Ahhhhh much better!

Thanks to Jessica and Peter for your help! Peter, I was actually hoping that you'd respond... and Jessica, you've just proven that what goes around comes around. I helped you with the same thing a while back, and now you've helped me!

Thank you thank you!

Scroll down to see the improvement :)

Blogger issues

I can't get my photos to enlarge yesterday or today. Is anyone else having the same problem? I change the image size from s400 to s640 in 'edit html' but nothing happens.

Any suggestions from you techies out there?

For Stacey

... whom I miss every single day.



...she moved far, far away to California and is missing Utah in the fall. Love you sis!

Watching

I am in love with these shots. Isn't she beautiful?

Halloween Party!

We had a Halloween party for my family last Saturday. and then came back to our apartment for dinner and dessert.

I was so excited to host an event at our apartment- even though it isn't very big. We respaced our furniture so that we had more room and pushed our dining table up next to one of our couches... we used the counter for the dinner setup and our dining table had the dessert spread. It worked really well.

I found some fantastic table paper and matching cups at Ikea and of course, my aluminum serveware collection, and I really loved how it turned out.

All the serveware is from Old Town Imports. I took pictures for their blog (part of my job) They are having a random drawing right now, so enter to win on their blog!

Here are a few of my favorites from the party... more on the OTI blog...

A change will do you good

The end of an era... (Canon Powershot S3. Our little buddy from 9.07-10.09)

... and the dawning of a new (Nikon D90 - 10.08 until Kyle wants to buy me an upgrade)

[After working out some issues with Photoshop Camera RAW plugins (that's what you get for buying a brand new camera- software isn't compatible), I can now convert my RAW files to jpegs for posting. So watch out world... here come a whole heck of a lot of photos. That's a mouthfull.]

French Onion Soup: revisited

Ok, so I take back what I said about the French Onion soup perhaps not being worth the time. It's completely worth it. I made it again on Monday with the whole menu of French Onion Soup New York Strip Steak with Mushrooms and Fresh Thyme, and Potatoes Gratin. Everything was delicious and easy to make, and soup was superb.

I halfed the batch (2 onions instead of four, etc.) used half the wine suggested (so 1/4 cup for the half batch). We filled up our ramekins and and instead of adding a whole slice of bread, we topped the soup with a handful of roasted garlic focaccia croutons (from costco- amazing. I eat them as snacks) and Gruyère cheese. Stuck them under the broiler for a few minutes and voila! Next time it's croutons all the way.

We had leftovers that I have eaten for the past few days for lunch. I normally eat a piece of bread, a quick sandwich, or some fruit on my way out the door, so it's been pretty glamorous to eat my fancy bistro soup while reading Domino at my kitchen table. I feel like a new woman!

I will never have to head for a restaurant again when I'm craving this. Unless I'm real lazy. I will probably make a huge batch every now and then for dinner or a side, then store the rest for later. I've never frozen soup, but I suppose there's no reason I shouldn't try. Is there a reason I shouldn't try?

So glad I made this again!

If only I could knit

picture and free pattern via whipup

I would be all over these if I could actually follow a knitting pattern. I'll add that to my to-do list... Aunt Lorrie, fancy adding a day to our quilt camp next year? Knitting for dummies?

Side Salad Envy

This is precisely the reason I wanted my own blog. So that I could write about my quirkiness and it won't reflect poorly on the entire family... 'they're all nutters' and what not. Anyway...

Last week I was sitting in a lunch meeting for the committee I'm on for the Utah Heritage Foundation (attempting to put my masters degree to use) and I just could not focus to save my life. The meeting was actually really interesting, I am by far the least qualified person on the committee, and I really have to focus because I'm not as familiar with US laws and practices, etc because I went to grad school in England. So you'd think I'd try my best to focus and that it would be a major life decision or some extremely joyous or horrible circumstance that would distract me so, but no. It was my side salad. Yes, a side salad, people.

Last time we had a lunch, I picked a box marked "Tuscan" and enjoyed not only a fabulous sandwich, but also a pesto pasta side salad and a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. This time I chose "Tuscan" again, but instead of my gorgeous pesto pasta salad, I got some strange looking red onion tuna salad. What the heck. And why do they call them red onions anyway? They are purple. I couldn't even eat two bites of my salad, it was so gross. And I am not picky whatsoever. I love trying new food. Not this food. Not fun.

The man to my left had that gorgeous bowtie pesto pasta salad with pinenuts I got last time, and the man to my right got one of my FAVORITES: insalata caprese (tomatoes and fresh mozzarella with basil). He ate one bite of his caprese and pushed it aside. Was he having side salad envy too? Perhaps he was eyeing my nasty tuna. If wasn't such a prominent lawyer I would have swapped while he wasn't looking. I should have. Cause I was pretty much regretting my choice of lunch boxes during the entire meeting... which may have been apparent to some. I did not say one word until the last five minutes.

