tom turkey

I hosted my very first Thanksgiving. I was very nervous when I realized I would have to make it by myself this year. My mom wasn't gonna make it back into town in time for the big party. So I started the night before, I made the green bean casserole, the raspberry jello, cranberry sauce, a chocolate pie, a banana cream pie and I decorated the table. When the big day arrived I had the turkey, stuffing, yams, pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes and gravy left to do. I was very surprised how laid back the meal felt to make. It really was not hard at all. I think a normal meal for a party is much more hectic. The pics are of the pretty table, mr. turkey all ready to be carved, and my amazing brother that helped me take the "whatever" out of the "where ever" Anyone think I'm gonna have a hard time in chef school taking apart birds and cutting apart whole cows, raise your hand!!! Ooooo! Pick Me! Yeah, not looking forward to that....Think they would let me take my brother in that day?

gobble gobble

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I love that the holidays are here! Spending time with family, fantastic food, great traditions! Since its Thanksgiving, i think we should all go around the table and say what we are thankful for!

I am grateful for my sweet sweet husband Jake, that I can be a mom to the adorable Georgie, and that I was able to start culinary school.

What are you grateful for? Or what is a tradition you have at Thanksgiving? Or both!

think chocolate

Besides gaining 5 pounds, I had a fantastic evening at Utah's 2009 Chocolate Show. I took a great class from Susan LaHargoue and learned how to make truffles, candied almonds & Peanut brittle. The cake decorating competition was also very exciting. The winner, Julie Hill of Layers, had a phenomenal cake! In my opinion won by a landslide! I can only dream to be able to accomplish the technique her cakes displayed. Hopefully within the next couple years I can enter the competition and at least compare to the other gorgeous cakes.
The pic of the gorgeous chocolates above is by Chocolot Their chocolates are soo beautiful and taste just as good too! By far my favorite at the show.
A few other vendors I rank the top of my list were Choffy and Shirley J
So if any one wants to know what I'm asking for on Christmas, check those links out! Fantastic products! Great Show! Mmmmm....Chocolate!

jessica

This is what I now call the Jessica cake. I think it turned out beautifully. The flowers really made it stunning. The wedding colors were a deep purple egg plant and dark grey. The church was done up so pretty. Reminded me of my own wedding of deep purple and navy blue. I will have to show you pictures of that soon too....

goodness gracious...great balls of fire!

As I drove the hour drive home from school yesterday, I couldn't stop looking at the sky. I thought it was strange that I could see a million more stars than usual. I was fascinated and keep trying to stop myself because I was driving. Little did I know that if I had continued to look up for a few more hours I could have seen a meteor crashing into the atmosphere.
Jake and I had stayed up late watching our favorite TV show House on my laptop, when our room suddenly lit up! We were a little confused, and thought maybe a big truck drove by our windows. Then a few minutes later our house rumbled. We again blamed a big truck, I mean, you have seen our house, it wouldn't take much to make it shake. But just around midnight a meteor hit and lit up the sky to day. Then 5 minutes later the sonic boom roared over Utah. The local news said that meteor rocks are worth thousands of dollars. Maybe George and I will have to go explore later...

awesome night

Eleven of us packed around my parents big table and started out with dinner, an amazing salad with diced apples and an orange dressing. Then came a chicken veggie lasagna and a classic meat lasagna. Sides of green beans and warm french bread. Yumm! After somehow finding more rooms in our stomachs, we ate icecream, cookies, cherry cheesecake brownies and really good pumpkin bread! Then we played games, my older brother owns every game ever created. So our game nights basically rock! Great food, great people...equaled an awesome night!

scrub club

Despite yesterday being Friday the 13th, my first day of culinary school went really well! It got semi boring at times listening to a Sanitation and Safety lecture for four daunting hours. We learned about hand washing and every bacteria, virus, mold and fungi possible. I will be grateful if I make it through the next 5 weeks without becoming a hardcore germaphobe. Half way through class they did a demonstration with this glow germ lotion which simulates germs. They put it on our hands, had us rub it around, and then go wash our hands. After that the chef took his black light and saw how well we washed. The parts that glowed were what "germs" were left. Most of us did really well. My fav was a guy in the class that told the chef to check out his head and the light glowed war paint and words all over his face. Another girl was asked by the chef to show him her phone. The guilt glowed all over her cell, since cell phones are not allowed in class....busted!

design mom

Feature Friday again. Design Mom is one of my favorite blogs. And I loved when she painted her old piano. My parents gave my their old beat up piano and I would love to paint it too! So check out the link and see her piano. Then come back here and suggest what color I should paint mine!
I have been thinking about this for almost a year now and cant decide a color! So a little help please!
http://www.designmom.com/2009/05/painted-piano.html

P.S. School starts today. I'm super nervous and excited. Wish me LUCK!

ready..set...GO!!!

The last few days have been a mad dash. I finished the mountain of a grant application and found out I was eligible for quite a bit. Enough to cover pretty much all of my tuition. So we decided to go for it! I went to the school and registered last night. Then I went to new student orientation this morning. Where they gave me all my supplies! As you can see Maxy is sporting one of my chef hats (which I have to wear to most of my classes, yikes) And then the Massive pile of books, thats just for the first semester, double yikes!!! Then my mound of chef uniforms. And that black bag is full of all sorts of fun stuff. Utensils, spoons, spatulas, super nice knifes etc.. It doesn't look like it, but its quite a large amount of stuff. I had to take 3 trips to unload my car. Also, school starts on Thursday!!! I'm feeling really overwhelmed by it all. I was just considering the idea of this school on Saturday and then it all happened soo fast! Wish me luck, and I will need your support every step of the way!

-Lindsay
P.S. If you keep watching my blog and leave me lots of comments I might reward you by posting a pic of myself wearing my silly chef uniform. That will make you laugh till your stomach hurts!

paper work

Hey everyone. Sorry I have not posted for a few days. I have been busy trying to decide whether to go back to school. I was previously going to UVU as an art major. But as some as you know I have loved making wedding cakes. So I am considering becoming a pastry chef. I went to an open house for a private art school, Art institute of Salt Lake. And I really loved it! Now I'm filling out a million forms to see if I can get grants to pay for it. I will keep you posted! Luff you!

soo sweet

How cute is this!? After playing outside yesterday I caught George and Max playing in the toy box together!
Max is George's little buddy. Ever since George was born almost a year ago. Max has been George's protector and best friend. I often catch them being sweet together and playing. But I do have to keep a close eye on them, because George has been known to pull a tail or two.


George flirting with the camera. And the dogs sun tanning.

grass stains

Lets face it, there are only a few more great days of weather left in the year. Very Sad!!! So George got to go outside today and run around the yard. That little guy can really move! I would get about 3 pictures in by the time he was across the yard, giggling and moving those legs as fast as he could. We both got grass stains on our jeans from the fun!



Maxy fetching a walnut, he could do this for days.


When was the last time you got a grass stain? It had been awhile for me, but his giggles made it all worth it!

sock monkey

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! George had a great time playing in the leaves. And then in the evening we hung out with my family. I think the sock monkey enjoyed his first halloween!