Brittany's Bridal Shower

On Saturday some girls from my freshman year got together to throw a bridal shower for our friend Brittany. I contributed these lovely baked goods in the glass pans (I can't take credit for the muffins). Due to a high demand for the recipes, I will include them here.

S'mores Bars

1. Line a 13 x 9 in pan with graham crackers (you don't have to break them up or anything), oh, first though, you should grease the pan (otherwise they are disastrous to serve)

2. Make a brownie mix, or make them from scratch, whatever floats your boat, then pour the mix over the graham crackers.

3. Follow the directions for baking the brownies, but take them out 5 minutes early.

4. Cover the top with marshmallows and chocol

ate chips.

5. Put them back in the oven for the last 5 minutes.

6. Eat them.

For this other recipe I don't really know what the name is, so I just call them chocolatey coconuty squares, or something like that.

LAYER 1

Combine:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup coconut

1/2 ground pecans (I always leave this out,

but you can add them if you want)

- set aside

melt:

1 stick butter

1/4 cup sugar

5 Tablespoons cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 egg (beaten)

combine the two mixtures and press into 9 x 13 pan.

LAYER 2

combine:

2 c powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons vanilla pudding mix

1 stick soft butter

3 Tablespoons milk

- spread on top of layer one, chill

LAYER 3

melt:

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

2 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 Tablespoon butter

(I'll be honest, I cheated here and just melted

semisweet chocolate chips because I didn't have unsweetened chocolate)

- spread on top of other layers and cut into squares.

- Eat and possibly cry because it's so delicious.

Now, back to the party. Here are some chicas dishing up the goods. There was stuff to make little sandwiches, fruit to dip in chocolate, muffins, and the items I just discussed. Basically, everything was delicious.

Here is the throne that Heather and Rachelle decorated for Brittany.

And here is Brittany sitting in the throne:

Heather and I just loving life:

Since it was a bridal shower, we naturally had to make dresses out of toilet paper. I participated in creating the one on the left. We even created a pregnant belly to complete our "shotgun vegas wedding" look.

Brittany's fiance joined us on video answering some questions about him and Brittany. She was asked the same questions first and for every answer she missed she had to chew a piece of bubble gum.

Presents. What can I say, it was a bridal shower. There were some great gifts. Here she is opening the gift from Kristin, Kelsey, and I.

Here I am with the bride to be! I'm so happy for her. She will make an awesome bride and wife. Clay should feel very lucky to get her all to himself.

Happy marriage Brittany!!

Por Fin

Well, the wait is finally over. On Wednesday March 3, 2010 I received my mission call. I am going to the California San Diego Mission. Wait, there's more, I will also be serving at the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. But wait, there is still more. I will be speaking Spanish.

I was rather surprised, to say the least, seeing as how I had never even heard of that mission. But not to worry, I was very excited. So excited that I may have shed a tear or two (hence why I look not my greatest in this photo, which was taken as I announced my call to my roommates Kristin and Kelsey).

Turns out this call will probably be perfect for me, as I already have some experience with tour giving under my belt. Also, I happen to love Spanish maybe even more than English. Oh, and if you didn't know, I despise being too hot or too cold, so I couldn't really ask for better weather. Especially since I will be wearing skirts all the time, which never really enhances the weather.

I will be leaving on May 26 and be gone for 18 months. Though I am nearly distraught that I won't be at BYU to experience Megan's freshman year with her, I figure she will be more than fine on her own.

Well, look out San Diego, here I come! (that is, as soon as I get through this semester)

Ode to a Sloth

The other day I decided that it was absolutely necessary that I have a sloth as a pet. My roommates, Kristin and Kelsey, were in agreement with me on this point. Together we perused the internet and came across this fantastic symbol for the sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica. I feel that it encompasses how I feel humans should relate to sloths.

I have a feeling I know where their inspiration came from:

Here is how I would carry my pet sloth around (and yes, my face would be equally happy):

I would give my sloth a special box to sit in while it rode around town with me in my car (and yes, he would probably look at least this happy).

We would probably hug each other a lot.

Sometimes he would even hug my fingers because he loved me so much.

In order to more fully demonstrate the wonderfulness of sloths I turned to some Haiku experts, who also happen to live with me. Here is what they came up with:

Fast, agile, and bright.
These are things that sloths are not.
Can I snuggle one?
- Kristin Jensen

A sloth's afternoon:
First off, it crosses the room.
Whoa, no it's nap time.
- Kristin Jensen

I would like a hug.
Who better from than a sloth?
Such lovely creature.
- Kelsey Jorgenson

Languid, leisurely,
Ambling, unhurried, relaxed,
Dilatory, sloths.
- Kelsey Jorgenson

In summary, sloths are the snuggliest, most adorable, smiliest creatures, and one day I will have one that loves me.

Also, as I researched sloths I came across this little delight. I'm thinking I would also like an anteater, but the sloth is still my priority.

Kelsey's Birthday

Yesterday was Kelsey's 21st birthday. Kristin and I made her a delicious ice cream cake. We didn't really know how to make one, but it turned out to be just about the best thing ever. We just smashed some oreos, added a little melted butter and made a crust in a cake pan. Then put mint chocolate chip ice cream on top of that, with another layer of oreo crust on top. So good. But unfortunately we forgot to get candles, so we had to make do with what we had.


After cake we went to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief. Turned out it was an awesome movie. I am currently in a Greek and Roman mythology class, so I particularly enjoyed it.

Then we went out for a delicious dinner at Zupas, followed by a quick stop at Michaels to get some art supplies for the rest of the evening.

What better activity for a 21st birthday than finger painting?



Here are my finished pieces of art:

And my favorite one up close. Yes, it is The Scream.

