The Cuteness Continued!

So I'm back with more of my makings. I can only post half of the things Jason and I made for Christmas because some of the people haven't gotten their presents yet...but once they do...oh, there will be pictures.

But here is a checker board that Jason made (and I painted). We were very proud of the results.
















We made cute little wood nubbins as the checkers pieces. It looked pretty rustic. If I find a better picture (or if someone takes and posts a better picture on their blog...hint, hint!) I'll post it later.

So that was a fun little project.


Ok, so I still don't have pictures of everything, or can't post pictures yet, but here's a little tradition that Jason and I started for Christmas. I think the pictures speak for themselves.
































PUMPKIN SPICE DOUGHNUTS!!!!!!! They are sooooooooooooooooooooooo yummy! Ok, I know its not a craft, but I sure did make them. They tasted just like the cake doughnuts you get in the store. The glaze was sure easy to make, too.

Ok, that's all for now.

My Various Cuteness I've Made

I have had A LOT of time on my hands lately. So I have explored avenues and have started to craft like nobody's business. I don't have all the pictures on this computer, but I will upload the ones I can for now.

So a friend of mine really wanted me to make her a bag for her laptop. And a pouch for accessories. Now, I have made my fair share of bags, but I do not feel like my sewing skills are up to par to sew a bag. So I decided to crochet the bag. My favorite thing to do with crocheted bags is to line them with a fabric so there is no stretch when you have it slung over your shoulder. BUT how do I make an extra pouch for accessories...well, this is what I came up with:














Notice the fun fabric I used to line the shoulder strap...it's basically my favorite!




































These two pictures show the inside pockets I designed. They are separate slots for her computer and for accessories.

































And an inside out shot.

Ok, now if I haven't killed this project with enough pictures... but I still think it's super cute!!!

So, now I have to switch computers to get the other crafty pictures...so there will be more to this post.

Our First Christmas

Its a little different when you start celebrating Christmas on your own, instead of with your parents and siblings.

This year I splurged on getting a Christmas tree. It took me a whole 10 minutes to decorate.















And look! I had presents under it, too! Don't you worry, the diaper wipes weren't for me ;)

For those who think me unorthodox...well, at least I had a Christmas tree... and technically it WAS once a tree.

Peanut Butter Ball Recipe from Winning Rice Krispies

Sorry, I think I'm just going to slip that title of winning rice krispie treat as much as I can till next year...pretty much bragging rights is all you get anyway!

But for all those people who wanted the peanut butter recipe, here it is:

Peanut Butter Balls-
By Patti Myers (Jason's mom)

1 egg
2 C powdered sugar
1/8 t salt
1/2 t vanilla
1/3 C peanut butter
1 T margarine or butter

Mix all well together. Make into balls. Refrigerate.

That's all. Really easy. Its more like a fudge, but make sure to refrigerate (obviously because of the egg).

FOOOOOOOOOD!

I think I'm officially addicted to cooking and baking and then the consequences of making all that food.

Because I am such a giving person, I will post my current faves!

I swear Jason and I have made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies twice since we've gotten back from Utah...that is neither sane or logical, but who can say no to the P.C.C!


Ingredients

* 1 cup canned pumpkin
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 egg
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon milk
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

I totally skip out on the Walnuts, go all the way with MILK chocolate chips, and I also add allspice, nutmeg, and ground cloves. I think it makes them taste really good!


Directions

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

So the other thing Jason and I do is we double the recipe. I know! We're sick, but really who wants to be left with a half can of pumpkin? And just so you know we did share the cookies with others!


So my next concoction...I will merely show the picture, not recipe needed. But I made my first ever, homemade, from scratch pudding. To go in a banana cream pie, of course.















So they look more like peanut butter pudding pies, but rest assured, it is vanilla. I think I might have burned the bottom of the saucepan, and the milk got a little burnty. But, hey, if you've never made your own homemade pudding, you have no right to make fun. And if you have...well, then have pity on me because it was my first time making it. It was fun though. I think I did a marvelous job. We had a ton of graham pie crusts from camp, that we just had to make the pies...IT WAS FATE! That's my excuse.


But to show that I just don't make treats... Jason loved a certain kind chili I make. So you might think we are obsessed with pumpkin, and maybe we are...but I make a mean pumpkin chili (no beans, of course!).


Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 1 cup chopped red bell peppers
* 1 clove garlic
* 1 pound ground turkey
* 2 (14.5 ounce) cans canned peeled and diced tomatoes
* 1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
* 1 (15 ounce) can canned tomato sauce
* 1 (15.25 ounce) can canned kidney beans, drained
* 1 (4 ounce) can ORTEGA® Diced Green Chiles
* 1/2 cup whole kernel corn
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

This last time we put chunks of venison in it. Yes, this was the first time I have had deer, and NO, it was not from the deer I hit! It was actually pretty good. It was as if it were chucks of beef. Or that's what I told myself.


Directions

1. HEAT vegetable oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Add turkey; cook until browned. Drain.
2. ADD tomatoes with juice, pumpkin, tomato sauce, beans, chiles, corn, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

But I just put all the ingredients in the crock pot and let then slow cook over night. Pretty tasty. I think its best with crackers though.


Here's a creation of my own. For those who like the chicken and stuffing with cream of chicken soup casserole, I've put a little twist on it. I've made it into a pot pie. I make my own dough and everything.

