Independence Day!

I must admit, the 4th of July is a pretty fantastic holiday... always great BBQ food, fireworks, summer weather... it's just plain ol' awesome!

We had a really busy weekend! Ian and I both had family in town and so it was a little crazy, but it was a lot of fun! On Friday we finally were able to see Graham and Heather's townhouse finished! The last time we were there they were painting everything and the inside of our noses looked like winter pine forests. It was kind of funny, not going to lie. Their townhouse is awesome though! It feels really spacious (I think because it has really high ceilings). I like it a lot.

That evening we went with the Oxborrow clan to the family restaurant: Red Robin. I hadn't ever been to the one out by Daybreak. It's a really cool little shopping/entertainment area out there! While we were waiting there were a bunch of balloons, Livvi, Seth, Ian, and I proceeded to play with them. Livvi was hit in the face a few times... we all took stupid pictures, it rocked. After the meal, we headed back to Graham and Heather's. We picked up a Redbox movie: Planet 51. I had head that it wasn't very good, but I was thoroughly entertained. Definitely not one to watch over and over again, but entertaining nonetheless.

Saturday we all got breakfast at a really neat little bakery in American Fork called Flour Girls and Dough Boys. Then we went and bought Ian some much needed new shoes. Then we headed back to Provo to go to my Mom's family's BBQ. We had some delicious food and smoked turkey (YUM!), and celebrated my Uncle Ken's 50th birthday. Then we headed back to Thanksgiving Point to watch the fireworks. It was actually a little chilly! The Vegas natives were freezing! :)

Here we see the lovely Oxborrow clan. Hehe.

This is Ian "sleeping" before the fireworks.

Happy 4th of July! We both are looking a little sleepy in this picture...

Sunday we spent the day at Graham and Heather's playing games and hanging out. We had a really great BBQ. It was delicious!

Monday we had an adventure trying to get out of Provo while the parade was going on. Bad idea. It took us 30 minutes to get out of our neighborhood! But we eventually made it to Lehi and we watched The Last Airbender. It was a pretty sweet little movie. I'll be excited when the actors become a bit more seasoned and hopefully they won't try to smash as much into the next movie... but we shall see!

Then after eating a quick lunch we went up to Temple Square to look at the new model of the Salt Lake Temple. It's pretty cool! You should go look at it in the south visitor's center if you have the opportunity.

Following that we headed up to Bountiful to the Muhlestein's home for another great 4th of July BBQ. Ian and I played foozball... there were some amazing shots. I'm not going to lie. We're actually pretty evenly matched in it... which is a rarity in sports (usually he pretty much kills me). Not that foozball is really a sport... but it kind of is... right?

ANYWAY

We evenually ended up back at Graham and Heather's and chatted for a bit longer until we headed home!

It was a crazy busy weekend, but it was a ton of fun!

New Caledonian ... weird? Yes.

This week's culinary adventure took us to the South Pacific nation of New Caledonia. And yes, the food was a bit weird.

We had coconut chicken and sweet potato and pineapple casserole. Weird. I know. I really actually liked both of them, but I thought the coconut chicken could have used a bit of spice for flavor.

At any rate, here they are in all of their glory (PS, the casserole sounds gross, but really, I liked it.) Try it. I dare you.

New Caledonian Coconut Chicken
serves 4

1/2 head cabbage, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed
2 potatoes, peeled, cubed
2 c. coconut cream
2 chicken breasts, cubed
2 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

Wash and chop veggies.
Pour 1 c. of coconut cream into the bottom of baking dish. Layer cabbage on the bottom and spread remaining ingredients on top. Cover with remaining coconut cream. (I added salt, pepper, cayenne, and a little thyme).
Cover and bake at 350 F for 1.5 hours.

New Caledonian Sweet Potato and Pineapple Casserole
serves 6

2 large sweet potatoes, cooked and sliced
2 c. cheese sauce
1 T. grated coconut
1 fresh pineapple, cored and sliced
2 T chopped green onions
2 T butter
Salt

Arrange in layers: pineapple, sweet potatoes, coconut, onion, cheese sauce. Repeat.
Bake in oven at 350 F for 30 minutes.

