RJ Cooking Show: Thanksgiving Bird

'Tis the holidays and once again another season of the "Cookin' With RJ" Show. Today's episode will cover the Thanksgiving Bird. This episode will be a pictorial review and narrated by the chef himself, RJ.............


When I found the turkey at the farm, I grabbed it and put it in the car and then I went home with it. I started cutting it on its tummy.

Then I cut off his legs because he's dead.

Then I cooked him in the oven on SUPER HOT for a little while. He cooks really fast. I also put food down inside of him before I cook him. Then I watched tv for a little bit. It was called Jimmy Neutron.

When it was done cooking, I reached down inside of him and pulled out all the stuffing. I put him on a plate and then on the table. Then the people ate it for Thanksgiving.

I'm Thankful for giving people food and drinks of rootbeer, coke, and coconut. The End.

Yes, 3rd post of the day.....

But this video makes me laugh so hard that I felt it deserved an extra posting (even if the only other person to find this funny is Cori).

Better Late Than Never.....

Halloween 2008 began on September 30th when the Phantom Ghost came to town and left some goodies on our doorstep. He also left instructions to make two treats and deliver them to neighbors at dark where we would ring the doorbell and run! RJ's little legs wouldn't allow us to escape fast enough so RJ and I hid behind trees and around corners while watching Meg doorbell-ditch our neighbors with a loaf of yummy pumpkin bread.


WEEK 2: Then came the docorating!

(I didn't do this, but wish I had!! This will for sure be in my yard next year!)

WEEK 3: The Festivities!

WEEK 4: The BIG NIGHT!!

Starry Eye Surprise!

Anyone who knows me will tell you I am not very "crafty." In fact, if you ask my friend Mariah, I am always the last one sitting at the table in her card making classes (just ask her about the time it took me 7 hours to complete one of her calendars). But, with that said, I LOVE color, paper, and putting designs and textures together. So, when I saw a similar craft on the Design Garden website, I thought it was a project I could tackle with only moderate pain. Little did I know I would fall in love with it - possibly even obsessed. Now I am seeing stars (or star potentional) in everything I see.

Sorry, I screwed it up!

For anyone who has made the shrimp pasta recipe and thought it wasn't that great........I owe you a big apology. I posted the ingredients incorrectly and didn't notice until I made it again last night for my family. I was significantly less enthusiastic than the first time around and it took me a while to figure it out. I discovered that the recipe actually calls for 3 TABLESPOONS of Chef Pauls (not 3 teaspoons - big difference!). If you've made it, and were less than thrilled, please try again. (Sorry Cori!)

Add some Magic to your dinner...My latest kitchen creation.

"It's restaurant good!"

Reviewed by Ric Hand and the Carper/Hand children

___________________________________________________________________

Shrimp in Cream Sauce Over Pasta

3 TBL Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic©
1 box of Rigatoni
6 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine
1 lb. shrimp
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups milk, half & half or heavy cream (due to allergies, we used plain SOY SILK and it was amazing. We served to friends who had no idea it was made with soy milk.)

Directions:

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions; immediately drain and rinse with hot water to wash off starch, then with cold water to stop the cooking process; drain again. (To prevent thepasta from sticking together, pour a very small amount of oil in the noodles)

In a large skillet melt the butter over medium heat. Add the Seafood Magic and the onions and sauté 1 to 2 minutes, continuing to stir. Gradually add the milk, either stirring or shaking the pan in a back-and- forth motion until the mixture reaches a boil. Simmer over medium heat until the sauce thickens somewhat, continuing to shake the pan, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and bring to a boil. Add the cooked spaghetti; toss and stir until spaghetti is heated through, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy!


THE STAR OF THE SHOW..........

A Print-A-Day

Yasmine at A Print A Day is offering some downloadable cuteness. Typically, I'm not into things like this, but I absolutely love these little ladies. They will be so cute attached to gifts. All of my neighbors are so great about sharing cookies, jams, banana bread, etc...So far, I've been the biggest loser in the neighborhood. Well, not anymore! I'm going to immediately put my daughter in charge of baking cookies for me, attach one of these cute little tags, and off I go!

My New Favorite Place

Yes, I'm blogging twice in one day.  That's because this place is worth a second post!!  If you haven't already heard, there is a new market that opened up shop in the old Circuit City building on University Parkway.   I decided to check it out (mostly because I was excited to find something new in Utah County that isn't a big chain name) and HOLY SMOKES am I excited! This place is amazing.  All the meats are farmed raised, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, nitrate and preservative-free.  They make their own sausages on site (approximately 20 different kinds,  And, yes, it's both chicken and pork.).  They have a great sushi bar, quick carry meal selection, salad and deli counter, almost any health-product you would find at Good Earth, and the PRODUCE....Wow!  First off, the produce is beautiful and an unbelievable selection (even hard to find items...some things I've never even seen before!), but the prices are crazy low.   I was so energized by the beautiful food, I've actually cooked at home every single night this week with items purchased at Sunflower.   Please go check out this market because I would hate for this store to go away.  It's exactly the kind of food that I want my family to eat - natural, healthy, and you don't have to sell your first born to afford it.

Quiz: What Style Are you?

Here is a fun little quiz over at My Deco.  Just choose the picture you like in response to the questions.  My style turned out to be Action Station.  I am "surprisingly masculine with a disciplined aesthetic."  I found this quiz to be very accurate.  I am always attracted to texture rather prints, clean contemporary lines, and all things leather or dark chocolate.....In other words, masculine.

