i gnome you're jealous.

while at the mall on Saturday, i cam across the perfect addition for my kitchen. gnome salt and pepper shakers, aren't they lovely!? i immediately texted my best friend a picture to which she replied "...you're so weird." it then turned into a discussion about grilled cheese sandwiches and i volunteered to name a sandwich in her honor. "the julianator" which is what my pepper shakin' gnome is now named. thanks for the dare julia, i now own a gnome that's name has something in it besides 'gnome'
salt gnome has not yet been named. i'm thinking salty. any better ideas?
happy eating!
sarah

darn good chocolate cookies.

fast sunday: a day which benefits my culinary mind. all day long i sit and thing about what delicacy i'm going to make once five rolls around. today it was all about the chocolate. i'm not normally a huge chocolate fan and could pass up a chocolate bar any day. hand me a slice of banana cream pie and it's a totally different story. cookies on the other hand have become a forgotten love in the past year, becoming replaced by cakes, pies, and cupcakes of a much higher culinary expertise. sorry cookies, i won't do that again.
i went home and dumped a bunch of stuff into nutmegan. the result was fabulous, and ten chocolate cookies later  i'm in love.

triple chocolate cookies.

1 stick butter

1/2 c. butter flavored shortening

1c. granulated sugar

1c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 c. nutella

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp special dark cocoa powder + 3 tbsp regular cocoa powder

2 c. milk chocolate chips

m&m's (optional)

Preheat oven to 350*F

beat butter, shortening, and sugars until combined, add eggs and vanilla. mix on slow. add nutella and beat until well incorporated. in a separate bowl mix together remaining ingredients until combined. add half to liquid ingredients and combine, once combined, add remaining mixture. fold in chocolate chips and scoop out tablespoon rounds onto a cookie sheet. you can fit twelve perfectly without having them melt together. once on cookie sheet press about four m&m's into each cookie if desired. 

place in oven for eight minutes, the cookies will be appear slightly raw but remove them anyway and allow to set for five minutes. transfer to a cookie rack.

makes approximately 4 1/2 dozen.

i hope you enjoy these lovelies as much as my family did! a glass of cold milk was the perfect companion.

happy eating!

when you're in new york.

i've had this little list for quite some time now, but as the clock is ticking away and applications are due in ten months,  this list is actually going to be put to use. new york is the avid food lovers dream and the perfect place to launch my culinary career. to get to wander these streets for the first time in a few months is going to be such a dream. hopefully, in just a year and a half, i'll be calling this place home.

New York TO DO's
~tour French Culinary Institute
~tour housing: EHS Clark and Roosevelt Island
~dine at L'Ecole
~Georgetown and Sprinkles cupcakeries
~Carlos Bakery
~breakfast at Tiffany's
~Rachael Ray show
~food network studios
~central Park
~statue of liberty
~times square
~church
~manhattan temple
~mesa bar and grill
~how to succeed in business (starring nick jonas and beau bridges) on broadway.
now i just have to figure out how to cram all of this into a three day trip.

2012.

hello new year, it's very nice to meet you.
i LOVED 2011! or the first eight months, anyways. there are a lot of things that i have to be grateful for, and because of the things that happened last year, i've become such a better person.
highlights of 2011:
getting to go home for the first time.
spending six weeks in utah with my best friends.
turning sixteen.
getting my drivers license.
making new friends.
minnesota EFY.
becoming best friends with kelly and briana.
gaining a stronger testimony of prayer, fasting, and scripture study.
becoming a real minnesotan! dontchya know!

2012
going to new york to tour the FCI
utah trip to visit everyone.
finishing my junior year.
making new friends.
dating more men.
minnesota EFY.
family reunion in Nauvoo.
starting my senior year.
applying to FCI, BYU's, etc. (and getting in!)

now let's talk the annual resolutions.
this year i will:
be a better friend
manage my time better
keep my room cleaner
focus more on school
read the book of mormon cover to cover again
have food related blog posts once a week
be less judgemental
make new friends
find time for myself
save more money for school

here is to a fantastic year full of great food, friends, and new memories

pints.

mom, maya, and i needed an icecream fix. probably not the best thing to let us run to the store for it.
we bought seven different pints of gelato and sorbet. was this a problem? heck no. aside from the fact that we spent an arm and a leg on gourmet ice cream, of course.

the flavors included strawberry, key lime grahm, pistachio, two different types of mango, blood orange, and blackberry cabernet.
blackberry cabrenet was my very favorite. probably because it has the word cabernet in it which makes me feel very fancy. wine in your ice cream? what kind of world is this? also, it was delicious.
calories, step aside.
icecream craving? subdued.

whipped strawberry cake.(a.k.a. whipped love)

i got home from work tonight physically exhausted, but my little baking mind wouldn't have it. nutmegan sat in the dining room calling my name. it was like a soft angelic voice yelling "use me sarah, use me!" so i got back in my car and went right to the grocery store real quick.

it was love at first bite.
i got this recipe via sweetapolita and it's just fabulous. i followed her directions exactly and minus the fact that i had to trim down two of my layers that weren't actually 8", it was foolproof. enjoy, my friends. (just don't look at rosie's version too closely, it's way better than mine ;))

2011

every year i spend so much time reflecting on all the things that went right and wrong. the first half of this year was so fantastic, i got to go back to utah for the first time since we moved, and see my beautiful best friend on the night of her prom. i got to go to Taylor & Lance's wedding and see the rewards that come with preparing to be worthy of a temple marriage and an eternal companion. i turned sixteen and got my drivers license, reached our year mark for living here,went to the most life changing and fantastic year of EFY with bryn and quickly strengthened our relationship. i had the opportunity to be a YCL at camp over twenty two highly energetic twelve year olds which taught me leadership and patience. i got to spend six weeks of my summer in Utah which included two weeks with Julia, a second EFY, and a week at bear lake with the coolest cousins ever. i came home and got my first job at Target and worked for the remainder of the summer. i started my junior year at a new highschool which turned out a lot better than i expected it to. i made friends, and was fortunate enough to take the most eye opening creative writing class which has improved my writing more than i ever thought possible. i cooked our entire thanksgiving spread for thirty people, had a ugly sweater party with fifty teenagers at my house,and most recently was featured in our schools newspaper as a force to be reckoned with in the culinary world. more than anything i'm grateful for the great friends that i've made within the past year, i wouldn't be where i am without any of them. it's nice to have best friends in Utah, New Mexico, and Minnesota. there isn't any snow on the ground in december which is slightly strange but i'm keeping cheery anyways. as far as church, i'm still attending early morning and serving as first counselor in the laurels class and on stake youth commitee. 2011 was fabulous and went by so qucikly.
much love,
sarah