A lil something

I made this video for my dad for him to have for the next year. I hope he likes it and I hope you all enjoy it. It was made with love for all dads & daughters.

I have a sweet tooth for Ace of Cakes

Yes, this is a Hogwarts cake.
Deal with it.

So I have only seen a handful of these episodes and after looking it up I realized why. There is no website that has full episodes! And, the tv times that this amazing show is on is never when I am available to watch. It makes me really sad. This show truly inspires me and I will tell you why.

1. Everyone employed at Charm City Cakes is an artist--not a culinary master. None of them went to culinary school, with the exception of Duff Goldman himself. WHY DO I THINK THIS IS COOL? I think this is cool because it fits very well with my theory.

My theory is that successful people are those willing to become something, not just achieve something. The most amazing people I have read about and known have always had the most amazing opportunities because of who they were, not because of what they sought out. Kind of like the guy in Marley & Me. He thought he wanted to be a journalist that went everywhere and wrote the politically upsetting stories. In order to do that he became a writer. In the process he became a husband, father, and dog-owner . . . While he was busy becoming, he had to work a few jobs that he thought were the end of the world. He saw becoming a columnist as a "for now" job that would be a stepping stone to being a journalist. But, in the end he liked being a columnist so much that he didn't want to give it up. And, by trying to make his wife happy, he became the owner of Marley which was basis to his very successful writing career (because he wrote the book that is now a movie). If he had gone straight to trying to be a journalist, his family life would have been very different and he might not have been successful at all.

People best prepare for opportunity by becoming something, such as an artist. If any one of those artists thought the opportunity to decorate cakes would belittle his artistic status and obscure his path to becoming famous as the next . . . whoever, he would be denying an opportunity to create art for the illusion of achieving artistic fame. Duff said that by hiring artists, who are all his friends first, he has given them a job where they are creating art every day instead of waiting tables, or having any other job that is just to pay the rent and to buy art supplies. He has only given them a medium, but it is by their own skill, genius, and imagination that they do what they love. I think anyone who is able to do what they love is successful.

2. I just think Duff is really cool.

He is kind of odd and I really wish he would shave off the landing strip, but I think he had extreme vision when he opened up Charm City Cakes and hired his best friends who perhaps turned out to be the most famous cake decorators in America. In the end they are famous artists after all. I just like this video because he compares cake decorating to his former days as a graffiti artist . . . he is cool.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/35701/ace-of-cakes-graffiti-and-cakes

Weddings Weddings Weddings!!!!

There are so many weddings that have taken place since April 11, 2009. Dan and Rach kicked off the trend. Not only have almost all the women closest to me found their one and only (EVEN my SISTER), but many of my good friends have too (Scott, Scott Carter, Trevor, Jared, Danielle--high school friend). I think I understand the expression "when it rains, it pours", a lot better now. Only, it is like a rain that cures a drought, a good rain.

Sadly, I missed Lindsay's and Ashley's weddings, but I have had the blessed opportunity to go to so many others and laugh, sing, play, cry, and mostly thank God that my best friend's have married in the temple to such fun, good, handsome, smart, and worthy men. And, that one of them married a Harry Potter scholar, which may be the most important qualification when searching for a marriage partner.

So with the event of Anna's union to Cua--I call him Wow-- FINALLY being over, I feel bursting to tell ALL of you how it went.

The wedding day was a typical July day in SLC--hot, busy, happy. We all woke up at 6:30 a.m. because my sister Jessica's son was up. She literally said "I can't sleep so I will wake them up." Therefore we had ALL morning to get ready. It took me about five minutes. Somehow the time passed and we started getting serious about getting pretty. Anna was finished with her makeup and put on her dress. Short. Cute. Chic. Her. Her hair was so smooth and straight. It was perfect for someone who usually sports a pixie cut.

