Emily's Visit

Brent's sister Emily came to visit this last weekend after she finished finals at BYU. It was so wonderful to have her here! Some highlights of her stay:

Our first day we went to the Houston Zoo. One of the most interesting animals was this bull from Angola. Look at those horns!! Outside the fence!!

 Lazy lions. . . .

 Sushi and Pizza: Turns out it's the perfect meal to share with the Picketts!

 Caroline working so hard to keep our work of art in one piece.

 Home Sweet Home (Notice the Texas star above the front door that is starting to drool. . . . and the very scary looking ginger bread man. Brent said it was supposed to have a beard.)

Christmas Candy Catastrophe

Of all the tastes of Christmas, my favorites would include Sees candy, Asian pears (crisp and juicy like an apple, flavored like a pear, bigger than a softball = sooo good!), honey-baked ham, ambrosia (this amazing fruit salad that my Uncle Kent makes), rainbow jello (pictured in a previous post), and Grandma Sheranian's toffee.

This Christmas I decided to try to make Grandma's toffee for the first time, but it turns out that in learning to making candy, experience is key. I knew making candy is difficult, so I made sure to read the recipe about 6 times before I started. I had my thermometer ready, and Brent's help stirring so I could monitor the temperature. 

Then, as I began to take the temperature of the melting butter and sugar, I realized that my thermometer was really intended for meat--not candy-- and only went to 220 degrees, when we needed to cook this candy precisely until it was 300 degrees. So Brent quickly calculated where the needle would need to fall for it to be 300. Good recovery.

Everything went great after that until Brent poured the toffee onto a cookie sheet to cool and we realized that something was missing: half of our plastic spoon!!! Lesson: DO NOT USE PLASTIC UTENSILS WHEN MAKING CANDY!!! So all the beautiful toffee ended up in the trashcan. So sad! Luckily, I had enough ingredients to make another batch the next day. We used a wooden spoon, and it turned out perfect!!

Brent holding the half-melted spoon. Isn't he so cute?

So, so sad. . .

All the contaminated toffee in the trash.

\

The second batch of candy that turned out just right!

Adventures in the Kitchen

 Mom's famous rainbow jello for Thanksgiving dinner! Twelve layers of scrumptiousness!

My first attempt at a loaf of white bread.

 Yes, I made sushi!! I made two rolls with imitation crab, carrot, and pickled ginger and then two rolls with egg, carrot, and pickled ginger. I learned a lot after making this batch: 1. Using multiple colors in a roll adds to its appeal. (These rolls definitely needed something green!) 2. You need to gently pat down the rice before you add the fillings so that the rice is smooth and even. 3. I need to learn how to make rolls so that the filling doesn't fall out of either end. 4. I need to learn how to make the rolls smaller and tighter.

I have a long way to go in perfecting this art, but I feel like this was a good start. After eating Brent's mom's sushi and going out to some good and bad restaurants, I can now at least tell the difference between good and bad sushi (it was all the same to me before).  Brent's mom says the best way to learn to make good sushi is to eat good sushi, so she says Brent needs to take me out to expensive sushi restaurants. ;-)

Who are these people?

 

Yep, it's supposed to be me and Brent. We got this sketch done at the San Diego Zoo on our honeymoon. But we weren't too impressed. . . Both Brent and I have rounded faces with soft jaw lines, which this artist didn't really capture. But Brent's eyebrows are pretty accurate. :-)

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Texans have always been famous for their seemingly excessive state pride. I was first exposed to it as a freshman at BYU, when my roommate from Beaumont, TX moved in with her Texas flag comforter set and thick Texas accent. But this roommate proved to be one of the most open, friendly girls I have ever met, so I always thought there must be something really great about Texas.

Now that I live in Texas, I've come to find that the people really are friendly, the steak really is good. And, although I can't speak for the rest of this big, wide state, Houston is a great place to live. However, I'm not sure that it's so much better than Provo. The people were friendly there, and the food was good there, too. What really makes Texas different is its pride. There is something so pleasant about living in a place surrounded by people who are happy and proud to be there. Pride is unifying. It's positive.  And it's fun. So when I go shopping for Christmas decorations, and I see red and green cowboy boots, Santas that lasso, and advent calendars shaped like the state of Texas; instead of rolling my eyes, I smile with delight. In this world of divisiveness, Texans have at least one thing that brings them together.

And so here's a little Texas pride for you to enjoy. "Deep in the Heart of Texas" is a classic Texas-pride song. The kids learn it in school, and they even sing it during the 7th-inning-stretch at baseball games after "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (at least at Astros games). To me it doesn't really capture the essence of Houston, but I'm sure for those who live in West Texas, this describes their home perfectly. In any case, it's a pretty funny song. To listen click here.

The stars at night are big and bright (clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The prairie sky is wide and high
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The sage in bloom is like perfume
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
Reminds me of the one I love
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The coyotes wail along the trail
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The rabbits rush around the brush
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The cowboys cry, "Ki-yip-pee-yi"
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The doggies bawl and bawl and bawl
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.