Strawberry Shortcake Bars

Tonight, Quinette and I hung out, watched a movie and made a dessert. A VERY yummy dessert that I will for sure be making again this summer. I seriously love it, but I guess I say that with every dessert I make. #sweettooth. If you are in the mood for something sweet and fruity, but not heavy or sugar overload ... give this one a try. Between Quinette and I, we had all of the ingredients on us. I thought that was pretty awesome. I like recipes that call for most stuff that you keep on hand.

Strawberry Shortcake Bars
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Cream layer:
1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (8 oz) Cool Whip (frozen whipped topping)

2-3 cups fresh strawberries, diced

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Mix in vanilla.
In a separate bowl whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined. Spread on a greased, rimmed baking sheet (I use a 13x18x1" pan/cookie sheet).  The dough will be just like cookie dough- heavy and sticky- so it’s best to spray your hands with a little nonstick spray and use them to help mold the dough into the pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 min, until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Mix together cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in the Cool Whip and stir well. Spread cream cheese layer over cooled sugar cookie bars. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to let the cream layer set up. Top with fresh strawberries, cut, and serve.

I learned that these look the best if you put the strawberries on right before serving, otherwise the juice from the strawberries can tint your cream layer pink. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Makes 40-48 bars (depending on how large you cut them).

Flashback Friday 168

My pre-school picture. I was a cute kid... but why didn't anyone fix my hair?

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 221

I seriously can't believe that I have been home from Peru for a week. In a way it seems like I was just there... in another way, it seems like I never went, but I always feel that way when I get back from trips. If I didn't have a million pictures to prove it, it almost seems like it was a dream. Sad how quickly you go back to normal life. I wonder if John feels the same about me being there. He is probably very used to being by himself again.

On Saturday I went to the fish store. Everyone there seemed to know my cousin, Dave, and know more about his life than I do. Sad? Weird? I don't know. All I know is that I have gone into the fish store enough times stressed out about my tank that the guy that runs the fish store finally came over tonight to check out my tank to see if it was really as bad as I was making it out to be. I guess it isn't. He cleaned it up a bit for me and told me I need a new air stone in my protein skimmer and I need some more crabs to help get rid of the green algae but besides that... I am good to go to get coral and other fish! Woot woot! That guys is awesome and I will be making him a treat for when I go into the fish store next.

So obviously I took a 2 week break from watching Chuck. Back watching and now on Season 4, this season and one more to go. It's been cute... but  haven't been hooked like other shows. It's entertaining though and fun to have on in the background while doing other stuff.

Right before I went to Peru, I got a manicure. It was the first time I have tried getting shellac on my nails. She told me they wouldn't chip on my trip and so I figured I would give them a go. I kind of love it. It makes your nails thick and smooth and they really don't chip. They just grow out. I have now had them on my nails for 3 weeks and they look as perfect as when I first got them done... except that they are looking grown out. I need to cut them. Not sure how to take shellac off of my nails. I'm not used to having my nails this long anymore. I usually cut them real short every week and paint them a new color.

On my way to and from Peru I really got to catch up on some movies that I didn't see. Some I wanted to see while they were in the theater and other's I didn't care and watched out of boredom. I flew from Salt Lake to LA to Houston to Lima. On the way there my flight from Houston to Lima was the only one I could watch movies on. I watched Delivery Man, The Book Thief and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. Yeah, that flight is 6 1/2 hours long. So on my way back (which was red eye) I watched most of the Lego movie... but fell asleep somewhere in the middle. But then I also could watch movies on my flight from Houston to LA which gave me another 3 1/2 hours of movie time. I watched Anchor Man 2 and Last Love... which I had never heard of... and it was ok. It kept me distracted until we landed. That's the point right? I'm thankful for movies on the plane.

Yesterday and today we had a work conference. 9 people flew in from Seattle and we met up at the manager over Legal's cabin (up Provo Canyon) and stayed there all day and talked about everyone's rolls in the legal department and what can be improved and how we can work better together. The meetings were actually very boring, but it was fun to meet the people from Seattle and it was nice to get away from the office for a couple of days and go up the mountain to the cabin. Also lots of good food was provided. We went out to lunch in Midway today at a Mexican place that has a salsa bar. I have eaten there many times before. SO good! Last night we went to Sundance and took the ski lift and explored and then had dinner there... which I never had before. YUM!!! So good. We estimated that each person was about $40 - $45 a plate and that total the bill had to be about $1500 since they also ordered a few bottles of wine. DANG! I could get a new laptop for that amount of money. I will blog more about all of this later.