Cheese Sauce:
1 T. butter
1 T. (heaping) flour
1 1/2 c. milk
3 T cheese
salt and pepper

Melt butter. Mix in flour. Remove from heat.
Add half of milk.
Return to heat.
Slowly add remaining milk.
Add cheese and spice.
Stir until cheese melts.

Last Week's Adventures

So last week was pretty crazy. We got back from Vegas, took a trip up to Ogden to celebrate Father's Day (and to see Ashlee in Footloose). Then we spent two days at home and drove up to Ogden again for my cousin's wedding.

Aaron is actually my Dad's cousin, but he's exactly my age... so it really feels like we're actually cousins (well we are... but I mean first cousins) ANYWAY... the day before we went to Ali's bridal shower which was really nice, and on the way Kimi and I saw this awesome tree:

Kimi thought it looked like the tree was giving us the bird... and it does.

So the wedding was at the Bountiful temple. It was beautiful! My cousin Nate has a relatively new baby and the kid is a tank! He is HUGE! It's awesome. At any rate... here are a few pics...

 

Aaron and Ali coming out of the temple.

 

AWWW. :)

 

We went and saw Toy Story 3 on Friday evening... and it was awesome! We got to spend a bit of quality time with the fam. Saturday morning Ian and I got up at 4am (that's right, 4am) to watch the lunar eclipse. It was almost a complete eclipse... and it was beautiful... and we were eaten alive by mosquitoes. Rock on.

This week has been pretty low-key thus far, which we've enjoyed. It's been nice to have some down time. But this weekend is the holiday and it's chock full of family and fun, so you'll be getting a full report soon...

What Happens in Vegas... Again

Since we spent Mother's Day up in Oregon with my family, Ian and I decided to drive down to Vegas and spend some time with his family over Father's Day. The drive wasn't too bad, though gas was pretty durn expensive. Ian was sick the night before, so he slept (or tried to) while I drove most of the way. He was nice and drove into Vegas. For some reason I just really don't like driving into cities that I don't know well... then end. ANYWAY...

Friday night we went out to eat with some of the Oxborrow family friends. We went to Memphis BBQ and it was splendid... I had a blackberry lemonade with my delectable dinner and it was delish! We had some good conversation. Ian and I sat in the very back of the SUV... and it was funny. Ian is so tall he can't even sit in the back, he had to have his head sideways the entire time... poor man. The rest of the night was spent chatting! It was great.

On Saturday Ian helped his dad move one of the ward members and then we headed out to Pahrump, NV where Ian's grandparent's live. It was fun to see the old haunts of Ian's childhood where he and his siblings spent a bit of time each summer. We also happened to be there the same time as his aunt and uncle, so I was able to meet them too! It was a lot of fun.

We picked up food for dinner and whatnot, then we headed home and watched The Princess and the Frog and When in Rome. Ian and I saw The Princess and the Frog over Valentine's weekend (as I know I've mentioned before) and we NEVER get sick of it! It's one of our favorite Disney shows! So, if you haven't seen it, DO IT! Ian's mom and sister loved When in Rome and wanted us to share the bliss... and it was hilarious indeed! :)

Sunday we went to church. Ian's mom gave this amazing lesson on the Atonement. I know her words really touched many class members and made them really think and ask questions, which is exactly what a great teacher does! After church Ian's dad grilled up some steak (which was divine), Livvi made biscuits and helped me with the pressure cooker and the carrots, and with the potatoes it the perfect Father's Day meal!

We drove home after dinner and made a pit-stop out in the desert to look at the stars. It was perfect! Ian called to some of the desert critters and they called back! It was so cool!

Monday we went up to Ogden to celebrate Father's Day with my family. We gave my dad a ninja hamster. It's hilarious. We also went and saw Ashlee's play Footloose. She did a great job dancing and singing her heart out!