Dough:

2 C flour
1 t salt
2 t baking powder
2/3 C water
1/4 C oil

Mix all ingredients together.

I divide the dough into two chunks, one a little bigger than the other. Take the bigger one and roll it out to fit in a pie dish. Then goes in the good stuff:

Filling:
1 little can of cream of chicken soup
A little or as much as you want of sour cream
Shredded chicken- you decide how much you want
1 box of stuffing- premade
corn
peas
carrots
broccoli
onion
(ok, I hope you get the point and add the vegetables you really like!)

Mix this all together into a conglomeration of goo. Place in pie dish.

Take the remaining piece of dough and roll it out, place it on top of the pie dish.
Seal the edges of the two dough slabs. Poke holes in the top for air to steam out.

I put it in the oven at 425 F for about 20 minutes or until the dough is golden brown. Its really tasty...


Oh, enough thinking about food. I must be off to do the other things now.

So Much to Say, So Little Time... Ok, Scratch that and Reverse It!

And I'm back after a long hiatus. I've had so many memorable things happen. I hope every one had a great Thanksgiving. Jason and I got to go to Utah and enjoy time with both our families over the holiday.

We first enjoyed a long ride to Utah... a mere 10 hours. My great accomplishment is that I got Jason listening to Harry Potter. I feel very good about this. He wasn't too excited about it, but I totally got him into it!!!

But to the exciting business... The Annual Pincock Family Rice Krispie bake-off! We had it over Thanksgiving this year, to accommodate with everyone's schedule. But Jason and I have been planning for this...well...since FOREVER! In our spare time over the past year, we have collaborated ideas of flavors that would taste really good with rice krispies. We had some good thoughts and then we had some just plain belly flops. But Jason and I practiced, had people test them and we finally came up with the recipes that would win us the gold... or at least we hoped it would.

But then the day came, the Day of Judgment.















The competition was pretty steep.

Jason pulled out a secret recipe from the Myers side... Peanut Butter Balls...recipe will be forthcoming. He concocted a fiesta of flavors culminating in a Reese's Cup Rice Krispie Treat. Pure Gold!















These aren't the actual presented Krispies (the other ones were devoured by the judges), but this shows a good representation.

I, however, tried a more sophisticated palette. We created a perfect rice Krispie treat, slathered a layer of caramel onto of that. Then put apple pie filling atop that. Crumbled an oatmeal, cinnamon crisp over the apples, and topped it all off with a drizzle of white chocolate. A creation of genius.














So with our creations, Jason and I had hope to win 1st and 2nd place, a clean sweep. However, dreams are not always possible. I was able to take 3rd place. Very honorable in such competition. My sister Lillie took 2nd place with a churro creation that was really, really good... and then the coveted 1st place...

This is were the true controversy lies. My brother Tommy has consistently won the past 3 years. Would the tyrant continue his rule? No, Jason captured first place!

A Myers won the Pincock Family Rice Krispie contest! Who would have thought? What did he win, you ask? None other than the impressive trophy of a golden spatula. Pretty much awesome.

Ok, enough with the theatrics... The next day we got to go down to Provo and visit and hang with Jason's family. We got to have Thanksgiving II. It was really fun to see them all again, especially since I was a little stressed out the last time we were all together(its funny how getting married can do that to you).

We visited, we went over to the church house just to shoot some hoops and have enough space to all run around. Learned a fun game called Ninja Distraction...totally might have to use this as a substitute teacher tool...ok, maybe not, it would be too distracting.

But we had a lot of fun.

Then came the moving. I'm officially moved out of Logan. It was a little sad, but really my old roommate can only handle my stuff being there so long. I got to see a couple of friends, which I'm really glad I did. But just like time, it keeps going, so Jason and I had to keep going too.

We headed back to the TUNDRA! South Dakota. This time driving my dad's truck so we could pull the trailer full of my stuff. All went fine and dandy until....... is the suspense killing you?




(not my deer, I would be seen as careless if I had taken a picture of the deer before I hit it!)


We were about 30-45 minutes from home right through the dead zone with no cell phone range... and I hit my first deer. Technically my second, but I hit my first LIVE deer. It really freaked me out. We stopped to see the damage, but we decided to try to make it home since we were so close and...we had no cell range. Cell phones are only good if you have service.

I thought we were going to make it, but 25 minutes later, the truck overheated, stinky white fumes were coming out of the hood and we had to stop...because the truck stopped too.

I was now REALLY freaking out. We were there maybe a minute and some one stopped and asked if we needed help. They said they were going in the opposite direction, but saw that we were in a "pickle" so they flipped their car around to help. They took us to their home and we made some phone calls, and we got home maybe 2 hours later than we estimated, but we were safe. No whiplash, but I guess I did get an injury from walking full force into some barbed wire when I was trying to find some rocks to put behind the trailers wheels so it wouldn't roll. I feel silly about it now, but at the moment it was a little too much.

So My dad drove out my car and these were the pictures we got of the damage.



























Not too bad, but all the damage seems to be internal. The truck was totaled. I feel pretty bad that I was the one that ALWAYS has issues with this truck... I guess if it had to go, it had to be by me... seems to be fate! But I'm really grateful that everything worked out fine. That we were picked up so we could get help, that my dad was able to get to South Dakota in safety, and that HE didn't hit a deer as well. They apparently really like to jump out of nowhere this time of season. And I'm really grateful that everything with the truck went well. I'm a blessed little girl!

But here's my update for now...more to follow...