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Brrrrrr...

Most of my fellow Utahns will laugh at this, and I am sure some of you will be convinced that I am insane, but it's 55 degrees and I am freezing to death! No, there have been no blizzards, and only some minor rain, but when you're from a dry zone like the high desert (yes, Utah is desert country) the humidity of an LA winter literally goes straight to your bones! It's ridiculous! I must have missed the memo that moving to California would turn me into a total wuss when it comes to the cold. Gone are the days of shoveling my driveway while wearing flip flops (like an idiot), now I bundle up and rock Uggs when it dips below 65! On the bright side, I don't have to defrost my car, shovel snow, worry about getting hit by a snow plow and I don't need to worry about ruining my favorite shoes in muck and road salt... I shouldn't complain about the cold here, because it could be so much worse! I hope you're all warm and safe in blizzard country right now!

Boooooooooo...

I. Hate. The. Packers.

Jack's Bad Day

First Ryan looked like this...



Then Ryan looked like this...



Then Jack looked like this...



And Joe looked like this...



The End!

Party Hard with Bon Bons

Suzy and I decided to make the Oreo cookie bon bons last night... It was seriously hard not to eat them all as we made them they were so good!



We skipped putting the white chocolate morsels on top and just filled the holes with the excess chocolate (which didn't make them as pretty as they normally are, but they were still delicious!)... We didn't waste any of the chocolate we used for dipping, we used it to make almond clusters and other hand dipped treats :) So yummy! Now for those of you wondering why the post is called "Party Hard with Bon Bons", let me enlighten you...



Joe likes to wear his Luchadore mask while enjoying his bon bons with wine, This picture was too amazing not to share!

Mmm... Bon Bons!

So every Christmas I used to make Oreo Cookie Bon Bons...Tragically they were replaced with Buckeyes this year. But I am making up for not making them last Christmas by making them for Valentine's day this year! And to sweeten things up just a little more I am sharing the recipe with you! (FYI, I plan on sharing more recipes- Part of my 2011 resolution!)

Oreo Cookie Bon Bons a la Keira!

Ingredients:
1 Package of Oreo Cookies
1 Package of Cream Cheese
1-2 Bags of your choice of chocolate (I love using milk chocolate and white chocolate)
1 Package of white chocolate morsels or milk chocolate morsels (Optional)

Directions:
Process the Oreo cookies in your food processor until finely ground (You may need to split the cookies up and do this in a few batches). Remove the mixture from the food processor and place in a bowl with cream cheese and combine together by hand. Yes, this will get messy, but it's totally worth it, I promise you!

After the cream cheese and cookie mixture is completely combined, roll the mixture into little balls and place into freezer until completely frozen (I usually keep them in there overnight). When working your balls (wow that sounds dirty), make sure you're not making them too big- Bite sized balls (no pun intended) work best as these tasty treats tend to be very rich!

After the bon bons have been frozen through melt the chocolate of your choice in a double boiler (Sometimes I add a square of paraffin wax to the chocolate as it's melting. The wax helps the bon bons set nicely. You can also use a table spoon or two of vegetable shortening as well. Or you can skip using either, they'll still be just as yummy!)

Once your chocolate is done melting you can start dipping your balls (yeah, I am all kinds of dirty today)! Now I used to use tooth picks for this, but recently I experimented with wooden skewers and found out they worked even better and were much less of a mess!

Set up a cookie sheet covered with wax paper close to where you will be dipping the bon bons.

Place the skewer into one of the bon bons and dip into the chocolate until completely covered. Tap the skewer on the side of the double boiler until the are no more "gobs" of chocolate on the bon bon. (This usually takes around 10 taps.)

Place your bon bon on the wax sheet and use another skewer or toothpick to help get the bon bon off your skewer. There will be a hole in the top of your bon bon where the skewer came out (duh). This is where the optional white or milk chocolate morsels come into play. You can either use one of the morsels to cover up the hole, or you can wait until the bon bons are cooled and drizzle a chocolate heart over the hole. If you dipped your bon bons into the white chocolate you would use milk chocolate to drizzle the heart, or white chocolate if you used milk chocolate (you get the picture). If you are pressed for time and just want to get them done quickly the morsels work great and look just as cute!

