TASTY TUESDAYS

what better way to bring in the month of november than some good old waffles. but not any kind of waffle...


PUMPKIN WAFFLES

with buttermilk syrup

Batter

2 C flour

2 T baking powder

2 T cinnamon (I didn't add that much)

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

Mix together, than add:

1 cup pumpkin

1 T vanilla (not that much)

1 1/2 C milk

3/4 C melted butter (I did 1/2 cup)

Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter.  Cook on waffle iron.

Buttermilk Syrup

1/2 cube of butter. not margarine.
1/2 C buttermilk

1 C sugar

1 tsp. like corn syrup.
4 egg yolks

Bring to a boil and take off heat.  Add baking soda and vanilla.  (I put in 1 tsp vanilla and about 1/4 tsp baking soda but I can't say for certain what the amount is :))  It will bubble up quite a bit, so make sure your pan is large enough.  Stir until it settles.

 

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

my very first.

after my canyon drive on sunday i was determined to run up any canyon. why not enjoy this nice autumn weather, the leaves changing by running up the canyon instead of cruising in my car with the windows down. so i did just that. instead of running up millcreek, which i eventually will some day. i got in my car drove to donner park. changed into my running shoes and ran up emigration canyon. i seriously cannot get over how beautiful it is. i ran up to ruths dinner which is 1.8 miles so that would give me a good 3 mile run, since i had to run back to my car, i didnt want to over do it because i ran 5 miles in the morning. remember, im training for my ragnar race this weekend. but on wednesday, i think instead of running two separate runs, i think ill have someone drop me off at the top of emigration and then ill just run home. ya i think im going to do that on wednesday. i have to soak in all of this lovely autumness in before the weather changes.. for the better that is. so heres to my very first canyon run. it will not be my last. obviously.

millcreek canyon

driving around saturday doing errands i noticed the mountains looked like they were on fire with the leaves changing. so i was determined to get up around 9am on sunday, get ready for church then head up to any canyon for a drive. so i packed up my camera, my debit card and id, some fruit and water and headed up millcreek canyon. these pictures are beautiful but does not do the full justice of how gorgeous it is up our canyons right now. as i was driving down, i decided that this week before i head down to vegas i have to run up this canyon, it will be a killer but i think ill have the best scenery when running or least it will be up there with central park and snow canyon in st george. if you have time in your busy schedule for one more drive, i think this week or the next will be your last chance. or at least i hope because im ready for my ski season to start! just letting you know, lots of pictures. i couldnt really stop, it  is too beautiful up there!

Witches Night Out

this last weekend was witches night out at gardner village. i have gone every year with my mom since my senior year of high school. i love it. if you havent been and are curious what this craze is all about. its pretty much a ladies night out but even better, witches night out. someone people dont get dressed at all, boo on them. some people dress up a little bit, witches hats. some people go all out, head to toe witch. you eat, shop, cackle, and dance the night away. this year i went with my mom on friday night with our matching witches hats. we looked around for some knick knacks. ate some potato soup in a bread bowl at the little booth. looked around some more shared a scone with honey butter, yum. danced a little bit, mostly me. then headed home.

saturday night i went back with jessica, ashley, amy and sheblie. we stopped to get some dinner at paradise. after that the cackling began, well for me that is. not to brag, but i can give a pretty good cackle just ask the other four that were with me or even my mother. im a witch. we arrived at gardner village, took some pictures then joined the big crowd and some witchin dance moves. then we decided to walk around. take so more pictures. then headed back to the crowd because i wanted to dance some more. danced danced and danced. then took a break for a scone. i love scones if you couldnt tell. my favorite fall treat. then headed back to the dance floor for the last 15 minutes so that we could dance to the one and only thriller. my favorite michael jackson song and the one song that gets me in the mood for october. i can hear thriller in april and then i cant wait for october. its my autumn song. thriller was played, we danced, then thriller was over and it was time to go. we headed back to the car and headed home for the night.

autumn.

