Steph's Shower

One of my very best friends from college is getting married next month and this past week I got to throw her a shower! It was so fun to plan. I've helped with a lot of showers before, but have never been in charge of one. I have to admit, it was a lot more fun when I didn't have to work with someone else. (should I really be admitting that? Oh well, too late now) I just really like to over do things like shower themes and when I'm working with someone else I always know that if I let myself get into 'theme mode' they'll just get annoyed. So I always hold back which, in Jessica terms, means I stop having fun.

Anyway, the shower was great. It's been so fun to see Steph meet, date and get engaged to her fiance. I'm so happy for them!

Stacey Reunion

We just got back from a week with my family up in Heber. My parents rented this great house and everyone was able to make it. How fun to see everyone at the same time! The week was full of touch football games, sand volleyball, T shirt tie-dying, family pictures, practical jokes (gotta love that the nieces and nephews are getting to be teenagers now) delicious food, puppet shows, a talent show, fishing and so much more. (and that was just the days we spent at the house- there were two days when everyone out hiking and site seeing that I was way too sick to participate in.)

Now I just have to get over the fact that it will be so long until I see them again!

Stacey Reunion: Catapult Competition

My brother Nathan invented a competition for our reunion. We split into four teams, each team was given the same materials (a couple lengths of wood, two long pvc pipes, some pipe connectors, three bungee cords and the use of some basic tools) to build the best catapult.

So we set off working. After a while the kids wandered off. Then the women. But the guys were addited.By the end of the day each team had an amazing entry for the competition.




(You'll notice that Marika and I were both members of Team Pink did make sure to come back to put some amazing finishing touches on ours. )

We set up the target, aimed and fired!

and fired

and fired....and even turned our devices upside down to see if it would help...
but even after all that firing, I think only one water balloon hit the pinata. Oh well! At least my team won the prettiest award!
In the end we found that 4 year olds are much more efficient water balloon launchers than anything we could make!

Stacey Reunion: Corn Dinner

My Aunt Lolli organized the most amazing dinner for our reunion! Somehow she got all twenty something of us (I'll keep track of how many of us there are when people stop having babies- it just changes too often!) all in the kitchen at the same time making an entire table full of from-scratch dishes. Everything was done about the same time, we didn't have to wait for any major appliances and when we ate, all the hot things were still hot and the cold things cold. That is organization that I didn't think was possible. (can you tell she makes her living as a project manager?) We did it a little like iron chef- we split up into teams and everything had to have one ingredient in common: corn.


Luckily Lolli also provided recipes (which allowed dinner to be fun and delicious!) Here are a couple of my favorites-
Cream Corn

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a skillet over medium heat, combine the corn, cream, salt, sugar, pepper and butter. Whisk together the milk and flour, and stir into the corn mixture. Cook stirring over medium heat until the mixture is thickened, and corn is cooked through. Remove from heat, and stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted. Serve hot.

Grilled Corn and Bean Salad

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup canola oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder, divided
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 6 ears corn, shucked
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cored and diced
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Preheat a grill or a grill pan over medium heat.

In a small bowl, add 1/4 cup of the canola oil, the cumin, 2 teaspoons chili powder, and season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Stir to combine. Brush each ear of corn liberally with the seasoned oil.

Arrange the corn on the hot grill and cook for about 12 minutes, giving each ear a quarter turn every 3 minutes. Remove from grill and let cool for 5 minutes. When cool enough to handle cut kernels from corn.

In a medium serving bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup of canola oil, 1 teaspoon chili powder, the lime juice, garlic, bell pepper, onions, beans, and cilantro. Adjust the seasonings with salt and black pepper, to taste. Add the corn kernels and stir to combine. Mix the ingredients well and serve with tacos, if desired.

Stacey Reunion: Rainbow Cake

I was in charge of bringing a desert to our Stacey family reunion. I was so excited. I saw this idea a few years ago and have been looking for an excuse to make it ever since. Turns out Doug and I don't eat 6 layer cakes all that often. The recipe I used was good, but not outstanding so I won't include it. You could do it with any white cake recipe- just divide the batter into bowls and color with food coloring. I just bought some pans from the dollar store so I could bake all the cakes at once. (just be sure to line the pans with parchment paper because the layers are super thin!)

The final product was really fun. We used it as a birthday cake for all the August bdays in the family which was also fun considering I don't remember ever celebrating a birthday with all my siblings around the table. (I guess that's what happens when your brother goes to college the same month you start kindergarten...)



On a slight side note, I've been experimenting with different types of buttercream frostings (just so you know, the stuff you get at the grocery store that is called 'buttercream' is as much buttercream frosting as Kraft Mac and Cheese powder is real cheese. Little pet peeve of mine. They have ruined the name of buttercream and I think they should be ashamed!) so this time I made a Swiss Meringue Buttercream. It was ok- the taste was a little too buttery for me and the consistency couldn't hold up past about 70 degrees, not so great of a summer time frosting. So in three years from now when I have an excuse to make another 6 layer cake I'll try a different type in my quest to find the best type. Any suggestions? I've done Italian buttercream- it's my favorite so far, and want to try the French version. Are there any others?

Happy Pioneer Day!

I never know what to do for Pioneer Day. Doug doesn't get the day off work, and even if he did it seems to just slip into all those other Summer go-to-the-park-and-have-a-BBQ holidays. Now that I actually live in a place that benefited from Pioneer Day (as opposed to being the only Mormon girl my own age in my Ohio ward- a trial I endured because of the events we celebrate on Pioneer Day) I figure we should start celebrating. Since I can't get out of the house much, our celebrations usually revolve around what we're going to have for dinner. This year we celebrated Utah with chicken, beehive shaped corn bread, baked sweet potato fries served with fry sauce, and apple pie salad.



The apple pie salad isn't something I've had before. It's our new Pioneer day tradition- invent your own Mormon 'salad'. We don't have the exact measurements down yet, but here's the basic recipe-

Combine cool whip, vanilla pudding, and chopped green apples in a bowl. Add 1-2 crushed personal apple pies. Serve with dinner.

Best salad I've ever had. We are totally taking this thing to the next ward potluck!