Repeat this process until your cookie sheet is full of bon bons, then refrigerate until they have set- Then you can transfer them to the container of your choice (you will still have to keep them refrigerated until you serve them though).

FYI- If some of your un-dipped bon bons soften while you are in the dipping process, you may need to put them back in the freezer to harden them up and make them easier to dip, otherwise they will slip off the skewer when you're dipping them.

Some other fun variations on this recipe: You can use the bon bon mixture to wrap around fresh strawberries or raspberries for fruit bon bons, or you can be adventurous and inject a fruit filling into them before you freeze them!

Enjoy!

Bad?

Yes, I am bad... At updating my blog on a regular basis! I know, I sound like a broken record! One of my New Year's resolutions was to be better about updating my blog... And in the tradition of breaking resolutions I have been awful at it so far!

So happy be-lated New Year everyone! Ryan and me spent New Year's in Disneyland... With 22,000 other people! It was totally insane, but I am glad we did it, it was definitely a memory I will cherish... My first New Year's living in California!




I also got some super awesome new HOT PINK Minnie Mouse ears covered in sequins!



This is a terrible picture, I was looking at a "Hidden Mickey" on the ceiling when Ryan snapped the picture lol So the downside of going to Disneyland with 22,000 people is all the kids and their germs :( Ryan and me got wicked cases of strep and the flu... it was a pretty brutal way to spend the first few weeks of our New Years. But we recovered in time for a pretty epic boys night at our house...



I am not quite sure what is going on here, but they thought it was pretty funny... Ok more than funny, they had me in stitches until about 3 am!

So on to some more recent stuff... We went to Griffith's park last weekend to enjoy the sunny weather and check out the observatory... It was absolutely gorgeous, I just wish it was clear enough to get a good view of the city...




Way too much smog (ewwww...) to really see it, but we did get a pretty awesome view of the Hollywood sign, and this really creepy bust of James dean!



We also went into the observatory to check out the massive telescope... Very cool!





After we explored around the observatory for a while we headed over to the other side of the park where the abandoned zoo was.



That's Johnny taking a picture of me while I was crawling around one of the old lion cages! Ryan got in on the antics as well by climbing into an old primate cage...



This place was pretty awesome, we plan on going back and exploring more now that we know there's an old abandoned zoo in the middle of the park... So expect more pictures of those antics soon! So I guess that's it for now, I will try to keep my resolution err... I guess I should say resurrect my resolution and post more soon!

No More Baking Until Next Year!

I think I am officially on strike from holiday baking for a while... And it will be a well deserved break! 6 lbs of homemade peppermint cherry chip bark, 3 loaves of banana walnut bread, 3 loaves of chocolate chip bread, 2 loaves of walnut chocolate chip banana bread, and two dozen hand rolled buckeyes deserves a vacation from baking (at least until next Christmas)! My fingers are literally numb from peeling candy canes! To be honest, I loved every Betty Crocker moment today! But I will definitely be paying for it tomorrow... I will also be sleeping in!




Guess who's not cleaning the kitchen tonight!? I am seriously hoping elves drop by to clean it while I sleep, like some sort of Christmas miracle... Or an act of mercy! ;)

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Reno Rewind Weekend

So it's december 13th, and I woke up this morning to more flowers blooming!



The holidays have officially started, and I am still finding it very hard to believe that they're here! This year has gone by so fast! The weather here has been gorgeous, my daily uniform has been t-shirts and flip flops! No white Christmas this year!
Now on to the Reno Rewind Weekend! This might be a long one! We got back yesterday, and for a short road trip it was pretty epic!
I did get to see some snow in Reno this weekend, the drive up there was fantastic! We traveled the 395 and it was a clear trip the whole way up and barely any traffic... Along the way we got to stop at some fun places and enjoy some of the most breathtaking views!


