Onion Soup Please!

K when I first found this recipe on Pinterest I wasn't too sure about it. I've been against onions most of my life, but I'm continuously learning now how much they can change your cooking for the better! Still, this was a big step. But it paid off! Can't really go wrong with a recipe adapted from Olive Garden, can you?

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 lb baby (pearl) onions, fresh (or ½ frozen bag, thawed)
• 1 medium red onion, sliced thin
• 1 medium Vidalia onion (or other sweet onion), sliced thin
• 6 cups (48 fl oz) chicken stock (but a little more isn't a bad thing)
• Salt (to taste)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 lb angel hair pasta, broken in 2-inch pieces (We like them left long though too. And 3/4 lb of pasta makes it even better.)
• 4 sliced bacon, cooked and chopped into ½" pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• 4 tsp grated Romano (or Parmesan) cheese

Procedures

PLACE oil and all onions in a large sauce pan over low heat and saute, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes, until onions are golden. Add stock and salt to taste. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and simmer for about 1 hour.

ADD pasta, bacon and parsley and cook until pasta is just al dente.

LADLE into soup bowls. Sprinkle with grated Romano (or parm) cheese 

"SAAAAANNNNTAAA!!!! I know him, I know him!"

Even though we got married a week before Christmas last year, this feels like our first Christmas since we were opening all of our wedding presents and getting our new apartment put together last Christmas. This year we stayed home and opened presents all morning and then went to Lewiston to eat with Levi’s family and talk to Braden, our missionary brother.

Santa sure spoiled us this year!

A few things under the tree included:

New boots for me, in brown. So that my toes won't freeze on Sundays anymore. :)

And another pair of church shoes in black. Levi has EXCELLENT taste!

And he surprised me with an iPod too. Woot!!

I knew Levi really wanted a new coat for Christmas, but wasn’t sure if he wanted black or brown. So… I got one in brown:

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(Mom says it's his race car driver coat. Ü I think it reminds me more of Wolverine though.)

And one in black. Nicer, for church and things.

(Picture soon.)

Levi has also been wishing for a nice frame pack to take hunting & hiking for a long time. Santa found one on Amazon thankfully, where there were lots of reviews and tips to help pick one that he’d like:

As you can tell, he was so excited that he had to try it on right away. Just to make sure it fit. I don't think it really goes with the bathrobe though. ;)

After opening up all the other wonderful gifts from our family and each other, the aftermath sure wasn't pretty...

Luckily my husband's OCD kicked in and the house was clean in minutes so we could enjoy the rest of the day with family and talking to Braden in Mexico! So thankful for the Christmas season. :)

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We also were fortunate enough to go to Island Park with several friends for New Years! It was a GREAT time! The boys rolled and played in the snow, the girls watched movies, everyone cooked and played games. What more could you ask for? Thanks to Colton and Brandie for the invite!! Hopefully soon I’ll be able to get some of the pictures off our camera; today it does not want to cooperate. Happy New Year to all!

Day 365 :D

For our first anniversary we decided to go back to SLC, where we spent a night on our honeymoon. When you're married the week before Christmas, not too many options for a decent vacation on your anniversary. BUT Temple Square is always worth seeing! We met Levi's brother Colton and his wife Brandie and took a tour around the Square.

  

Our Colton and Brandie:) We have missed them so much  since they moved to  WY!!

The little Assembly church

The Tabernacle

And the beautiful conference center!

They had the whole thing decorated for the David Archuletta Christmas concert.

One of my most favorite LDS pictures. The 10 Virgins.

In the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

View from the top of the JS Memorial Building

Levi, reading the Book of James with Joseph Smith

First Vision sculpture

Captain Moroni. What a stud.

 And then we jetted over to the Church History Museum! 

A sunstone from Nauvoo

The Joseph and Hyrum Smith death masks

Levi with Angel Moroni

Levi practicing his speech for Conference. Someday?

Out of all the kids' pictures on display, Levi like this one best.

Our camera died shortly after visiting the kids' section, so sadly that's all the pictures we have. It was so much fun though! 

Caramel Apple Cookies

The first time Cami made these, I fell in love and knew I had to get the recipe. They are THE BEST on a cold autumn day, with a mug of tea or cider while it rains outside. Or for breakfast. Or anytime really.

Ingredients

• Parchment paper
• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10 packets (in my grocery store near the hot chocolate mixes.)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz) 

Directions

• In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
• With your mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy. (And try not to breathe in too much dust from the cider mix!)
• Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well.
• Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined.
• Refrigerate for about an hour. (If you're really impatient you don't have to do this, but it makes it soooo much easier to work with.)
• When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!) Unwrap your caramels.
• Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. (I used a rounded cookie scoop-full. My scoop holds about a Tablespoon.)
• Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
• Bake 10-12 minutes, or until VERY lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake! Once the cookies are done, immediately slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off.
• Yield: about 4 dozen, depending on how large you make your cookies (or how many caramels have been snitched out of your bag before you begin.) Store in an airtight container.

If they get hard, pop them in the microwave for 5 seconds and they'll be good as new. Ü

We live in a Christmas House!!

Levi strongly believes that Christmas belongs only in the month of December, no sooner, and no later. This year though, I broke down his defenses and we started decorating the day after Thanksgiving. :D As we hung silver garland strands around our living room and dining room, I heard him singing “We live in a Christmas house, we live in a Christmas house!”

We even bought stockings this year, hung over the TV with care.

Last year I just did silver and red decorations since most of the wedding presents under our tree were wrapped in similar colors. Levi really wanted blue ornaments though, so this year our Arbon tree ended up looking pretty Patriotic.

To go along with the Christmassy sights, we had to add taste and smells. My absolute FAVORITE cookie recipe this year is for Caramel Apple Sugar Cookies. I drool just looking at these pictures…

That recipe will soon be posted too. It’s too good not to share!

We are SO ready for Santa to come!