I, of course, was red. We ate Subway for lunch and finally made our separate paths to the temple. I waited outside with my adorable freckle faced cousins and my nephew. I started to see everyone come out of the temple so I knew Anna was only a few minutes away. The few went faster than I thought and she was actually ready before anyone was there to meet her! I made my way over motioning to the glass wall behind me, hoping those inside the waiting room would see. They did and finally she had a crowd to see her in her first 1/2 hour as a married woman.

I am bored of this so I will just skip to the reception in Rupert. I thought all the hard stuff was over. I was wrong. After getting NO sleep the night before till about 4 a.m., I woke up first thing Saturday morning to my mom cooking, singing, and banging pots (she claims she never bangs pots, but we all secretly know this is her passive aggressive way to say "GET THE H@*$ UP") I know what kind of day it will be. So I automatically start helping. We had wonderful eggs benedict for breakfast with homemade english muffins. That was a good way to start. Then the tent came and the dishes had to be done and the chairs wiped off and the tables moved and the yard raked and the house swept and the lights put up and the table cloths figured out and the . . .
Well, you guys are married, you know. Aside from all of this, I mostly was the muscles for the tables, my mom and I had to decorate cakes.

Of all of us, I am the least qualified person to do this. My mom is so good with artsy stuff. Anna is an artist. Nicki, Rachael, and Ashley are incredible with things that require fine motor skills. Lindsey is also an artist. I remembered my teacher looking at all my frosting techniques. He gave instructions and told me to "try again". My mom was extremely stressed so I said, "I have to do it."

Angels helped me do the crumb layer, which is the most important part. We have to make a good foundation. The crumb layer is a light layer of frosting that fills in the holes and seals the crumbs. That way no crumbs get in the pretty frosting. My mom made three cakes (if any of you know something about cakes you know there are about 100 things that can make a cake fail, all of them magnificently easy to do): Red Velvet with Vanilla filling and cream cheese frosting.

2. Three layered chocolate cake with lemony curd filling, buttercream icing and the most amazing dark chocolate ganache spread over the top. We had a little trouble spreading, but the taste more than made up for it.


And finally, a like-you've-never-tasted-before white cake with raspberry filling and almond buttercream frosting. After tasting all of these that my mom made from scratch, you might understand why with vehemence I treat boxed cakes as abominations--even though I used one once because I was afraid of ruining a good one and not having time to replace it.

So finally, I was done. It took all day. I took breaks, but not to rest, just to do more stuff. At 5:59 I was not changed out of my frosted outfit into my lovely green dress. Instead, I was taping and tugging tablecloths trying to convince them to stay down instead of flying away on the wind. So then I prayed that the wind would stop and as soon as I said "amen" i had the most brilliant idea and I forgot to get a good pic of it. We had lovely gute string that had been used in other parts of the decor. I wrapped it around the tables in a long continuous spiral--around cloths and all. It looked darling and people thought it was a normal part of the overall theme. So then the wind began to die down and we really started to enjoy ourselves.

Oh, on top of everything my mom did, she also did all the flowers with the help of my adorable cousin--only 14 but a natural florist. The bouquet was gorgeous. My momma is amazing. Infallible cakes, incredible arrangements, and the beautiful yard that she perfected all summer long. Well done mamma.

My life makes me jealous of MYSELF!

So I think by now most of you know that I found a family to take me in under the pretense that I will lead and guide their children (they will probably teach me the most). Everyone has shown such excitement and for the past little while my Boise/facebook peeps have said "I wish I had done something like that before I . . . (fill in the blank with: got married, went to grad school, bought a car, had a kid). I think those are really odd statements because I think if they hadn't done any of those things most of those people would do the same things they were doing in order to meet someone to marry, go to more school, buy a car, or start a family. Needless to say, I don't like statements of regret and projection because most likely we would make the same choices over again.

