lost in translation

last week we found ourselves unexpectedly in canada.

the occasion was sad, but good to see family and friends. aaron always loves going home so much.

i know there is much ribbing that goes on in america of all things canadian. being married to a canadian, we have a rib sensitive household and sometimes even i want to scream, enough with the canadian jokes!

it's like being left handed. believe me, i've heard them all. your joke will not be unique or funny, thanks. it grows tiresome.

aaron has a large family, so we customarily see many faces when we visit, but this time we saw a lot of very extended family. many he had never even met. i share this tidbit to demonstrate that my circle of canadians was widely expanded last week.

and i was surprised at how much they bagged on the american accent! for the most part, they love america, but they sure think they know the best way to say things. most of the people didn't know i was american and i only overheard conversations, so in no way were they being disrespectful. i found myself giggling at most of it.

here is a few gems:
pasta vs. paasta (long a)
mazda vs. maazda (long a)
a comment about how we say milk. couldn't figure that one out.
in-sur-ence vs. IN-surence ( i was corrected on this one).
various other ditties were noted.

all the encounters were made up of, 'can you believe they say it that way? sheesh.' i was so amused.

speaking of oddities, they call their bar donuts, long johns. i believe i've discussed that on this blog before. aaron tried to convince me everyone called them that, but i stopped him in his tracks. a snapshot from a 7-11 proved my point. you would not see this in america. no way.

i also saw ketchup flavored chips and pickle doritos.

oh boy.

we're not in kansas anymore, toto.

it's good to be back!

cookie funny

as a self proclaimed cookie monster, i couldn't help but laugh when i saw this.

look at the panic in his googly eyes.

i've felt that before.
hope you have a good friday.

just shocking

i'm sharing another recipe with you.

it's shockingly delicious.

a pancake recipe.

pancakes are my favorite.

i like them in the morning.

at night.

when it's raining.

when i don't have many groceries.

when i don't have much time to cook.

when i have a day off.

when i don't have a meeting before church.

when i don't want dinner food for dinner.

when i'm awake.

when i'm asleep.

i want pancakes most of the time.

i'm always on the hunt for a new recipe.

i also have a bone to pick with pancake recipe creators. stop with the crazy ingredients and even nuttier mixing methods. i bought malt powder for one recipe and it was disappointing. now i have malt powder in the cupboard and i don't like malt. does anyone need malt powder? also, some of the instructions in recipes are ridiculous. how careful you have to be with the egg whites and how to whisk them just so. i'm not making a souffle here, people!

which brings me to my latest find. ingredients you have on hand and the instructions say 'wisk until smooth'. i love it!

i made them on monday morning and they are amazing! soft and a bit spongy. i can't wait to make them again!

1.5 C flour
3.5 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 T white sugar
1 1/4 C milk
1 egg
3 T butter, melted

mix dry ingredients in a bowl. mix wet ingredients in a bowl. mix dry and wet, whisk until smooth. pour on a medium hot, buttered griddle. gobble up.

couldn't get any easier!!

if you're feeling guilty about feeding this to your family, slap a little peanut butter on it before the syrup and you've got protein. serve with a side of eggs and it's double trouble!

enjoy!

sunday adventure

we were enjoying dinner at a friend's house on sunday evening when we saw a cute little dog standing on their back porch, peering in through the window. when we approached him he jumped over the wall and ran down the hill, deeper into their backyard. with their fenced backyard, there was no way for the dog to get out, but to head back up. unsure if he could do that, a few of us went outside to try and help.

he was not to be helped.

we left him alone, figuring he could run back up the hill. the sun set and we saw him on the porch again, but apparently he was so disoriented that he couldn't figure out how to get to the front yard and ran down the hill yet again.

enter night time, about 1opm, and we hear constant barking.

the little guy wanted out.

various attempts to catch him included flashlights, cat food, scare tactics and turkey. finally he came over to me and i grabbed him and took him to the house.

