So much food, work and exertion-Not enough time.

It has been quite a few days for me. I have utilizied my kitchen quite a bit more than I believe I ever have. I got in 4 good workouts this week. I worked more than the requisite 40 hours and I played all weekend. I definately deserve everything I have taken in.

I finally finished using all my strawberries. In all I made; 2 batches strawberry lemonade, strawberry ice cream, strawberry scones, strawberry freezer jam and an entire weeks worth of breakfast smoothies. I deliciously devoured each item. I gave all but 2 of the jams away.

I prefer my jam to be smooth. I don't like it when it has the chunks of fruit. So I blended mine up before adding the freezer jam pectin that I picked up from Smiths Marketplace. I enjoyed using the strawberries up that I thought I should use the bread, we get it from Crossroads Food Co-Op, that usually ends up going to waste. Its a very dry bread. So I thought CROUTONS!

I actually don't enjoy croutons. They hurt my jaw. But sometimes for flavor I suffer through them. And I had already made a homemade ranch dressing, so why not complete my salads with garlic croutons.

These were actually quite simple and I prefer them to ALL other croutons. I just cubed the bread, tossed them in a ziploc bag with olive oil and seasonings and then meticulously spaced them on a cookie sheet. Baked at 450 degrees, meticulously flipped each one after one side had brown and baked again. Cooled and bagged for future salads.

My kitchen escapades were certainly not done there. I made a delightful banana cake I found from my sisters blog, I had tons of bananas-that to this day I have 2 left to use up. And I got more bananas from the Bountiful Baskets Co-Op. While it was a lengthy process to make, I loved it so much I made it a second time on Sunday. I plan on having it eaten completely by Monday night. I don't think I will be able to give half of it up to you, Crystal. There is no picture because if I am looking at it, I am eating it. No hand available to take a picture.

Sunday I got to go to the park and wear all my nephews out. I got to chase them all around the big toy in the park. We were there for over an hour. I hid once and got two of them to actually chase me for a change. Unfortunately, I didn't save the video Hunter "directed" of me re-enacting the game of tag him and I played. That was really what I going to blog about but I didn't save it. Cut me some slack! *refer to the first paragraph of this post*

Talk about a total crick in the neck!

After having so much fun during the day I still had to think about dinner. I needed some carbs. And lo and behold the Co-op has given me so many red potatoes to use. And I have dill and chives that need to be used before they go bad. But I wanted something different.

I saw a recipe for crash hot potatoes on The Pioneer Woman website. I adapted it to include garlic, dill and chives. Yummy! Next time I need to add more garlic.

Anyhoo, I am sure you guys are tired of hearing me talk about food. Besides, my second delightful banana cake is done and I can't wait to start pigging out. Hmmmmm.........

"I'm curious....what would you do if someone dared you to eat food?"

"You're always curious."

If anyone is in need of chocolate cream cheese frosting tinted black, I have plenty. I always grossly overestimate the amount of frosting I'll need for a cake and end up with so much I throw it away.



My mom asked me to make, her co-worker and friend, a twilight themed birthday cake. Which I have to do for 3 reasons: This co-worker scored us an advanced screening when the movie first came out. I love the books so I love the thought. And its my mother! Who tells their mother no? Of course, being my mother, she had given me plenty of notice(the end January, for arguements sake) but of course, being myself, I squandered all that notice on nothing. So then two days before the cake is due I am trying to do all this elaborate stuff.

My first plans had me making a meadow on the top of the cake and creating all these gumpaste accents, like Edwards "Be Safe" note and such, to really drive the theme home. Well you can't make, paint and dry all your gumpaste two days before. I so need to stop doing that. If I really want to open a bakery/cake shop, then I need to learn the art of orginization and planning. Colin's, the next cake on my cake calendar(I don't include my own because I don't decorate it), will definately be planned. I'm counting on ya'll to stay on my hind, telling me to keep planning.

Anyhoo, here is the twilight cake. Its red velvet(d'uh!) with chocolate cream cheese frosting and chocolate accents. Its really simple since I had to scrap my elaborate plans. I downloaded the fonts used for Edwards handwriting, which is the Birthday salutation, and the book cover fonts, which is twilight.

April Fools Joke and a Birthday

I got played, or at least they think, several April Fools day jokes. Personally, other than the tape over the mouse light(oh, and the monitor doctoring, which came only in retailation to my packaging peanut fit) the rest were more just annoyances rather than jokes. Someone tell me how is placing over 30 hockey pucks all over my desk a joke? I rounded them up and if you look closely, the overhead door is slightly ajar from the packaging peanuts they stuffed in there. Luckily, I spotted those before opening the door.

Either way, somehow I love working with my fellow employees. Sometimes I guess I don't show it enough to them but they really do make work day. My sister keeps a text I sent her, saying how much I do love them and when I start to complain about them, she resends it to me.

After all the jokes were played we celebrated my nephew's 8th birthday! He wanted a jazz bear cake. I so desperately wanted to make him a dinosaur cake. I think I'm not giving them the choice anymore, they just have to take what I want to make. Crystal and I spent all day, after the Egg Dive, decorating this jewel. Unfortunately, she didn't bring extra frosting to the park because his jersey cracked and we could've fixed that! She'll claim I'm a perfectionist but as I discovered decorating with her, she is the one obsessed with details.

We spent his birthday at Dinosaur Park in Ogden. I loved running the Ogden Marathon, that I highly suggest that marathon over any other I've done, and they run you right next to this park and I just thought it was one very cool kid joint. I loved walking around and seeing all the dinosaurs. This one is my favorite scariest one. He was massive!!! I can't remember which one he was now. The gap his mouth creates could probably fit an 8 year old.

Also at the park is a small museum that has robotic dinosaurs. The younger nephews have been scared of them, but this year we got one in!! He sat with his older brother and older cousin right next to the cage. They all thought it hilarious when I pretended to be shocked by the high voltage fence and wanted to do the same, so they came up closer and we all just stayed sitting there. I am so proud that Zach came all the way up. He kept asking me, "What are they saying now?" each time the dinosaurs roared.