Anyways, that was a little sidetracking on my part. My family consists of two teenagers! I KNOW! I never expected this to be the case and it freaked me out at first. In fact, a few months ago it freaked me out so much that I turned down a family with teenagers and switched agencies to get a different perspective. After a little process of maturing and changing my mind, I decided to be more open to opportunities. On a mere passing of chance, I ended up applying to, talking with, and contracting with the EXACT same family that I had turned down a month or two ago. Does anyone understand how that happened? I don't really, but I am going with it.

My family lives in a small village outside of Turin. I looked up their address on google earth . . . when people say they live in a small village outside a big city in Italy and that they have no neighbors but can afford an au pair it means they live in a huge house/villa.



The kids are 15 (boy) and 13 (girl). They are also have a 30 year old son in Canada, I don't have to babysit him. Because of their ages, I will mostly be teaching them english (don't ask me how) and driving them to all their different activities. I don't really start working till the afternoon. I hope to make some village lady friends who will teach me all of their secrets of cooking. My neighbor grew up in Italy and he said that once the women around know I am on my own, "you will get about 20 more grandmas and mammas" that really made me feel good.

I am starting to learn Italian. I forgot how hard another language can be, but I really love it so far. It is fun to speak. I feel like me and this country will get along very well, but I have to stop daydreaming and just wait and see!

The parents are great. The dad speaks english very well, the mom is shy "but only in english". She is a psychotherapist (yeah, that is part of why i thought we would get along). I think the dad has his own business.

Now, the food. The food in the northwest area of Italy is very similar to France. Lots of butter and TRUFFLES. Now, if you have never had truffles, they are weird at first. But let me tell you, they are worth the hundreds of dollars that they cost a pound. I encourage you all to buy truffle oil at the grocery store and drizzle it over pasta, or look up another way to get it for much cheaper than buying the actual mushroom. Anyways, I have to go to work, but let me know what more you want to know! LOVE LOVE LOVE

m.jean

The Art of Meal Planning



This is both the most productive and the hardest part of grocery shopping. With meal plans the question “What should I make for dinner?” is far less daunting. But everyone knows, or can imagine, the feeling of failure each week when it is Sunday night and you haven’t made that grocery list yet. So the purpose of this blog is to help me be better, but mostly to help Lindsey and Trevor eat. When they come back from Costa Rica, perhaps Lindsey will realize what she could have learned from me all along.

Because one of my audience is an absolute beginner, we have to start with brainstorming. This is how to begin:

Write down five entrees (main dishes) that you and your family members love to eat. Here are five examples:

Pazole (Mexican stew)
Grilled Salmon
Tacos
Ravioli with Marinara or Alfredo Sauce
Baked Potatoes

The next step can be overwhelming so we will start with just one dish. Pick an entrée, find a recipe from all of those cookbooks you got from your wedding but never cracked open, and write down all the ingredients that you will need to make that dish.

Ex. Grilled Salmon (recipe from allrecipes.com serves 4)

• 2 pounds salmon fillets
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
•
Place salmon in shallow dish. Combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Set aside 1/4 cup for basting; pour the rest over the salmon. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Drain, discarding marinade. Grill salmon over medium coals, skin side down, for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Baste occasionally with reserved marinade. CAN ALSO PLACE SALMON ON TINFOIL AND COOK IN THE OVEN (but we are not really looking at the cooking right now—just the organizing)

The next question you ask yourself—“What should I serve with this entrée?” Maybe it should be something from another food group. DING DING DING! Let’s think of a vegetable we love, or in Lindsey’s case can swallow, and add it to the menu. Personally, I love sautéed broccoli. I love any veggie.

Ex. Veggie
Steamed veggie mix
Fresh Green beans
Spinach salad
Roasted Brussel Sprouts (delicious-drizzle olive oil, basalmic vinegar, garlic & bake in the oven)
SOMETHING

Then what else do you think it will take to make a complete meal? You could add a grain. I would probably add brown rice that is flavored with lemon juice. Or you could be as simple as a piece of toast with it.