And then another committee member walked in about 45 minutes late. There were three lunch boxes left on the table, and he had the nerve, nay, the gumption to look in every single one. How cheeky. But he got the sandwich/side salad/cookie combo he wanted and I had to respect him for that. Was it a coincidence that he looked up at me in between bites of his perfectly lovely fruit salad and smiled triumphantly? I think not.

Next time I'll wise up. Get there early. Make SURE I get a side salad I won't spit out even if it means looking in each lunchbox and swapping for the salad of my dreams. Then perhaps I'll be able to focus.

For Mamas & Mamas-to-be

I think it's fantastic that clothing companies are starting to accommodate pregnant women with fabulous fashion. When I was pregnant, Old Navy was a favorite for finding good deals on clothes that didn't look too much like poofy maternity clothes of yesteryear and made me feel fantastic. Well, as fantastic as you can get when you're pregnant.

They have expanded their maternity line, and added a nursing line! It's pretty sparse, but I trust that they'll expand it if interest grows... and hopefully it will. Because the nursing clothes I've found are laaaame.

And for those of you with babies already, they are having a fantastic clearance sale on baby clothes- ONLINE ONLY. Can't. stop. myself. Neither could you if you were blessed with a baby as beautiful as Ella.

Art quiz

Look familiar? If not, I won't tease you, but you might want to brush up on your art history. I guess this is pretty blasphemous when you put it in context. oh well. I like it just the same.

Seriously delicious quesadillas

My sister Stefanie's former beau introduced us to this technique when cooking quesadillas. This is one of our favorite go-to meals because it's easy and fantastic.

Fill your quesadilla with wahtever you desire, but instead of putting all the cheese in the middle, reserve some of the cheese for the outside. 'What!' you say? Trust me on this one. You'll love it. You can use as little or as much cheese as you'd like, but just be sure that it gets nice and crispy without burning the cheese. Make these and I guarantee that your quesadillas will go from 'good' to 'oh WOW.'

Here's the layering technique I use that makes it so the quesadilla guts don't spill out:

• put your cheese in the pan
• put one tortilla on top of the cheese and squish the tortilla (a spatula works best) so that the cheese sticks to it (I usually have to move it around on the pan to get it to stick to the tortilla instead of the pan)
  
• fill the tortilla with cheese, chicken, fresh veggies, whatever you wish and let cook until cheese is melted
  
• scoop up the tortilla with your spatula
• put the other tortilla on top of the filling
• turn the newly made tortilla sandwich onto a small plate (or your hand if you're brave) with the hot, cheesy tortilla facing UP -sort of like the cake-to-plate technique you use when baking.
  
• put the rest of the cheese into the pan
• slide the un-cheesed tortilla on top of the cheese and squish
• wait until cheese is crispy, then remove from pan and slice into quarters or eighths
  

Also, we tried using corn tortillas because that's what we had and we actually like the flavor a whole lot better. Try it!


[and that's sparkling lemonade, not murky milk/water in my glass :) just fyi]

Support your local farmers

Go to your local farmer's market! We went to the downtown SLC farmer's market early this morning and it was fantastic! It was even raining and we had the greatest time. Next year I think we'll go like every week.

[picture by my dad]

Wireless Memory Card

I can't tell you how many times I've left pictures on my camera because I can't find my USB cord or because I'm just plain lazy.

How cool is this wireless SD card (as seen at the Costco website)? This technology is perfect for me... when I get my new camera (hopefully in the next week!) I will definitely think about spending a bit more for this...

What the...

I went to take Ella to the swings today. On my way there I passed this abandoned table. I heard screaming in the distance and could just make out several kids running around like crazy people on the lawn and figured this mess was theirs. I snapped a picture from far away, but the closer I got the crazier it got. What the heck kind of a party is this? Fruit loop-potato chip-candy casserole? There was stuff everywhere.



I sure hope they cleaned it up cause we can see it from our apartment. And I, like my father, feel it a moral duty to clean up other people's messes when it's for the greater good. I'll keep my fingers crossed that these hooligans were responsible. It got dark before the screaming and laughing stopped so hopefully they had some sort of parental supervision. Though, from this scene, I would think not.

French Onion Soup

Today I tried making French onion soup from scratch. It took forever, and we really liked it, but I'm not sure that it's one of those recipes that MUST be homemade. In England we used to buy a mix and then just broil the bread and cheese. I think that's just as good.

