The Yummiest Sandwich

I know you can't see much by looking at this photo, and you definitely can't understand how delicious this sandwich is. Just trust me on this. And then go make it. You will have a happy mouth. In the last post, I told you about a sandwich I ate while at a crafting day with my friend, Mindy. She and her sister, Kim, made these sandwiches (well not these exact sandwiches, because I ate the other one without taking its picture) and I've been pestering Mindy for the recipe ever since.

Grilled Turkey Sandwich
2 T red onion, minced
1/3 cup sour cream
2 T Dijon mustard
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped (if you're local and don't have any- come over. I have a thyme plant that's out of control)
8 slices of bread (sourdough, potato, focaccia- whatever floats your boat)
12 oz honey-roasted sliced turkey
sliced tomatoes
sliced cheese (I used Havarti, but Provolone is fabulous as is Muenster)
1 red pepper, sliced
Combine the onion, sour cream, mustard and thyme in a bowl. Spread on bread and the assemble the remaining ingredients onto the bread. Spread the outside of the bread with a little butter and grill.
I popped those avocado slices into the sandwich before I ate it and it was heavenly.
Makes four sandwiches.

Craftily Organized

Several months ago my friend, Mindy and I went to the vinyl store where we both bought a kit to make the little board you see on the left. Last weekend Mindy got us both the metal sheet to make the board on the right. Bet you can guess which one I was more excited to make!

The board on the left is a white board/chalkboard. So far, we haven't done anything but stick papers under the magnets, and we could do that just as easily by slapping it on to our kitchen/garage door. So that one hasn't been all that useful yet.
The other one is nearing completion. The only thing missing is the menus (or recipe slips) that will be held onto the board by the bottle cap magnets. I'm super excited about this! I first saw a version of it here which then leads you to what might be the original version here. I think I like mine best, even though Ren says it looks Christmassy, but I'm okay with Christmassy. After all, my regular everyday dinner dishes are these.
The deal is that you print up slips of the meals you make most often and stick them in one of the pockets where they await their turn into the rotation of meals you're going to make this week. After you've made the meal, the slip goes in to the other pocket until you've gone through all the slips. Don't we all tend to make the same meals over and over? I know I usually do. Now I won't have to reinvent the wheel every week when it's time to figure out the weekly meals. Yay! The added bonus is being able to jot down things I need to buy at the store, but I think I need to get some Stickies in a color that matches a little better.
I had to remove the vinyl word "keys" just above the key rack because it was just-to-much.
Thanks for getting the metal board for me, Mindy! I love crafting with you. Now if I can just get that sandwich recipe out of you, I'll be a happy camper!

City Creek

Last Saturday we went to City Creek. For those of you out of state or out of the loop, it's the new huge mall that was just finished being built across the street from the Salt Lake Temple.

This girl is so cute! 

Wouldn't this be a great spot to hang out on a Summer evening? 

Aleisha was with us too, but missed being in the photos because she was taking care of Izzy. 

We have new names. Ti and Ren (Ren is also known as Jelly Bean). 

Dancing waters

It is named City Creek because there is a creek running through the place. 

This roof retracts during inclement weather. Otherwise, it is open.
It was stormy the day we were there. 

This store reminds me of the scripture found in 2 Nephi 13: 18-23

In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments, and cauls, and round tires like the moon;

The chains and the bracelets, and the mufflers;

The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings;

The rings, and nose jewels;

The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins;

The glasses, and the fine linen, and hoods, and the veils.

Yes, we saw a few of those things that day. By the way, do you know what a wimple is? It's a cloth covering for a woman's head and neck (think nun). It's also a fold or pleat in a piece of cloth.

Waterfall near the food court

I've worn my hair the same for yeeeeears. The only thing that has changed is the length. A few weeks ago, in a moment of bravery or madness (I'm still not sure which) I changed it up. Here's before...

and here's after. Which do you prefer (uh, I'm the one in the purple in both photos, in case you were having trouble figuring it out)?

Déjà Vu, Almost

Today was a repeat of last Wednesday when I baked all day for my cousin. This time I had the right day! I made the same chocolate marshmallow cookies and the same lemon cupcakes as last week, but then I decided to add a little more to the list. After all, it would be boring to make the exact same thing twice, right?

The lighting was a little weird, but look over there in the corner. 

So that's what I sent off with my cousin (and although I tried to refuse payment, she gave me an obscene amount of money). 

But wait! What is this? 

Here we have neapolitan cupcakes! 

Because I had used a different frosting for the lemon cupcakes than what I used last week, and since I had leftover strawberry sauce, I decided it would be fun to make French vanilla cupcakes and douse them with some sauce. But why stop there? 

Why not add a strawberry slice right into the cupcake as well? 

Now we need some fabulous frosting! 

I hope they taste good!  (Edited note- the strawberry sauce just made the cupcake soggy. Fail.)

I know this stuff tastes good. I tried some. 

In fact, I tried some so many times I decided I'd just use a spoon.  These leftovers probably won't be left over for long. 

