My first Tart!

I had a very, very delicious tart in sweeden this summer. I've been wanting to try and make it so I thought Valentines would be a good time to try. I broke down and invested in a tart pan, although I looked for mini tart pans but could not find them- anyone seen any? I made homeaid crust, covered with a thin layer of Milk chocolate, thin layer of custart, topped with cream, and strawberries. I also spread a thin glaze of pectin (knox jellatin) over the top. Not sure if glaze makes it look better or not?? sorry I'm not the best food photographer.

Top tart with out glaze... bottom tart with glaze

We made these cute topiaries at enrichment- the top is just felt circles

I made these for josh (marthastewart.com) & filled them with little love notes. Super easy to make & turn out really cute (just glue a floral wire inside a felt circle and then fill and glue shut)

Heart pancakes for breakfast with Maglby's buttermilk syrup (which by the way freezes fine and even re-develops it's froth when re-heated on the stove!!!) Candy boquet for Josh- despite what Millie thinks. I guess girls loving chocolate is inborn, she seems to know what it is even though she has RARELY even had chocolate... she even said chocolate the other day (of course it's her "own version" of the word chocolate)

Millie's mini arm chair that she got for Valentines. I hope to make a little reading nook for her over by our big book shelves some day ( It has helped us keep her face more than 3 inches from the Television. )
Hope you had a Happy Valentines!

First Nephew! (first BLOOD Nephew)

Millie Finally has a cousin on my side! My older sis. Kelly had a baby a couple weeks ago. She named him Oliver... and he is soooo cute! I'm feeling left out because everyone else in my family is in Utah and is able to see him but I won't be able to see him for a while :(

What a cutie huh?

"A really dangerous weather situation"...

Last week the weather man told us we were going to have "A really dangerous weather situation"... Usually this means, literally, a few snow flakes falling from the sky after which all businesses and schools shut down and grocery store shelves are bare because everyone runs out to stock up on provisions. But this one really did end up being kindof a dangerous snow situation. It was raining with temp around 20, so when the sun came up that next morning it sure was pretty, everything was covered in ice... sun glittering through.

Just Hangin' Out

It's been 2 months since I've posted, terrible. You'd think I'd have some awesome post explaining why I haven't posted... Exotic Travels, Deathly Ill, Just had a kid, New Job... but no, just being lazy. So- for my fam. (who's been bugging me for some Millie photos) here are some of our little activities.

This is one of Millies FAVORITE parts of the day. She loves her baths and will stay in till you drag her out.

Sledding in colorado over Christmas break (we don't get more than a 1/2 of snow a yr.)

Though her lips are purple and she is starting to shiver she will throw a fit when you try to take her out.

spandex & Mew-a-thon

I ran the Mew-a-thon (not to be confused with a marathon, because it's only a 5k) last week. I ran it with my good friend lacey and it was a good time! I finally ran faster than 19:30- I ran 2 5k's this fall and they were both exactly 19:30. Anyway, I wanted to talk about something other than this race; spandex. It all started at USU. I hated spandex all through H.S. I was fine with my baggy running shorts (actually I always ran in boxers that I made in home Ec. go figure) so at USU all the girls on the team were wearing spandex. Our uniform gave us a choice of norm. running shorts or spandex shorts... after a while the girls convinced me to run in the spancex. I found something that amazed me- the world of spandex WAS for me... and they can be for you too! No matter what size we are, we always feel we have a "problem area" or several problem areas, so just get over that for a while and try on a pair of spandex! then get brave and see highly qualified they are to be worn as exercise apparel. Pictured below: The most comy thing I own- blue asics spandex. I would choose these over sweats for comfort- but don't worry, I limit them to exercise. so, just try em' out let me know what ya think.

Look what I found in the Garden

This little harvest fairy paid us a visit this week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Swedish Meatballs

I never really cared for meatballs untill we went to sweden and had some really good ones!!! I found this recipe is REALLY good! I serve them with egg noodles and (melted) Lingonberry Jam, now that's the key to make them Really Delicious!


8 oz. each ground sirloin & ground pork (you can just use ground sirloin- ie: ground beef)
1/2 cup onion, coarsely chopped in a food processor
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons fine dry breadcrumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tbsp dry red wine (good substitute that I use is 1 tsp. Red wine vinegar and the rest grape juice)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought beef stock
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (or a couple Tbsp. dried)

Directions
Combine beef, pork, onion, sour cream, egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and spices with hands. Shape into 1 3/4-inch balls. Freeze on a rimmed baking sheet 30 minutes. Reroll in hands.
Heat oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook meatballs, shaking skillet, until browned and cooked through, about 6 minutes. Keep warm in oven (250 deg.) on a baking sheet.
Pour off fat and large brown bits from skillet. Add wine; cook over medium heat, stirring, until mostly reduced. Whisk in flour; add stock. Raise heat to medium-high. Simmer, stirring, until thick, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour through a sieve. Top meatballs with sauce and parsley. (to save a bit of time I cook meatballs most of the way, but then transfer them into another pan to cook the rest of the way (instead of putting them in oven) then I can make the sauce in 1st pan.

