- ALAX'S LITTLE ACCIDENT

Our new son-in-law broke his hand this week. He was participating in a drill at the Fire Academy (crawling on his hands and knees with someone on his back) when he twisted his hand wrong and felt a pop. He will be wearing this fancy cast for a few weeks now. Unfortunately he was forced to drop out of the Academy. A small set back for them, but he'll be starting up again in August. Upside is that now they can take the honeymoon that they had to delay due to school.

- DATE NIGHT

Tonight we had a triple date. We met the Barlow's at Hong Kong Inn for Chinese food and then we all caught up with the Johnson's at the movie theatre and saw "New in Town". It was fun to get together. The movie was hilarious. I sure love our friends. Thank you Dave and Nancy for such a thoughtful Christmas present!

- ANTIPASTO PASTA SALAD -

Kurt made the most delicious salad tonight. He got the recipe on America's Test Kitchen. I'll post the recipe soon.

- YM/YW JEOPARDY

The Teachers were in charge of the Combined YM/YW Activity tonight. We played Jeopardy. The competition was fierce ;) Thanks YM for such a fun night!

- REDBOX IS MY FRIEND

Last night, after work, I stopped at Walmart with my free Redbox code and rented "Henry Poole Is Here." I watched it after work tonight. It was a pretty good movie. I've been taking it easy for the last couple of weeks, reading a lot and watching quite a few movies. It's all part of my "relax and slow down" New Year's Resolution. It feels nice for a change ;)

- CATCHING UP

Tonight I had the pleasure of talking to an old friend (not old in age, but old in the sense that we've known each other for a LONG time ;) Cindy and I met in Tracy. Our kids were the same age and in the same classes in school. She was in my ward and Kurt was her home teacher. We bonded over 2nd grade head lice - UGH! We've been staying in touch with our blogs but haven't talked for quite awhile. She called tonight and we talked for about 3 hours. It was so nice to get up to speed on each other's lives. Thank you for your friendship Cindy!

- SNEAK PREVIEW

- TRIPLE ADDICTION POPCORN

TRIPLE ADDICTION POPCORN

Ingredients

12 cups popcorn (I use hot air popper)
1 10 oz. bag of Fritos corn chips, broken into small pieces
1 cup peanuts or mixed nuts
16 oz. bag white chocolate chips, melted with 1 TBLS shortening to thin

Directions

Pop the popcorn and sort out un-popped kernels. Add Fritos and nuts. Melt chocolate chips with shortening and toss with mixture. Pour onto cookie sheets and allow mixture to cool and enjoy. This seems weird, but I dare you to stop with one handful!

- RAIN AND RAINBOWS

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."
-Dolly Parton-

We've been getting some much needed rain this week. This afternoon we were rewarded with a rainbow. It was such a beautiful sight!

- DEEP DISH PIZZA

Tonight when I got home from work, Kurt had made the yummiest deep dish pizza. He got the recipe from America's Test Kitchen. Typically, I'm a thin crust kind of girl, but this was out of this world!

CRUST

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pkg. instant yeast
1 cup milk, warm
2 TBLS olive oil
2 tsp. sugar

Put flour, salt and yeast (in Kitchen Aid). Mix milk, oil and sugar together then add to dry ingredients. Mix ingredients together until incorporated. Mix on medium speed an additional 5 minutes until dough is smooth and shiny.

Knead dough on floured surface for about 1 minute. Shape into a ball. Put in greased bowl and cover. Let rise in warm oven (170 degrees) for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

SAUCE

1 TBLS olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
Salt
Pepper

Soak garlic in olive oil for 5-10 minutes then cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes. Simmer for 30ish minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

TOPPINGS

Pepperoni
Italian Sausage, browned, drained and crumbled
Mushrooms, sliced
Green Peppers, chopped, if desired
Onions, chopped, if desired
3 cups Mozzerella Cheese

While dough is rising and sauce is simmering, prepare pepperoni by placing slices on paper towels. Microwave for 20-30 seconds. This reduces the greasiness and makes it crispy.

ASSEMBLY

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Divide dough in half. Knead a few times on floured surface (don't over knead). Roll each piece out and stretch into a 9 inch circle. (Outside on circle should be thicker than inside). Place in greased 9 inch x 2 inch cake pans (3 TBLS olive oil per pan). Form to pan.

Let rise for another 10 - 15 minutes.

Spread 2/3 cup sauce on each pizza (will have enough sauce for 4 pizzas)
Put cheese on top of sauce.
Add toppings.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes.

Lift out onto cutting board, cut and ENJOY!!!

- A VERY UNBIRTHDAY PARTY

- HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDY

- OREOS 'N' CREAM CAKE

Ingredients

• 
  

Cake

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

CAN SUBSTITUTE CAKE BY MAKING A BOXED DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE!!!!!

Filling

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 (16 ounce) box confectioners' sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk

Frosting

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups Oreo cookies, crushed

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and dust with flour; shake out any excess flour.

2. CAKE - In a medium-size bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt together until well blended; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar and vanilla for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. On low speed, beat flour mixture into butter mixture in three additions, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour; beat 1 minute. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 36 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks; let cool completely.

5. FILLING - In a large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, then milk. Beat for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.

6. When layers have cooled, (I freeze mine for awhile so they are easier to cut and move to cake stand), trim off any crowned cake from the tops and discard. Cut each layer in half horizontally with a serrated knife. Place one cut layer on a cake stand and top with one-third or filling; spread evenly over top. Repeat with 2 more cake layers. Place last layer on top, cut side down. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until filling is set.

7. FROSTING - In a large bowl, with mixer on high, beat heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Generously spread whipped cream all over cake, using the back of a spoon to make swirls and peaks on top. Place chopped cookies in a large bowl and carefully hold cake stand over bowl. With cupped hands, gently press cookie crumbs onto the sides of the cake to cover. Brush excess crumbs off stand before serving.

- CRUNCHY NOODLE SALAD

This recipe is compliments of the Barefoot Contessa. I tweaked it by adding 1 lb of pasta instead of 1/2 lb. so it wouldn't be too soupy. It was DELICIOUS!!!!

Ingredients

nocoupons

• Kosher salt
• 1 pound thin spaghetti
• 1 pound sugar snap peas
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds, divided
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced
• 4 scallions (with and green parts), sliced diagonally
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring another large pot of salted water to a boil, add the sugar snap peas, return to a boil, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until crisp tender. Lift the sugar snap peas from the water with a slotted spoon and immerse them in a bowl of ice water. Drain.

For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and peanut butter in a medium bowl.

Combine the spaghetti, sugar snap peas, peppers and scallions in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the spaghetti mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and the parsley and toss together.

- VIDEO SHOOT

- WEDDING PHOTOS

We got the wedding photos back from the photographer today! He did such an amazing job! Check out James Strayer at www.jamesstrayer.com

- COMIC RELIEF

After starting the week out on such a bad note and not feeling well all week, it was good to go see a movie that made us laugh. Tyler joined us at the movie. We ate popcorn and laughed every time someone sat close to us. (It never fails, no matter how many seats are available in a theater, people sit either directly in front of, in back of, or right next to us. We've decided some people have no concept of personal space ;)

We gave this movie a 3 1/2 out of 5. Kevin James was hilarious.

Later, Kurt helped Tyler make a perch for his birds. This one has suction cups so the perch will attach to a window. Now Baby and Marley can look outside.

Kate came over after work and hung out while Tyler and Kurt finished making the perch. Here, Tyler and Kate model the finished project.

We all went to Mel's Diner for dinner. Kate and I played table football while we waited for our food. Fun times!