Jackson Hole Adventures

So for Labor Day, we planned it out with my dad to make a day trip to Jackson Hole Wyoming. This was a new adventure because Dan had never been over in that area. I used to live in a small town in Idaho on the other side of the mountain from Jackson. So when I was younger, we would go there all the time. It was a beautiful drive and we stopped to take a short hike before going out for lunch.

View from the top of the mountian

Walk back to the car on our mini hike.

It was so nice to get out and be in nature. My allergies haven't liked me since then but it was so worth it. We were so hungry after our hike, probably because we were talking about BBQ a good portion of the hike. We found this place called Bubba's BBQ. Any place called Bubba's has to be good and it was. We ended up getting pie after our meals and it was the best pie. Dan and I shared a Chocolate Buttermilk pie. It didn't taste like buttermilk at all. It tasted like a brownie with pie crust. It was so good.

After lunch we went and walked around town to see the shops. We stopped in this photo gallery because the pictures just caught my eye. The photos were just beautiful. The photographer was there and we got to ask him questions. His pictures just seemed to pop out of the frames. He said they take a normal picture and print it on silver lined paper to make that effect. In my opinion, his photos are beautiful enough that he doesn't need to make them pop them. Look for yourself.

These are just a small portion of them. His website is http://www.johnrichterphoto.com/home/page_id=10. Check out his pictures.

Here are some other pictures and I know this post is a little long but I have to tell this story. So as we were walking along we heard this loud "JIMMER!!!!". Dan was wearing his Jimmer shirt and this lady came up to Dan and got really excited. She told us that Jimmer is in her home ward back in New York. They all, her, Dan and my dad, talked about New York because they all served there. She asked Dan if he wanted a picture of Jimmer and sent him a picture of him and her son. She was so excited to see his shirt and she got even more excited that Jake, Dan's brother, made the shirt. She made our day. Her son that was with her was so embarrassed but we thought it was funny.

Oldest bar in the west.

Food Success

In my ward, we have a recipe club. We decided to put up a blog for those who can't make it and for documentation. I got a recipe for shredded pork, lime rice and creamy tomatillo dressing. Yes this is all stuff they serve at Café Rio. I just had to try these recipes out for myself. So we went to the store and got all the ingredients. To make a long story short, it was sssooo amazing. They each have really distinct flavors but when you put them all together on a tortilla, it's heaven. Dan and I loved it so much, I just had to share it on my blog. 

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

3 fresh tomatillos

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

1 cup fresh cilantro

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

1 pkg. ranch dressing mix

2 cloves minced garlic

1/3-1/2 cup buttermilk

1.     Combine all ingredients in blender. Chill for at least one hour. 

Shredded Pork (Café Rio Style)

5-6 lb. pork butt (bone in)

16 oz. jar salsa

½ can coke

3 tbsp. molasses

2 cups brown sugar

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

1. Place pork in crock pot. Cover with brown sugar, salsa, molasses, cumin, salt and coke. Cover and cook until tender and pulls away with fork.

            2. About 6-8 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. 

Lime Rice

2 tbsp. butter

1 ¼ cups long grain rice

2 ¼ cups chicken broth

Juice and zest of 2 limes (the rice was really limey but good, we might use just one lime next time)

2 tbsp. chopped cilantro

¼ tsp. cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1.     In heavy pan, melt butter with rice. Add broth and other ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.

2.      Add a little more fresh chopped cilantro to taste.

 

I wish I had pictures to share because I love pictures with recipes but trust me pictures can't hold a candle to how good this is. I hope you enjoy because I know we did.

P.S. I also made a Peanut Butter Oreo Ice Cream Pie. We haven't tried it yet but I'm sure I'll be posting that recipe as well.

One Year

Sunday was our first year anniversary. How crazy is that!?!?! I can't believe that. Dan and I had the opportunity to go to Utah and see some family this last weekend. We got to meet our new little niece, Adele. She is just a doll (Dan got some pictures but I need to steal them from him). On Sunday I woke up to Dan's surprise anniversary gift. A beautiful paper origami flower. It even had some small notes written inside of it. I loved it!

1st anniversary traditional gift: paper, beautiful paper flower 

That morning we decided to get home at an early time to spend our anniversary together at home. We got home and I had left a small surprise for Dan to find when we got home.

I decided to write down some things that I look forward to in our future together. 

It was a great anniversary. We didn't have a lot of money to work with so we decided to stay in and have a romantic evening in. Dancing, candlelight dinner and some cake. We didn't have any cake from our wedding reception because it all got eaten. So I decided to make a version of our wedding cake.

We had Funfetti cake with raspberry filling and a buttercream frosting.

My attempt.

Ok so we had Funfetti cake and I also ironically had some raspberry filling. I found a great recipe for some buttercream frosting. So I went to work. I put the filling of the first round and started to place the 2nd one on the top. This is where is went bad. The top layer started to fall apart (as you can see). I frosted it thinking it would stick together. I finished and it looked great. I put it in the fridge to harden and that's when it fell apart. Oh well, it was still really good.
I love you Daniel Fry! It's been an amazing 1st year and I can't wait for the many, many years to come with you by my side.