Remember to serve with LINGONBERRY jam (melted) and some egg noodles!

And the winner is...

Jenna R.!!!!

Congrats to Jenna who is now the proud owner of these shoes from Janie & Jack (or rather her babies will own them.) We just had an email conversation about this cute store, and I just happened to have these shoes sitting around to give to someone who had a boy... so Jenna, email me your address and they're yours. Now don't you all wish you had taken my quiz? Jenna scored 9/9 (she missed #4 but got the bonus question correct)

1. Gooseneck

2. Queensland Blue

3. spaghetti squash

4. Apple gourd

5. Dumpling squash

6. Acorn Squash

7. Turban Squash

8. White pumpkin

9. Butternut squash

bonus: I didn't even know what kind of gourd this is, but Jenna tells me it's a Cymling. I'll take her word for it.

Gourd & Squash Quiz

The momemt you've been waiting for has arrived! The Gourd and Squash quiz is here! below you will find the offical rules:

-tell me the name of each gourd or squash in question
- this quiz is closed book/closed note. Once you have viewed the items on the quiz you may not use any source outside your mind to help you identify the items
-no looking at other peoples answers before you post your answers
-answers will be announced sometime wednesday or later
-a prize will go to the person with the top score (not sure what the prize is, and i'm not promising anything amazing, but hey, a prize is a prize :)

1.




2.



3. 4.

5.

6.

7.

(name the item in front)

8.

9.

Bonus:

gOoD LuCK!

1st birthday!!!

Millie's Birthday was on the 24th. I of course can't believe it's already been a year??!!! She's such a cutie and we love having her as part of our family!

We were in Nashville on her birthday (Josh was a "best man" at his friends wedding.) We were at a friends getting ready for the wedding and someone brought in a birthday cake for Millie! Everybody (there were at least 15 people there getting ready) sang to her and then we covered the counter with news paper and let her dig in to her verry own piece of cake. She loved being the ctr. of attention for about 10 min. as everybody was watching her with her cake. She was such a little show off dancing on the counter, and smiling and waving to everyone


I just thought this was a cute picture- we went out to breakfast at this cool place called puckets (I'm kinda embarassed that she has her binki- She's been getting way attached to it, I'm wondering if it's b/c She's mostly been drinking out of sippy cups- not bottles?)

When we got home we had a "family party" and I made her the giant cup cake cake. Her friend Rachel's birthday is 2 days after hers so we celebrated together.

Her Grandma and Grandpa McAdams also made a surprise visit down on the weekend of her birthday, needless to say she was spoiled with presents from both grandparents, but hey, we won't complain!

Millie's new Elmo car, she LOVES it! Thanks Grandpa Russ and Grandma Cindy!

Pumpkin patch

You may know that I LOVE pumpkins and gourds! We went to the pumpkin patch and the farmers market at shelby farms. LOVED it! But, I don't know if I loved it as much as Mill. We went a couple times and she threw huge fits when ever we had to leave.

(p.s.Please study up for the gourd/squash quiz that will appear next week- it's a closed note/book quiz, but there will be a prize for the winner.)

Halloween

This Halloween season was a pretty good one. I love halloween and FALL, and always feel like it goes by way to fast... such was the case this year but I feel like I did alot of stuff to help me enjoy the fall.

I made these paper lantern pumpkins- I saw them in Martha S. a few years ago but never had a house to hang them on. Now we have a cute porch with perfect places to hang them!

I won't lie, I was too cheap to buy a halloween wreath- so I bought a $2 grapevine wreath and glued this black feather boa to it, It looked kinda cool because below it we had a bale of hay with crows on it and a witches broom.

We had tonz of little gourd and pumpkins on our front porch and Millie would play with them 2-3 times a day for 15-20 min each time. She'd sort them, carry them around and move them. It was the best activity for her!

We went trick or treating to about 4 houses. (we just wanted to get Millie dressed up and we also wanted an excuse to meet some more neighbors) She was a little german girl- with a costume josh got in Bavaria. (don't ask what I'm doing or wearing) We went to the ward trunk or treat on wed. as the biggest loser crew. Josh was bob, I was Jillian, Millie and brett were contestants. Brett wore an official biggest looser T-shirt and stuffed himself with pillows and Millie wore an oversized "rice crispy treats" T-shirt and we stuffed her belly with a blanket. She loved it, surprisingly. Of course we forgot to bring our camera.

Millie's fav. part was playing in the candy bowl and passing out treats to the few trick-or-treaters that we had

Hope you had a happy halloween!