Fall Break

Fall Break.  

Ahhhh.  Something I've never had before in my life.  

BUT I AM SO EXCITED!

The U has a full week off for fall break.  I've never had a fall break before because apparently BYU does not believe in it, and the closest I ever got in grade school was a 2-day break for UEA weekend.  So, this is just glorious!  I have all sorts of plans for this week.  I have some furniture to stain, a Halloween costume to design and sew, lunch with a few friends, finish putting all my boxes into storage since the move back to my parents' house, studying (probably a good idea to get ahead while I've got some time), and a couple other smaller things.  Its going to be a fantastically productive week, which is my favorite kind!

I started this glorious break with an exciting weekend.  I went on a fun double date: 2 male best friends going out with 2 female best friends.  It was a blast!  We carved pumpkins, played the piano, ate pumpkin pie, and got down with "Just Dance" on the Wii.

Then on Sunday, my sister Becca and her family came down from Layton to eat dinner with me.  It was a really nice gesture since I'm living here alone while my parents are driving cross-country.  Although, I suspect it might actually have been the fact that I had chicken they could use for dinner, but either way, it was fun having them here...especially when Angry Birds made an appearance.  My nephew, Gus, may or may not be addicted to Angry Birds.  :)  You decide.

I hope you can tell how much Becca and I were laughing!  Each time we watch this video, we just laugh even harder.  I think we had a good 10 minutes of "Anga Birds" tantrums from Gus.  It was so hilarious!

So here's to a fantastic start to fall break! 

Kitchen Successes & Failures

Wow!  Has it really been almost a month since my last post?  A lot sure has happened since then.

First, you should all know that I got released from being Relief Society President in my ward.  It was a long, but fantastic 2 years!  Now I get to relax a little.  Haha, who am I kidding?  This is me we're talking about it!  It only took one week before I'd completely filled my life with new adventures.  There is just something about feeling productive and busy that makes me happy.

On my list of new adventures, I decided it was time to try honing in on my cooking skills.  I've never done a whole lot of cooking for lack of time and desire, but that has changed now.  In Oct/Nov, I spent a couple Saturdays with my mom and sister, Rebecca, and her son, Gus, canning applesauce from our very own Golden Delicious Apple tree in the backyard.  I haven't done any canning since I was a wee child, and let's be honest, I probably didn't do much then either, except maybe create a mess for my mom...

Blueberry sauce and me as a 1 year old probably aren't the best mix :)

This year was different though.  We canned a whopping 40 or so bottles of homemade, perfect applesauce.  It is the most delicious applesauce!  My mom prides herself on the fact she doesn't put ANYTHING in to sweeten or preserve the applesauce.  It is as pure as applesauce can be.  Let me tell you, its the best I've ever hard!

Note: I've chronologically placed my pictures from canning more for my remembrance in future years than anything else...


Step 1: Pick apples            Step 2: Slice the 8 boxes of apples

 

Step 3: Render (or boil down) the apples

 

Step 4: Smash the apples in the cool tool that I can't remember its real title

 

Step 5: Pour into many bottles and place the lids on tight

 

Step 6: Seal the bottles in boiling water, then carefully remove so they don't break



Step 7: Let cool and finish sealing.  Long day, but the taste is worth it!  No added anything, pure applesauce.
Day 1 is complete!

 

Mom and me in the kitchen

 

Gus "washing" the apples.  Aka, dropping them in the water

 

Day 2 finished products, including three cinnamon applesauces


Also on the "Must Bake" list is the incredible Cherpumple. The name stems from a combination of CHERry, PUMpkin and apPLE.  I saw this on msn.com one day and thought it would be fun to try. 
A Cherpumple consists of a Cherry pie baked inside a white cake, a Pumpkin pie baked inside a yellow cake, and an Apple pie baked inside a spice cake.  All 3 layers are to be stacked and cemented together with cream cheese frosting.  In a perfect world, it would look like this.

Apparently someone did have a perfect world, and therefore a perfect cherpumple.  Just not me!

Here is the history of Rachel's Cherpumple attempts

• Attempt #1 - A complete and utter disaster!  Ended with cherry pie filling dripping down the side of the countertop and down my front (reminder: ALWAYS wear aprons!).  Also not where it belonged was the pumpkin pie strewn across the floor and down my mom's front  Sitting on the countertop were two seperate bowls of cake batter, mixed but then untouched, and burnt cupcakes forgotten while cleaning up the pumpkin pie. On the up side, the apple pie was a hit at my FHE Pie Night after I decided to scratch the idea of continuing this cherpumple!
• Attempt #2 - Two weeks later and surrounded by friends for a hilarious night of grilled tri tip dinner and dessert.  My cherpumple came close to awesomeness, but ended in a presentation failure!  Sure tasted good, but the look left much to be desired...and a lot to be cleaned up. 
• Attempt #3 - Has not happened yet.  But, the list of those wanting to see the completed masterpiece is growing.  Before I know it, I'll have the whole ward waiting for the grandiose completion or the comedic destruction of my 'tri-pie' #3.

Documentation of my failure...

Pumpking Picking

There is a joy to be had when kids are around!

I loved spending the afternoon at the pumpkin patch with my sister, Becca, and her two boys.

The beginning maze thrilled the boys!  It was tough to get them to stop running long enough for a picture.

It was nearly impossible to get them out of the maze.  We had to lure them out with a ride in the wheel barrow.  It worked for a little while.  :)

But riding in the wheel barrow wasn't enough, they had the most fun running through the pumpkins.

And I loved spending the day with them!

Babysitting

Last night, my sister and her husband went to a friend's condo for the night so they had my other sister babysit their son Ty. I wasn't around enough last night to do anything fun with them, but this morning after breakfast Ty found some really funny things. These pictures are the result of his treasure hunt at Grandmas!

The goggles were so close to my eyes that this was only way I could keep my eyelashes from hitting the plastic! And Sarah snapped a photo and the best time!