Feast for Two

We ended up celebrating Thanksgiving by ourselves this year. And although we missed family, it was nice to do something of our own. You know, figure out our own traditions while still including some Zenk and Moon traditions as well.

My grandma Zenk used to have several flavors of pies—so many that they couldn't be kept in the fridge. Because it is cold this time of year in Utah, she used to keep them in the garage on the hood of the car. So if you ever wanted an extra slice of pie, or someone went missing....we knew to check the garage. In keeping with that tradition, we had FOUR pies on the menu. I prepared all the crusts last week and baked the pies a day before Thanksgiving. Below, I am slicing the apples for the English Apple pie. (Thanks Mom Moon for the slicer, I love it!)

Can't let any of it go to waste!

Below and ALL from scratch: Pumpkin Cheesecake with cornmeal crust. English Apple which is a crustless pie but includes a delicious dumpling topping. Coconut Cream with shortbread crust. And Cherry Pie with flaky pastry crust.

We couldn't wait to try at least one of them when Thanksgiving rolled around. So we had the English Apple pie first thing for breakfast with cream poured over the top. Holy yum.

And finally the dinner!!! Between the two of us there was no way we were going to try to devour a turkey (the pies were enough.) So I prepared a lemon garlic herb paste and rubbed it into and all over two Cornish hens—which turned out delicious and the perfect size.

THE MENU •Cornish Hen. •Sweet potato mashed potatoes—so good. We will NEVER go back to tasteless white. •Fresh green beans in butter and garlic salt. •Stuffing (next year I will be making my grandma Clawson's stuffing—I remember it because it had celery in it, which I thought was weird when I was little.) •Rolls from scratch. I made the dough last week and froze them, so I could just let them rise and pop them in the oven when Thanksgiving rolled around. They will be the death of us, they are like candy. • Lime jello with pears and a mayo drizzle with cheese on top. A weird, "Mormon" jello recipe but good. Although, I think next year we will be doing Mom Moon's strawberry jello. • Sparkling cranberry cider of course.

These past couple of weeks as I have been thinking about family and friends and the things I am grateful for, I have been feeling particularly thankful for all the gifts we were given at our wedding. I look around and there are SO MANY things in our home that came from all of you. And those things continue to bless our lives EVERY DAY. I am DEEPLY grateful. I want you to know that. Adam wants you to know that. We will always be appreciative for what you have given and done for us. Happy Thanksgiving!

Searching FOREVER

We've looked at over 30 houses. Put an offer on two. Lost out on both. Spent all our weekends driving around neighborhoods, counting how many houses have bars on them...crossing off those neighborhoods. Tromped through homes that should be demolished instead of fixed up. Left deflated. We just might end up homeless. That's how it feels. But we are still optimistic.

And that's what we've been up to. Sorry no pics. Can't take a photo of something that doesn't exist...

Vintage Train Ride

Lovely hand gilded filigrees add to the character of the train.

Adam gets to ride on the front.

Just kidding.

Laurel in Vintage

Laurel, Adam's youngest sister got married last week. It was about as close to a perfect wedding I've ever seen. The details, decorating, and food were all pretty much top notch. Heidi, another sister does weddings—and she is awesome at it. So, at the risk of posting too many photos which aren't so good (you need to go see what Melissa Fulmer captured, click here) I share with you: A Vintage Wedding.

The dress is vintage, altered, and fitted with a brand new neckline, sleeve length, and sash. The Moms and Grandmothers wore wrist corsages.

Below: The brothers and sisters who could make it. Only one is missing!

Laurel asked me to do her hair piece. It looked even better on her than I imagined.

Dads and Grandpas wore simple, nice boutonnieres.

And of course the shoes....couldn't leave out all the fun shoes, and jewelry.

I can't believe Heidi got all of this stuff into her car. Amazing. Mom Moon provided a lot too, chandeliers, vintage doors, the sign in table, the snack plates etc. (Yes California, I said snack plates.)

It was so lovely. I kinda wish we could do it again. (We actually could, there's certainly enough food and cake leftover....) Who doesn't love a good wedding?

Squash

Simple things make us happy. Like colorful, thought out displays of seasonal squash at the local farmer's market. Yes, very happy.

Gold Laurel Leaves...

We've been working on a family wedding around here. (You should see my kitchen. Eeek. I just can't face the dishes. But Adam washed the frosting off the floor—oh how I love him.) 

For the wedding this last weekend, I was asked to do the cake. It was my first and last wedding cake I think. A wedding is too much pressure for little me. But that being said, I still had fun.
The design is mainly derived from a Martha Stewart cake with a couple of tweaks. Normally I would have designed the cake but the family liked this one, so I went with it. I will take credit for all the work though!

There were two flavors, a pumpkin chocolate chip nut, and a really moist chocolate. I mean moist. Both from scratch. I don't believe in boxed cake...if you can even call it cake.

The frosting is butter-cream. The laurel leaves are made from gum paste sprayed with an edible gold spray and the little decorative ribbon is made of royal icing—both were made a few weeks ahead of time.

The cakes were displayed all together, in front of three vintage doors and mirrors. I knew they would come in handy! (Another photo is in the next post.)

8 hours of baking and 12 hours of decorating later...we ended up with a gorgeous cake set. I think the two accompanying cakes really help finish off the look and would recommend it again. (I would also recommend the grooms cake have its own display so the two “looks” don’t compete.)

Moaning Caverns

After the Mercer Caverns we followed signs to the Moaning Cavern. Discovered by gold miners in 1851, the Moaning Cavern is simply amazing! It's impossible to capture it's size on camera because there's nothing familiar to compare the formations to (like a tree or something.)

Below: "1920—Three developers of Moaning Cavern prepare to descend into the original cavern opening. The present-day entrance, located just a few feet away, was yet to be discovered under a layer of rocks." Can you imagine just climbing down into a big dark hole? Especially one that moans???

Here's the map. Moaning Cavern boasts to having the largest "room" in California. It's large enough to hold the Statue of Liberty. Also, see the stalactite I've circled? Well...let's climb down some stairs and I'll show it to you in person...

By the way, although the cave drops 410 feet, tourists are no longer allowed at the bottom because too much C02 has sunk down there. Where did it come from? Us. Breathing. Interesting.

There's the stalactite. Just imagine that it is over 20 feet long. That makes this cavern HUGE! And millions of years old.

Love these draperies. Simply amazing. They have been nick-named Cave Bacon.

Now we descend down the 100 foot staircase which was welded together in 1922 piece by piece from the bottom up. It is made of scrap metal from an ocean liner. The workmanship is excellent.

Below: The Chocolate Waterfall. "The Moaning Cavern gets its name from the moaning sound made by water dripping into small holes at the bottom of the "chocolate waterfall" flowstone formation, causing a drumming sound, which would echo off the cave walls and be carried by the wind out of the natural entrance of the cavern. That's how the cavern was found."

Looks kind of like a ghost. A very large, bulbous one...

Concerts are also held in the cavern. During the Christmas concert, Santa descends by rope. So if you want something interesting to do this holiday...this would probably be it. (Although, can you just imagine the strange memories it would give a young child? "I thought Santa came down the chimney...")

Thanks for coming. Now we have to climb back UP all those stairs...