"I'm pretty good at this!"

This is for all those loyal Andrew fans out there. Sunday night we were playing the wii fit with my family and we discovered a hula hoop game. It was an instant hit! For those who are unfamiliar with the wii fit, it's this little board you stand on that senses your movements. For the hula hoop game you have to swing your hips as if you are really hula hooping. The object is to keep the hula hoop going while you catch additional hoops being thrown at you. The person with the most rotations and hula hoops wins.

It just so happens Andrew has some major hula hoopin' skills...maybe it's because he has 3 sisters. The best part was watching him swing his hips to keep the hula hoop going, it's the closest I've seen him to dancing. I hope you enjoy the video. Andrew was unaware I was recording him. You have to listen quite carefully, and maybe it's only me that thinks this is hilarious, but he proudly states at the beginning, "I'm pretty good at this!" Unfortunately, the lighting is bad and my recording skills worse, but you can still his hips swinging enough to get a taste of his mad hula hooping skills!

Another bust!

Homemade bread was always one of life's mysteries to me. Growing up, the closest encounter I had to fresh baked bread was driving past The Rainbow Bread factory off the 980. Somewhat pathetic, but it would always smell so wonderful, especially in the early evening hours. On Thanksgiving, my mom would go all out and buy the ready to bake rolls, which were always a treat for us. The point is, we were not really a bread making family.

For our first Thanksgiving, Andrew and I were on our own and decided it would be fun if we did the whole Thanksgiving spread. We each had requests of what we wanted to have for dinner and one of Andrew's was homemade rolls. Since I was tackling my first turkey (stuffing and all), Andrew was in charge of the home made rolls. His rolls turned out beautifully. So light and fluffy.

It seemed easy enough, so a little while later, I started a series of sad attempts at making homemade rolls. I have tried four times and each time time was a slight variation on disaster. Now, four times may not sound like I've given it much effort, but I can assure you that each attempt has been given calculated concentration and the old college try on my part. At first, I thought maybe it was our apartment that was the problem, (our first apartment was quite cold and damp and I came to the conclusion this is why my rolls would not rise). After all, I followed the recipe to a T. Considering that our new apartment is not cold or damp, I was excited that somewhere down the line I could finally make rolls that would rise. However, this past weekend I attempted making rolls again with the same unfruitful result, flat as pancakes. Quite the opposite of light and fluffy. Here are some pics to prove it. Unless anyone has some tips that will solve all my bread making problems , I think I'm about to throw in the kitchen towel. I'll just have to make sure I drive my kids by a bread factory so they know how wonderful the smell of freshly made bread is.

Cal Shakes

While commuting to school, along the freeway I always pass this sign that says, 'California Shakespeare Festival.' I have been curious about it for years. Mostly thinking as I quickly pass by, 'that'd be fun to go to sometime.' All I really knew about it was that it is an open air theater and you can bring a picnic to eat before hand. Well, Andrew and I are still on our old single ward's emailing list and about a week ago we got an email stating they would be playing An Ideal Husband that week. I love that play! I should make the disclaimer that I have never actually read the play, but I've seen the movie and it is hilarious! I mentioned the idea of going to Andrew and he quickly made the disclaimer he has been wanting to go for a while now. Allegedly, he has even mentioned it several times to me. I can't believe I missed the opportunity to go earlier! I swear I'm a good listener; isn't that suppose to be the number one trait of a therapist?! Anyways, we ended up getting tickets, packing a tasty picnic, and heading off to the play with my parents.

If you're gonna eat some calories, I suggest this treat!

Years ago, my sister Melanie came up with this REALLY great tart recipe. Besides being with family, we all loved it when we got together because she would usually make some tarts. It was kind of this big mystery how she did it. One day, while I was having a pregnancy induced craving, I needed some tart! So, I called her up and got the recipe and she was very glad to pass it on. And truthfully it is not that hard! It is just a two step process. As a warning, it does call for a lot of egg!

CRUST (this makes two 9 inch crusts)
-1 cup butter room temperature
-1 cup sugar
-1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-4 egg yolks
-2 3/4 cup floor
-1/8 teaspoon salt

*you mix the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes. add vanilla and one egg yolk at a time, mixing together in-between. add salt and floor all at once and mix together (it will be crumbly). divide the dough into two and you can immediately roll it out to make two crusts or you can freeze one portion of the dough or both and save till later. I find it easiest to roll out the dough on some wax paper. It makes it easier when flipping the dough into the pan.

FILLING (this only makes filling for ONE tart. What you can do, since the dough recipe makes two crusts is, freeze one portion of crust dough and save it for later or just double the filling recipe if you want two tarts)
-1 cup milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/2 cup sugar
-3 egg yolks
-1 tablespoon cornstarch
-1 tablespoon floor
-1 teaspoon butter
-1/2 cup un-whipped heavy whipping cream

*Take dry ingredients and mix. add milk and cook over stove top until boiling. take part of boiling mixture and put into a separate bowl and add egg yolks. mix egg mixture with a fork quickly. then add egg mixture back to stove top mixture and boil. take off heat and add vanilla and butter. place in fridge until cooled completely. then whip 1/2 cup whipping cream and add to filling mixture when it is completely cooled (if not you're whipping cream will melt and the filling will be runny).

*Then of course you put the filling into the crust and decorate with whatever fruits you love! It works best if you have a tart pan, but you can do it with a pie pan. If you use a pie pan, the crust won't go all the way up the pie pan edges. It will probably only go up about halfway, which is fine because there isn't enough filling to fill a whole pie pan. Tart pans are much shorter. ENJOY (and if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them)!