Pate de choux

A couple of days ago Jason asked me to make some treats for his "work" party. (His research group is having a little halloween party) We both thought I was going to make sugar cookies with orange frosting, but yesterday as I was watching "Good Eats" we both decided I should make eclairs. I ran to the store before work to grab some bread flour, and pastry bags. 

          Later last night, at around 10:30, I started to make the eclairs. The first one- the tester- turned out a little off, because our oven sucks. I had to adjust the temperature so they wouldn't burn, but would still cook thoroughly. I finally got it and they turned out great! Here are some pictures. If you want the recipe let me know and I'll think about posting it. ;)

P.S. Watch pushing daisies. You can check it out at abc.com. Fantastic show!

The Piemaker

TV show of the week:

Pushing Daisies!

The other day I was checking out Yahoo's homepage and found a list of shows that are in trouble of going off the air. Arrested development went off the air after only 3 seasons, so I figured I should check out the shows and see if there were any worth saving. I only saw one that looked interesting, Pushing Daisies, so I looked it up online and started watching. I am in love with this show now! It is great! If you haven't seen it, check it out. It is on tonight at 7 on abc (check your local listings just in case the time is different). The show is about a piemaker who can bring things back to life for one minute if he touches them. He has to touch them within the one minute so they will die again, or something else nearby will die. The show is fantastic and I recommend it! Penny and Kate even like it! If you get the chance, you should check it out and tell me what you think of it. 

Prop 8?

Mostly all I hear these days is about proposition 8. When I get on the internet my computer automatically goes to the apple homepage. Today I actually took a little bit of a look at their page and lo and behold, there was apple's opinion on proposition 8. I probably shouldn't have been surprised, because apple is supposed to the "young and hip" company, but it still shocked me. Apple is proud to oppose proposition 8, and if I had the chance, I would vote YES on proposition 8. 

This is my two cents on the matter. I will post something new later on.

6 oddities about me.

I have been meaning to do a post, but I couldn't think of anything to write about, and now I've been tagged! Yay! Thank you Katrina!

The Rules:

• Link the person(s) who tagged you.

• Mention the rules on your blog.

• Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.

• Tag some fellow bloggers by linking them.

• Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged!

So...now...my 6 quirks:

1. Like my aunt Annie, I have to have the volume on an even number. It doesn't matter if it's in the car or on the tv at home. If it's not on an even number it's alright if the number ends in a 5. I guess it's not as bad as it used to be.

2. I hate it when I sleep under the covers and Jason sleeps on top of them. It bothers me so much not being able to move freely. I also hate sleeping in sleeping bags for the same reason, unless it is unzipped.

3. Um... I want to have more pictures taken in my wedding dress. I just think it would be fun, and I want more pictures. :)

4. The only video games that I have played and beat all by myself (mostly) are; Guitar hero and Rock band. 

5. I very much dislike the winter! I can't stand being cold (even though most of the time I am freezing). I very much dislike that snow is wet and cold! I HATE driving in the snow in Utah! 

6. I don't like ribs, the food kind. I didn't grow up eating them, and I think they are kind of gross. Anyways... Jason loves them and every once in a while he will ask me to make them for dinner for him, which I do, but I make myself something else to eat. 

I guess that's it... I'm sure there are many many more weird quirky things about me, but I just can't think about any. 

I tag everyone who has not done this yet, and would like to do it... 

Post coming soon.

There is a new post on the way! I have been tagged and I am just having a hard time picking only 6 quirky things about myself. 

In the meantime I want to talk about two shows I love from the food network! The first one is called Ace of Cakes. It's about a man who does amazing cake decorating! I mean amazing!!! Check it out on Youtube. The second show is Good Eats. The show teaches you how to make food, and gives great random facts about cooking and food. It's really informational and reminds me a little bit of bill nye the science guy, haha. 

SO HOTT!!

My mom, Kate, and Penny just got back from "Mothers weekend" up at BYU-I, and brought with them a gift bag from Janna to Tanner. Tanner opened the bag that was labeled, "TANNER!! Happy un-birthday!!!" Inside the bag were two fantastic items; a pair of ghetto sunglasses and a brand new wig! It wasn't just some lame wig, it was a mullet wig! These are the events of what took place next, through pictures!

Tanner with his new wig and shades.

Tanner trying the wig without the glasses.

Jason wanted to join in on the fun!

Jason becoming Kate and Penny's twin.

Jason and Penny. 

Apparently Penny doesn't like her picture taken with her twin Jason.

Tanner loved Jason's idea of using the beanie with the wig. 

Just another Sunday evening in my family's house.

Food Nanny

Over my birthday weekend we met the author of this book
She is actually the mother-in-law of a girl who grew up in my homeward. It's funny how small of a world we live in. Anyways... If you see this book, I recommend you buy it. It has such great simple recipes!

Birthday pictures...

Per request of aunt Michelle, here are some pictures of my oh-so-gorgeous jewelry from my family. While I'm at it, I might as well post some pictures from temple square... :)

I also got some AMAZING gifts from Jason's parents, but I haven't taken any pictures of them yet.

Birthday Weekend

 Crazy weekend! 

