Portland Zoo

So I'm just now getting around to really updating the blog....I've taught Eric how to make a post so hopfully over this Christmas break they'll be a few more posts made before school starts back up. N-e-ways over Thanksgiving break Eric and I went to Oregon to spend the holiday with Jenny,Brandon and their two little ones Jemma and Carter. One of the days while we were out there we took a trip to the Portland Zoo, it was cold but lots of fun.

Weird Quirks

So I was tagged by my sister Sharee to give 6 quirks about myself so here they are:

1) I can't sleep in past 8:30 a.m. or I feel like a fat bumb and as a result don't do much during the day.

2) Milk by its self tastes nasty but I'm okay with it in my ceral.

3) I eat most of my meals standing up (unless we have company over or I'm eating out...my mom warned me that my husband would hate this and she was right, it drives Eric crazy. He doesn't get why I do and neither do I...I'll just blame it on early morning seminary).

4) I can't fall asleep unless my feet are covered (yep even in the summer time when its supper hot the feet must be covered...its a curse).

5) I can't be late to class I wont go if I'm late, always have to be early or right on time, never late.

6) When starting a book or considering to read it, I peek at the "ending" and if the ending is good I'll read the whole book.

I think its funny how most of my "quirks" have to do with eating or sleeping :)

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

So Eric and I share a garage with three other families. There's a lot of random junk stored in our garage but there was one piece of furniture that I believed to have potential. The item of furniture was a mini hutch made from particleboard. After doing a little research we discovered that the little white hutch had been abandoned by its previous owner and we were free to claim it. Now don't expect anything amazing I'm just trying to update my blog for those of you who are sick of seeing my roll recipe so enjoy the following pictures which show the before, middle and after process of my little hutch.

Recipe Time

So I worked at a Great Harvest bakery for two months and picked up on a few tricks. No this roll recipe is not from them I'd get in trouble for passing on their "Trade Secrets" but I really do like this recipe so if you're feeling up to experimenting you should try it out along with the Potato Cheese Soup I'll be including at the end of this post.

Prepare & Set Aside
1 pkg. Yeast (1 Tbsp.) dissolved in
2 Tbsp warm water w/ 2 tsp Sugar

MIX
1 cup HOT Water
1 tsp of Salt
1 Tbsp & 1/2 tsp Shortening
1/4 c. Sugar

When the yeast has done its thing mix with water mixture & add 1 beaten egg.
Slowly add 3-4 cups of Flour. Knead in the bowl 8-10 minutes.
Place the dough in an oiled container/bowl and.....


Refrigerate for 30-60min or longer ( I've made the dough the night before and they've turned out fine)


Pull dough out of fridge (should have doubled in size)


Cut dough into stips then into smaller sections (no bigger then a handful of dough).


Roll the dough into smooth round balls (use the palm of your hand and fingers to apply adequate pressure)


They should look like this.


Place them on a pan (don't forget to spray first). They should be rather close to one another almost touching.


Let them rise in a warm place for 30-45 min (double in size)


I do 12 minutes but sometimes it looks like they can use a little more time (1-2 more minutes).


End Product...pull apart & enjoy!

Oh yeah here's the Soup recipe that's really good with the rolls.

6-8 potatoes 1 cup sour cream
2 cups milk 8 oz. cheddar cheese shredded
4 cups chicken broth Pepper & Salt to taste
2/3 flour
2/3 butter
8-12 stripes (break into bits)

Bake potatoes until soft @ 400 degrees; then peel mash or cube the potatoes (personal choice). In large soup pot combine flour & butter to make a roux. Cook for 1 min, then slowly whisk in the liquids. Add salt & pepper, potatoes, cooked bacon & cheese. At last minute stir in sour cream. Soup will be thick. Well there ya go, hope you guys like it.

My Garden

So Eric and I spent quite a bit of time digging out a huge juniper bush and pulling out nasty crab grass to make this spot look so good.


I decided to plant my tomato plants this week because it had been so sunny and warm. But the day I do it starts to get all over cast and super windy, so I put those covers around the cages to protect the plants.


Here's one of my tomato plants. I grew them from seed and don't they look beautiful :)

The fun has arrived! (name the movie)

Hint: A flying man in a loin cloth...

So hi I'm finally hip and cool like the rest of you all bloggers are. Please make comments so I don't feel all alone.