Christmas Gift Cards

Damien and I each got a gift card to Sears/K-mart for Christmas from Damien's grandma. Damien had a brilliant idea as to how we could use our gift cards, since there was nothing we really needed or wanted to purchase at either store. Damien's idea was for us to buy gift cards to other places with out gift cards. And we did just that. We ended up with gift cards to Olive Garden, itunes, and Cold Stone. On Friday we were able to go out to dinner at Olive Garden and then over to Cold Stone for dessert. (Although we ended up using my Cold Stone gift card from my mom.) Thanks Mom & Grandma Judy!

Fall Is Here

Our landlords have an apple tree and a plum tree in their backyard. Both of them have the most delicious fruit on them. I have eaten a bunch of sweet plums and made apple crisp and baked pork chops with apple slices! It has been great!

It is definitely fall and going to be winter soon. Today the weather is quite cold. It is like 40 degrees and we have seen a few snow flakes on our travels today to get groceries. Among out travels today we got a pumpkin from the Provo Farmers Market. It is the biggest pumpkin. It probably weighs 20 pounds and we only paid $5 for it! Look at it. Isn't it going to be a great jack'o lantern!

Peaches

We bought a big box of peaches from Costco so I decided to make my first peach pie. Here is the recipe I used:

Fresh Peach Pie

• Dough for 9" Double Crust Pie Crust
• 5 cups peach slices, peeled and pitted (or frozen, see above)
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg to taste
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons cold butter, cut in small pieces
• 1 Tablespoon milk or cream for brushing the top crust
• 1 Tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon for dusting the crust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Roll out the pie crust bottom and tops according to directions leaving enough overhang to fold underneath. Place the bottom pie crust evenly in a 9" pie pan or ceramic pie dish and set aside. Fold the top crust in half and place a towel over it so it doesn't dry out.
3. Toss together gently in a large bowl; peaches, sugar, flour, spices if desired and lemon juice.
4. Fold into prepared pie crust and dot with cold butter.
5. Choose either double crust or lattice crust and follow directions below.
6. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling from vent holes. If the edges start to brown too quickly, place a piece of aluminum foil around the rim.
7. Remove to cooling rack and let cool for 30-60 minutes.
8. Serve Peach Pie à la mode with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.
9. Refrigerate leftovers if there are any!
10. Makes 1 double crusted pie. Serves 8.

It turned out great, except that when I make it again, I would use one more peach than the recipe calls for.

End of Summer

STUART FALLS


On August 25, 2008 we hiked Stuart Falls with Nate and Alisa. We ended up running the last quarter of the way and on our run, we heard a moose! We never saw the moose, but it was cool to hear it! Here are the pictures we took on our hike.




PRAYING MANTIS

We found this on our handrail outside of our apartment one evening. It was huge!


SILVER LAKE



Damien and I decided to go for a hike one Sunday towards the end of August. Silver Lake was a lot smaller than we thought it would be.




The weather started out nice, but then the clouds rolled in and it started lightening. We just happened to be on top of the mountain on a hike at this time and we had to run down the hill in the rain.

Security Cracks Down at Smith's

Damien and I go grocery shopping every week at Smith's because it is the closest non-ghetto grocery store (unlike Allen's). Usually we go grocery shopping on Saturdays so we always have the same cashiers. But two weeks ago when we went we had this new guy that was missing one of his front teeth. The first thing he says to me is, "What are you eating?" I was chewing gum that I had bought from Costco. I was not stealing food by eating it before we got to the checkout. So then he tries to cover up this accusation by saying that he was just wondering what I couldn't wait to eat before we checked out. But wait, it gets better.

(image courtesy of cartoonstock.com)

Last weekend we did our usual grocery shopping routine. We are going through checkout and we even had a cashier that we have had many times before. The first thing she says to me is, "Do you have any items left in your cart?" Why is she asking me after I have loaded everything onto the moving belt and would have said if I had something large underneath my cart. And she or the bagger could have also just looked at our cart and seen that nothing was left in it. Does she think college students are buying large cases of items?

Both of these situations were a little on the rude side I would say. I think that they could have asked these same questions in a much nicer way instead of being so rude and then trying to explain themselves although I knew that the first guy was accusing me of stealing. It is a good thing that I don't get offended easily but just prepare yourself if you plan on shopping at Smith's anytime soon.

Conclusion: I think they have had recent problems with moral-lacking customers who decide to eat or hide goods in the bottom of their carts and not pay for them. This is also known as stealing and is not legal.