once inside, i fed him the rest of the turkey and we were friends for life.

he was unbelievably dirty and covered in thorns from the trees, so a bath was desperately needed.

emails to neighbors went out and a posting on craigslist went up.

isn't he just a doll?

bath time in the kitchen sink.

you never really know how an animal will react to a bath and we weren't sure if he was going to bite or scratch. he couldn't have been nicer. once we started scrubbing him he leaned over and kept licking my arm. what a sweetie!

we took him in the bathroom to shake his water off then towel dried him and tried to pick out more thorns. he let me hold him in all these funky positions. what a good dog!

aaron was in love and wanted to take him home, but i had a feeling he'd be returned to his owners the next day. sure enough, while on a walk, he got loose and bounded into a nearby yard and was home!

the neighbors said his name is sammy. adorable! i'm hoping to go visit him next time we're in the area.

L or R, either one

recently we went to the chinese buffet by our house.

a delicious hidden gem.

however, we got quite a laugh from a small misspelling...

flogleg, anyone?

although we didn't try any, we're pretty sure it should read, 'frog leg'.

good times.

day 2

i made it through one whole day of only fruits and veggies.

heavens, this is hard.

this experiment is giving me new insight into the mind v. body struggle. i am craving my normal foods. last night i couldn't get a bowl of golden grahams off the brain. i think i have a tiny glimpse into how a food addict feels. i wasn't hungry, my body did not need it, yet i couldn't stop thinking about it. i wanted to feel that satisfaction.

this morning i was hungry when i woke up and i can't say i'm the most cheerful person right now. however, they say the first 3 days are the hardest. i can do this.

tonight i'm making a sweet potato and bok choy soup, so maybe that will fill me up. it would be divine with a hunk of bread!!

anyway, i'm still here and breathing.

fruit & veggie nutritional regime

i could have just said 'diet', but i really hate that word.

no, i don't hate the word, i hate the negative connotation attached to it.

but, enough about my oddities.

have you seen the movie fat, sick and nearly dead? i might have mentioned it on here after i saw it. see it. enjoy it. be amazed at it.

a man, joe cross, decides he's had enough of his unhealthy lifestyle, enough of his lifestyle induced maladies (high blood pressure, overweight, an auto-immune disease) and wants to change. in a nutshell, he goes on a 90 day (doctor monitored) juice fast where he only drinks fresh juice. after the 90 days, he works back in solid foods and pledges to stay on a micro-nutrient diet.
the results are shocking. within 6 months, his disease is gone, no more medication, he's lost about 100 pounds and has a completely different lifestyle.

he travels america while on his journey and changes the lives of 2 other people along the way.

the documentary is amazing, won awards at film festivals and has generated an underground following, with people trying the juicing lifestyle for themselves.

aaron and i are now some of those people.

the reboot (that's the program name) website has many different programs and recommends one based on your needs. aaron and i are doing a 15 day juice and fruit/veggie plan where we can eat raw or cooked fruits and veggies, in addition to our juice. the website nicely lays out a sample plan, recipes with nutritional values and guidelines to follow.

today is our first day. here is what we bought last night to get us through 4 days.
that counter is about 2 layers deep in produce.

this is going to be a challenge. i predict mornings will be hardest for me because i always have a solid breakfast. getting used to the juice will be interesting. our mix today consists of apples, pears, blueberries, carrots, chard, and celery. getting out of the habit of eating my normal comfort foods will be difficult. however, that is exactly the point of this process. not to starve yourself or lose a bunch weight, rather to reboot or jump start your body to pack it with micro-nutrients and re-train your body to crave more fruits and veggies.

i can do this, right? we can do this. i'm very interested to see the results and how long i can hold on!

the vineyard

i found this really cool website while reading the ensign this morning. it's called the vineyard and it is an online database of ways to serve in the church.

you log on with your lds account and it has a multitude of opportunities ranging from language translation of church materials, tagging media clips, assisting with genealogy programs to comparing text in church materials to see if it matches.

