money on it. 

Flash forward a week or two later.

I was at Wal*Mart with my mom and we went down the kitchen aisle. To my great surprise and happiness I found a flour sifter! Exactly the same as the one at Kohls, except this one was only 5 dollars!!! THANK YOU WAL*MART! 

I also found cake decorating supplies for much cheaper than anywhere else. 

My advice to you; Check Wal*Mart's pricing before you waste your money.

P.S. PUSHING DAISIES IS ON TONIGHT! 7 PM ON ABC!

Random...

It's been a little while, but I haven't really had anything to write about. I guess life is pretty boring for us right now. I did buy a candy thermometer so I can finally make marshmallows! Woohoo! I am very excited, I will take pictures and let you all know if they are any good. 

Jason and I haven't had the best luck with home teachers since we've been married, and living in this apartment. We got a home teacher for the first month we were here, and then had a dry spell for probably about 9(ish) months, got a great home teacher, for probably 4(ish) months, and then had another dry spell until this month! We finally have home teachers again! Woohoo! 

Also, I had a get-together with some of my friends from high school, and had so much fun! I wish I would have taken pictures, we will do it again, and I will take pictures then. 

And another thing, I have gotten back into reading! I don't know what it was, but I took a little break and now I am back to my normal ways of reading a book or two a week. Oh how I have missed reading. Anyone have any good suggestions?

Halloween/Murder mystery

I still haven't posted about halloween. We had a great time! We went to the Louder's for a party. they had a lot of great treats and we even carved pumpkins! (I will post that picture later). 

The day after Halloween we went to a MURDER MYSTERY! Our friends Seth and Mariah hosted it. It was great trying to figure out who was the murderer! Anyways, Here is a picture of Jason and me at the party. We got really into the costumes and tried to get as close to what we thought our characters would wear. 

(I also made ecalirs for the party! Also, Jason's fake cigar actually puffed smoke!)

General Conference Ensign November 2008

My brother has recently had a dream (goal) to make it into the ensign. At the October general conference he got to go with one of his friends from South Africa and his girlfriend. As they were walking past the ensign photographers taking pictures of other people, my brother- quite loudly- commented to his friend that the photographer should take a picture of them. The photographer heard and asked my brother and his friends if he could take a picture of them. 

Flash forward a month, I got a phone call while I was at Walmart I got a phone call from Tanner. He doesn't normally call me, he usually sends me a text message. He asked me if I had seen the ensign yet, I hadn't, and neither had he. He then told me one of his friends saw his picture in the ensign! 

We finally got our ensign and sure enough, on page 40, there was my brother! (He's the light gray one)

eclairs...

Here is the recipe. 

boil 1 cup of water with 6 Tablespoons of butter, a pinch of salt, and 1 Tablespoon of sugar.

Once it gets to a rapid boil, dump in 5 3/4 ounces of bread flour. (Pour all of the flour in at once, it says to weigh the flour, but I just measure a little less than a cup) Stir vigorously. Once the mixture starts to come together turn the heat to low and continue to mix until it is a paste and no longer sticky to the touch. (It should also produce a film on the bottom and sides of the pan, that's when it's ready) dump mixture into mixing bowl (kitchenaid). 

When you can put your finger in the mixture and not get burned, add 4 whole eggs and 2 egg whites one at a time, mixing very well (on low speed) after each egg. When it is finished it should be a smooth paste. 

 

Put paste in a pastry bag with a large circle attachment. 

Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper and squirt out the paste into a messy S (make sure all the sides touch) you can also just squirt out a thick line (which would probably be better). They should be around 2 1/2 inches long and leave about 2 inches in between each paste line.

 

Put in oven at 425 degrees (F) for 10 minutes, after 10 minutes change temperature to 350 degrees (F) until they are brown and a little bit crispy (about 6 ish minutes)

Pull out of oven and stab a hole into the side of the eclair to let the moisture escape. 

FILLING:

Vanilla instant pudding. Follow instructions, but only use 3/4 of the milk. 

Put vanilla pudding in a pastry bag with a small attachment and fill the eclair with the pudding (go slow so it doesn't burst). 

Topping:

Get 1 cup of chocolate chips and about a 1 tsp of oil and melt them together. Only melt halfway and then mix together until smooth.

Dip the eclair into the topping and you're done!