Now on to the wedding weekend. Congrats to my cousin Aaron and his awesome fiance (soon to be wife!).

Courtesy of Espana...

International food night... So because Ian has been so lucky at picking out random countries that we've never heard of, we decided to let me try my luck, and I pulled out Spain. HAHA! It was all pretty simple with just two dishes - gazpacho and paella.

First we had gazpacho. It's a cold vegetable soup that supposedly started in the Andalusian region of Spain. So... funny moment... I was trying to push the power off on the blender... and I pushed the "start" button. Gazpacho everywhere. Good times... It's pretty simple, just cut up the veggies, blend, chill. The garnish is optional, but I thought it really added a lot.

I didn't really follow a strict recipe, I just gathered a bunch and made it, so I'll tell you what I did, but you can change it to suit your tastes.


Gazpacho
Serves 4

8 Roma tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 green pepper, in large pieces
1 onion, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T. red wine vinegar
3 T. lemon juice (fresh is best)
1 t. dried basil
1/4 c. chopped Italian parsley
1 t. white sugar
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Crushed croutons
5 chives, chopped

In a blender or food processor combine most of tomato, half cucumber, green pepper, half onion, green onions, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, basil, parsley, sugar, salt, and pepper. Blend until well-combined, but slightly chunky. Add olive oil. Blend. Remove to pitcher and chill for at least an hour.


Garnish:
 Use remaining tomato, onion, and cucumber as garnish. Sprinkle sea salt on the tomatoes, drizzle olive oil on onion, and add vinegar to cucumbers. Arrange garnishes on top. Sprinkle croutons and chives on top.

Chicken Paella
serves 6

Olive oil
4 chicken breasts, cut into 2-3 pieces
2 1/2 c. long grain rice
32 oz. chicken stock
1 green pepper, chopped into small pieces
1 red pepper, julienned
1 yellow pepper, julienned
1 onion, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped (peeled if you would like)
1/2 bag of frozen peas
Saffron
1 clove garlic
Italian Parsley, chopped
salt
lemon wedges

Heat oil. Brown chicken. Remove. Set aside.

In same pan, add onion and tomato. Mash. Strain and throw it back into the pan.

Add more oil (3 T). Add green pepper and meat. Stir. Add salt, stock, and rice. Shake pan to be sure entire contents is covered.

Mash saffron, garlic, parsley, and salt together. Sprinkle over rice. Shake pan again.

When broth reduces to half, add the yellow and red peppers and the peas. Cook until broth is absorbed and rice is done (may have to add more water if necessary). Let rest for 5 minutes.

Spain! Try it!

Serve with lemon.

A Lad an' a Lassie

So, as has been my tradition for many a year, we went to the Scottish Festival at Thanksgiving point. I tend to volunteer for the various festivals that I want to attend, mainly because you get free entrance, usually a t-shirt, and other cool perks. We were assigned gate duty and basically I sat there for three hours and watched Ian be the gatekeeper. It rocked, hehe.

Yay for us during our downtime before it started pouring...

Ian's head. Haha.

At any rate, we saw a bunch of interesting people... like a girl with a fake tail, many people dressed up like medieval peeps (... I thought it was a Scottish Festival?), and more than enough kilts. I love Scotland :)

Anyway, after our shift we were starving, but didn't feel like shelling out $10/plate for a meal at the festival, so we ran into Lehi and grabbed some food. At which time it decided to start POURING. We went back to the festival, and the weather actually wasn't too bad once we got there, but a lot of the patrons and many of the vendors and booth owners had packed up.

We looked at cool swords, thought about getting a printout of the Oxborrow family history/crest/etc., but in the end didn't get anything. I wish the weather had been nicer. We were going to stay for the concert as well, but in the end it was just to dampish, so we went over to my aunt and uncles to visit.

We watched highlights of the USA v. England World Cup match (they recorded it for us) ... and got a major kick out of their little Yorkie Mysti. She was staring at the tv, following the little white soccer ball across the screen. It was hilarious.