Fun.

I have recently come to love the band Fun. after seeing them open for Jack's Mannequin. I dare you to not fall in love with the adorable singer Nate Ruess after seeing him in this music video with his adorable haircut and cute little pants.

Remember that time we were in Spain?

So this is slightly delayed, but a few weeks ago I had a going away party for Kami, who has since left on her mission.

Kami came over early to make a spanish tortilla for the party. We've gotten pretty good at making them over the last few months. This one turned out quite flawless.

We also had sugar cookies with red and yellow frosting in honor of the Spanish flag.

Here's me, Kami, and Bryanne in front of the food.

The night basically turned into us only reminiscing about Spain. Exactly 1 year ago from that night we had been in Toledo, which was our first of many trips we took all over the country.

Here's most of the group that came (including the director of the study abroad and his wife). Basically Kami is loved.

Happy Birthday Greg

In honor of Greg's birthday I decided to revert back to our childhood and make these delicious cookie/cupcake hamburgers that our mother used to make.

It turned out to be a rather intensive process that began with me making a thousand yellow cupcakes (ok, more like 18).


While the cupcakes baked I made a batch of no bake cookies to serve as hamburger patties.

To supplement the "hamburgers" I also made a large sugar cookie pizza. I was nervous about baking such a large cookie, but I must say it turned out just perfectly.

Later that evening a couple friends came over and helped me assemble everything. Heather was in charge of both dying the coconut for lettuce and placing it on the red frosting "ketchup." She did an excellent job.

Anna was on yellow frosting duty, and may have done some sampling too.

Here they are in mid-assembly:

Me modeling the finished product:

We frosted the cookie with red frosting, though of course it looks more pink, and covered it with an assortment of candy (m&ms, swedish fish, and reeces) in an attempt to make it look like a pizza.


Greg was pretty excited about it, as you may be able to tell. It was a difficult task, but we managed to fit all 23 candles in one hamburger, just as Greg requested.

And somehow he managed to blow them all out.

Here we are sampling the goods, don't mind my expression.

A close up of the hamburgers:

and the pizza:

Success: 2 enthusiastic thumbs up from the birthday boy.

Jack's Mannequin

Last summer I discovered the hotness that was Andrew McMahon (of Jack's Mannequin). Naturally I was thrilled when I discovered he would be coming to Salt Lake. I got my ticket and was planning to go with my pal Kimball; however, since my life is always ridiculous, Kimball lost his ticket the day of, but I was determined to see Andy McMahon dance while playing the piano and singing if it meant I had to go by myself. Luckily it did not come to that, as my friend Bryanne happened to be going with some of her friends. I hitched a ride up to Salt Lake with them and the rest is history. Andy and I got married and lived happily ever after. Wait, no, that didn't actually happen.

But we got to the concert and worked our way sneakily up towards the front. The place was so packed that it was difficult to move. Also, the people around us seemed to think that pushing and shoving was a good idea. I can definitely refute this claim. But we did end up with a pretty decent view.

This was definitely much closer than I was last summer. Also (this comment is for Megan) he had blondish hair this time - it was dark last summer.

I spent the next few hours screaming my lungs out and having a joyous time (while of course remaining on my guard in case the rather strong people behind me decided they needed to be instantaneously closer). Here's a little clip to show just how awesome Andrew McMahon really is. Yes he is standing on top of his piano (sorry about the sound quality/shakiness).



Obviously all of the songs were fantastic, but I must admit to being particularly thrilled by hearing the new version of Swim that was just released. It was a slower version accompanied only by Andy on the piano. Let me tell you, that man knows what he is doing when it comes to the piano. Here's a little snippet of the song (unfortunately I don't think he dances during it):



If you are still unsure as to whether or not I enjoyed the concert, here is a picture of Bryanne and I afterward. I think my face expresses what words cannot.

Nachos

About a week ago I was watching Chuck and one of the characters spent a good part of the episode eating nachos. This sparked a desire within myself for nachos. Finally Kristin and I made this dream come true with some of the best nachos I have ever had.

Yes. They involved guacamole.


We were pretty excited about them. Then to make it even better, we ate them while watching the fabulous movie Adam. It was a very worthwhile night.

Intaglio Printing

These past two weeks I have been working away at becoming an Intaglio printer. The first challenge was deciding what I wanted to engrave in my copper plate. Finally after much wavering back and forth and a long discussion with both my parents and my roommate, I decided to depict a bullfight. This was my inspiration:

And here is my sketch:

So the printing we were doing required two steps: 1. line etching 2. dry point
The line etching required me to coat my copper plate with hard ground (basically asphalt), which the acid would not eat away. Then using a pin (literally a corsage pin that I borrowed from Kristin), I scraped away the hard ground into the design I wanted. Here is what it looked like at that stage:

Then I put the plate in an acid bath for almost an hour and the acid ate away the copper wherever I had scraped away the hard ground. This creates really fine, sharp lines that appear delightfully crisp when you print it.

The printing process works almost backwards to the relief printing we did the week before. Wherever the copper is carved away, it prints black instead of white. To accomplish this you have to coat the whole plate with ink, and then using a sort of cheese cloth gradually wipe it away. Then you put the plate face up on the press and place the paper over it (which was soaked in water for half an hour so it can easily pick up the ink) and crank it through this huge press that applies a lot of pressure. Here is the original print that came from that design:


The next week's assignment was to drastically change the print using dry point to add to the design. Dry point is when you use a sharp needle to carve directly into the copper. It creates a softer line and allows for darker values. I decided to add a background with a shadowy crowd. Here is what the plate looked like when I finished:

Here is the finished product:

And here are all the prints I made. Obviously it took me a few tries to get the ink just right: