.::still blinking::.

stinky feet

Isn’t that the cutest little twisted foot?

We went to Logan to be with JJ’s family for the 4th. It was really fun to see everyone. I did a lot of nothing and it was nice.

On the 4th we went the Hyrum City Parade in the morning and than the Cruise In in Logan in the evening. The Cruise In is where old cars parade up and down the main street. It is really fun, JJ’s grandpa and dad show us the cars they used to own.

Cousin Lily

This is Gentry’s cousin Lily. They look related to each other. Me and Gentry, not so much.

animal imitations

Gentry got bored so we did relays of different things. Crawl like a crocodile. Roll like a tumble weed. Hop like a bunny.

cute boy

nothing productive done here

This is all I did. And sleep. I loved it. Click here to see the rest of the photos.

There is a pizza place in downtown Salt Lake called Settebello, that has actual Italian pizza. It is nothing like Godfathers. The crusts are thin and chewy. The toppings are things like Parmigiano-Reggiano, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil. And it is divine.

Yesterday for dinner I decided to make the Bianca pizza. I made the crust, brushed it with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled it with kosher salt and melted Manchego cheese on it when it was almost finished baking. When it was finished baking I spread arugula, more manchego and prosciutto de parma on top. And it was divine. The crust I made was not as good as the restaurant, but I think with a few more tries I could find one that is just as good. Yum.

On Saturday my sister, Kateka, invited us to go ice skating with her company.

JJ and I spent most of the time hunched over Gentry trying to keep him standing and from smacking his head on the ice. Gentry loved it even though he could not really do it at all. JJ hunched over him and to keep Gentry’s feet on the ground. JJ’s back hurt the next day. I say, that is what you get when you get close to working out.

I just picked him up and moved slowly around the rink and tickled his tummy if I could get to it.

Gentry really likes Stuart, Kateka’s husband. He kept wanting to go and talk to him and play. Other people are so much more fun that JJ and I. Probably because we threaten to take away all his toys and make him have time outs.

On the potty training front. We have been taking turns waking up and taking Gentry to the bathroom. He usually only has one small accident a night. Which seems like a lot. But we are going from filling up diapers to just tiny accidents. We still have not had an accident free night, but I think we are getting there.

I hope. I hope. I hope.

Also, my crocus’ are poking their little blossoms out of the icy ground and not even dieing when they get snowed on. I could just kiss them and the warm thoughts of summer they bring.

Here is a recipe I get asked about quite a bit. It is for caramels that I make once and year and usually share with others at Christmas time. They take three hours to make that that is not including cooling, cutting and wrapping. So you really have to be serious about this. Also, this is a Martha Stewart recipe, she never does things the easy way.

If you received some of these last year I substituted light corn syrup for some kind of brown rice syrup, it is an earthy product and made them much less sweet, but a lot more rich. I think I was going to try half corn syrup this year and half rice syrup. Also, heavy cream is not terribly expensive at Costco and I think you have a little left over to drink. You know JJ is standing here with his face on the spout of the cream waiting for me to get finished.

Golden Caramels
4 cup heavy cream
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
4 cup light corn syrup
4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 16 peices
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1- Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spry. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine cream and sweetened condensed milk; set aside.
2- In a large saucepan (really large), combine corn syrup, 1 cup of water, sugar and salt. Clip on a candy thermometer. Over high heat, cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring with a wooden spoon, 8-12 minutes. Brush down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove sugar crystals
3- Stop stirring, reduce heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Cook without stirring until temperature reaches 250 degrees (45-60 minutes). Meanwhile, cook cream mixture over low heat until it is just warm. Do not boil. When sugar reaches 250 degrees, slowly stir in butter and warmed cream mixture, keeping mixture boiling at all times. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until thermometer reaches 244 degrees, 55-75 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Immediately pour into prepared pan without scraping pot. Let stand uncovered at room temperature for 24 hours without moving.
4- To cut, spray large cutting board with vegetable oil. Unmold caramels and cut. Wrap in cellophane or waxed paper.

