If you give a girl a peach...

Sage and I took a trip to Brigham City this past Saturday to attend the temple open house with my parents and little sister. (reservations can be made here) It was a beautiful rainy day and the temple was gorgeous. After the tour we took my family to a local fruit stand. Which brings me to the title of this post. They were selling slightly bruised peaches for $2 a basket. That is a lot of peaches for only $2. So we bought them thinking they would be so yummy in jam. Which means that we needed to buy pectin, lots of sugar, and jars for the jam. (remind you of a children's story?) And then we stayed up all night making jam. Sage washed, cut, and measured the peaches while I added the sugar, pectin, and filled tons of jars with jam. We ran out of regular jars after only 2 batches and still had plenty to go. So we used random tupperwear and even a cottage cheese container for the rest. We stopped after 4 batches but could have easily made one more. (we just did not have enough pectin or containers) That made about 30 cups of jam.

It was a late night but it would have been even later if Sage was not there helping. It was a nice little date.

And we found some darling apples which we also bought.

They were so small and very tasty! Here is a comparison photo.

We have A LOT of fruit at our house right now.

Our Fourth Date of Christmas...

Today we enjoyed a nice dinner date in the engineering building. One thing that I love about our marriage is that we always have dinner together. Even on our busiest days we will find a place to meet and eat. I so look forward to that time we get to sit and talk together. I am really excited for winter break when we can spend more than just a few hours at a time together. That will be very nice.

Here is what we ate tonight:

Chicken Fajitas:
Cut chicken breast into strips, cook in a skillet. When almost done cooking add sliced green pepper and sliced red onion and a little butter if needed. When veggies are tender add a little water to your skillet along with one packet of taco seasoning. Let simmer for a little bit. Put in a tortilla with your favorite topping. We like black beans, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and tonight we are adding some baby spinach, cilantro and chopped green onions (leftovers from Thai Curry Soup). Wrap it up and eat. (If you feel like it, you can toast the tortilla after it is all assembled by placing it on a clean skillet or griddle over medium heat. Watch it closely so it does not burn. We like to do this sometimes because it gives the fajita it a nice crunch.)

This recipe is pretty simple and I probably do it a little different every time. That is why I was not very specific with this recipe post. Enjoy!

Our Third Date of Christmas...

Yesterday we had a wonderful Family Home Evening Date. We played the piano and sang Christmas songs, ate dinner, and played a "dating game". Sage wrote down some questions earlier that we each took turns answering. A few were, "How many different kinds of cheese have you tried?", "What is a family tradition you want to establish?", "What scripture has helped you this week?", and "What is one of your favorite memories of our dating and courtship?" It was such a nice date. I love Sage :)

Have a great day! 

Our Second Date of Christmas... With a Recipe!

Yesterday was our second date of Christmas. (If you missed the explanation of these dates click here.) We ate good food and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I love my husband! We had so much fun together on our sweet and simple date.

This was our devotional setup. Very cozy :)

 Devotional Goodies: Kettle Corn, Hot Chocolate, and a Christmas scarf from my sister Kelley!

Dinner: Thia Curry Soup with mozzarella and basil toasted whole wheat dipping bread.

To make bread:
Cut any bread you have on hand into slices. Arrange on a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and basil. Turn oven to broil and watch closely until cheese melts or turns slightly golden if you like it extra crunchy. (The middle is not supper crunchy but it is perfect to dip in soup!

To make soup:
I got this recipe many years ago from an online source that I do not remember. I was looking for a recipe similar to the Thia Curry Soup at Noodles and Company. This is perfect. Here you go!

Thia Curry Soup
prep time: 15 min.
cook time: 35-40 min.

Ingredients:
- 2 oz rice noodles
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 1/2 T. minced lemon grass (I just used a little lemon juice)
- 1 t. ground ginger
- 2 t. red curry paste
- 1 (32 oz) carton chicken broth
- 2 T. soy sauce
- 1 T. white sugar
- 1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
- 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms (if you like them!)
- 1 (10 oz) bag baby spinach leaves
- 2 T. fresh lime juice (I used lemon juice because that is what I had)
- 1/4 c. chopped cilantro
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add rice noodles and cook until al dente, about 3 min.
2. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic, lemon grass, and ginger, about 30-60 seconds. add curry paste and cook 30 seconds more. Pour in about 1/2 c. chicken broth, and stir until curry paste dissolves, then pour in remaining broth along with souy sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce head and cover. Simmer 20 min.
3. Stir in coconut milk, mushrooms, spinach, lime juice, and cilantro. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer 5 min.
4. To serve, place some noodles into each serving bowl, and ladle soup on top of them. Garnish each bowl with a sprinkle of sliced green onion.