New Food Adventures

Recently, my amazing mother-in-law gave us a bunch of wheat flour. I love anything wheat pretty much because of the nutritional value it has and it just tastes so good. So I've been trying to find some new recipes that we can use with wheat flour. I found this great recipe for whole wheat pizza crust. We decided to try it and it is really delicious. So I thought I would share the wealth and spread the word about this great crust recipe. It's really healthy and very filling.

1 teaspoon honey

1 1/2 cups warm water 

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*

*(you can use the all purpose flour or just use all wheat flour)

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

Uncooked dough with alfredo. 

I made my alfredo pizza with veggies.

I also have a great whole wheat cookie recipe. I have to give the credit to one of my old roommates. She made these cookies one time for us and we loved them. She got the recipe on the back of the Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flour bag. It's funny because every time I make these, they turn out different but a good different. This last time I tried to lessen the butter amount by doing half butter and half shortening. It was horrible but it made the cookies more crunchy and not as chewy.

Whole Wheat Cookies
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups of wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag of chocolate chips (we have tried both semisweet and milk chocolate chips and we all like milk chocolate chips better)

Cream together sugars, butter, vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough may be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips. Place in an ungreased pan and cook for 8 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures to show for this recipe but I promise it's really good.
Happy Eating! :)

Falling Behind

Man, I am falling behind on my blog. Well, I have a few minutes before work so let me tell you all about the excitement we've been having. Two weekends ago, my family on my dads side had a family reunion in Bear Lake. It was a blast! Dan got to meet pretty much everyone for the first time and of course they loved him. We played games, eat amazing food (thanks again Kac and Ryan), played in the sun, went to some really cool caves and went boating. Here are some pictures of the awesome caves.

Some of the many stairs we had to climb

There were bats sleeping in the ceiling

Here are some pictures from boating and the moose we saw next to the inn we were staying at.

Dan and my cousin Ethan. They were maniacs. 

We also had an excellent 4th of July weekend. I have wanted to go swimming for a long time and I decided that we had to go the 4th of July weekend. Well I got my wish times 10. First I have to mention, on Friday we were invited to go roast hot dogs with Durk and Mandy, some friends of ours in our ward. So we went out and built a campfire. Then we ended up coming back to our apartment and played Mario on the Wii. We really get into it and it's a blast. Alright back to Saturday, we got invited to go to Egin Lake and after a small adventure we ended up floating the river instead. I got a terrible sunburn on my shins. My shins of all places! It was not a fun night for me. 

On Monday, we planned to go to Egin Lake (for real this time) with Dan and Sarah. We got Paola and Brock to join us and had a blast.

Sadly the only picture I got from the whole day.

After Egin Lake, we had a very delicious BBQ. It was so good probably because we were all so hungry but that's beside the point. For the rest of the night, we went to Idaho Falls for the fireworks. Idaho Falls has the biggest fireworks show west of the Mississippi (that's what they say). I don't know if that is true but they were amazing. I love the music they play to go along with the fireworks. It's the cherry on top of the patriotic feeling cake. 

What a weekend.

This last weekend has been a busy one. Dan and I had the opportunity to go to Spokane for the weekend. My aunt got me a ticket for the Spokane performance of Wicked for my birthday. Wicked!!!! I was so excited to go. We went Thursday night and it was amazing. I was about 10 rows from the front and I've never been so emotionally involved in a theater performance in my life.

The view from my seat. Not the best of picture,

Also during this last weekend, my brother and sister-in-law had their 3rd little girl. Her name is Sydnee and she's the cutest little thing. Congrats Matt and Nicole!

Whenever we see my aunt and uncle it means that it's haircut time. Dan got his nice usual haircut and I decided to chop my hair off. It's about to my shoulders now and I love it.

I know it's a little dark but you can see Dan's great haircut and somewhat see mine,

It was a great weekend and I only hope that it would have ended great. I have a curse where I get sick when I travel long distances. I've been doing really well lately but then I had to go get strep throat. Not awesome. I don't think my throat has hurt more in my life. Luckily, I'm getting better and cross our fingers that Dan doesn't get it. 

Praying For Others

The last night Dan and I were having family prayer. As I was saying the prayer, I had this feeling to ask for the safety of our extended family. I had no idea why I felt this way but I ask Heavenly Father to watch over our family and keep them safe. About 2 hours later, we get the news about the devastating tornado in Missouri. Joplin Missouri is where my dad lives. My heart dropped and Dan told me to call him (it was about 1:30 am his time). I picked up my phone and called him. No answer but I got a test message about 30 minutes later saying he was safe and at the hospital helping out where he could. Family had posted on Facebook saying he contacted my grandparents and he said Joplin looks like a war zone. If you haven't seen some pictures already, here are a couple I found.

The news has said, "At least 116 people in Joplin, Mo., are dead after the single deadliest tornado in the US since 1953."

My dad texted me again today saying he was still ok but very tired. He said to keep the people over there in our prayers because they really need it. The weather disasters that have taken place in the south these last couple of months is very heartbreaking. We need to keep these people in our prayers because many of them have lost loved ones and pretty much everything they own.
**If you want to help (And PLEASE don't think I am saying you should because I'm not. I just know when I heard of this I wanted to know what I could do to help.) you can contact the American Red Cross, The Joplin Red Cross or the Humanitarian Aid through the church.