Guys Performances

So I was excited to watch the guys perform last night on AI. First up was my favorite Michael Johns. While it wasn't bad, I do agree with Simon, it was his weakest performance so far and really nothing special. Then next up, was Jason Castro, who I also liked last week. Same thing, nothing special. That trend seemed to continue. The only things I found of interest were: 1. Luke Menard looks like Luke Perry

and 2. Danny Noriega totally looks like Jessica Alba! This pictures isn't the best at showing it, but, can you see it? Or am I the only one?



I was really thinking it was a blah night right up until the very end. I was even falling asleep. And then out came David Archuleta with an amazing performance of imagine! He definitely was the winner from last night. If for some reason you missed it, you have got to watch it!




And in addition to being an amazing singer, he just seems so nice!

The very Last One!

So the very last sister from Sharmea is getting married! We are so excited for you Carrie Ann, you have been waiting for Mr. Right for way too long! I'm glad you two finally found each other.
It was so fun to get together again, I haven't seen some of these girls in years, that is way too long! And we really missed the other's that weren't able to be there. I think we are definitely going to try to schedule more girl's night outs. Pictured: Me, Susan, Jodi, Amber, Amanda, Carrie Ann and Amber. To check out another picture go to Susan's Blog.




As is tradition with Sharmea showers, the theme was "Honeymoon" Carrie Ann got a lot of beautiful lingerie!













Sorry I forgot my gift at home, I promise I'm not always so flaky, pregnancy just does that to me! There it is on the kitchen counter, right where I left it! I promise, I'll bring it to your reception (or at least I'll try really hard to remember!)


But the important thing is I did remember the treats! And I promised the girls I would share my recipes. I really can't take credit for either, but I did add a lot of changes. I'll share the original and my changes.

Peanut Butter Brownies

I got this from a cooking class at Thanksgiving Point taught by Martha Moench

Now I've had the original recipe and it was fabulous, but I did easy it up. She made brownies from scratch. I just made mine from a box.

Ingredients for brownies:
1 package brownie mix plus the ingredients to make brownies. (the original recipes also added 1 cup roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped. I did not add them because I don't like peanuts)
Make brownies according to directions and cool completely.

Ingredients for frosting and ganache:
1 cup chunky peanut butter (not natural or old fashioned)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, divided in half, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Next time, I will probably use creamy peanut butter instead of chunky, because I would prefer no peanut chunks. I did not have cream so I used skim milk, but I had to add 2 Tablespoons in order for the mixture to be creamy enough to spread over the brownies. For the semisweet chocolate, I just used semisweet chocolate chips.

Directions for peanut butter frosting:
Using an electric mixer, beat peanut butter and softened half of butter to blend. Beat in powdered sugar, salt and nutmeg, then cream (milk) and vanilla. Spread frosting over brownies. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to spread ganache.

Directions for ganache:
Stir chocolate and second half of butter in a small sauce pan set over simmering water until smooth. Let cool a few minutes. Spread to cover. Chill until set, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Can be made a day ahead.
I didn't melt the chocolate this way. I just melted the chocolate in the microwave. If you choose to microwave, you have to be VERY careful not to burn the chocolate. I put my micro on power level 5 and checked and stirred the chocolate every 30 seconds until it was creamy.

Strawberry Party Punch
This is a pampered chef recipe. I've made it before following the exact recipe and it was very good, and I would have made it that way again except I didn't have the exact ingredients this time. (Sorry I don't have a picture, I left the rest for Carrie Ann to finish off).

Original
4 packages (10 ounces each) frozen sliced strawberries, partially thawed
1 cup sugar
2 quarts strawberry soda
1 can (6 ounces) frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 quarts club soda, chilled

What I made last night
10 ounces frozen sliced strawberries, partially thawed
I did not add any sugar
2 liter raspberry soda
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 liter of sprite

So there you go! Enjoy!

Is He Still My Idol?

**updated**

After watching all of the top 24 contestants, yes, Michael Johns is still my favorite!

There is so much talent this year though! So many of them are so good. Even though the judges seemed to think there was more talent on the girls side than the guys, I disagree.

My favorites for the guys:
Right now, I think Michael Johns is the best. But Jason Castro isn't too far behind. I do think that David Archuleta could become like Jordan Sparks last year and just continue to improve each week and slowly become my favorite. And I think David Cook will do some really interesting stuff.

As far as the girls, there were really only two that stood out for me, Alaina Whitaker and Ramiele Malubay. I do still like Brooke White, I think she has a lot of potential and is unique. **update** sorry I totally forgot about the Irish girl Carly Smithson. While I didn't think she did that great last night, I have seen her sing amazingly before, so I'm still not counting her out.

So, now, who is your Idol?

Have You Discovered Google Reader?

I just started using Google reader a few weeks ago. I absolutely love this thing! You can subscribe to any blogs that aren't private, along with many other websites, and it will instantly let you know when they have been updated, just like an email account! No more periodically checking to see if someone has updated their site.

You can also share any posts or articles that you find interesting with your friends that use Google reader.

To check it out click here.

What's For Dinner?

Green Bean and Mushroom Medley

As a vegetarian, I often get asked, What do you cook for dinner? So I've decided to start posting some of the favorite recipes we had for dinner during the week.

Last night I tried a new vegetable side dish. I liked it, but I love vegetables. However, Joe really liked it too, which says a lot since he isn't a huge vegetable lover. Kennedy didn't like it as much because it was a medley, and she likes her vegetables separately. If you would like the recipe you can find it here.

I did vary from the recipe slightly. Instead of fresh green beans, I just used canned. Instead of garlic salt I used minced garlic. I only used the amount of seasoned salt (Bon Appetit) called for and omitted the salt. And I used black pepper instead of white.

I was really surprised with the amount of flavor with just these simple ingredients. And I'm sure it would taste great using whatever vegetables are your favorites.

Top 24

So far my entire blog has been about American Idol! Apparently, that is my only interest at the moment. Anyway, I just wanted to comment about who made the top 24.

While the three people I was rooting for all made it,

There were two others that I was really surprised didn't make it. First, Josiah Lemming, the teen who sleeps in his car and sings with a British accent. I thought he had great potential, not only with his singing abilities, but also with his music arrangement. He could have done a lot of creative things, like Blake did last year. The video of him getting cut is below.


And the other contestant I would have liked to see make it through was Kyle Ensley, the political guy with curly brown hair and glasses. While he wasn't the best, I felt he definitely had more potential that others that did make it (I won't name names). It totally agreed with Simon on this one. The video of him getting cut and Simon's reaction is below.

I know in previous years each judge was able to bring one contestant back as a wild card, but are they doing that this year? Could these two possibly come back?

And I was also surprised by the amount of people that made it through that they haven't even showed singing yet. I may have picked my favorite a little early. I'm excited to watch and see what the others have to offer. To see the photos and bios of all of the top 24 contestants click here.

Favorite Idol

Okay, I don't even have to watch to see who makes it to the final 24 to know who my favorite Idol is. This is the one that really stood out for me, Michael Johns.




I'm also rooting for the teen, David Archuleta, from Murry, and the LDS girl, Brooke White. Since I have something in common with them and they are both good too!

Favorite Audition

With the writer's strike, there is very little TV to watch. Which has made the return of American Idol even more exciting. This was my favorite audition of Season 7.



I'm excited to watch this week and pick my favorite Idol!

Welcome!

Welcome to my personal blog! I don't have a lot of time to devote to it, so it will be a work in progress for awhile. But I thought it was important to remember my interests because sometimes that can get so easily lost while you are taking care of those little ones.