We're moving to.....

Thailand!!!!!!

At the end of January!

Post Holiday Recipe extravaganza!!!!

Hello all. Here are the links to some of the recipes that were used at thanksgiving as well as some (hopefully) helpful commentary. Most of this is cooking technique rather that a magic recipe.

Turkey
Turkey Recipe here.
Simple formula-  1 TBSP of salt per 5 pounds, let it sit in the fridge for 3 days cook until 165 degrees in the thigh and breast. USE A MEAT THERMOMETER! Dry turkey usually comes from overcooking. Also let it sit at least a half hour before carving,this will allow the juice to redistribute through the meat. If you cut it before this you will end up with a puddle of juice and a dry turkey.

I seasoned our bird with pepper and lemon zest in the salt, garlic, a lemon, and fresh thyme and sage in the cavity,and brushed it with black pepper and butter as it baked.

Potatoes
No recipe.Sorry.
The trick with potatoes is to eliminate as much water from them as possible. So boil potatoes than put them back in the pot with the burner on low/medium. Mash them by hand, a couple at a time. DO NOT put them in a mixer and try to whip them. This injures the fragile starch molecules and creates a gummy texture. Besides you can use the arm workout.
In our potatoes I added softened butter and warmed cream. They are warm so I can keep a consistent temperature to keep the water coming out even as I add the fat.
SALT is of the uttermost importance in mashed potatoes, without it you might as well be eating plain oatmeal with gravy. Salt does not just make food salty, but magnifies the flavors. Without salt you cannot taste the butter or the potato flavors. So be liberal in your salting. Doesn't taste right--add more salt.

and here is the candied cranberry recipe for Tami. I would use normal sugar-I tried raw sugar last year and they were kind of brownish and the sugar wouldn't stay on.

Work and School

Well its been a long time but I thought I would let everyone know how we are doing.  Bethany is done with school and is now working.  She has two jobs.  She is first working at Gator Jacks in Rigbe so if you want to see her you can go out to eat and she may be there.  She is also working a Journeys which is a company that works with kids and adults that have disability.  I am going to school, my last semester, and i made myself a hard last semester.  The classes that make it hard is my evergreen ID class and my online entrepreneur class.  In my entrepreneur class I am doing a 100$ challenge where I have to raise 100$ in profit by the end of the semester.  I am selling Thanksgiving and Christmas Wreath which I am making by hand.  If you want one let me know and I will get you one.  You can also look it up on Facebook it is calls Blue Spruce Wreaths.  I will have 10 Fall/Thanksgiving wreaths and 20 Christmas wreaths to sell so let everyone know so I can get them sold.  So our lives at the moment mostly consist of work and school but after I am done we both plan on going to Taiwan to teach English.  Its something to look forward to at the moment.

Souper Douper Tomato Soup

If I ever owned a cafe, it would be a bakery/ soup shop and I would call it Souper Douper.

But I'm really posting because my mom wants my favorite tomato soup recipe, so here it is.

Cream of Tomato Soup

• 1 quart tomatoes-peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/2 TBSP butter
•  1/2 to 1 TBSP honey (depending on the sweetness of tomatoes, use the lesser amount for home grown summer tomatoes)
• 1 TBSP onions, chopped
•  1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 to 1 cup cream 
• salt to taste 

1.  Saute onions in butter with a little salt, until translucent.
2. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, sugar, and soda.
3. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
4. Add cream to hot tomato mixture, and heat, careful not to let it boil.
5. blend all or half of the soup depending on how smooth you like your soup, and serve with crunchy toasts.

Lunch in a Jar = awesome

I haven't been a very good writer lately, partly due to the fact that we've been all over the place the past couple weeks (camping/cycling/ Tetons/ Jackson/ etc.) and partly because I really have no desire to write about our travels. I like to write about what I'm thinking about. right. now, not what I did 4 days ago. So if you desire a travel post you should petition Todd. He can be most accommodating, especially if you say please.

So, right now I'm thinking about lunch because
a. it's lunch time,
b. I'm hungry, and
c. lunch has always seemed incredibly inconvenient and I want to fix it.

So fix it I shall-- and as my first act of fixing lunch I have began to make these fantastic salads in jars. Mason jars are my second true love of my kitchen (right after my beloved knife set) because they serve so many purposes. Yogurt. check. soups. check. canning. check. pantry storage. check. honey. check. glasses when cheap walmart set breaks. check.

The newest trick to hit the web it to put your lunch salad in a pint mason jar- dressing at the bottom, greens at the top, fixings in the middle and BAM! perfect lunch. And, PS, it's pretty too. Look at these lovelies from the daily muse.

Here are a couple of the combinations I've been using.

Thai peanut noodle salad
peanut sauce
tofu cubes
carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers
noodles
toasted peanuts 
greens/cilantro

Fruits and nuts
poppy seed dressing
red onion
blueberries/ nectarines
dried cranberries
pepitas/ toasted almonds
mixed greens

Southwest
something creamy...
salsa
black beans
fresh corn
jack or cheddar cubes
onion/ tomato/ bell pepper
mixed greens

Mediterranean
Italian Vinaigrette
large butter beans
kalamata olives
mozzarella cubes or feta
onion/ tomato/ cucumber/ tiny fresh zucchini
mixed greens

Duet

Todd and I need to learn this. Enough said.

 

End of the semester (or time to figure out how to stay in shape)

My semester is over and I'm a couple days away from graduation! While this is really exciting, I'm already sad about having to leave school. I really love school and living in Rexburg with only a 9-5 desk job, or sitting at home playing wife is definitely not the life I want to lead, especially after years of spending everyday flying through the air (or crashing into the floor) and filling my head full with lovely, lovely knowledge. But since I'm destined for 6 months of waiting for Todd to graduate I've decided I need goals, and I need them quick before the sitting-around-syndrome takes hold of me.

First I need fitness goals. I find it's difficult for me to live my life fully and honestly without a strong, energetic, deeply-connected body, so to stay that way is one of my first priorities. I will be working, (and trying to log) a combination of cardio, resistance and weight training, somatic work, and, when I can find it, dancing. A friend and I have been thinking about starting some student taught technique classes over the summer break, which will help immensely. :) Cycling, running, and zumba for my cardio, weights and Pilates for my weight training, and yoga for my somatics. I also want to do more research into somatics and start playing around with Alexander technique and Feldenkrais technique.  I've also started using the tracker at dailymile.com to record my workouts.

Can you tell I'm a major body nerd? ;)

Next I need intellectual stimulus, and lots of it. I have lots of things I want to learn about that I haven't had time to study in the past year. I want to understand science and physics. I want to learn more about human physiology. I love philosophy. So, I want to choose a few free online classes from Harvard or MIT and listen to one class period a day (probably while I'm cleaning my kitchen). I also want to read more, especially philosophy and history, specifically I've always wanted to learn more about transcendentalism, dystopianism, and feminist theory. Oh, and I have a paper I need to get edited and cleaned up before December that I'm submitting to BYU Studies. for publication. Anyone know any good editors?

And I guess, maybe, I should try to be, kind of, a little bit, social. It is way too easy for me to spend hours with myself swimming around with the ideas in my head. But I should probably try to spend time with friends. And I should probably try to enjoy church and relief society. And maybe show more love to my neighbors by having a conversation rather than leave baked goods on their door steps. I think I just need to get over the fact that being bluntly honest while using large words creates socially awkward situations.

I think I sometimes hate people as much as I love bodies and stuffing my head.

Those are my goals! Wish me luck!