Vacation Time!

Abel and I are so excited that spring term is almost over (it ends on June 16th). We CANNOT wait. School has burnt us out and we are ready for summertime.
Luckily, Abel's parents invited us to go on vacation with them a week after school ends. We are going to Hong Kong for 6 days, Singapore for 4 days, and Malaysia for 4 days! It's going to be SO awesome! I can't wait. It'll be my first time out of the country, so that's a little scary, but it's going to be great. I just hope that I'm not sick on all the flights that we'll be going on! I'll probably be poppin' dramamine like candy. Haha.
It's now time to get my wardrobe ready for these asian countries because I've been told it's going to be SO hot and humid and I only have long jeans. In hopes to not be a mega sweat ball the entire time, I bought some knit fabric to make a skirt to wear while we're there. I've also decided that I'm hopefully going to make a few more skirts (and maybe a summer dress). Then I'll only have to buy like one pair of shorts.
I'm hoping that this helps relieve my stress of packing. I hate packing and I'm terrible at it especially for long trips like this! Wish me luck.

Caramel Stuffed Sugar Cookies

Well, the other day at work I was pretty bored (I didn't have much to work on that day) so I was browsing different recipe/food related blogs. Along the way somehow I happened upon this recipe for sugar cookies with Milk Duds in the middle. I like sugar cookies and the idea of caramel in the center sounded great, but normally I have to have frosting with them. I figured what the heck why not try them out? So I decided I would make them for the BBQ that Abel and I were going to on Monday. And when I say going to, I mean by walking up the stairs to Syd's house to eat with her, Nick, the boys, Nathan, and Liz. It was fun and the cookies are pretty dang good-- a good combination of sweet (but not too sweet) and chewy. I would recommend them the next time you want to put a twist in a sugar cookie. 

If you didn't follow the link above to the original source, I'll post the recipe here also.  

Chewy Caramel Stuffed Sugar Cookies
(Makes 3 dozen, adapted from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion)

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 box Milk Duds
• 1/2 cup coarse raw sugar (when I made them I just used normal white granulated sugar)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Combine the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until all of the ingredients are evenly incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg.

Gradually, add the flour to the creamed mixture, stirring just enough to incorporate the flour. Shape rounded tablespoons of dough into a ball, pressing a Milk Dud into the center of each ball. (Be sure to cover the Milk Dud completely with the sugar dough.)

Roll the ball in the raw sugar and place it on the prepared baking sheets. Be sure to space the cookies 2 – 3 inches apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Let them cool on the pan for a few minutes and then remove.

Skirt Giveaway!

For all you girls out there, I follow this awesome blog called Elle Apparel that has some great and simple ideas for sewing projects. She even has tutorials on how to make most of her projects! Right now, she is having a socialite skirt giveaway. Hopefully, you all won't enter because I want to WIN, but if you do, I guess that'd be alright ;). If you want to check it out, click here!


Anyway, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend spending time with friends and family. Remember those who have fought for our freedom and protected this wonderful country that we live in. :) Have a great and safe weekend!

BLT Chicken

Tonight Abel and I tried a recipe that I got from my sister Sydney which she got from Rachel Ray. It is called BLT chicken. B as in Bacon, L as in Leek, and T as in Tomato. It is a good combination of savory (or as Abel would say "umami") and creamy. As I was cooking the recipe, Abel asked what we were going to eat with it.. I had no idea haha. The recipe didn't say to serve it over rice or pasta or anything of the sort, so we decided we would try it over our favorite type of pasta--angel hair. It was super easy and DELICIOSO! So, everyone should try it!!

BLT Chicken
Ingredients:
-chicken breasts or boneless thighs cut into medallions
-4 pieces of bacon
-3 leeks (diced and washed well)
-3 roma tomatoes
-1 1/2 C chicken stock
-1T flour
-1/2-3/4 C cream (depending on how much you want)
- salt & pepper
-dry white wine (I didn't have this, so I didn't use it and it still tasted great)
Directions:
In one pan, salt and pepper the chicken. Place the seasoned side down first and cook until done.
In a second pan, cook the bacon until crispy. Break up the bacon pieces into the same pan and add the diced leeks. Cook these until soft.
When the leeks are soft, add the flour and mix.
Next, add the chicken stock, tomatoes, and pepper to taste.
Then add the cream.
When the chicken is done, remove the chicken from the pan and pour a dash of wine into the pan to remove the chicken drippings.
Pour the drippings and wine into the sauce mixture.
Wa-la! You're finished!
I would serve it over your favorite pasta :)

Wedding Photos

I've had a few people ask me where all of our wedding photos are because they never really saw any... so, I've decided that I am going to have a handful of them edited and then I will post them on here for everyone to see. It's probably about time I do that seeing as that we got married over 6 months ago.. Oh how time flies.

Shaved Ice-- Gotta love summertime!

Man, Abel and I are hoping that the rain goes away soon and we head back into weather like last weekend. High 70s and all sunshine. We took advantage of the weather last Friday and rode our bikes all around Provo. It was beautiful. On a whim, we decided that we would go get shaved ice at the very best place around.. too bad I can't remember what it's called.. haha. Either way, it's the little shack across the street from Helaman halls (some of the freshman dorms on BYU campus). And it is AWESOME! If you ever wanted a mountain of the softest shavings of snow-like ice, drenched in an assortment of flavors, than this is the place for you. There are about a million flavors that you can get, a snow cap of sweetened condensed milk, and even a scoop of ice cream if you want on the bottom. We asked them about the ice cream and if it was good after we ordered and they threw in a small scoop on the top for free. It was good :)

Guava is my favorite and POG (Passionfruit, orange, and guava) is Abel's. He was so sweet to let me choose the flavors I wanted so we got half guava and half mango. Both great. If you go, I'd highly recommend the guava. That "little" baby in the pictures is a long board (medium) and it was HUGE. Abel and I couldn't even finish it all. Next time, we'll go for sharing a short board (small).

Vinyl Mail Holder

So, a while ago I saw the coolest DIY mail holder/magazine rack made of old records. I thought it was so cool that I had to try it myself. Knowing that my dad has TONS of old records, I gave him a call and he mailed a few up to me. Thanks Pops! 

So today, Abel and I decided to give it a try. It was pretty simple. You basically iron a vinyl record until it is bendable and then you shape it how you want. Our best one was made by ironing a strip close to the middle and then bending it around a book to get the flat bottom. You just have to make sure you work fast because the vinyl cools pretty quick. Here's what we came up with. 

Ignore the ugly mail. Had I been a professional photographer I would have found cool mail and magazines to put in this. But, I'm not so I settled for the actual mail at our house. :)