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Sunday, December 23, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
December Happenings
Time to put up the outside lights!
(Never played outside in just t-shirts after putting up Christmas lights until this year.)
I took the girls to a work party without Matt because he was working, I know, lame. They got new dresses to meet Santa in and everything. As it turned out, Santa wasn't really Santa. In fact, he could barely pass as one of Santa's helpers...but thanks anyway for trying guys! I think we better look a little harder for the real thing, don't you?
Last year they met the real thing (he does have a fake beard, but at least it is a pretty fake beard).
All the December fun makes everyone tired, but a very good tired indeed.
We have to throw a couple of boo boos in too. Dani got this shiner while putting up the Christmas lights. Don't worry, she didn't fall off the roof, just tripped over a string of lights. OUCH.
Funky new red glasses
I'm half way!
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Reminiscing
I was just remembering what it was like this time of year where I use to work and the yummy things I use to get to make. This was a busy time of year as a chocolatier, as you can imagine.
Shortly after Matt and I were married I got a job Sarah's Candy Cottage in Idaho Falls and we made some yummy candy there. I remember distinctly this black dutch fudge that only the owner Peter made in this huge copper kettle. It was the best fudge, besides the Penuche that he made. I made a lot of the fudge but never those two kinds, but I got to watch and help a little and every time my mouth watered the entire cooking process. We would put all the ingredients in a big pot to make caramel at the beginning of everyday and let it cook all day long until it was golden and glossy. Oooh, so good. We made lots of batches of this amazing caramel corn and white chocolate popcorn and all different kinds of truffles. I made batches and batches of different kinds of ganache. But best of all, I liked making the cordial cherries. We made the special fondant for the centers from scratch and there was a pro that came in just to work on the cherries. That fondant had to be kneaded and and stuff until it was just right and this guy was so good at dipping them and making them the most gorgeous and delicious cherry cordials you ever tasted (even if you thought you didn't like cherry cordials, you would suddenly after tasting these)! It is just a really cool place and the people that work there right now are busy busy busy! So busy that during Matt's Christmas break he came in to work with me the week or so before Christmas and worked there because we needed extra hands for dipping and such!
Then we moved to Napa, Idaho because Matt was installing alarms that summer for Pinnacle. I got a job at a donut shop and believe it or not, it was really fun. I worked from 7 at night to three in the morning making donuts. I loved it. Those warm freshly glazed donut holes were so fun to pop in your mouth. I popped way to many, I'm sure. My favorite to make and eat though were the old fashioned donuts (called sour cream donuts at most bakeries).
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Then we moved to New York City and I found a job at Martine's Chocolates like one block from our apartment on the Upper East Side . I thought I had tasted good chocolate but let me inform you that no one has tasted good chocolates until they have tasted Martine's Chocolates. OK, that sounded like an advertisement didn't it? Well, they are that good, I am telling you. Nothing like them out there that I have ever tasted. We wore chef hats and chef coats and made all the chocolates in front of the customers, including a shop right in Bloomingdales! My favorite, the palette and the piano. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. They had to be refrigerated because they had fresh ingredients in them. They had to be eaten right away too but that was no problem!!! I do have some regrets about my experiences working there. I am actually finding myself afraid to say too much based on my experiences there. I am envisioning being tracked down and sued for saying something wrong on my blog about the said chocolate shop. Eeks. It was kind of a shocker to be living and working in New York City after having only lived in small town Price all my life and then Rexburg for college. I had a lot yet to learn.
After quiting at Martine's, I tried to be a front desk person at a dentist office. No thanks. That didn't last long before I was secretly searching for another job as a chocolatier while sitting in front of the computer at the dental office. Matt and I were sick of him having time off around the holidays because he was in school and me having to work my but off during that time and not being able to go see family and stuff because of my job (where I never made much money btw). But, in the end, office work wasn't worth it. So, I got a job at Sweet Bliss. Don't worry, I didn't share any of Martine's secrets. These two chocolate places were totally different. This place is up in a beautiful loft on 27th street turned into a like a chocolate factory almost, only small scale, we are talking like three chocolatiers and two packagers. No store front. We made fancy chocolates with lots of art work and sold them to fancy stores. I made a large batch of marshmellow everyday. You can read all about it and see for yourself on the website. Make sure and read about Ilene, pretty cool. I got pregnant with Carlee after a bit and was sick. I felt like a burden to them more than anything and I was way too chatty with the other girls that worked there. After 7 months of working while pregnant, I'd finally had enough. I worked through Christmas and Valentine's Day and then said goodbye. Probably a sigh of relief for them, boo.
