seasonal favorites.

 

i love this time of year and all of the fun seasonal sweet treats and products that come out.  i just want to stock up on everything!

 

here are some of my favorite favorites:

 

1. hershey's candy cane kisses.  oh my goodness gracious these things are good.  they have just a little crunch of candy cane and are so so addicting.

 

2. fresh balsam candle.  i am a picky smeller.  when it comes to candles and lotions, i'm the worst.  but this one was a winner for me.  so yummy!

 

3. twisted peppermint hand cream.  perfect consistency, perfect peppermint smell.  so lovely.

 

4. twisted peppermint hand sanitizer.  can you tell i love this peppermint smell?  yeah.  i use this stuff and people around me smell it and ask if they can use some because it smells so good.  guess i should buy more to share!

 

5. trader joe's speculoos cookie butter.  my wonderful sister, dori, bought jared and i a ton of trader joe's goodies when it recently opened here in SLC.  one of the goodies she gave us was this cookie butter.  i was very hesitant to try it... but HELLO it's amazing!  consistency of peanut butter.. with a mild cookie flavor.  buy 5.  thank me later.

 

6. trader joe's candy cane joe joe's.  i couldn't find these cookies on trader joe's website, but the fact that they have their own facebook page shows how ridiculous they are.  buy 5 boxes of these, too.

 

 

 

if you have any seasonal favorites.. feel free to share with me!

it's simple, really.

7up biscuits.

 

new favorite around our place!  try them, so yummy and easy. (thanks, mom, for introducing the family to these little addicting biscuits from heaven.)

ingredients:
2 cups bisquick
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup 7-up
1/4 cup melted butter (come on, use BUTTER)

directions:
1. cut sour cream into biscuit mix, add 7-Up. makes a very soft dough.
2. sprinkle additional biscuit mix on board or table and pat/roll dough out and cut.
3. melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9 inch square pan.
place cut biscuits in pan and bake at 450 degrees until golden brown (mine baked for 11-12 minutes).

family.

my dad came into town earlier this week for business and we all got to hang out for a night.  always wonderful when family can get together.



my love, jared, with nephews owen and holden, niece penelope, and my beautiful sister dori. 

girl from ipanema.

lasagna soup.

i am posting this recipe from my family's blog (thanks mom).  it is a favorite and jared and i enjoyed some last night.  cheers!

Lasagna Soup
Olive oil
1 pound ground mild Italian sausage
1 small-medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 can tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
1 tsp crushed basil
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken stock
8 oz (half a package) small pasta (not precooked)
Salt
Pepper

Cheese Topping
mix together:
8 oz Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
Sprinkle over soup and topping:
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat a stock pot over med-high heat and add 2 Tbsp olive oil. Heat for a minute then add the onion and saute until soft. Add garlic and crumble the ground beef, cooking until no longer pink. Drain. Return meat to the pot and add tomato sauce, oregano, red pepper flakes and stir until well incorporated. Cook for about five minutes.

Add chicken stock, bay leaves and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook to al dente. Do not overcook or let the soup simmer at this point as the pasta will get mushy.

As the pasta is cooking prepare the cheese topping. Mix all ingredients, except mozzarella, together and set aside.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls, add a dollop of cheese topping and sprinkle mozzarella on top.

random facts.

1. floating in the pool on a hot summer phoenix day is my favorite favorite.

2. rock climbing terrifies me. so much that when my sweet husband shows interest, i change the subject. poor guy.

3. i've been told that my eye color is "olive oil".

4. one of the dumbest things i've ever done was jumping into the dorm swimming pool in the middle of the night, in the middle of winter, while it was snowing, and the pool was full of anti-freeze.

5. if i could go anywhere today, it would be to south africa.

6. i rocked a skullet as a toddler. apparently the front of my head lacked any desire to start growing hair.

7. i went through a phase where i wanted to have my own wilderness survivial show.

8. i don't have a middle name, so when i was young, i would choose a new middle name weekly. often, i would write my full (fake) name on my school work. mostly, i was lindsay rose or lindsay mary. in second grade, i was lindsay victoria a lot. when my mom came in for parent teacher conference, she asked my sweet teacher, mrs. valenzuela, why my official school documents said lindsay victoria knight. oops.

9. waterbeds are hilarious.  i think one day i want just one in the house specifically for my amusement.

10. i find year round exterior white christmas lights totally acceptable.

11. my perfect home would be in the arizona desert. surrounded by saguaro cacti with a southwestern meets scandinavian interior.

12. i am a goodwill junkie. scavenging for vintage pyrex and vintage bedding is my drug of choice.

13. growing up in phoenix, it was not uncommon to see me with my mom and sisters in the street in front of our house, enjoying a beautiful sunset.

14. i still wear my sixth grade campaign shirt as a pajama shirt. be bright, vote knight!

15. in the past, i've told jared, "i need to tell you something... i did something i'm not proud of..." he responded, "who's song did you download?" he knows me well. there are some artists that i'm ashamed i gave .99 cents to.

16. my family nickname is booger.

17. jack nicholson scares me.

18. in grade school i listened to my "cars greatest hits" tape constantly.

