Date Night with Friends

Last Saturday night, Scott finally had the night off.  No work, no clinicals, no nothing.  We still keep in touch with friends from our old ward in Provo.  It had been a bit since we'd done something together and since Scott had the night off, it was the perfect opportunity to call them up to do something.  Our friends, Heather and Skylar, have been wanting to go to a comedy show and it sounded good to us!  I love being able to laugh and laugh we did.  It was a comedy troupe, so there were people that weren't that good at all.  One guy's nose even started bleeding on stage!  He kept going with his comedy, but it was a little awkward to watch.  My favorite comedian there was a guy named Stephen Jones.  He was hilarious; I was laughing so hard I was crying.  It's been a while since I'd laughed that hard.  I loved it.  Stephen Jones made this spoof of an old spice commercial for the BYU library.  Check it out!

It wasn't that crowded in the theater, so we got great seats up front!

At the end of the show, they told us that we would get $1 off shakes at a restaurant nearby.  We planned to get dessert beforehand, but it didn't really work out so getting a discount for dessert afterward worked much better.  We went to this place called Sammy's in downtown Provo.

It was about 11:30 and that place was packed!  We had to wait a while for our shakes, but they were good. 

It was fun to have a night out with friends!  Thanks friends!

Making Grape Juice

Last year while we were living at Scott's aunt and uncle's house, I was able to make a ton of grape juice from the grapes they had in their yard.  I made about 24 jars and there was still a ton of grapes left on the vine.  There was just too many grapes.  It was really fun to learn how to make grape juice and pure grape juice is 100x better than grape juice from the store.  We actually drank quite a bit and even gave a few jars away (so much for food storage).  I think we had only about 5 jars left before I made this new batch.  Thank goodness for a grandma with extra grapes.

So, like I said my grandma has grapes as well and she was kind enough to let me pick the last of her grapes to make grape juice for Scott and I.  I wasn't able to make as much as last year, but I was just grateful to make some more.  I only got about 4 pictures during this process, but it's better than none.

 Grandma and I cleaned out her grape vines.  There were no more grapes left on that vine when we got done.  This was the start of the grape juice making process.  We dumped the grapes into the sink and rinsed off leaves, twigs and I even found a slug.  I also pulled off as many grapes as I could from their stems.  It makes it to where you can fit more grapes in the juicer, but it doesn't really matter if the stems are left on.

This is the juicer!  I'm not sure how old this is and if there are newer versions out there, but this did the job. I actually borrowed this when I made grape juice last year.  The bottom part where the long tube is coming out, is holding boiling water.  You're pretty much steaming the juice out of the grapes.  The tube is where the juice comes out and into the jars.  I didn't get a picture of that process being done since you need both hands to do it.

This is the top of the juicer where the grapes go in.  We filled that top as full as it could go.  There is a lid that goes on top once you have all your grapes in.  Then you just sit and wait!  It took me about 3 1/2 hours to do 11 jars of juice.  It did take some time to wash the grapes and then it just depends on how quick the grapes lose their juice.  It was good to spend time with grandma and Scott was one happy husband knowing we got more grape juice to hopefully put in our food storage.  Who knows how many more opportunities I will get to make grape juice?  Either way, it was fun!

All 11 jars of delicious grape juice!

Pumpkin Carving

Yes, we are aware that Halloween is still two weeks away and that these pumpkins will not survive until then.  It was a good time to do it and I am finally feeling the season of fall.  I am not ashamed to admit that I love to use the patterns from the carving kit you can buy at Wal-Mart.  I think they both turned out great.  Thanks to the bro and sis-in-law for having us over.

Craft Project & Sweet Treats

Not much new to update on life.  Scott is kicking butt at his clinicals and he has started applying for tons of jobs in Utah and Salt Lake County.  Teaching is still going along fine and keeping me busy.  I can't believe it's October, but I'm ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas break. :)

Last Wednesday the Relief Society in my ward had a craft night.  They had tables set up full of different crafts and everybody kind of just did their own thing.  You had to pay for whatever craft you wanted to do beforehand though, so I only did one.  I chose to do these blocks that had scrapbook paper you would modge pogde on with vinyl stickers.  I chose to do the word 'Family' on one side and 'Believe' on the other side.  I like it because I have a side that can stay up all year and then when the holidays come, I can switch it to the other side!  It was actually a pretty easy craft and looks really cute in our apartment.

As I mentioned last week, Scott went in to talk to some people in the hospital to get his face known.  He wanted me to make a lot of treats to "suck up" to the people and apparently it worked!  I got a little ambitious and chose to make some treats that took effort and time and I was exhausted by the end of the night.  I am glad that they turned out decent and Scott was able to impress the people in the hospital.

Treat #1:Oreo Truffles

These were our favorite treat!  They were yummy and the quickest to make.  I did make the truffle balls the night before to let them set up, so that made it quicker to make the next night.


Treat #2: Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

Picture on the left is the first batch of cookies.  I was getting tired, so I totally messed up on how I put them on the cookie sheet, so they didn't turn out so pretty.  Tasted fine, but looked ugly.  Picture on the right is the second, much prettier batch of cookies.  These are the ones that Scott took.  Now, the glaze isn't an actual glaze (powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, etc.).  Again, I was tired and feeling too lazy to even put anything on the cookies.  There was some extra chocolate from the oreo truffles, so Scott came up with the idea to put that on the cookies.  It actually tasted pretty good!  Not the easiest to pour since it is thicker than an actual glaze, but not bad tasting.

Treat #3: Red and Golden Raspberry Lemon Baby Cheesecake Pies

These cheesecake pies were okay.  I didn't use golden raspberries and the raspberries I did use (from CostCo) were huge!!  I felt like there was more raspberry than mixture in the pie crust.  The recipe calls for lemon curd which I couldn't find at the store.  So, I made my own.  I think I might have overcooked the lemon curd, but it still turned out fine.  I wish they had a more cheesecake taste, but that's just my opinion.  We served these to some of the Elder's Quorum presidency who stopped by and they said it tasted yummy, so still a success in my book.

Treat #4: Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Cookies

Now, I already did another post about these the first time I made them.  They tasted the same except this time I put too much dough in the pan, so they formed this muffin top look.  I will admit that the first ones I made were much prettier, but these tasted just as delicious.

All 4 treats in all their glory!  We just need one more square plate to match.

It was a long night of treat making, but worth it for my sweet husband.