And you know the rest. Chocolatiering at home isn't very fun for me, lack of the right equipment and tools and temperatures and ingredients and such. So I really don't much. I am feeling very tempted however to buy some goodies from off their websites though, are you?
Happy December!!!
Shortly after Matt and I were married I got a job Sarah's Candy Cottage in Idaho Falls and we made some yummy candy there. I remember distinctly this black dutch fudge that only the owner Peter made in this huge copper kettle. It was the best fudge, besides the Penuche that he made. I made a lot of the fudge but never those two kinds, but I got to watch and help a little and every time my mouth watered the entire cooking process. We would put all the ingredients in a big pot to make caramel at the beginning of everyday and let it cook all day long until it was golden and glossy. Oooh, so good. We made lots of batches of this amazing caramel corn and white chocolate popcorn and all different kinds of truffles. I made batches and batches of different kinds of ganache. But best of all, I liked making the cordial cherries. We made the special fondant for the centers from scratch and there was a pro that came in just to work on the cherries. That fondant had to be kneaded and and stuff until it was just right and this guy was so good at dipping them and making them the most gorgeous and delicious cherry cordials you ever tasted (even if you thought you didn't like cherry cordials, you would suddenly after tasting these)! It is just a really cool place and the people that work there right now are busy busy busy! So busy that during Matt's Christmas break he came in to work with me the week or so before Christmas and worked there because we needed extra hands for dipping and such!Then we moved to Napa, Idaho because Matt was installing alarms that summer for Pinnacle. I got a job at a donut shop and believe it or not, it was really fun. I worked from 7 at night to three in the morning making donuts. I loved it. Those warm freshly glazed donut holes were so fun to pop in your mouth. I popped way to many, I'm sure. My favorite to make and eat though were the old fashioned donuts (called sour cream donuts at most bakeries).
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Then we moved to New York City and I found a job at Martine's Chocolates like one block from our apartment on the Upper East Side . I thought I had tasted good chocolate but let me inform you that no one has tasted good chocolates until they have tasted Martine's Chocolates. OK, that sounded like an advertisement didn't it? Well, they are that good, I am telling you. Nothing like them out there that I have ever tasted. We wore chef hats and chef coats and made all the chocolates in front of the customers, including a shop right in Bloomingdales! My favorite, the palette and the piano. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. They had to be refrigerated because they had fresh ingredients in them. They had to be eaten right away too but that was no problem!!! I do have some regrets about my experiences working there. I am actually finding myself afraid to say too much based on my experiences there. I am envisioning being tracked down and sued for saying something wrong on my blog about the said chocolate shop. Eeks. It was kind of a shocker to be living and working in New York City after having only lived in small town Price all my life and then Rexburg for college. I had a lot yet to learn.
After quiting at Martine's, I tried to be a front desk person at a dentist office. No thanks. That didn't last long before I was secretly searching for another job as a chocolatier while sitting in front of the computer at the dental office. Matt and I were sick of him having time off around the holidays because he was in school and me having to work my but off during that time and not being able to go see family and stuff because of my job (where I never made much money btw). But, in the end, office work wasn't worth it. So, I got a job at Sweet Bliss. Don't worry, I didn't share any of Martine's secrets. These two chocolate places were totally different. This place is up in a beautiful loft on 27th street turned into a like a chocolate factory almost, only small scale, we are talking like three chocolatiers and two packagers. No store front. We made fancy chocolates with lots of art work and sold them to fancy stores. I made a large batch of marshmellow everyday. You can read all about it and see for yourself on the website. Make sure and read about Ilene, pretty cool. I got pregnant with Carlee after a bit and was sick. I felt like a burden to them more than anything and I was way too chatty with the other girls that worked there. After 7 months of working while pregnant, I'd finally had enough. I worked through Christmas and Valentine's Day and then said goodbye. Probably a sigh of relief for them, boo. 