a few more pictures from my drive on sunday. it is beyond pretty up emigration canyon. im hoping that i can get one more drive up another canyon before the snow comes in bulks. though i wont be to disappointed if i cant get up the canyon again. im ready to ski!

conference weekend

this weekend was general conference. one of my favorite time of year. I love october, and its a great way to kick off the month. This year was a little different. usually i go to my parents on saturday hang out for the morning and afternoon session then head out with my momma, get a pedicure, shop, then get some dinner. instead this year i skipped out on both sessions because i was down south running the St. George marathon. more on that on a different post. anywho. afterwards i wanted to go home. for me, general conference is family time. though its not like i dont  go home all the time. back to what im saying. Nathan didnt want to go home until sunday and since we drove my car, i headed home by myself. it was a long drive but not bad, given that i was going 85 miles per hour the whole time. finally got salt lake around 7 and went straight to fashion place mall to hangout with my momma. did a little shopping, then i went to get takeout from cafe rio. sunday morning came around. went home to have the annual sunday general conference breakfast. yum. listened to the rest of the talks in the morning session. then after i decided to go up emigration canyon to look at all the leaves changing because next weekend it is suppose to snow up in the canyons.

more pictures to come. but first i broke the sabbath and bought a pumpkin smash smoothie to enjoy while on the drive up the canyon. got home just in time to watch the last session, while eating my cheese bagel with my momma salsa, a sunday tradition. afterwards went on a walk with my momma just to get out of the house, and to move my sore legs. came home to get dinner ready and just relaxed for the rest of the day. till next general conference!

the weekend.

this weekend was a good one. hence the not that many pictures, actually their arent any. but next time maybe i will have at least one, actually i know i will have one because i will be in St. George running the marathon. so if i dont take a picture, i know the people with the marathon will ;)

friday: a long, long shift at work. i felt like it was a never ending shift. then finally 8:00pm came around and our last patient had finally left. went home, changed and met up with Jessica and Ashley. we decided since it was the first day of Autumn, why not celebrate by making some CARMEL APPLES. So we headed to the grocery store, but for we went there. we had to stop by jamba juice because i was craving a smoothie. not just any smoothie. there pumpkin smash. love. it! went over to harmon and grabbed all the goods the we need to make our carmel apples. afterwards, i was freezing and wanted hot cocco from 7-eleven. why from sevie? because they have marshmallows. stopped to see if cafe rio was open. closed. went to hectors, sorry will forever be mocha salsa to me. to get ashley something to eat. see a few familiar face behind us in the drive thru. it was good ole talmage and schmidt. two of my favorite people. jumped out of the car to say hello. yes we were still in the drive thru. invited them over but they already had plans to watch modern family, i dont blame them, who wouldnt want to watch modern family. greatest show EVER! went back to jessicas house and started making our apples. melted the carmel, made a huge huge mess. let them sit for awhile. as we waited pulled out Michael Jackson for the we and played some MJ. had to dance to thriller. that songs just screams autumn to me. danced to a few more songs then went back to our apples and melted the chocolate and then did the finishing touches on our carmeled apples. let them sit for a little while longer while we talked about what we wanted to do for the up coming month. corn maze, witches night out, haunted house, frightmares, thriller. soo much packed into one little month. it doesnt help that later in the month i will be in las vegas for a weekend for the ragnar las vegas. after about 30mins we called it a night.

Saturday, i slept in. had to since i went to bed around 2 am. got into my running gear and went for a casual run. cleaned up and got ready for the day. headed down the gateway to do a little shopping. had $100 gift card to anthropologie so i picked up some of my favorite bowls, cute measuring cups, and a cute mug with a "j" on it. stopped by JMR to see if they had in khaki denim pants. brown? which works. after that, i decided to head over to my moms house so we could head over to the general relief society meeting. i love this time of year because i love hanging out with my mom and family, i love listening to conference and hearing the messages that they share with us. it just rekindles my light! afterwards we went back to my moms and just hungout and watched tangled. then i headed out to go home and go to bed.

sunday, slept in again. im horrible. today was fast sunday, and i broke it. i had a banana, then i went to normandi's to get a chocolate croissant. im horrible. then i went back home to get ready. found out that my cousin drew wanted to come to church with me. waited for him to get to my house. while i was waiting i made some of this YUMMINESS. cant get over how yummy they are. dont worry they are all gone. shocker. skipped out on relief society and priesthood meeting and just went to sunday school and sacrament meeting. met with the bishop about volunteering at the salt lake temple. yep. if you do baptisms, you might see me :) went to my parents house to hangout. had some bagels and salsa. my favorite part of sundays. though this sunday something else made it better. earlier last week i asked if my mom could make her sweet potato pie from ruths chris. she makes it ever thanksgiving and it is soooo yummy. and she made it with our sunday dinner. so yummy. cleaned up and waited for my aunt and uncle, the two other members of the bishopric (my dads the 1st counselor) and a member of the stake presidency to come and ordain my little brother as an elder! crazy. my baby brother is an elder. it made me all teary hearing my dads blessing, having my mom share her testimony. and im pretty sure i will be crying this wednesday when he gets his mission call or whenever he gets it. We finished the night with some sundae's then called it a night. i went back home to a little party that was thrown in my house. met some new people then i just crashed.

this last weekend was a good weekend, sorry not much was documented picture wise, but you get to visualise it with my story :)

autumn has returned

Autumn

goodbye August, hello September. i cannot believe you are here, you came out of no where. Though i am sad to say summer is over, im quite happy Autumn is upon us. I use to love summer and i mean LOVE and hated autumn and winter. but now that i am getting older, i have more appreciation for the colder months. i think its because now that i have an extra layer to wear during the summer, its just too hot now. who knows. i did have a pretty awesome summer, one for the books. But im excited to pull out my boots, jeans and sweaters. I bought a bunch of new sweaters while out and about in nyc and i am excited to wear them. But thats not the only thing i am excited about Autumn.

hot cider: i found this cool idea on pinterest. i dont know if you are familiar with it, but i think this is such a cool idea.

hot chocolate with cheese on toast: a meek favorite when the coldness arrives

ANYTHING pumpkin: pumpkin pie, pumpkin waffles, my moms chocolate chip pumpkin bread. oh yummy

college football: this year i am apart of the muss, im so excited. i love college football.

halloween: easily my favorite holiday of the year. nothing beats staying inside handing out treats to the kiddos in their cute customs. then cozying up on the couch and watching a old horror film.

coats, sweaters, scarfs, cords, boots: what can i say, love fall fashion. plus the colors

canyon drives: i love going up the canyon when the leaves are changing colors. im rather excited for my marathon next weekend. i run down blacksmith canyon where i have been told is the most beautiful run during this time of year. im sure i will be taking pictures while i am running.

thanksgiving: i love turkey dinner. the best part is when my mom makes the sweet potato casserole from Ruths Chris. im a sweet potato lover and this is to die for.

butternut squash soup: i eat this all the time from paradise bakery. cannot get enough. i have already called them to see if its back for the season.. not till next month :(

general conference: in general, i love conference. but i love fall conference more than spring. kindof sad that i might be missing the morning sessions this year because ill be running in the st george marathon.

october: beside july, october is my favorite month hands down. cool in the morning and evenings, warm in the middle of the day. just perfect

thriller by mj: what other song can get you excited for autumn.

mlb playoffs: boston red sox will be champs this year.

carving pumpkins: nothing better to get you into the halloween spirit, plus i love looking at the ones where people go all out. im not the creative. but maybe just maybe i will try this year.

witches night out: if you have not gone to this event at gardner village. you must! its a fancy way of say ladies night out, but so much better. everyone is dressed up as witches, cackling, dancing and cackling some more. so much fun.

haunted corn maze: thats all you have to say. the best.

Autumn

how i love thee