19. our family often uses three fingers to say "i love you".

20. one of my favorite television shows is cops. there, i said it.

snow, part II.

 

 

snow.

last night i kept reading online about this winter storm that would hit salt lake today/tomorrow.  i was stressin, wondering if we had enough matches, candles, flashlights, etc (in case we lost power).  it was clearly on my mind when i went to bed (along with our favorite show the walking dead) because i had the most vivid dream that jared and i were in a zombie apocalypse.  in addition to seeking safety and running for our lives, we were searching the city for our cats.  yep.  it was a stressful dream.  hahaa

 

then i woke to this view out our windows!

 

 

 

right after i took these photos it REALLY started comin down.  here's to hot cocoa and more zupa toscana!

 

our neighboring capitol..

 

 

 

this next photo was from last winter...  slc is beautiful covered in snow.

conley mix tape.

 



i have many friends who often ask me for lists of music i am currently enjoying.  well here is a mix tape i compiled to share with you.  i plan on making many more.  enjoy.

 

and if you ever have music suggestions for me, please share, i love hearing new music.

 

side A:

 

(click on songs to listen to song on youtube)

erykah badu and stephen marley "in love with you"

the police "the bed's too big without you"

jessie ware "110%"

zoo kid "out getting ribs"

john mayer "i don't trust myself"

jessie ware and sampha "valentine"

asa "be my man"


side B:

metronomy "the look"

chromatics "tick of the clock"

tame impala "elephant"

tame impala "feels like we only go backwards"

broken bells "the high road"

phantogram "mouth full of diamonds"

grimes "genesis"





life lately, in photos.

 

 

 

 

our day.

my sweet jared planned the PERFECT day for us yesterday.  we enjoyed lunch at our favorite little tea joint, the beehive tea room.  if you're ever in slc, come here, and bring me with you.  we drank lemon souffle tea, munched on a tomato and basil cream cheese sandwich, and a spinach and feta quiche.  crazy yummy.  then we walked around town for a while, enjoying the beautiful weather and autumn leaves that are still here!

then jared took me up to park city to our favorite favorite restaurant, reef's.  best.  food.  ever.  jared had coconut mussels and i had a lamp shish kebab.  and... apparently people don't go out to eat on halloween, because we were the only people in the whole restaurant all night.  the family that runs reef's is so gracious and sweet, i felt like we were dining in their home.  they had reggae music going and spoiled us all night.  good choice honey, thanks for a perfect perfect anniversary.

 

 

three years!

a few months into dating...

 

 

 

wedding day...

 

 

 

a year into marriage...

 

 

two years of marriage...

 

 

happy three year anniversary, my love.

best three years of my life.

 

happy birthday, mom!!

happy happy birthday to my amazing mother! this girl could not ask for a better mother and friend. we love you, to the moon and back!

thank you for your christlike examples of love, compassion, kindness and service. i am forever grateful that you have taught me to work hard and love much (and... bake, cook, garden, laugh, smile, sing, and dance like no one is watching).

grateful.



 

i'm still sick and it's ridiculously cold here.  i have a puney immune system.  so, instead of focusing on the negative, i'm trying to focus on my blessings.

 

i'm grateful for my sweetheart (who spoils me when i'm sick), for cinnamon life cereal, for electric blankets, for my jody slippers (that aunt jody made), for lentil soup and homemade bread, for sunshine coming through windows, for my muddy waters pandora station, for microwave rice bags, and coconut perfume.

 

also grateful for good movies.  to name a few.. i have watched the three amigos, butch cassidy & the sundance kid, jeremiah johnson, and true grit.  i highly recommend them all.

 

 

 

chocolate brittle surprise.

i'm sharing a family favorite recipe that we typically make around the holidays.  i'm sure when people hear that the recipe uses saltines they are a little suspicious.. until they taste it.  so yummy and so easy.

ingredients:

35 unsalted soda crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup nuts (optional... we like chopped almonds)

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350* F.  cover cookie sheet with foil.  spray foil with cooking oil spray.

2. place crackers on foil in 5 x 7 rows.

3. microwave butter on high for 2 minutes.  add brown sugar and stir.  microwave on high for 2 more minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.

4. pour over crackers.  bake 17-20 minutes (should bubble but not burn).

5. sprinkle chocolate chips over hot crackers.  spread after 2 minutes (chips have softened).  sprinkle nuts on top.

6. refrigerate 1 hour.  break into pieces.  can be frozen.

recipe initially found here.



radio.

 

 

  

comfort soup.

i am under the weather today.  grateful that i made zupa toscana yesterday and grateful to hear rain on the windows and still see beautiful autumn colors outside.  p.s. pine scented candles are my current obsession.

 

 

zupa toscana recipe here, on my mom's blog.

 



 

lunch date, park cafe.

:::via:::

jared had about an hour between school and work today so we went to our favorite place, the park cafe.  during our meal, i told jared that when i'm at the park cafe, i love salt lake just a little bit more.  we don't plan on living here long term, and someday when we do leave, i will probably miss the park cafe the most.  eat there.  you'll love it.