Here we go again......After a very long break from blogging, I'm recommitting myself to keeping this site updated. There's so much to catch up on so let's get started....

MAY

Meggie graduated from 6th grade on the honor roll!


RJ started Karate:


This beautiful boy was born:


And these two looked like this.....

JUNE

Meggie's softball team took 2nd place!


RJ's first year of T-ball:


RJ and Grandpa shared a birthday in Wyoming:

JULY

RJ went to work with daddy and came back with this haircut....... :)



4th of July PARTY POOPER! He thought he was going to be "IN the parade - not watch it!!"


Fishing at Strawberry Lake:

Yearbook Yourself!

Want to give yourself a good laugh? I wasted a good hour and nearly wet my pants laughing on this one. Go to this site http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ and upload a picture of your head. Then click through the years to see what you look like.

Ric and Debbie
Class of 1952

Publish Post

FYI: A 2 MB photo works better than a high resolution pictures.

Our latest favorite.......

RJ has watched this video probably 130 times over the past two days. I think the dog is weird. RJ says he's a "meateater." :)

Alien Puppy

Separated at birth????

Cori and I both noticed a striking resemblence between these two. Could they be brothers?

Jackson's beautiful mom


Jackson's new bedroom

RJ hard at work in preschool

"I have moves you've never even heard of....."

No. 14 UC Santa Barbara PROVO, UT W 3 - 0

Took the kids to the BYU vs. Santa Barbara men's volleyball game. RJ freaked out over the real-live "ninja turtles" (aka: Bobby Lawrence Karate School). The karate kids put on a really impressive half-time show complete with numchucks, knives, and acrobats. While Meggie was mostly interested in the cheerleading. :) It was a fun night. I don't know why I always think it sounds like such a feat to go to events like this. We always have such a blast once we get there!

Easter Sunday

Easter Bunny was good to us......



Woke up to an Easter Egg Hunt

And then washed our candy down with a breakfast of bacon, fruit, and "rabbit pancakes" (just like Grandma Alice used to make me for me). YUMMY!

This bit is my recital.....

More Key West Pictures

Hi Everyone! As promised we have finally uploaded the pictures from our new camera. Here are some photos of Michael and I in Key West from back in January. We spent some time at a Butterfly Sanctuary which was right up the road from our Bed & Breakfast that we stayed at. The sanctuary was really beautiful and we were literally in awe as hundreds of butterflies of different variations in color surrounded us. I guess I am the "butterfly whisperer" because as you will see in one of the pictures a friend decided to join me for the duration of the tour. I felt pretty cool to be honest. In the other pictures you will see an amazing photo that Michael took of one of the butterflies and also one of my favorite pictures of Michael. I think he's pretty cute. Enjoy!

What a Kill'r

This video makes me laugh so hard. I could watch it every single day.

Dog attacks his own foot?

What I love about Meggie

1. She is sweetheart and very tenderhearted
2. She's an excellent big sister
3. She's very smart and wants to be an astronaut
4. I admire her determination to do well academically
5. Everything she tries, she gives it her best
6. She will definately "feel the fear and do it anyway!"
7. I love that she is brave enough to sing Karaoke, at the top of her lungs, during the American Idol Concert at the Energy Solutions Arena in front of hundreds of people....and she was FANTASTIC!
8. She's a friend to everyone and everybody loves her.
9. She thinks every animal is cute even when it's not.
10. She has no fear of scary amusement rides (i.e., that crazy roller coaster on top of the New York, New York hotel in Vegas).
11. Math and Science are her favorite subjects.
12. She never stops dancing.
13. She never stops singing.
14. She has the cutest giggle.
15. Even though math and science are her favorite subjects, she is quite an artist. She can paint, draw, and create beautiful things.
16. She hates tomatos.
17. She loves any drink with an umbrella and marishino cherry on top.
18. Sushi has been her favorite food since was 2 years old.
19. She has a flair for the dramatic, which has gotten her in trouble a time or two. :)
20. All the little 3 & 4 year old neighbor children ring our doorbell every day to visit her. I think she is the neighborhood "big sister."
21. She is adventurous and daring.
22. She's EXTREMELY persistent when she wants something (a trait that will surely payoff)
23. She believes a movie is only good if there's a kiss in the end.
24. She educates me daily on what's cool and what's not.
25. She loves her family.
26. Her favorite color is purple
27. If it's shiny and glittery, she loves it!
28. She is going to be a teenager next year! UGH!
29. She has the best smile EVER!
30. I think she is simply the GREATEST!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGGIE! I LOVE YOU.

Mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGGIE LULA!

Trip Down Memory Lane.....

Her Favorite things...

1. Hanah Montana 2. Pink Flowers 3. Dancing 4. Her iPod 5. Best Friend Megan 6. Being an Astronaut 7. Animals of all kinds 8. Sushi 9. Shopping 10. Singing 11. Volleyball 12. Sister Summer 13. Begging for a cell phone she won't get until she's 16 14. Sweets 15. Birthday Parties 16. Aunt Cori (who is a bigger celebrity than Kelly Clarkson)

Jr. High Orientation

Wow, I knew this day would come, but I didn't think it would come so quickly. On the one hand, I'm so excited for Meggie. She is going to have such a ball in drama club, playing sports, and being challenged academically. She's smart as a whip and will thrive on the higher education. On the other hand, my baby girl is growing up....time flies too quickly, dangit. ;) In any case, she began picking out her elective classes for the fall. She wants to take EVERYTHING, of course, but so far has settled on a Spanish class. I'm so excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for her. She's an amazing girl.

What do you do with a little boy who is sick and can't go out to play?????