Utah Ice Castles

On Sunday, Valentine's Day, Adam and I went with my mom, sisters, niece, and grandma to the ice castles in Utah. They were amazing! This guy makes them. Don't know who he is, but he does something very unique that I have never seen. We had a good time and saw some amazing houses by it that had murals or something painted on them.

 

One of the designs. Pretty Cool....

  

We put our initials in the snow... A "heart" A

  

The ice tunnel! 

Roses from Adam

February 5

Last Friday, I got a surprise from Adam. He got me a dozen beautiful roses! He is so good because he picks out the flowers that he wants to put in the arrangement then the floral people do it! But it makes it so special that he picks things out himself to give me. And I love that he likes to give me flowers. This arrangment was an early Valentine's day gift. That week was hard for both of us because we didn't get to see each other that much because we were busy with school, so it really cheered things up for me to get these at the end of the week. Adam is amazing and so talented.  

I Made Meringues!

Yes, I made meringues! And they actually turned out. These are the ones that I made. That's a half batch of meringue batter. They don't look that pretty, but they taste really really good and they were surprisingly very easy to make.

Two nights ago, Sister Baldwin who's the wife of a member of the bishopric in my ward, taught us girls in the Relief Society to make meringues. I was really excited because 1) I love meringues 2) they looked really cute and 3) I would learn a new baking/cooking skill!

I've always heard that meringues are difficult to make, but I believe I have mastered this skill. I just need to learn how to  make them look nicer and not so sloppy. I'm going to try and make them again this weekend so I can experiement with other flavors and perfect it a little more.

I was amazed to find that after you beat all the ingredients together and do your little designs on the cookie sheet that once you stick it in your preheated oven, you turn off the oven, and leave it in there all night! I was a little disappointed that I would have to wait that long, but oh well. But it was the most satisfying feeling when they turned out. They didn't turn out at first and I disappointedly pulled them out of the oven still gooey the next morning. But I did some research and found out what to do to make them hard and crispy again. I tried it, and it worked! It turns out you can redry them by putting them back into the oven for a little bit. If you expose them to the air for too long, they will absorb the moisture in the air and become gooey again. So once you make them, you have to stick them into a sealed plastic bag (will little air). But anyway, I will stop rambling on about this amazing dessert. I am just so happy that I did it! I made meringues! Here is the recipe....

Meringues
2 egg whites (room temperature)
1/2 to 2/3 cup superfine or powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp extract of choice (I did almond my first time, next I'm going to just try vanilla)
Pinch of salt
Food coloring of choice

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (I don't have a 200 degrees setting on my oven, but I do have 245 degrees, and that seemed to work, so just do a low heat). Make sure your bowl and beaters are perfectly clean, and oil residual in the bowl or on the beaters will fail the meringue. Always wash and dry even clean bowls and beaters prior to beginning the recipe. It is also good if the beaters and bowl are warm from just being washed. This will increase the volume of the egg whites when they are beaten. It is good to use a glass mixing bowl.

With your room temperature eggs, in a large mixing bowl beat the egg whites (there cannot be any egg yoke or you will need to start with other eggs), pinch of salt and cream of tartar until frothy. When eggs are foamy and frothy begin adding the sugar slowly, one tablespoon at a time. Incorporate each sugar addition before adding the next. When 1/2 the sugar has been added; add the extract. Then continue on adding in the rest of the sugar. Add food coloring and beat until stiff peaks form. When finished the meringue should be shiny and tight. Do not over beat.

Transfer mixture into a zip top bag, clip corner or fit with pastry tip. Pipe onto parchment paper covered cookie sheet.

To bake; place cookie sheet in preheated oven, turn off oven and leave overnight. Cookies should be dry and crisp. Cookies will keep several days in zip lock bags sealed against moisture in the air.

(Like I mentioned earlier, when I took mine out of the oven the next morning, they were still gooey, so later I experimented and preheated my oven to 245 degrees again and then put the meringues back in. Instead of turning the oven off right away, I let them sit with that heat for about 5-7 minutes, then I turned off the oven and let them sit in the oven for another 25-30 minutes. When I pulled them out that time, they came out perfect! I ate them all except for an M I made for Monica, my roommate, and a heart for Adam. I put Adam's in a zip block bag to give to him later, and I didn't do anything with Monica's. At the end of the day, Adam's meringue was still crispy in the bag, but Monica's, whose still was on the cookie sheet, went gooey. So If you're not going to be eating them right away, zip block bag them up! I don't know, maybe I did them wrong and they aren't supposed to do that, but that is why I am going to experiment some more. You should try this recipe. It's amazing and has 0 fat! I like those numbers.)

Our Future Apartment

(Click on it to make it bigger)

Adam and I found an apartment and we got approved for it so it's official! It's a brand new place and it is beautiful. It has lovely carpet and amazing real tile floors! The one we are getting is actually bigger than the model apartment that I took pictures of. But we are getting a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment and it's an upstairs one because those are the bigger ones. And it's right across the street from my favorite park in Rexburg. I'm pretty excited! I love the wood in the kitchen and bathroom and it has air conditioning! - which is rare in Rexburg. We will be the first ones to live in this apartment which is kinda exciting too. We don't get someone else's left overs. But here is just a little tour of the place. Oh, and the master bedroom, which I didn't take a picture of, has a wonderful walk in closet! That was my deal breaker :)

Scrapbook Page 2009

This is the scrapbook page I did for my family's yearly scrapbook. It's fun to not just have my name on it this year. I get to add Adam's too! It was a great year.

Finals and Christmas

So I found this on a random search for a Christmas Tree picture that I was going to up on this post, but I thought this one was cooler. They are Mountain Dew cans.. How clever is that? Well, I just wanted to do an update for the week. I am starting my finals and I am pretty stressed, but I only have 2 1/2 more days of it left to go. I have a final tomorrow, on Wednseday I have a final and 2 small presentations, then Thursday I have a final at 8:45 in the morning and then it's goodbye Rexburg that afternoon! I can't wait to get out of here. It's cold and snowy and lacks my fiance.

Adam is actually on a Caribbean cruise right now. He sailed off yesterday with some of his friends. Lame I didn't get to go huh? But I don't get to talk to him for a full week so not until next Sunday the 20th. I think this will be the longest we will go without speaking since we first met last January. It's only Monday and it already feels really weird and lonely. But it's ok, because now I can just focus on my finals.

For Relief Society last Thursday we were able to sponsor a family for Christmas who lives in Rigby. We gathered money for them then we went shopping and bought presents for them all and bought them food for a nice meal. After we went shopping, we went back to the apartment lounge and wrapped everything up. We packed ourselves in cars and drove to their house where we dropped the presents off at their door. We all hid and someone knocked on their door. They unfortunately weren't home, so we waited around for almost an hour and hid in our cars so that we could watch this cute family find their gifts on their door step. It was such an amazing experience. They had an 8 year old girl and she just ran to the presents. It was seriously so cool. I hope that I can one day incorporate a tradition of giving like that into my own family.

I have been listening to Christmas music lately to get into the Christmas spirit but it makes it really hard when you don't have your family with you and you are pretty much alone. Christmas, to me, has to include family otherwise it's just not Christmas. But I am soooo excited to get home. Then Christmas can start! Well I just wanted to update everyone on what's going on with me. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!!

Yeehaw!! Merry Christmas!

Adam doesn't know I put this up, but I thought it was pretty hilarious. So Merry Christmas everyone! Here's a little dance for ya'll!

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