Home Sweet Home

Ahhhh (huge sigh of relief) so happy to finally be home and done with finals! I am sorry for not posting but let me catch you up with what finals are like: It is 24/7 studying, your mind is so overloaded with material that you kind of lose it, you spend hours and hours in the same spot, the sun burns your eyes because you never go out,  and severe lack of sleep. My roommates and I decided that taking stretching breaks would help us not shrivel up. So let me give you a little peak at a typical stretch break at Chandelle 897

 Someday they will be able to touch their toes

So on our way home from working out Mela and I came across tons of balloons in the dumpster so we picked them up, yes dumpster diving, and gave them to some special people in our lives. We wrote individualized messages on each balloon for a finals pick-me-up. 

A highlight of the last week was our Ward Christmas Party- Ugly sweater / white elephant exchange. We all got some real nice things.

Here we are with out favorite fellas; the dinner group boys and the tree house

 On our way to the party we stopped at the Dollar store to buy our white elephant gifts and we came across this store display which was perfect for our christmas photo. So here is our christmas cards for the year (minus our dear Lindsey :( and introducing the new roomie, Bridget)

After all the finals were over then the celebrations began, cafe rio and the Sweet Tooth Fairy hit the spot. It was fun to go out and not have to stress about what homework we have to do or what tests we have to study for. 

I am going to miss these folks so much over the break. I can't wait to see them in a few weeks!

Why Men and Women Cant be friends- Utah State Version

Utah State did a survey to find out if Boys and Girls could be "just friends." I thought this was hilarious so I hope you enjoy. The Video below is the BYU edition.

Why Men and Women Can't Be Friends - The Truth

Finals study Break

For all those who need a little uplifter while studying for finals enjoy this movie :) And for all of you who are not in school and taking finals- lucky you but still watch this and enjoy.

Monster Pug

Rob and Katharine I hope you two really enjoy this

Tasty Tuesday

So today I am going to put up all of the recipes from the Classy Christmas party. I am sorry to say that I don't have pictures of all of them but let me tell you that they are all delicious and you should try them!!

Pumpkin Lasagna

Caramelize white Onion and Bean Pizza

This one is always a hit and SUPER easy to make. I never add in the white wine vinegar- it tastes fine without it. I also add in squash and zucchini

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Self- explanatory. Add BBQ sauce over pizza dough and put shredded rotisserie chicken on top. 

Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo Pizza

Another super simple recipe. But the sundried tomato Alfredo sauce and spread over the dough and then add vegetables and onions at will. Super good. 

If you have any questions then just call me. And enjoy the recipes. On Thursday I will be posting the desserts that we are actually having tonight for our dessert party- finals edition. Get excited.

Classy Christmas Party

Twas the night before last and all through Jessi's house not a person wasn't working-

not even the mouse

The tables were set by the chimney with care 

with the hope that our guests would soon be there.

The Girls of 897 were all nestled in the kitchen

With visions of pumpkin lasagna, pizza, and pasta danced in their heads

Jessi and Mela in their aprons and I in mine too

had just settled into a long winters prep

The doorbell started going off in such a clatter

I left the kitchen to see what was the matter

I went to change in such a flash

to put on my sequin skirt with a sash

"Now dinner group boys,

on Jerusalem friends

now church friends

and other great ones too"

To the top of the tree to the bottom of food line everyone was scattered

and all you could hear was sophisticated chatter

We were serenaded by the sweet sounds

For there was no frowns

We raised our glasses filled with bourbon

And we took photos that are so urban

We ate and drank the night away 

Families assembled as they may

This night had to come to a close and everyone went home for a slumber

For we knew that finals were just around the corner

Merry Christmas to all and to all a classy christmas night!

Much thanks to Jessi's family (especially her dad for keeping all the business boys company :) ), all those who came, the dinner group boys who helped cook, to Amy who created the best cake, and last but not least my roommates who are the greatest party planners EVER!!

Jerusalem, If I forget you.....

For dinner group this week I made a special Jerusalem dish for my dear friend, Vladi. He is going to go to Jerusalem or winter semester so I decided to make him a little farewell dinner to prep him for his journey. Something that we commonly ate was the falafels. I actually always wondered what went into those but I never wanted to ask. 

Now once a week I will either have tasty tuesday or tasty thursday. I am going to compile the recipes and food that we make (because we make dang good food here) and it is always better to share. Katharine, my sister-in-law, persuaded me over the break to start this section of my blog. So first recipe is the falafels. I will actually just send you to the page because that is easier: falafel recipe. The only thing I changed was to dip it in flour before frying it so it holds together better.

The falafels are in the top left hand corner. Jessi made some delicious naan bread

Then for our desert Melissa made the world's best cinnamon rolls, seriously try these. And they make 40 so they last forever (except in our house-they are already gone)

Cinnamon Rolls

3 1/2 cups warm water

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup of oil

5 tbsp yeast

combine above ingredients in a large bowl- rest for 15 minutes

10 1/2 cups flour

1 tbsp salt

3 eggs

add all together, beat with mixer until smooth

beat in any remaining flour by hand

pour out onto floured board

knead until smooth

rest 15 min

divide dough in half

roll each half into 12 in x 30 in

melt 1/2 cup butter

spread evenly on each half (1/4 c on each)

sprinkle 1/2 c sugar on each

generous amount of cinnamon

roll each half and slice into 20 rolls

place on large cookie sheet (greased)

let rise 20 min

bake for 10 mins or desired at 400 degrees

let cool 5 min

Frosting:

3 1/2 c powder sugar

1/3 c butter

1 tsp vanilla

3-4 tbsp of milk (Melissa 1.5x that recipe because dry otherwise)

We had a great turn-out for dinner group, around 15 people, because I invited some jerusalem friends and we reminisced for over 2 hours! We were the annoying people at the party who are laughing way too loud and not inclusive. But hey thats what happens when you live with these people for the GREATEST 4 months of your entire life. Miss those people so much. I also wore some of the clothes that survived from Jerusalem including my John Cena shirt.

Well enjoy :) have a tasty thursday.