How to cook

One of the topics of conversation this Christmas was all the stories about me.  As we talked about them, we laughed a lot, we relived some wonderful memories, and I became more afraid to bring any guy home to meet the family.  I also realized many of these stories were about cooking.  Although Mom said I am a good cook now, it has been a long time coming, with lots of lovely dishes made by me.  Here are some  favorite cooking mistakes, with no accompanying pictures. 

Macaroni and cheese
     It was the first time I made mac and cheese.  I didn't know you have to drain the water.

Kool-Aid
     You may ask who can mess up Kool-Aid, but I could never remember if you were supposed to put in one cup of sugar or two.  It came out Joanna's nose when she drank it and started laughing.

Strawberry bread 
     I thought it would be even better if I  put in even more strawberries, so I put it the whole package, which was twice as much as it called for.  I had made it a couple times that summer for Mom, but she never asked me again after I made this delicious loaf.
    
No-bake granola, and then it became no-bake soup
     I swear the no-bake cookie recipe was bad.  I followed it exactly, but it was so dry that it was more like granola.  Janet and I thought putting some milk in it would help, but then it was just chocolate granola in milk.

Pudding
     Um, I can make pudding really well now.

Mint brownies
     Mom found a recipe for the famous BYU mint brownies and asked me to make them.  I went at it, doing my best.  The brownies turned out really well; then I made the frosting.  I couldn't find the mint extract it called for, but I found some spearmint oil and substituted that.  How was I supposed to know that mint oil is different than mint extract?  The brownies looked and smelled delicious, and they left the  eater with well-cleaned sinuses.  In fact, the eater could barely finish one because they were so dang strong.
   
I'd agree with Mom that I can cook pretty well now.  I may or may not have set the stove on fire tonight when I cooked dinner, but everything still tasted delicious.

Really??!!

I was quite surprised when I read this headline on my Yahoo homepage recently. And all this time I've been wanting to cure cancer. Maybe I should revise my goals.

Will the Real Ace of Cakes Please Stand?

You know how moms always blog about their children's birthday parties that they put together? Well, we threw a surprise party for Jenae today, Taco Bell themed. It came together pretty well, especially the awesome taco cake made by yours truly.


I made it with chocolate cake crumbs for the meat, green coconut for the lettuce, licorice for the tomatoes, colored icing for the cheese, and white frosting for the sour cream. I had planned on cooling the cake over something round to give it shape, but it just broke apart, so I used half on top, half on the bottom. It looked pretty darn good. At the party, however, most of us ate the leftover chocolate cake.

Add a Taco Bell party pack, Taco Bell balloons (thanks Taco Bell, I didn't even know you made balloons,) streamers, and a painted Taco Bell sign, and it was a real fiesta. Happy Birthday Jenae!

Yes Mom, even I can be crafty. Next time I'll put up a picture of my Christmas sweatshirt.

My Christmas Tree

My rommates wanted to get a Christmas tree. One year we went to a tree lot to look for one, and we decided they were too expensive, especially because we wouldn't even be here for Christmas. This year Jenae and Liz decided to get a tree permit to be able to still get a tree and not pay an arm and a leg for it. They did, we got the tree, and it is fully decked and cheerfully graces our living room, making our little home more cozy. Was it worth it?

Christmas tree permit: $10
Time spent in line: 3 hours
Gas to get to the permit place: $5
Gas to get to the forest where we cut it down: $5
Sierra saw because we couldn't find one to borrow: $7.88 (but it's really cool, and I'm going to keep it for my camping adventures)
Time spent tromping around the forest trying to find the perfect tree, then cutting it with a little saw: 1 hour (the trunk was really wide)
Glass ball ornaments: $2.50
Disco ball ornaments: $1
Homemade ornaments: 2 hours and Jenae's craft supplies
Having an 8 foot Christmas tree that we cut down out of the forest: priceless

Check out our awesomely homemade ornaments. Plus, we didn't have a tree stand, and we didn't want to buy one, so we tied the tree to strategic locations in the room to keep it upright. I think it was a good idea.

My hero

I have a new role model. I was introduced to her by Janet when I got back from my mission and Janet tried to catch me up with what had happened while I was in Peru. She showed me a YouTube video from Britain's Got Talent. Every time I watch that video now I break out in a grin and wish the best to Susan Boyle. When she walked out on the stage everyone was against her--a frumpy old maid who wanted to become a famous professional singer. People laughed at her and rolled their eyes. She proved to them that she has the guts to stand in front of a judgmental crowd and show that she really does have talent. Thank you Susan Boyle for the humble way you shared your beautiful voice and reminded us that we should be less judgmental and kinder. If I had money I would go out and buy your chart-topping album.

Tradition

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is the traditions we have. After not being at home for about five Thanksgivings,it made this Thanksgiving a little more special to be able to be a part of the strong traditions I grew up with. Aside from the classic Thanksgiving dinner, here is how I spent my traditional Scoresby Thanksgiving weekend:

The Day-after-Thanksgiving craft. I participated in both the craft options, and I think they turned out pretty darn cute. Thanks Mom for supplying the crafting supplies and telling me the ribbon tree wasn't as hard as I was making it out to be.

Pies. As Scoresbys, we enjoy a special tradition: eating pie (for more info click here http://scoresbyscoreboard.blogspot.com/2009/10/thanksgiving-pie-plan.html). This year was especially great as there were 15 of us (including Lauren, who wanted her own pie) and 15 pies, therefore creating a 1:1 pie ratio. Delicious!


The Scoresby Scamper. Thanks to all those who supported this newer Scoresby tradition. After all my training, we all ended up getting lost and not following the course, except Shannon. She ran the whole thing (way to go Shan!). Thanks to Mom again for this year's souvenir.

Gamage. This is not only a holiday tradition, but happens whenever we get together. This Thanksgiving's favorites were the name game, Acquire (not my favorite), and ninja destruction!


It was nice to just get away from everything and spend time doing these things. But now it is time to get on with life and get ready for finals. Then I can make a visit back home for the Christmas traditions. More pie anyone?