Friday I skipped school and went up to Salt Lake with my mom, dad, Tanner, Janna, Kate, and Penny. Jason had school and couldn't skip, so he wasn't able to come. We went to the Lion House for lunch, it was super good! Then we walked around temple square, took a LOT of pictures, and went to the visitors center. We then went to the Gateway mall. We walked around for a while and went into a kitchen store. As I was looking at the baking things a guy who worked there came up to my mom and me and told us there was a woman in the back promoting her new cookbook and there was food. I went back there and realized I had seen the book before on a blog of a girl who was in my home ward growing up. The book was written by her mother-in-law! I introduced myself and my mom and we eventually bought the cookbook. The recipes are so simple to make and taste really good. We shopped around for a little bit longer, and then my family left. I stayed at the Gateway for about 10 minutes and then Jason picked me up and we were on our way to the BYU vs. USU football game. Jason and I got there a little late and met his parents up there. The game was a lot of fun! The referees were annoying and stupid, but the game was fun. 

The next day Jason's parents went up to conference and then the Weber state vs. MSUB football game, and Jason and I stayed at home and watched General Conference. In between sessions we went to the mall so I could try to figure out what I wanted for my birthday... I ended up not finding anything, but we did get some coldstone ice cream and then go back home to watch more conference.  When Jason's parents got back we went to Los Hermonos for dinner. It was so funny! Denny kept talking to our waiter, as usual. Denny eventually told the waiter he was Norwegian. The waiter told us there was someone who worked there from Norway, and he called her over. Denny said something to her in norwegian, and she responded and he said something else, and she replied, and then he switched to english and asked her what part of Norway she was from. She looked at Denny and said, "Is that all you know, that isn't even very impressive." It was so stinking hilarious (maybe you had to be there). They finished their conversation in english and then as we were walking to our car on the way home Jason told me what Denny had said. It was something along the line of, "Do you speak Norwegian?" "I speak Norwegian." It was hilarious.

Sunday we watched general conference on tv and then went to my moms house, had dinner and then my mom gave me a BEAUTIFUL bracelet and pair of earrings! They are both stunning! 

Today was a little hectic! We went to breakfast and then Jason and I had to go to school. Right after school I had to rush to the store and then rush to work. Work was great. The kids were so good today! I share my birthday with twins in my class so I brought them a treat and little cupcakes for the rest of the class. After work we went to PF Changs and had dinner and then came home and opened presents. 

I have had such a fantastic birthday this year! I got to spend so much time with my family and Jason's family, it's so great to be able to spend time with everyone. 

School/work

My first week of school has been VERY interesting! 

Day one, Monday: I met my Monday volunteers and then the kids came into the lunch room for snack time. They seemed fairly calm and I was pretty excited. We went outside and played kickball and then we went to our classroom. This is where the troubles started. We went into the room and the kids were yelling and hitting each other (kind of wrestling). I tried to get them to do their homework and had no luck. One of the boys sat at a different desk and did his homework, but the rest wouldn't. I tried to have the kids come up with class rules and they refused. (Good luck me.) Finally one of my volunteers starting quizzing the kids about sports teams and where they were located. The boys LOVED it! Luckily I had some M&M's with me and each time someone guessed the correct state of the team they would get M&M's. When the volunteer couldn't think of any more sports teams, he would tell the students a city and have them guess the state. By the time we all got really into the game our time was up and we all went home. 

Day two, Tuesday: I met my Tuesday volunteers and the kids had their snack then went to the gym. (We switch inside/outside days with the younger grades) After play time it was back to the classroom... I was hoping things would be better than they had been on Monday, but they weren't. They were worse. I asked the kids to sit at their desks and start their homework. I came up with rules for the class and tried to motivate them by telling them they could work towards a party and they chose a pizza party. Unfortunately the kids really just didn't care. They didn't want to do their homework, other than the same kid who did his homework the first day, and refused to do much else. The kids did not like the Tuesday volunteers. I felt really bad. The kids kept telling the volunteers that they liked their Monday volunteers better. (I'm going to have to teach these kids to be polite).

Day three, Wednesday: We started the day with a snack and then went back outside to play. Most of the kids wanted to play soccer and the rest wanted to jump rope and hula hoop. FANTASTIC IDEA! By the time we went back into the classroom, the kids were just so tired that they sat right down and only complained a little bit, but they started their homework. It was fantastic! After homework we played a game called, "Whoonu" it's the cranium version of apples to apples. The kids didn't throw the pieces. They didn't even bend the cards! After that game we played the "States" game, and class was over!

Day four, Thursday: The daily ritual began again with snack in the lunchroom, and then in the gym to play. We played tag (great way to get the kids to get tired) and then went to our classroom. Homework was a little bit more difficult than the day before, but still a lot better than the first two days. We played whoonu and one of the kids wanted to play the states game, but the rest of the kids wanted to finish their game of whoonu and then we left.

The kids are so fun, and I am having such a fun time with them. Overall this experience is fabulous so far. I have a couple of ideas to keep the attention of these kids for next week. Jason even suggested getting the game, "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" I'm also going to try to slowly increase the time of homework/ reading (because I'm sneaky like that).