what a great idea to put service online so members can do little bits and save the church a lot of time and money! next time i'm at home and watching tv, i'll log on. perfect for a sunday afternoon, too.

just thought i would share!

dippin pretzels

yesterday morning i dipped pretzels in vanilla flavored almond bark and was instantly transported back to childhood.

i vividly remember standing in our kitchen in folsom, taking a hot bowl out of the microwave, quickly stirring, throwing in a bunch of pretzels, stir again, taking them out one by one with a fork and laying them on wax paper to dry. it was night. the light over the stove was on.

not yesterday.
in my memory.

yesterday it was 7am and i was already breaking a sweat from this heat wave we're having.

aaron was skeptical about the vanilla flavoring. i was not to be swayed. he pointed at the chocolate flavoring. i made a disgusted face. having never tried them before, of course he was unsure. now, he's a friend for life.

isn't it amazing how scents and tastes can deliver powerful memories? i haven't had these pretzels in years. over a decade. but, each bite gives a happy memory.

side note: i know it seems like all i did this weekend was bake, eat and make food. i did a few other things, too, so don't judge. normally i'm not like this. or i forget to take pictures of it, so you don't know about it.

outdoor movie, part duex

on saturday night we watched back to the future at heritage park, in old town. it's across the street from the mormon battalion visitor's center.

it was such a hot day and lovely to sit outside as the air began to cool.

we had dinner at aaron's favorite place in old town then quickly scooted over to the park and got there just in time. thus, the bad picture since we didn't make it before dark.
i had forgotten many of the intricacies of that movie.

i just love it when cities sponsor events like this that are free and bring the community out to enjoy the city in which they live. it was such a nice way to spend a saturday night.

zucchini bread

we received a zucchini approximately the size of a child's baseball bat from friends in the ward.

i'm not kidding, it could stop an intruder.

the only option in my opinion was to make bread.

quick breads have become an obsession of mine.

i looked around online and found a highly rated recipe. if 3,000 other people loved it, i was confident i would, too. it did not disappoint.

the recipe, which yields a good amount of bread, only used half the zucchini, so i'm making more tonight! someone take away my spatula!

if you have vegetable weapons lying around and aren't sure what to do with them, here's the recipe...

ingredients
3 C flour
1 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3 t cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 C oil
1/2 C applesauce
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
3 t vanilla extract
3 C grated zucchini
1 C chopped walnuts
***ingredient note: the original recipe calls for 1 C oil, but i halved it with the applesauce.***

how to
*grease and flour pans. the original recipe calls for two 8x4 pans, but i used an 8x4 and 3 minis. preheat oven to 325.
*sift dry ingredients in a bowl.
*beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla and sugar together in a bowl.
*add sifted ingredients to wet and beat well.
*stir in zucchini and nuts until combined.
*pour into prepared pans.
*bake 40-60 minutes
*let rest for 5 minutes in pan then cool completely on a wire rack.

we took the large loaf to a dinner last night and got rave reviews.

enjoy!

chocolate cream pie

today was thanksgiving.

in august.

a friend family invited us over for a thanksgiving feast. i was on pie duty.

after scouring recipes i decided upon a chocolate cream with oreo crust and pumpkin.

the grocery stores had another thing in mind. do you know how hard it is to find pumpkin in august? ugh, i'm going to have to hoard it so i can eat pumpkin year round. i went to 4 stores! i was so dismayed.

however, i steadied my course and focused on the chocolate cream. i'm so glad i did. it is amazing. once again, baking illustrated does not disappoint. i don't think it ever will.

k, i am so sorry for the lack of pictures. i had grand ideas, but i was so nervous about my custard being perfect that i only snapped 2. poor ones at that.
stirring the 2 types of chocolate in the custard. a heavenly smell.


the finished product, half eaten. i made whipped cream and added a layer to the top.

