Asparagus Mini Quiche

November 22, 2011

I am proud of myself the way this recipe turned out. I had leftover pie pastry dough left over from the caramel apple pie and needed to use it before it went bad. I found a mini quiche recipe online and decided it was time to explore baking quiche. They turned out beautifully and tasted just we good. These would be great for a breakfast or brunch for those that appreciate the work that goes into a quiche.

This recipe can be found on Martha Stewart's website.

Fancy Potato

November 20, 2011

I got this recipe out of a Martha Stewart magazine. They are easy to make and look fancy if you need them for a formal dinner setting.

I don't have the recipe since I accidentally threw away my magazine, but the general directions are to take your potato and peal the skin from the top horizontal half. Then thinly slice the pealed half down to where the peal starts (hopefully the picture shows how it is done). Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake as you would a baked potato, but check it at 45 minutes since it really won't take as long as a baked potato to cook.

Has anyone else made these and have suggestions?

Carmel Apple Pie

November 13, 2011

Donna gave me the recipe for this apple pie. I've had the pie she made before, but when I baked it, I was too eager and took it out of the oven too early. So, my apples still had a bit of a crisp to the bite. Still...very tasty. If you would like the recipe you'll have to let me know.

Woodland Weekend

November 5, 2011

For Christmas last year I gave Mike a gift certificate to a bed and breakfast in Woodland, UT. We finally made it out there to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. The area was beautiful and peaceful. That night it snowed so when we got up in the morning, there was a blanket of snow covering the empty fields around the area.

We enjoyed the company of the other guests and owner during breakfast. It's part of the experience of staying at a bed and breakfast.

8-10-11 Great News!!!

August 10, 2011

I found out on this day that I was pregnant. We were excited and estimated the arrival in April 2012.

Arizona Trip

June 26-28, 2011

After Grandma's birthday party in Mesa, we drove to Holbrook. It was my turn to show Mike where part of my family came from and stay in the Wigwam Motel.

On the way we stopped off to goof around. We liked the brightly green painted aliens and wondered how they would look in our front yard.

We spent half a day going through the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. I got a picture of all my nieces and nephews on one of the large petrified logs. It was fun to spend time with them.

Above are my nephews receiving their Junior Ranger badges. I'm proud of Mike also, who was receiving his.

On the drive back home to Utah, I made Mike stop at Canyon De Chelly. It is a beautiful area with lots of Native American History. The picture above is at Spider Rock.

100 Years

June 25, 2011

We celebrated Grandma Lewis Rigg's 100th birthday in Arizona. I was able to take Mike to meet her, which I was thankful for since she is advancing in years. Below is a picture of her with her great-grand children. She has over 90 great-grand children and a few great-great-grand children. It's amazing to see her posterity.

Europe: Germany and Holland

May 12-24, 2011

Mike and I decided that we needed to take a trip to Europe so I could see Holland--where his family came from. You will need to check out Mike's website, Michael Stuy Photography, to see the photos he took. Make sure to take a look because there are some pretty awesome photos.

This will be the quick version of the trip.Here we are on the airplane, on our way.

We arrived in Holland, rented a car and took off to Germany. We met up with my cousin in Frankfurt for dinner. It was great to see them!

The next day we started on the Romantic Road that took us through several medieval towns east of Frankfurt all the way down south.

After finishing the Romatic Road, we drove back north through the Black Forest, cut through France and stopped off in Belgium. We were in time for some festivals and enjoyed the brats and gyros.

The second half of our trip was in Holland. We drove around from town to town exploring the countryside.

At one of the markets, we found chocolate covered stroopwafels. They were amazing!

Also at the market, we always saw amazing flowers for sale. It reminded me of the Pike Street Market in Seattle, WA.

I was glad to meet Mike's Uncle Kick. He was kind to us and took us on a tour of the windmill in Harlem.

Mike's Birthday

January 9, 2011

Mike's birthday was January 1st and we had his family over later in the month for some cake. I made a traditional chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, one of Mike's favorites and a White Chocolate-Fudge Torte from my recipe calendar. The chocolate torte was delicious and rich in chocolate. I think I rushed making the white chocolate topping, but it was still smooth and creamy.

White Chocolate-Fudge Torte

Cake:
16 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
1 c butter
6 eggs

Topping:
1 c white chocolate chunks or white vanilla baking chips, melted
1 c heavy wipping cream
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/3 c powdered sugar
2 T white creme de cacao, if desired
1/2 c miniature semisweet chocolate chips, if desired

Raspberry Sauce:
1 pkg frozen raspberries in light syrup, thawed
1 T cornstarch
1/3 c red currant jelly

Heat oven to 400°. Grease 9-inch spring form pan with shortening or cooking spray. In sauce pan, melt semisweet chocolate and butter over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Cool completely, about 35 minutes.