Yum. If you want me to send you a few of these I totally will. Comment and leave your address and I will send you a couple. You will think you have died. If you live by me and are my friend in real life, not fake internet life, you will probably get some anyway. If you are my friend in internet standard time, comment and I will send you some.

Love,
Makayla

I made a cake last night for Aubrey’s birthday. It was loosely based on Better Than Sex cake, I would call it Better Than Fruity Sex Cake.

Here is how it went down:

1 cake mix + all the stuff that goes in a cake mix
1 package of strawberry jello
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tub of frosting to match corresponding cake mix

1- Make the cake. When finished, cool completely.
2- Give toddler a chopstick and have him poke lots and lots of holes in the cake.
3- Make jello and pour over the cake. Put in fridge and allow 4 hours to set up.
4- Pour can of sweetened condensed milk over cake and allow half hour to soak in.
5- Frost. Sing Happy Birthday and Serve.

I hope your arteries appreciate this as much as mine did.

Guess who is learning not to wet in his bed at night and doing a pretty darn good job of it. Go JJ! I mean Gentry. Eight whole days. How does this work you may ask.

35 days + no wet beds = new kitty

We are pretty excited and trying to pay no attention to the fact that I am allergic and have never owned a cat. Hopefully I can handle it. Hopefully. Because we all want one. And G is working hard on his control. He is doing stellar though and big boys don’t pee in the bed.

And moving right along. Lets talk about Holiday food. These topics go splendidly together.

I am making Sweet Potato Casserole, which sounds dull, but is really so delicious you would ask to live with your face in a dish of it for a week. Seriously. There is more sugar here than nutrition.

Sweet Potato Casserole
4 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup melted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups sweetened condensed milk
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups chopped pecans (optional at my house)
20 large marshmallows

1- Cook your sweet potatoes in the microwave for 10 minutes. Wait for them to cool before continuing or you will burn your fingers off. Remember the game hot potato? It is not a joke. When cool, scoop out the insides into a large bowl.

2- Preheat the oven to 375. Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking dish and set aside.

3- In a large bowl, with a wooden spoon, beat the potatoes, sugar, butter, honey and salt until thoroughly combined. Add the sweetened condensed milk and cinnamon and mix well. Stir in the optional pecans.

4- Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes.

5- Remove the casserole from the oven and evenly place the marshmallows on the top. Return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes longer, or until the marshmallows are golden brown and slightly melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I love the simple pattern of a zucchini cut open. Yes this is a zucchini, a yellow zucchini. It kind of reminds me of those old fisher price record players with the notches on the records. I made this for dinner. It was so good, even though I forgot the beans and almonds. And yes, that is the kind of stuff I have on hand around here. The tomatoes and zucchinis came from my garden.

This is what my days have been looking like lately. All finances and catching up. I am getting on top of it though. Thank goodness for accountants and friends who know accounting. To bad I failed accounting in college. This should make a little sense since I had to take it twice. Oh well. Shortly I should be back on top of my finances.

The garden is going well. These are blossoms from potato plants. I cut up the potatoes that were growing legs in my pantry and put them in the ground and this is what happened. Can you even believe it? It amazes me what will come out of the ground, and these burst out of the ground. It really was astonishing how a full bush rose out of the ground, complete with leaves and flowers. They didn’t even start as little buds or sprouts.

Yesterday we went and pulled one zucchini and two yellow zucchinis off their plants and ate them for dinner. We grilled them with an onion and butter and BBQ3000. And well, it was so good. I love the summer fresh foods that I can harvest from my own garden. And aren’t nectarines pretty much like candy growing on a tree? Oh my word, I love summer food.

I made freezer jam today, I am so proud. My mother in law makes it and I always inhale it when I am up at her house. I thought I would make my own to breath in. It is strawberry/blackberry. The blackberries shot little purple spots all over the kitchen.

The jam is so pretty in their little bottles I waited all afternoon for the sun to come in my front windows so that I could take pretty pictures of it glowing like jewels.

Here is a nice snack bento packed full of sugar to keep the boy quiet while consuming. Shortly after he was finished we unleashed him on the poor unsuspecting nursery. He only maimed one child in the tornado of sugar energy that followed.