Outside Mojave on the 395
The Sierras

Lake Mono
Our Hotel, The Grand Sierra in Reno

It took us a little over 8 hours (with stops) to get to our final destination, and our hotel was awesome! Ryan's friend Chris got us a three room suite at the Grand Sierra, our bathroom was no joke the size of our living room and had two showers! Talk about spoiled! ;) After we got settled in Ryan got cleaned up and headed out to sound check at The Alley while Alexis and me hung out in the suite and got ready. Alexis' husband hit a quadruple jackpot while we were getting ready and cleaned out a slot machine before the show, luck was definitely on his side that night!

We got to The Alley just before the doors opened and we were greeted by a pretty big crowd at the door! (I got to say "I'm with the band" and bypassed the crowd, I loved it! lol)



The show was pretty insane, not what I expected at all! People literally went nuts as soon as the bands started up, and even more so when Ryan's band hit the stage! The crowd went so crazy they crashed a security barricade and the show was almost stopped in the middle of one of Sworn Vengeance's songs! Go Ryan! Actually, all the bands were pretty amazing! They all deserve a pretty big pat on the back for the show they put on! :)


Ryan and me behind the merch table before the show started.
Tony being... Well... Tony!
Ryan getting geared up for his set.

I finally got to meet Ryan's old friends Jose and Amy, it was so nice to finally put faces to names, Jose even got on stage and rocked out with Ryan and the band for a song!



Here are some more photos from the show...



Glen and Jason babysitting me during Ryan's set!
Alexis, my partner in crime! :)

Chris, AKA the jackpot king! He's also Alexis' hubby.
And finally, some shots of Ryan on stage!






All the bands rocked it! The show lasted until about 12:30 am, then we all headed over to the Peppermill for casino omelets and hot chocolate/hot tea! (Reno was freakin' cold! I have turned into a total wuss when it comes to the cold ever since I moved from Utah lol) We pulled a pretty late nighter that night, it was almost 4 am when we finally got back to our hotel and crashed.

The next morning we got up early, yes, I said early (bleh), to get ready to meet everyone for breakfast before we hit the road...


The cutest little rockstar in training I have ever seen!
Our boys after the traditional "Day After Mayhem" Program breakfast.


We got on the road about noon after the breakfast, and we decided to take the 395 back home. We stopped at the chocolate factory and loaded up, seriously, we have like three pounds of chocolate and ice mints laid out on the kitchen table right now!



The place was pretty awesome, tons of homemade goodness, and they had one of those weird giant miners on the hill behind their store!




After that we made a quick drive past Lake Topaz...



And then a few hours later we stopped in Historic Bridgeport for some of the most delicious burgers at Rhino's, right across from the old Bridgeport Inn...




The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, we were on a mission to get home... But we did run across the historic Western Film Museum on the 395...



Wow, this really was a long one! I was going to add some other updates to it, but I think I will hold off for another day! I took a ton of photos from our awesome road trip weekend, you can view them all here...

Reno Rewind Weekend Part 1
Reno Rewind Weekend Part 2

So I guess that's it for this post! Take care! :)

Jed Paul "Cole" Naisbitt

Jed Paul Collin (known as Cole) Naisbitt died Saturday, November 20, 2010 while stationed in the U.S. Army at Fort Hood, Texas. Cole passed away in the prime of his life from a gunshot wound by an unknown assailant for an unknown reason.
He was a fun loving gregarious person who will be forever missed by his family and friends.

Cole is survived by his mother, Pam Oldroyd, father, Jed Naisbitt, sister, Tiffany Winger and brother, Steele Naisbitt.

Cole’s memorial service will be held Friday, December 3rd at 3 p.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd.

A special remembrance and celebration of his life will take place at the Ben Lomond Hotel, 2510 Washington Blvd., where family, coworkers, and close friends are invited, on Friday beginning at 5 p.m.

Email condolences to the family at: www.lindquistmortuary.com