In small bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer on high speed 5 minutes or until triple in volume. Fold eggs into cooled chocolate mixture until well blended. Pour batter evenly into pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes (center will jiggle a little). Cool completely about 1 hour 30 minutes; and then refrigerate until firm another hour and 30 minutes.

In sauce pan, heat white chocolate and 3 T of whipping cream over low heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and, if desired creme de cacao with electric mixer on medium speed. While beating slowly add white chocolate mixture, beating until smooth, scraping occasionally.

In small bowl, beat remaining whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. With rubber spatula, fold into white chocolate mixture; if desired, fold in miniature chocolate chips. Spread topping over cake. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

For sauce, drain raspberries, reserving syrup. Add water to syrup to make 3/4 cup. In saucepan, mix syrup mixture and cornstarch. Stir in jelly. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thickened and clear. Stir in raspberries. Refrigerate until cold.

Argentina Visitors

The Pitarch came to the States for a visit. I was happy that I got to introduce them to Mike. They are family friends of my parents and go way back. Tio Roberto and Tia Cristina will be serving as mission presidents in Columbia. I wish them the best and hope that they will be blessed while on their mission.

Honeymoon

November 7-12, 2010

Mike and I took off to Cancun, Mexico for our honeymoon. Our hotel had a balcony with an amazing view of the beach. We took a couple of tours of the ruins, Ek'Balam, Tulum and Coba. We also spent some time on the beach and at the shopping center.

Wedding Day

November 6, 2010

The wedding day finally arrived and the preparations began. My hair was a gift from Cindy. Her friend is a hair stylist and created my beautiful up-do. I'm so thankful for the gift because if I were left to doing my own hair, it would have ended up in a bun.

My flowers were amazing and couldn't have turned out better. The bouquet was put together with white and lavender roses, green hydrangea and stephanotis flowers. The florist did a beautiful job with the arrangement.

Here are Mike and I exiting the Temple. We had several pictures taken and Mike put together a slide show. I will work on getting those posted. Andy and Dad took several pictures for us from the Open House later in the evening as well. Dad's are not digital, so I'm unable to post those.

Above is the Lewis Family with the newly married couple.

Above is the Stuy Family with the happy couple.

Last Single Night

November 5, 2010

This was my last night of being single. Donna gave me a bachelorette party that I spent with my mom, sister and cousins. We had yummy treats, played games and talked. I learned how fun my mom could be at this party and we had a blast.

Perfect Apple Pie

October 28, 2010

I continued to make the recipes from my baking calendar. This pie called for a premade crust, but I used Rynell's mom's recipe for the pie crust. It always turns out great, nice golden flakey shell. As usual, I took it to work for my co-workers enjoyment

Perfect Apple Pie

Filling:
6 c thinkly sliced, peeled apples
3/4 c sugar
2 T flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp lemon juice

Heat oven to 425°. Mix ingredients for filling in large bowl. Spoon mixture in to prepared pie shell. Top with second pastry shell; seal edge and flute. Cut shapes out of remaining pastry shell.

Cover edge of pie dish with 2-3 inches of foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cool at least 2 hours before serving.

Bridal Shower

October 23, 2010

My future sister-in-laws, Karen, Melissa and Lan threw me a bridal shower. It was fun to see all my friends. They are the best!

Escalante Trip

Mike and I took a weekend trip to Escalante, southern Utah, from October 8-10, 2010. The drive down there was very pretty. We stopped off at a place to eat called Gatorz. The hamburgers were excellent and the secret Gatorz sauce was very tastey. We will definitely stop there on the next trip we go to southern Utah.

We used Mike's GPS to get to Escalante and it took us through part of the national forest back roads. At first we thought something was wrong with the GPS, but on the road we met up with a German tourist whose directions were the same as ours. Half of it was dirt road. We also had to go through some snow, which surprised us both...but then again, it really shouldn't have surprised us. It was a nice scenic drive. Below is a picture of Mike taking pictures. This is something I will come to find will happen a lot on our trips.

We went on a hike to Calf Falls. On the hike we saw hieroglyphics, all kinds of plants, several fish in the stream, and at the end of the hike the waterfall. There is something about waterfalls that is peaceful to me. While on the hike, we ran into Lance's (Mike's brother-in-law) parents. It was fun to see them and they were pleasant to talk with.

Mike has a contact that got us a good rate to stay at the Circle D Motel. It was reasonable and the restaurant had very good food. We really hope to go down there again sometime.

On the drive back home, we stopped at the entrance to Bryce Canyon. We were short on time so we didn't drive in, but will be planning a trip to go see the canyon specifically. However, since we did have a little time to spare, we stopped by a couple places to take some fun pictures.