my first fish

So we went fishing up the canyon on Saturday

and this is what we caught!

provo prodcue lovers

12 peaches for $2.00. 5 apples for 0.35 cents. 11 lb watermelon for $2.00. cantaloupe 3/1.00. strawberries for .77cents a pound? 5 green peppers for $1.00. Seriously? I love summer. But also Wednesdays is the day for people in provo to buy their produce! BuyLow and Sunflowers Farmers Market, both on University Parkway, have BIG sales on wednesdays on produce. BuyLow it is just wednesday, but seriously the produce is ridicuously cheap. Just be prepared to fight the masses because it is crowded to say the least...feels almost like mexico. Sunflower Market it's all week but the weeks overlap on wednesdays so you get double the sale. So if you live in provo, make wednesday your shopping day, at least for your fruits and veggies! let's make it a party! Bringing home the peaches and cantaloupe reminds me of this place.

Pike Place Market in Seattle

missing sisters.

emily, (not usually found without jim) on a day trip to Cozumel.

melissa and amy last summer when they were visiting p and myself in seattle.

amy, teaching in india.

my sisters are world travelers and I long to be with them. where are they? Emily is in playa de carmen, Mexico for the moment, getting a 3 month crash course in espanol. and amy and Melissa are in India teaching at a school called Shanti Bhavan. So this summer I feel completely deprived of sister time. I'm missing the talking, laughing, crying, clothes swapping, and cooking. I really can't wait till they get home although Melissa will be going to Michigan for medical school in August and Emily is usually flying to some exotic destination. there is just something about sisters that is so comforting. You know they appreciate you for who you are and know you like only a sister can. Despite the sister arguments and fights, you know they will always be there for you! I love my sisters!! Be safe!

the next time...

the next time I decide I want to cut my hair, don't let me!

thanks.

why

Ed why?! So sad to see you go!!! Definitely a front runner for me and wish he wasn't so attatched to work although it's understandable. If Wes stays on one more week, I am going to puke. WHY does Jillian like him!?

Happy 26 to Parker!

we had a little family party up at parker's parents house on sunday night to celebrate his birthday. kelli and brent made a delicious dinner and parker got some great presents and of course, parker won the weekly front yard golf tournament. just a lovely night. Today is his actual birthday and we are going to dinner tonight...he may even get to get a new set of clubs if he's lucky:) I just wanted to let parker know how much I love him and am grateful for him! He is SO sweet and fun and such a cutie. I lOVE that boy! I don't know how I ever lived without him. He is my best friend! Happy Birthday Park!!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cake with PB & Chocolate Ganache

This cake is absolutely delicious. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to make it for parker's birthday. It screams his name...seriously. Parker walked into the kitchen while I was making the cake and said..." wow you really aren't messing around." That is always a good sign. the recipe is below.

I found the recipe for this cake is here.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cake with PB & Chocolate Ganache

1 box (18.25 ounces) devil's food cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Good pinch of salt
2 cups mini Reese peanut butter cups, chopped, plus 1 1/2 cups more for garnish (about 2 - 12oz. bags)

Ganache
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
4 TB of confectioners sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line with waxed paper; coat paper.
In a large bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil and salt on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high; beat for 2 minutes, scraping down side of the bowl after 1 minute. Fold in 2 cups of the chopped peanut butter cups.
Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 34 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let layers cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto wire racks and cool completely.
To make the PB ganache place chopped dark chocolate in a medium-size bowl. Bring cream just to a boil and pour over chocolate. Whisk until chocolate melts. Add peanut butter and confectioners sugar, whisking all till nice and smooth.
To frost the cake, you can first trim the tops of you cakes (with a serrated knife) first to make them flat, I didn't do this.
Put one cake layer on cooling rack and place on a baking sheet. Pour some ganache on top; spread evenly with a spatula. Then place remaining cake layer, and pour remaining frosting over the top, allowing it to spill over the sides. Smooth top and sides with spatula (see Note below).
Refrigerate 1 hour to set. Transfer cake to serving plate and garnish with the chopped Reese's PB Cups.

Note: I saved a bit of the ganache to put on the cake just before adding the chopped Reese's PB Cups to act as a glue, making sure everything adhered correctly, then chilled it again to let it set. So basically, frost the cake, then chill, then add a thin layer of ganache again, add the garnish, then chill again.

Another note: When you use wax paper in the oven, all the wax paper has to be trimmed down so cake batter is covering all of it or else it will smoke and be nasty.