Though, this is one of the most rewarding recipes I've ever made with regards to enjoying the process. The smells, the textures, so incredible. I'd probably make it again so that I could enjoy the developing aroma. yum. We love it with Gruyere, but we've also tried Swiss and Emmentel (also a Swiss) and they work well too. Next time I'll use less cooking wine in the soup. It seemed to overpower it a bit. And yes, I got carded today in Macey's for cooking wine. Why wouldn't I just get real wine if I was underage?

Find the recipe here: The whole menu is fantastic, really. We were going to have all three items, but we weren't hungry. Probably because of the doughnuts. I love Tyler Florence (Tyler's Ultimate, How to Boil Water, etc.), on the Food Network, because he makes recipes you actually use. If we invite you over for dinner soon you just might find yourself enjoying 'Tyler's Ultimate Bistro' with this yummy soup...

Clean.

Having Ella around has made me keenly aware of the state of my house. Those of you who know me well know that I have issues when it comes to keeping my house clean. Most especially my room. But now that Ella is getting into everything I have realized that my home not only needs to look clean, it needs to BE clean.

So, I am trying to teach myself to keep the house clean 24/7. I've been trying to do little things every day that make cleaning part of our daily routine, and keep our house clean all the time. I figure that if I can't do it now, I will not survive with more than one child.

I've received a lot of fantastic pointers from my friends and family that have helped me to set my new routine, so I figured I'd tell you what I do in case it gives you ideas... This is my ideal scenario. I try to do all of these things and I am doing better every single day:

• My new motto is "do it now, or it won't get done" (which works well, because it's true)
  

• Stacey suggested that I wipe the bathroom clean every day after Ella's bath. I use a few Lysol bleach wipes and clean every surface. It takes about a minute and it really makes a difference.

• I sweep after every meal so that I don't have to worry about what Ella is finding on the ground, and I vacuum our bedrooms and area rug as often as I can. I try to sweep our entire hardwood floor area once a day before bed and then get sticky spots or spilled food on the floor with a bleach wipe.

• I clean up every meal right after the meal is finished, and try to clean up as much as I can while I'm cooking. Otherwise I tend to let the dishes pile up.
  

• It's the same with laundry- I follow Stacey's example and fold the laundry right out of the dryer, then put it away immediately.

• I have bleach wipes in the kitchen, in the laundry room closet, and in the bathroom to use at any time.

• I keep toy baskets under our coffee table for quick cleanup and storage, and just before Kyle comes home I do a quick sweep of the house including picking up all toys with one hand, and dusting with the other.

• With all these little things (that are becoming second nature now) I only have to do a deep clean once a week, and it's easy peasy. And I have the peace of mind to know that no matter what she touches, it's clean... and then I can grab the camera and enjoy the moment instead of freaking out thinking about all the germs.
  

Cake Pops

Another new favorite. I saw these on Bakerella's blog (she is amazing and oh so creative) and I really wanted to try them out! I made them for Kyle for our anniversary- and as sappy as it sounds, I wrote a few of the reasons I loved him on the cupcake liner so that when he picked up the pop he'd see it. Awwwww.

They look amazing and taste incredible and I'm trying these cupcake pops next.

You can make any kind you like. I did chocolate cake with chocolate frosting dipped in milk chocolate for Kyle. They were REALLY rich, but so yummy! You can pretty much do a combination of any cake mix and frosting- it's really just a cake mix, baked and crumbled, mixed with a jar of frosting, chilled and rolled, then dipped in chocolate! Easy peasy...

Here is a link to Bakerella's Red Velvet Cake Balls to give you an idea of the process involved.

But be warned, if you're attending any sort of event in the future with me where treats are involved, I'm bringing these! Dibs!

And they look darling wrapped up like this...

Utah Art Market

I'm all about markets. This arts and crafts market looks like fun!

It's October 11th in Sugarhouse. At the Sugarhouse Garden Center to be exact: 1602 East 2100 South, Salt Lake City.

See you there?

Little Chocolate Clouds

I found this recipe on a blog a while back and these amazing chocolate cookies quickly became a favorite. They are absolutely delicious and it's an incredibly easy and quick recipe. You probably have the ingredients on hand: chocolate cake mix, cream cheese, butter, an egg, vanilla.

I usually don't love cookies, but I couldn't resist the imagery conjured by the title 'little chocolate clouds.' They didn't disappoint. Incredibly light and airy, watch out, you just might eat the whole batch yourself.

{recipe & photo from thismamamakesstuff}

Little Chocolate Clouds

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Soften and beat together:
1 eight ounce package cream cheese
1 stick butter

Add:
1 egg
1 t vanilla

Mix in:
1 dark chocolate cake mix (I used devil's food and it was even better)

Chill for 20 minutes.
Roll into balls (we did about 1 TBSP for bite size cookies).
Roll balls into powdered sugar.
Bake for 7-9 minutes.
Cool and enjoy.