Anyway, I thoroughly suggest attending the Scottish Fest if you have the time next summer! And volunteer ... it seriously saves you a bunch and the shifts aren't that bad :)

On Tuesday we decided to brave the crowd and drove to Pleasant Grove to their Strawberry Days concert in the park. It was a local band doing soft rock from mostly the 70s. It was fun... and watching people was even more fun. :)

Yay for summer!

Y Mount is Conquered

So yeah, I almost didn't make it this morning. I don't know if it was a lack of food, water, a combination, or simply the fact that my cardio exercise has been severely lacking of late... either way, it was ridiculous and I pretty much felt sick the entire way up. Ian kept offering to go back, but, being the stubborn person that I am, I refused and kept moving forward... albeit at a VERY slow pace. (I am reminded of the time that I walked the entire distance of the pioneer trek when I was fifteen... despite being incredibly ill and dehydrated. I would have been one of the first pioneers to the valley... or else one of the ones who died because I didn't know when to quit...) ANYWAY... the point is, we made it!

This was Ian's first time up the mountain, so we decided to take most excellent conquering pictures.

It is amazingly green right now, and I love it! This is looking up the mountain from the trailhead.

Up at the top! I made it. Just barely.

My victory picture... which was seriously more of a relief picture.

Ian's victory picture, which looks much more victorious than mine.

Our view of the valley, sitting on the Y.

The valley's view of us. Haha.

It was an early morning this morning, but I was glad we made it. One more thing to check off the list of things to do before leaving Provo...

PS We saw the cutest little bunny on the way down... AWWW....

Where in the World is Benin?!

So we originally pulled out Iran from the bag of countries this week, but we cheated and put it back. We figured since we just had Middle Eastern food, we'd give ourselves at least a week's respite. And out came Benin! Originally we thought it was a country in the Caribbean. Not so much. It's a tiny county in West Africa on the southern coast. Yeah. Who knew? Probably some of you, but not us.

The food was excellent. We made two dishes. Beninese Beef Stew (which was a curry... and so delicious!) and Couscous Azindessi.

This is the couscous azinedessi (couscous with peanut sauce!)

Here's the couscous with the Beninese Beef Stew over rice. Both delectable! Also really simple to make. (Though it does take a couple hours of simmering to make the beef tender.)

Here are the recipes! Enjoy!

Beninese Beef Stew
serves 4

1-1 1/2 lbs. beef stew meat
2 medium onions, chopped
3 T. Spicy Curry
2 t. salt
ground Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
ground Chipotle Pepper (to taste)
1 can coconut milk
1 c. water
1 sweet potato, cut into chunks, and deep fried
4 T. butter
1 T. flour
4 T. smooth peanut butter
5 garlic cloves, minced
several whole okra with tops removed (we couldn't find any, so we didn't use them)

Melt butter. Brown beef. Remove beef and use the remaining oil to fry onions and garlic until golden brown.

Add flour, curry, salt, peppers, and peanut butter. Heat for a minute, then slowly add coconut milk, then add the water. Heat for a minute. Simmer until thickened. Add beef and simmer until meat is tender (can take up to two hours)


About 20 minutes before serving add sweet potatoes and okra.

Serve over rice.

Couscous Azindessi
serves 4

1 package couscous
2 cans chicken stock
1 garlic clove, minced
1 slice gingerroot, minced
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper
1 large tomato, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 T. oil (peanut, preferably)
1 T. tomato paste
4 T. peanut butter
1/2 c. peanuts, crushed
green onions, sliced for garnish

Cook couscous according to package directions, substituting chicken broth for water. (We had 2 c. broth and a package of couscous, about 1 1/2 c. dry).

Brown garlic, ginger, and onion in oil in a separate pan.  Transfer to blender with 1 c. chicken stock and tomato. Puree. Return to pan. Add peanut butter and paste. Heat through.

Mix peanuts with couscous. Top with peanut sauce and garnish with green onion.