So in a few minutes that is one meal done. Now we have one night. So one format I love for grocery lists is this:

Meal Ingredients Needed
Monday: Grilled Salmon with Brown Lemon Rice and Grilled Brussel Sprouts • 2 pounds salmon fillets
• vegetable oil
• lemon juice
• green onions, thinly sliced
• fresh parsley
• fresh rosemary
• salt
• pepper
Fresh Brussel Sprouts,
Brown Rice
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
ETC

So now I think you get the idea, but we will do more in case we learn something.

So let’s do tacos

Ex.
2 cups Shredded Beef or other filling
12 Corn Tortillas
2 cups Chihuahua or Monterey Jack Cheese, grated
1 Tomato, diced
1 bunch Green onions, chopped
1/2 head Lettuce or cabbage, shredded
1 cup Salsa Mexicana and/or Salsa Verde

So what goes with tacos? Well of course toppings like cilantro, sour cream, & whatever else you like. Is there any way to serve something on the side? Oh sure. Fruit sounds like we need it here. A simple fruit salad can be made by just cutting up fruit and mixing it together. And always, refried beans, or any beans, would go great on the side.

Meal Ingredients Needed
Monday: Grilled Salmon with Brown Lemon Rice and Spinach Salad (any Greens) • 2 pounds salmon fillets
• lemon juice, or one lemon
• green onions, thinly sliced
• fresh parsley
• fresh rosemary
Spinach Salad
Brown Rice
Tuesday: Tacos, fruit salad, and black beans
Shredded Beef or other filling
12 Corn Tortillas
2 cups Chihuahua or Monterey Jack Cheese, grated
1 Tomato, diced
1 bunch Green onions, chopped
Shredded lettuce, cabbage, or other green
1 cup Salsa Mexicana and/or Salsa Verde
Sour cream
Cilantro
Black beans
Fruit for salad: ex. Apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries etc
Wednesday:
ETC


Here is where this really gets useful. For Monday, you already have spinach and green onions listed. You can chop the spinach or whatever you chose for the tacos. Packages of those items come in liberal amounts so you will have plenty left over for Tuesday’s dinner. So you only put it on the list once.

If you do this for at least three nights MIRACLES HAPPEN. By Wednesday you will probably be ready for chicken or pizza. So lets say you do pizza. You have two kinds of meat already planned. You have Monterey jack cheese (which could easily be replaced for mozzarella), you have tomatoes, and onions. If on Thursday you wanted that pasta, guess what else you could plan for the list—pasta/pizza sauce. By planning ahead you already have ingredients for almost two other meals, because in the pasta you could put rosemary and parsley from Monday, and add a vegetable.
So lets put that on the list

Meal Ingredients Needed
Monday: Grilled Salmon with Brown Lemon Rice and Spinach Salad (any greens) • 2 pounds salmon fillets
• lemon juice, or one lemon
• green onions, thinly sliced
• fresh parsley
• fresh rosemary
Spinach Salad, Brown Rice
Tuesday: Tacos, fruit salad, and black beans
Shredded Beef or other filling
12 Corn Tortillas
2 cups Chihuahua or Monterey Jack Cheese, grated
1 Tomato, diced
1 bunch Green onions, chopped
Shredded lettuce, cabbage, or other green
1 cup Salsa Mexicana and/or Salsa Verde
Sour cream
Cilantro
Black beans
Fruit for salad: ex. Apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries etc
Wednesday: Pizza, leftover fruit
Thursday: Ravioli with Red sauce, brussel sprouts, and bread sticks (made from leftover pizza dough)
Ravioli pasta
Classico Pasta Sauce
Brussel Sprouts


See how it gets easier and easier? That is just the basics. With practice we can get into nutrition & balancing, but this is where to begin. As you do this you will start to recognize completely different meals that could be made with the ingredients you have and are planning to get. GOOD LUCK!