this is a gem of a recipe. rich and delicious. it took about an hour, start to finish. if you need to impress a crowd, give me a shout out and i'll send you the recipe.

temple walk

one morning i got this crazy idea.
it came to me while doing my hair.

i was re-watching sister elaine dalton's YW general broadcast talk from april. she spoke of john rowe moyle who was a stoncutter on the salt lake temple. he carved the words, 'holiness to the Lord' on the east side of the building. what makes him even more noteworthy is that he didn't live in salt lake during the 20 something years he worked on the temple. his family had a farm 20 miles away and he would walk each monday morning to the temple and walk home each friday night. as if that wasn't enough, during his tenure at the temple, a farm accident happened where he had to amputate his leg at the knee. once he was strong enough, he fashioned himself a new leg and continued his journey. such amazing drive.
some YW in the alpine stake in utah decided to take that same walk to the temple. they walked from the bountiful temple to the salt lake temple.

while struggling with my cowlick and listening to that story, i thought, why don't my yw do that? why can't they be as committed to the temple as he was? i wondered how far it is to the sd temple?

one crazy idea+a trusting bishop+an enthusiastic YW presidency=our temple walk

on august 13th, we walked 18.6 miles from our church building to the sd temple. we met at 4:30am and finished about 1pm. we had aid stations along the way, as well as motivating signs and ward members to cheer us on. i arranged to have sister olsen, the temple matron, meet us in the foyer and talk with us about our journey. she is a wonderful person (as is her husband) and it was the capstone of our trip.

my girls were fantastic. amazing. stupendous. i was worried about complaining along the way. i need not be. they never complained. toward the end i could see the pain on their faces, but they kept going. they had their mind fixed firmly on the temple and no one was going to stop them. i love them.
starting at 4:30 am!
encouragement along the way.
signs and quotes helped to keep us going.
finally, the end!

it was a wonderful experience and they're still talking to me, so score!

birthday

for my birthday, aaron took me to a sugarland concert. i'd seen them before, way back when they were an opening act and not a main act, but they were so good that i was happy to go again. they did not disappoint.

another birthday gift aaron presented me with is this lovely graffiti like shirt.
we had joked at the county fair about getting some of these shirts because they are so awesomely bad. aaron found a vendor in the mall who made them, so he ordered two; one for me and one for him. his has a big heart on it with 'aimee' written inside the heart. mine is a homage to my deceased dog.

at least it was supposed to be.

aaron ordered the name 'scruffs' to be airbrushed on the shirt.

my dog's nickname was 'fluffs'. close, but not quite.

so, i have an airbrushed shirt that calls for reverence for a dog that never existed.

it only enhances the shirt in my opinion.

we wore our matching shirts to the concert. luckily, we weren't the weirdest ones there.

it was an outdoor concert, at a field at ucsd. sugarland was awesome, as usual. i think even aaron might have enjoyed himself for a nano-second. they played all their hits and covered songs from brittney spears to michael jackson to dolly parton's 9 to 5.

it was a great time!

my mini

this is my mini, circa 2005. yep, i've had my ipod for 6 years. i'm pretty proud of that. have you seen my cell phone? got both beauties in the same year and i'm still rockin' both of them. however, i'll be the first to admit it has seen better days.

i'm using it right now and took an objective look at it. it's a sorry specimen. you know you need a new ipod when...

...you pull it out in public and people aren't sure what you're holding
...the wheel looks like it survived a rain storm in a sandbox
...the volume control is on the fritz (have no fear, i've learned you just have to pause it to change the volume. easy fix!)

don't tell aaron about it's quirks. he's been begging to pull me into current technology, but i'm kicking and screaming. have you seen me on facebook lately? didn't think so.

i still have my original crimper.

these electronics have stuck with me for so long, why shouldn't i stick with them?

i think i'm like kramer in the episode of seinfeld where he and a car salesman take a test drive and become obsessed with seeing how far they can drive without filling up.

use it up, make it do, or do without, right?