Here's what I did. I used the leftover strawberry frosting with some chocolate frosting (learn how here), but ran out of frosting before I ran out of cupcakes. I made more frosting, but just chocolate. I think it looked better that way. The chocolate frosting was very similar to the frosting found at the link for the vanilla cupcake at Your Cup of Cake, but I only used 1/2 cup butter and Lizzie used 3/4 cup butter. The rest was basically the same and I didn't even know it when I made it because I wasn't looking at her recipe. I was just tossing stuff into the mixing bowl. Oh, I also added a pinch of salt. 

Here's how I made the strawberry frosting for this week- 

Strawberry Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened 

1 recipe strawberry syrup

2 lbs powdered sugar (or enough to reach desired consistency)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon extract

Make the strawberry syrup according to directions over at OBB. Pour 1 cup syrup into a sauce pan and reserve the rest. Bring syrup to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook over medium-low heat until syrup reduces to about 1/2 cup (about 15 minutes or so). Cool syrup to room temperature.

Mix butter and cream cheese in mixing bowl for several minutes. Add syrup and extracts. Gradually add powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. If you add all the sugar and it is still too loose, refrigerate the frosting until it firms up (stirring it occasionally and putting it back in the refrigerator). 

I know this seems like more work than it's worth, but it's really worth it. It also might seem like you're making a boat-load of frosting, but if you pipe your frosting onto your cupcakes, you really do need this much to frost a batch of cupcakes (2 dozen). 

One more thing- did you notice that the cupcakes were in a roasting pan? When your cupcakes come out of the oven, let them rest for 3-5 minutes in the pan. Then remove them to a pan you can completely cover with plastic wrap and leave them there until they are completely cool. This ensures a moister cupcake. I'm now done preaching. Amen. 

Fruity Sugar Cookies

Last August I posted about these cookies that my friend, Jenny made for me. I have thought about them many times since then!

Last Friday we had some friends over and after changing my mind twice about what to make for a treat, this is what I chose. I asked Jenny to share her recipe with me and and she very kindly sent it to me. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and had to tweak it a little bit. Here's how it turned out. 

Sugar Cookies-
1 cup butter-flavored Crisco
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 T extract (Jenny likes 1 tsp vanilla and 2 tsp almond extract. Cheryl doesn't like almond extract, so I used only vanilla)
1/3 cup whipping cream
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
In mixing bowl, blend together the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and extract and beat until combined. Add whipping cream and beat for one minute.
Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Blend slowly until just combined.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Roll half of the dough out on a surface covered liberally with powdered sugar (don't use flour to keep dough from sticking. That makes a tougher cookie). Put the other half back in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Cut dough into desired shapes. Bake for 5-7 minutes. Do not over-bake unless you want a crunchy cookie!
Cream Cheese Frosting-
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp extract (again, you choose your flavor)
Beat the cream cheese for two minutes. Add powdered sugar and extract. Spread onto cooled cookies.
Strawberry Sauce-
1 pint strawberries, washed, hulled and halved or sliced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla (or almond) extract
Put berries in a saucepan. Add sugar and heat on medium heat for five minutes. I used a potato masher to break down the berries from large pieces to small pieces. After five minutes, allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Pour the mixture into a blender and pulse until desired size of strawberry is achieved, depending on how chunky you want it, or blend until smooth. This part of the recipe is from Our Best Bites. Now you can drizzle the plate with some strawberry sauce and place the cookie on top of the drizzle if you want it to look fancy, or just lightly drizzle the strawberry sauce over the cookie. I poured my sauce into a squeeze bottle to regulate the amount of sauce being added to the cookie.
Fruit Layer-
1 can pineapple tidbits in 100% juice, drained (reserve juice. Chunks can be used if you can't find tidbits)
1 can mandarin oranges, drained (reserve juice)
1 kiwi, peeled and diced
5-6 strawberries, sliced
grapes (if desired)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 T cornstarch
1/4 cup water
Arrange fruit over the cream cheese layer on the cookie.
Place reserved juice in a sauce pan with the sugar. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat. In a small bowl, mix the water and cornstarch together until cornstarch dissolves, then add it to the juice mixture. Stir constantly until juice thickens. Spoon a small amount of glaze over fruit and cookie.
This dessert was not as difficult as all these directions may seem to make it look. And it was so delicious! This is a great sugar cookie, all by its little lonesome, if you just want to eat a yummy cookie.
Thanks for the jumping off starting point for this dessert, Jenny! We loved it!

Flat Jackson

For the last few weeks, we've had a visitor at our house. It's my grandson, Jackson...or, the flat version of Jackson. My assignment was to take Jackson to different places to "show him around," then write a short summary of Flat Jackson's adventures and mail it all back to the real Jackson for his school project.
I only have room in the "suitcase" to send three pictures of Flat Jackson back to TN. Which ones should I use? Please leave a comment with your votes so I can send the best ones. Thanks.

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I don't usually post on Sunday, but I needed help on which pictures to choose. Thanks in advance if you choose to vote.