Summer Comes

So we had quite an eventful weekend! It was a ton of fun.

On Friday night we joined Seth and his friends for a night out launching potatoes. It was awesome. Ian had the record for the potato that shot the farthest. Fantastic!

That's a really big potato...

Aww... how cute.

Our "serious" picture. Haha. We're awesome.

We also watched The Princess and the Frog. Ian and I first saw that on Valentine's Day. And we still love it. It is so hilarious. If you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you do. It was Seth's first time seeing it, and he really liked it as well. So... you know, it has a pretty good track record.

On Saturday we spent some time with our friend Lori... we went over to Macey's and got ice cream cones. Ian got the King Kong Cone... which seriously is like a medium-size soft drink cup full of ice cream plus a half and a cone. Sick! We'll take a picture next time.

That evening we went up to the Bee's game with Seth and his date Mary. We met up with Graham, Heather, and Jack. It was so much fun, and there were fireworks at the end, which made it five million times better.

Haha. I think this picture is hilarious.

Post-game getting ready to watch the fireworks out on the field!

And this... this is just funny. So we had a ward FHE on Monday and we went over to the Burgess' home. They had a pinata for the activity... and Ian found the broomstick that they used to hit it with... and this is what happened:

He's my favorite. :)

Bahrain

Okay. So either I'm not looking in the right place... or Arabian/Middle Eastern food is pretty similar. They all use pretty much the same spices, and a lot of rice and some tomatoes. But at any rate, it tasted pretty good, and we especially liked the sweet rice.

So... Bahrain is a little island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia. We looked it up. Haha.

We essentially had two things, and they pretty much looked the same. Though they were very different in taste. Machboos and Muhammar.

This is the Chicken Machboos. It's a savory dish with a lot of spices in it.

This is the sweet rice Muhammar. Yum!

Essentially we ate rice with a bit of chicken and veggies for this meal, but it was incredibly filling and we had a ton of leftovers. (They're also pretty much one-pot-wonders, which is a plus.)

Enjoy!


Chicken Machboos
serves 4

2 c. water
1 1/2 c. basmati rice
2 tomatoes, chopped
4 chicken breasts
2 onions, finely chopped
coriander (fresh chopped, or powdered)
hot pepper
cinnamon
paprika
tumeric
cloves
cayenne
cardamom powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 slice gingerroot, minced
2 T. butter
1/8 c. lemon juice
3 T. oil
3 t. salt

Heat the water. While heating, mix together paprika, tumeric, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cayenne. salt, and pepper. Rub onto chicken.

Heat oil and fry onions, garlic, and ginger until golden brown. Add your favorite hot pepper. Add chicken and brown. Sprinkle more cinnamon and the remaining mixed spices. Cook on medium for about 3 minutes, turning often.

Add tomatoes, turn ingredients, and cook for 3 more minutes. Sprinkle additional salt on top of everything and pour water on top while it is still hot.

Cover the pan and let it cook for about 1 hour on medium-low heat until the chicken is cooked. Add coriander about 5 minutes before you remove chicken from the stock pan. While the chicken is cooking, wash the rice in cold water and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Remove chicken from pot, place in pan, brush with oil, and sprinkle more cinnamon on top. Place in oven at 325 degrees and allow chicken to become golden brown.

Add rice to the stock pot. Stir and cook at low heat until the rice absorbs the stock and is almost done. Sprinkle the lemon juice on top, and place butter pieces. Cover and cook on low heat for 30 more minutes.


Heap rice in serving dish and top with chicken.


Sweet Rice Muhammar
serves 4

2 c. basmati rice
1/4 t. saffron
1/4 t. cloves
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
 2 T. water

Soak together saffron, cloves, and cinnamon in water.

Boil 6 c. of water and add rice. Boil to half cooked (about 8 minutes) and drain.

Stir sugar throughout. Add butter and stir. Pour spices on top and stir.

Cook on very low heat for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to serving platter. Top with more melted butter.

Enjoy!