The Creation of Frankenpie

  
      So I don't know that I ever realized how much work it takes to put on a Thanksgiving meal. Somehow my mother always just waved her magic chef hands over everything and voila - the feast appeared. Yes, I am convinced she is magical. But I was just jumping to host Thanksgiving this year, to give our little home a last big hoo-rah before we move and because OOYL.
      I even volunteered to make all the pies. From scratch. Who needs store-bought crusts anyway? Or experience with this type of baking beforehand? Overrated. It came time to make the dough and I donned my apron like a pro. I read the recipe several times, called some seasoned bakers for tips, set the oven to pre-heat. Then I followed the crusty instructions. exactly. This is what happened:
      Recipe: "After the dough is prepared, set it on a lightly-floured surface or between two sheets of wax paper to prevent sticking." -It stuck to that wax paper like gum on the bottom of a shoe. Even with a generous douse of flour on either sheet.  R: "Do not stretch the dough when flattened, but gently slide it out of the paper..."   Boy, did it stretch.   "...without tearing..."   It tore. In many pieces.
      Insert a quote from my husband: "I've been married to you for over a year and I think this is the first time I've ever really seen you mad." Thanks, Bry. So here I am, piecing together this pie crust like a quilt, and the only thing that comes to mind to fit the situation is a certain book I read for AP English in high school.
      Frankenpie was born.

I didn't get a before-picture on the pieces of the crust. I guess I was just too distraught. To add to the character of this pie, somehow we misread the amount of ground cloves we needed for the filling and when Frank came out of the oven, all we smelled was CLOVES.

By some miracle, Frankenpie actually tasted pretty good, and our Thanksgiving turned out to be delicious. Yes, miracles are real.

 

     Mom - Your Thanksgiving is still somehow tastier, but look! We did not-too-shabby here.

When I was little, my job was always to make place-cards for dinner. Still doing that. This year I was just too excited for my sister not to include one half-sized addition. Also, back in the day,

my dad always took a picture of his plate. We're still doing that.   

 

     Frankenpie, we loved you, but maybe loved this key lime pie even more. It was a St-Patty's find that was too good not to make again. If I ever have a "recipes" tab on this blog, this would be the first item in line. It's heaven in a pie dish and so so easy. 

To finish up this post, I have to say that I am grateful for:

•  My husband, who not only comforts me when I'm upset about pie crust, but also is a vacuum cleaner for food so I will probably not have to worry about leftovers going bad in the fridge, ever. 
• And him finally giving in to purchasing a 6' Christmas tree instead of a 3' one last year. Because that shining tree is making our home right now while the rest of our furniture is sold off piece by piece. Don't ask how we had Thanksgiving here without our table, but we did. 
• My family. Which I already wrote about here.

We are so blessed. Here's to another beautiful holiday season..Monster pies and all.

Love,
Becca

Small Town Girl in the Big City

This month I had the opportunity to present research at the ASHA Convention in 

Chicago, Illinois. 

My family lived in Illinois way back before I was born, but this was my first time to the windy city.

Let me insert here that Chicago is about as opposite as you can venture from the two small Utah cities I've lived in all my life--Not counting my study abroad in Germany.

Good thing I had my husband, The Navigator/Bodyguard/Champion Food Finder along for the trip. We made it an Anniversary Adventure.

The first stop, of course, was to Gino's for deep dish pizza. 60 minutes to bake and worth every minute. One-half sausage for him, one-half garden style for her. 

Since Mitt Romney and Beyonce have endorsed this pizza, we figured we would give it a try.

  It's crazy how city can be so massive, yet make you feel claustrophobic between the skyscraper walls.

 

I'm asking Santa for a camera. Until then, this Fujifilm still has its artsy moments. 

 

I can't tell you how many people's pictures we took next to this whirlpool of a structure. In return, they took some snaps for us as well. And didn't steal our camera. Lucky us.

We had Navy Pier mostly to ourselves because of the chilly wind and the construction..
It wasn't until after we got home that I found out that this is where my Grandpa trained before World War II! Funny story from him: They lined up all the trainees on the dock and asked them if they were swimmers. Grandpa said he wasn't. He got to swim in an indoor practice facility while they threw all the "swimmers" in the lake. I don't blame you one bit, Grandpa. It. was. freezing.

 But we eskimo bundled and all was well.

 Even with Mr. Navigator as my travel companion, we still went around in circles. Beautiful, city circles.

The city roars, especially at night. When we came home, we were amazed at how quiet our neighborhood is compared to this bustle outside our hotel window.

Chicago is now checked off our travel map. Double-checked. Now,  D.C. in 39 days.. but who's counting?

Love,

Becca

Gratitude for ONE YEAR

I have intended to start a blog numerous times. In fact, I have all of the blogger names and URLs sitting in my account, waiting for me to fill them in. 

The event that finally kicked me over the edge into posting on this brand new one, is the incredible fact that I have been married to THIS MAN for one year today! 

He is my best friend, my whole life, and more.  I anticipated this day with giddy excitement -- looking forward to reliving our best memories, dancing to our wedding song, and making a time capsule, among other anniversary activities. 

What I didn't anticipate, not so much, is that as I looked back on our memories from November 17, 2012, my heart would be bursting with gratitude. For all of our loved ones who have helped make our life a piece of heaven, starting with our wedding day. I wish I could mention by name every person. That would make some sore fingers for me and tired eyes for you. But I believe we chose well to be married in November, the month of giving thanks. On our very first anniversary, I would like to take the time to do just that.

I am grateful
   To my mother, for allowing me to jump in bed with her at 4am when I couldn't sleep, too energized and with too many butterflies to snooze for more than a few hours. We giggled and laughed and enjoyed the final hours of the morning before I officially left her family to make my own. You are selfless, and my hero.

    To my father, for being present at my wedding every bit as much as he promised me when I was a little girl. Just in different ways than I expected.

    To my new Mansfield family, for welcoming me as one of their own, and making me feel like I absolutely belong. How can I explain what it means to me to call someone Papa? And to all the rest of you, you are simply wonderful. Thank you especially for sending us on our honeymoon trip. It was a dream come true.

   To my sister Emily, for not once being frustrated that we got married one month and one day apart. I am so blessed to have grown up with you by my side, and wedding planning with you was the cherry on top. Also, April couldn't come soon enough. 

   To all of the family and friends who traveled (whatever the distance) to join us at our sealing and reception. 

   To everyone who contributed to our new beginning, in any way. We look around our apartment, and basically everything we have is a gift from someone. Without all of you, we would live in a pretty bare place. 

    To my girls, for listening to me rant and rave about the big decisions in my life for the last couple of years and preventing me from pulling all my hair out. Those late night chats over bowls of cereal really did help. Thank you for all the girl time we spent before the wedding, and for being so very excited with me. I love you all as sisters. 

    To Ben and Matthew for filming and compiling our wedding video and slideshow. We watched that today (more than a few times) and can't imagine a more priceless treasure.

    To Emily with MKay Photography for capturing our wedding memories with unmatched ability and care. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

    And now that we have been in our little apartment for one year now, we are so grateful for all of the neighbors and friends we have made here and for all of the ways you have lifted us up. We couldn't have asked for a better place to spend our first year. 

thank you

For our anniversary, we celebrated the whole weekend in Chicago!!!
and I will definitely share our experiences in the next post! Until then, here are some of my favorite snaps from the wedding day. 

 
 This post -  It's personal, it's heartfelt, and I usually don't share things like this. But with my heart so full of happiness, it was a good day to share. 
Happy one year to us.

Love, Becca