Make this if...

you like thai food at all!!! One of the things parker brought me home from Denver was this spicy little dish. It is to die for and as you can see be the recipe below, not difficult to make at all. Adjust the spices to your liking:) Chicken Curry

Simmer for 10 minutes in a sauce pan or wok:
Cocunut Milk 1 Can
Green Curry Paste 2 T.
Chili Garlic (Red) Sauce 1 Heaping T.


Add and simmer for another 15 minutes:
Thin-cut peices of chicken and 2 T. of Fish (oil) sauce
And cut greens:onions, peppers, basil leafs, and veggies

Serve over jasmine or brown rice!!!

India

Amy and Melissa are headed here to Bangalore, India today. They are teaching at a school there for the summer. Read more about the school here. Isn't it always a little nerve-racking when family members are flying thousands of miles above the earth? I wouldn't say that today is the best day to be traveling either with the news talking abou this. say a little prayer if you read this today!

oh and these...

I made these favorites for parker too... SOOO yummy. I have been eating WAY too many.

mmmm..homemade bread

So I didn't post about it because I'm a little paranoid but parker has been gone for the past 2 weeks and I have been home all alone! He is back now so all is right with the world, but I do have to say, those were the longest 2 weeks ever. It is by far the longest amount of time we have been apart since we have been married and I think even since we started dating including the summer when I was in StGeorge. Ya know, I thought about it, and I am completely capable of living without parker but it's just that I don't want to. That's why I married him. Life is so much better with him. I know there are a lot of people that have to go much longer without their husbands and I really have empathy for them! Especially those wives whose husbands are in the army or far away for a LONG time. That would be so hard and I really admire them. It is so nice having him home. I thoroughly missed him. While he was gone I found a lot of things to do I don't normally do...llike making bread. Really yummy bread. I bought all the goods for it so I'm going to be making our bread from now on... It takes us at least a week to go through a loaf so i just throw the extra loaves in the freezer till we need them. I don't think it really saves any money but I like doing it so it doesn't really matter...By the way, I realize I blog a lot about food. Sometimes I feel like all it's all I blog about but I think it's because I LOVE food....it's pretty much all I think about it, thus all the blogging! hope you enjoy!

Bev

this is my grandma, Beverly.
She turned 87 this month.
We had a birthday party for her and took lots of pictures.
She has been studying those pictures on a digital picture frame.
The other day she asked my mom for a pair of scissors.
My mom asked what she needed scissors for.
Grandma told her she needed to cut out a magazine article.
5 minutes later my mom went to see how the magazine cutting was going.
She wasn't cutting a magazine.
She was cutting herself bangs!

Wicked

was so good... i loved every minute of it. katie rose clark (glinda) and donna vivino (elphaba) were amazing! i knew a little about the story line and we had been listening to the the soundtrack for a couple months but it was way beyond my expectations! It made me wish I knew how to sing and act because it just looks like so much fun and those ladies are seriously SO talented. Parker loved it too and has been singing it nonstop lately. we want to go again!

sushi bar etiquette

I am already looking forward to my birthday dinner...really, I don't have anything in mind already...(hint hint);) watch this video if you have a few. it's funny.

my besties...

are both on missions... I love getting their emails each week. they are truly inspiring and so hard working. I don't know if I could do the hard things they are doing. Makes me want to be a better person. charlene in tacloban, phillipines.

robyn in little rock, arkansas.

happy easter!

So we were standing in line at the grocery store yesterday and picked up martha stewart and saw these delightful eggs... At least i think these were them. They look like fun and the directions are on the website.also happy birthday to Jessica! sweet sweet sixteen. definitely one of my favorites.

bev's cinnamon rolls

When parker and I were first married he REALLY wanted me to make him these cinnamon rolls one day...so I got the recipe from his mom, who got it from a lady in his ward. For some reason I never ended up making them back then so I made them this weekend for general conference. They really are the BEST cinnamon rolls ever. The recipe is scanned here. It's the only copy I have so hopefully if you click on it, it will be big enough to read!

East-West Connection

Had a little sisterly time during the preisthood session of conference. We went out to dinner at this little veitnamese restuarant off of foothill. I would recomend the tofu curry and spring rolls with noodles. Delicious and pretty to look at.

He did it!

in this weatherWith his friend Brian from work

and he could still smile afterwards!

Good Luck Parker!

he's running the half marathon tomorow morning. I was a wuss this year and decided I did not want to put in all that training work so I will be cheering him on along the sidelines. And this is why I am thrilled to not be running...

last year after we finished. My Oprah tee amy made for me for luck.