Tips:
- if the package says, "Rice Sticks" they are either the same thing or they work just the same.
- if you don't have lemon grass or line juice, lemon juice tastes fine. The real ingredients will taste better but the soup I made without them was very yummy.
- I don't like a lot of spinach in my soup, the whole 10  oz is kind of a lot for me. Maybe add a little then go from there instead of adding the whole bag all at once.
- getting your ingredients ready to go before you start cooking will make things go so much better.
- I am not a huge fan of mushrooms so instead, I like to put in thinly sliced red onions.

Enjoy!

Our First Date of Christmas...

This year Sage and I are starting a tradition. It is called "The Twelve Dates of Christmas". I got this idea from a cute blog I read and she got the idea from her friend. As a way to celebrate this holiday season, Sage and I will be going on 12 little dates together.

Today for date number one, we took some family names to the temple to be sealed. One was a couple and there were about 9 individuals who needed to be sealed to their parents. It felt so wonderful to help those families be united together again. We were also able to see the room which we were sealed in. It brought back great memories. It was such a great experience. We love going to the temple.

We are excited for our second date which we will be having tomorrow. I will still post about it after it happens but I just have to tell you what it is. (So that you won't miss it!)

The First Presidency Christmas Devotional!

via

This annual devotional will be held tomorrow, December 4, at 6:00 pm MST.
I love this time of year. It is my very favorite! And I love these devotionals.
For more information, or for viewing or listening options click here.

One more thing before I go. Sage and I saw this darling video last night that I cannot help but share as well. It is not long and it will make you smile. I am sure of that. So you should watch it!
Pierre and Monique.

I hope you are having a great day. Thanks for stopping by!

PS. If any of you feel like trying "The Twelve Dates of Christmas" as well, be sure to let us know the fun things you do!

Skype and Waffles

Last night my honey and I enjoyed a wonderful double date with my sister Molly and her husband. They live in New Hampshire so we had out date over Skype! We played a very fun game of Pictionary. For those who have never played that before, it is a team played game of drawing pictures and guessing what they are. Pretty simple but very fun. After wards we made some yummy waffles for dinner. So yummy that i am going to share the recipe. :)   

Cornmeal Waffles with Peach Maple Syrup
This recipe was in the Statesman (the Utah State University newspaper)

For the waffles:

1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the syrup:

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 medium-sized, ripe peach, peeled and pit removed.

We did not try the syrup but I included it because it sounded yummy. Instead we had some runny peach jam that was just as yummy I am sure. Oh and don't forget the whipped cream on top!

Directions:

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and Salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla, and beat until well blended. Note: If you want to make the recipe a little healthier, you can substitute applesauce for some or all of the sour cream. (we used sour cream)

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together just until they are combined. Be careful not to over mix the batter, because it will result in chewy, dense pancakes with no spring or fluff to them.

Heat your waffle iron to medium and lightly butter it. Make sure you wait until it is fully heated so that you do not have to wait too long for your first waffle to cook and then burn your second waffle. Patience pays off here.

 Once the iron is ready, scoop the batter on and cook until the waffles are golden brown. Serve with sliced peaches and peach maple syrup. Note: You can also just make pancakes with this batter. Just make the recipe according to the directions and cook the batter on a skillet or frying pan instead.

To make the syrup, puree the pealed peach - either using a blender or a food processor - until it is completely smooth.

Meanwhile, combine the maple syrup, brown sugar and butter in a sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the butter melts, the sugar dissolves and the resulting liquid comes to a boil. Boil for two minutes, then stir in the heavy cream and bring the mixture to a boil again.

Remove from the heat, stir in the peach puree and let sit for five minutes before serving. This allows the flavors to blend and the syrup to thicken. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Note: The best way to freeze these waffles is to lay them in a single row on a baking sheet and place in freezer for 1-2 hours until the waffles are totally frozen. Then you can just gather up all the waffles and put them in a Ziploc bag together, and store it in the freezer for up to three months. You can reheat then in the toaster, microwave or on a baking sheet in the oven at 400 degrees.

-Jennelle Clark rights a food column in the Utah State University's Statesman and also runs an online food blog foodislikeart.blogspot.com. Check out her post of this recipe here.