Monday, September 19, 2011

BYU Subway Art

Football season means football decorations. Check out this subway art I made to celebrate BYU football. 



I have a frame (thanks Mom) with a bunch of different subway art prints that I switch out  on holidays. Now I can add this one to the rotation.


I just order mine through Costco and they turn out really well. 

Friday, September 9, 2011

Fall TV

The only good thing about summer ending is the start of fall TV shows. It almost makes up for the whole back to school thing. Around here we quite enjoy our television time. We don't have a lot of free time, and of course we don't spend it all in front of the screen, but it is something we both enjoy. 

Shows we are enjoying now...

Hell's Kitchen (anyone else miss Master Chef?)
Take the Money and Run
Project Runway (okay, mostly me on this one but Carson watches if he is in the room)

Shows are are excited for...

Bones
How I Met Your Mother
Parks and Recreation
Psych
Parenthood (mostly me)
Glee (again...mostly me)
Castle
New Girl (probably all me on this one)
House
Anything football (mostly Carson)

Like I said, we don't have a lot of free time, so the likelihood of keeping up on all of these shows is low, but thanks to the miraculous technology of the DVR we can try. 

Have we missed any good ones?

Sunday, September 4, 2011

BYU vs Ole Miss

For the next four months Carson will be in heaven. Why? The next four months bring football, football, and more football. Of course, we will be watching the New York Giants and BYU, but we will also watching the University of Utah games (to cheer against them) and probably any other football game that is on while we are home. Yeah, a lot of football is in my future. 

I don't mind though - one, because I like football, and two, because football games mean parties, and I love parties. We kicked off the first BYU game of the season with a little party at our apartment. To show you how serious Carson is about his football, here is the email he sent to those attending the day before the game. 


"The game starts tomorrow at 2:45 with the BYUtv pre-game show starting at 1:45. I say we get 3 or 4 Dominoes pizzas and some paper plates and eat at 2:15. Bringing extra candy and megaphones is also encouraged. We can watch the pre-game and eat cause eating during the game is too distracting. Sam will have BYU mint brownies for half time and I will be recording the Boise State and Texas games as well. Those who are not wearing blue will be asked to leave. Tell your wives. This will be awesome."

We got some pizza and, as promised, I made the brownies. If you have never had mint brownies from BYU, you should definitely try these. Delicious!

Of course I had to add a BYU touch. 

Our guests...

Collin and Jess

Ryan, Jess, and Carson (not a guest, but in the picture)

Jacob (Carson's cousin), Kelsey, and their baby Hannah

In the end BYU came out victorious, but it looked a little scary there in the middle. My favorite quote was from Jess (who was taking a break from her anniversary celebrations with Collin to watch the game). After the fumble recovery touchdown she yelled, "Yes! You saved my anniversary!" Which is totally true. A BYU football loss ruins these boys' day. 

Chocolate Mint Brownies

Ingredients:

Brownies
  • 2 cubes butter, melted
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup coca
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs
Mint Frosting
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 4 Tbsp evaporated milk
  • 1 tsp peppermint extract
  • Green food coloring
Glaze
  • 6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 5 Tbsp butter
Directions:

Brownies
  1. Preheat oven to 300°
  2. Mix dry ingredients.
  3. Add melted butter and mix well.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. 
  5. Add vanilla.
  6. Pour into greased jelly roll pan. 
  7. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool.
Mint Frosting
  1. Cream together powdered sugar, butter, milk, and peppermint extract.
  2. Tint with green food coloring.
  3. Spread over cool brownies. 
  4. Chill in freezer before putting on glaze.
Glaze
  1. Melt chocolate chips and butter on low heat.
  2. Spread over chilled brownies (the easiest way to do this is to drizzle to glaze over the brownies and smooth over with your fingertips - using a spoon tends to mix the frosting and the glaze).
  3. If the glaze needs to be thinner, add another Tbsp butter. 


Sam Tested, Carson Approved

I love bread. It is my favorite course in any meal. Homemade bread is of course the best, but sometimes it takes so long to make. These rolls don't take too long and they are super delicious. 

Grandma Claudia's 90 Minute Rolls


**I chose to make rolls out of this recipe (it makes about 30) but it can also be used to make two loaves of bread**

Ingredients:
  • 2 Tbsp yeast
  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 5-6 cups flour
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 400° for rolls or 350° for bread loaves.
  2. Combine the first three ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes. 
  3. Add remaining ingredients, kneading for 10 minutes.
  4. Let rise until double.
  5. Punch down, shape as desired, and let rise until double again.
  6. Bake 10 minutes for rolls or 40 minutes for bread loaves.
  7. Cover the tops with a little butter if desired. 
Enjoy!