The best way to get ideas is to use what you have. Identify any and all recipes in your books that you want to try. Sure you will probably burn a few grilled cheeses, have the meat done WAY BEFORE THE RICE, serve the breadsticks at 5 and the soup at 7:30, but I have made all of these mistakes before. It takes practice, and after all of mine, I think this is a really good way to start.

My dear ladies,
Most of you know that I am desperately trying to live in Italy soon for the next year. Blah blah blah this subject rules my life. But I kind of wanted to let you all in on what is going on. I mostly want to show you what I am thinking.
Hopefully I will be there in September. I am optimistic. It has been harder than I ever thought it would be to get the ball rolling on this goal, but I have worked for this for the last six months, so I am not ready to give up.
One of the places I have been hoping for is Florence.



Florence is representative of the Renaissance. Most of the architecture and artwork is either from that period or drawn from it. It is the capital of Tuscany. It would be awesome.
My other hot spot is in Turin, but I don't know why this picture is kind of cut off.



Turin is about an hour from Milan and is often overlooked by tourists. But if you have heard of the "Shroud of Turin" or the 2006 olympics, or CHOCOLATE than you have some connection to this beautiful place. Turin invented chocolate for delicate eating. I love it already. It is a beautiful place because it is really Baroque almost all over the city. It has so many cafes that are food for the eye as well as the belly. It is perfect by being close to the sea, mountains,lakes, and cities. Definitely a winning choice. It is also represented by the following picture:




WHAT? HOW DID THAT GET THERE? This image popped up when I googled Turin images. It is from a Silmarillion Chronicles website. If any of you know what that is comment and I will send you a present in the mail. Honestly, I doubt Ashley, Rachael, Nicki, and maybe Lindsey, will know it. LINDSEY--NO HELP FROM TREVOR. Or any of your boys for that matter. Good luck ladies! OH, and no googling or other cheating tactics. Just search your mind.

Here is a real Turin beauty:



I just watched a Discovery channel show on Italy and learned about this crazy rivalry horserace that goes on in Siena, Tuscany. It was so awesome how everyone was so proud of their regions and feasted for days leading up to the horserace. I keep thinking about the reason I chose Italy, which goes back to my last semester at BYU-Idaho with a story that means so much to me but is far to cheesy for blogging, and I hope that I can go to Tuscany. It is called the Heartlands and is the land of vineyards, rolling hills, intense heat, and food, food, food. Sometimes I worry that I will accidently drink wine there. Please hope for me not to become a winebiber,



because a place like this might cloud my judgment.

So I Don't know when, I don't know how, but I know something's starting right now. Watch and you'll see. Someday I'LL BE. Part of that world . . . not of mermaids but of food, language barriers, awkward refusals to drink their daily tonic, and homesickness like crazy. But I think it will either reward me immeasurably or cure the wanderlust within my heart.

LOVE YOU ALL

Best Movies Ever

I just watched New Moon for a second time. I am always surprised. This book/world take-over is all about weird stuff and romance--you would think I would be all over it.
(I think it is because there is a complete lack of respect for food) I don't think I could force myself to read the other three books, but I have to admit that I am in LOVE with the movies. I can't really describe why. I find myself laughing throughout the entire thing. How could anyone not like these movies? My favorite part of New Moon was the last line. "Marry me Bella."
wait for it.
Wait for it.
Music . . . music . . .
and finally
"GASP"
It must have been so surprising to her that he wanted to marry her after she demanded to spend eternity with him as a damned soul. Now she has to decide to marry the sucker (no pun intended, honestly I am that witty in-deliberately)WHAT A HUGE DECISION FOR AN 18 YEAR OLD TO MAKE. I mean, she already had to choose if she wanted to be a vampire FOREVER. But this, this is too grown up-ish. It would be so much easier to lead Jacob on if she wasn't married. How will she convince him to do whatever she wants him to do if she is legally bound to the undead?
It is just too funny. I can't wait for Eclipse. I just am so excited to laugh. Hopefully I won't offend anyone in the theater.