And you know the rest. Chocolatiering at home isn't very fun for me, lack of the right equipment and tools and temperatures and ingredients and such. So I really don't much. I am feeling very tempted however to buy some goodies from off their websites though, are you?
Happy December!!!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Aunt Cyrie is the Best!!!
Aunt Cyrie came to our house for Thanksgiving weekend and we had a blast! After our smoked turkey feast (while Matt cleaned up) we had a dance party and burned some calories. We were dancing to the barbie song and Gagnam Style. Cyrie is dressed up in a tutu made for a 3 year old, tickle monster gloves, and an apple beret that Carlee wore when she was, oh, 9 months old. Oh ya baby!!!
(You know you wish you had been doing this with us instead of being in a turkey coma watching football or something;) That night Cyrie and I went to see the last cheesy, sappy, Twilight movie. Ahhh, they are fiiiiiiinally over. We were running to get there in time and my foot caught the curb and I fell in like slow motion. I desperately reached out for Cyrie but she was just out of reach, so I dropped and rolled. Ya, it was embarrassing.
Friday we put up some Christmas cheer in the house and then headed for SeaWorld. We wanted to go see all the Christmas splendor there. It was awesome.
We got to see the Dolphin Christmas show with Beluga Whales, acrobats, and divers and we saw a little of the Shamu Christmas show and also Sesame Street characters dancing and singing on stage. It is all very fun and exciting for young and old.
We all rode the little kid rides that Carlee and Dani just love.
Some little ones get freaked out on this big fish ride that spins around as it swings but not Dani, she had her hands up in the air and was laughing and squealing with delight, cracking Aunt Cyrie up all the while.
We rode on the SeaWorld Express and saw some beautiful lights.
(Yes, you have big guns Matt.)
Cyrie and Matt had a blast riding some of the big kid roller coasters while the girls and I hung out in Candy Cane Forest.
After our big adventures at SeaWorld, Saturday Cyrie and I tried to go on a run with the girls in the stroller. It was a bit rough. First of all because trying to push them and run at the same time isn't very fun and second of all because running with me isn't very fun because I am not in very good shape. Matt worked all day but he let us drop the girls off with him in the afternoon and just Cyrie and I got to go hang out on the town. We went to the River Walk and ate Mexican food and shopped a little. It got really crowded down there the later it got so we got out of there. I really didn't want to go home at the girls bed time so as we thought about what we could do I remembered that last Thanksgiving when all my family came to our house in Colorado Springs, all the girls had talked about going roller skating but we never went so we decided to go right then! We located and drove to a skate place and had a blast! We even got to roller skate to Gagnam Style, hehehe. Then we got milk shakes at Sonic and got home late.
Sunday morning Dani knocked over the Christmas tree, oops. It was definitely a first and I hope the last time that happens, but Cyrie predicted that it will not be the last.
After church and tree clean up and dinner, we had some girly girl time painting our nails. Then we attempted to get the kids to sleep so we could play Rummykub. We were only half successful.
Cyrie took tons of fun pictures of our good times which she will be posting on her blog soon, I'm sure. Check out her blog here: http://bonedoggy.blogspot.com/
We were so sad to say goodbye and are still sad that she is gone but so grateful she came!!! Thanks for coming Cyrie. You really are the best and coolest Aunt and Sister in the whole world. And I must thank Matt so much for taking the girls so my sis and I could spend time together and for hanging out with us and doing dishes and everything else. You are the best husband in the world Matt!
Cyrie took tons of fun pictures of our good times which she will be posting on her blog soon, I'm sure. Check out her blog here: http://bonedoggy.blogspot.com/
We were so sad to say goodbye and are still sad that she is gone but so grateful she came!!! Thanks for coming Cyrie. You really are the best and coolest Aunt and Sister in the whole world. And I must thank Matt so much for taking the girls so my sis and I could spend time together and for hanging out with us and doing dishes and everything else. You are the best husband in the world Matt!
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