As much as I love traveling... and I LOVE traveling, a lot of things about it... there are also a lot of things I appreciate about coming home. Having something besides bread and jam for breakfast. Having salads again. Not sleeping on a bus or plane.... sleeping in my own bed. Warm showers. Normal bathrooms... that is probably the biggest one to be honest, public bathrooms in other countries are THE WORST! For real... in Peru there were never toilet seats on the toilets so you always had to squat. I hate that. I hate having to pay to use a crappy (pun intended) bathroom. This is totally TMI, but I can hold it... I can hold it WAY longer than the average person. However, when it is that time of the month, you have no choice and you are forced to deal with what you have, which most of the time is not great.... not great at all. I also appreciate getting to exercise again. There are a lot of things I miss about the travel life though. I will just have to reminisce through my pictures and video.... which you will see soon.

I think most people are guilty of taking selfies. In my opinion, there are some selfies that I completely acceptable and others that are just weird and or annoying. Acceptable selfies to me would be if you want to take a picture with a friend and there is nobody else around to take it or you don't want to bug anyone to take it. A picture of yourself in the mirror if you are pregnant because there is nobody around to take it. A picture of yourself after you get your hair done as long as you are not making a duck face. If you are traveling by yourself and want a picture of yourself in front of something awesome and again... not wanting to bug anyone to take a picture. When are selfies annoying and or out of control? A picture of yourself with the caption "It's just one of those days" just for an excuse to take a picture of yourself. Or pictures of yourself making cheesy or serious pictures in the mirror because you think you look cute in your outfit and you want everyone else to validate how you feel. Lot's of pictures of yourself for no reason at all. I felt like while I was in Peru I saw a lot of selfies getting out of control. I saw a lot of locals taking pictures of themselves sitting in their seat on the plane. Lot's of selfies in the airport. The worst case I saw though was in Puerto Maldonado. John and I were waiting for our boat ride out of the Amazon. We were next to these two Peruvian girls that were also waiting for the boat. The girls were giggles and taking selfies of themselves while smiling, being serious and giving peace signs... every once in a while adjusting their hair and laughing the entire time we were waiting for the boat which was a good half hour. Once we all got on the boat, their selfies continued for almost the entire hour boat ride. The only time they would stop taking selfies is when they stopped to look at the pictures they just took of themselves (which all pretty much had to look the same) and giggle and go right back to it. I just watched in amazement. What do you do with 100 pictures of yourselves that all look the same? Don't you think you would get tired of taking pictures of yourself? Why not at least switch it up and through in different poses or faces? Are these all going on Facebook? Are people impressed by these pictures and that is why people take them? All of these thoughts went through my mind as I watched the Peruvian girls selfies go down for over an hour. Wow... just wow.

SELFIE!!!

Photo of the Week 219

I saw this in Lima, Peru. I had to take a picture... the placement was perfect. Do you think they realized when they parked there?

Peruvian Michael Jackson

I have always been a big MJ fan ever since I found out who MJ was. John is also a MJ fan. In fact we spent a few nights over the months watching Michael Jackson video's.

So when John and I were wondering around Lima, Peru and we came across a crowd and a guy that looked a lot like Michael Jackson, we had to stick around and watch him perform.

He was obviously lip sinking, but we were actually quite impressed with this guy pulling off Michael Jackson. He danced and played and looked the part pretty well. Had no idea that MJ was such a big deal in Peru.

John and I stayed and watched for a while. We loved it... truly. We both felt like it was one of the highlights of the day. We were glad we happened to run into him. We actually ended up running into him again later that night in a different part of town, but we didn't stick around to watch him because we already had.

Here's the Peruvian Michael Jackson. Enjoy!

Peruvian Shoes

When I travel somewhere out of the country, I'm always excited to to get souvenir's. Whatever the popular thing is to get there. Although it also has to be something that I would actually use or wear or whatever. Sometimes I debate in my mind the entire time I am there if I want to get a certain thing. I think it is cool at the time when I am there and everyone is wearing it, but will I still think it is cool when I get home? Sometimes I leave the country and I talk myself out of getting the souvenir and I regret it a little bit when I get home. When I left India I wished that I would have bought a sari. I feel like there was something on my last trip, but I can't think of it right now.

Well, on this trip John was surprised with my lack of shopping in the beginning. He kept asking me if I wanted to shop... I would say no. Partially because I like to look around for a little while before I decide what I want. I knew I wanted Alpaca stuff... because that was the thing there. I got it. A few things, but there were other things that I thought were cool and talked myself out of getting. On of which were these cool Alpaca backpacks and bags. I feel like I could use a little duffel bag for weekend trips instead of having to lug around a big backpack or suitcase. They were cute too... but alas I didn't get one. I also debated with getting a flute... but when I saw John with the one he bought and how much he struggled to play it (when he used to play the saxophone) I figured it would be a waste... but a part of me wishes I would have.

The other thing was the shoes. They draw you in. How could they not! They are so colorful. I kind of wanted a pair right away. I kept telling myself not to get a pair. How would I choose? Would I ACTUALLY wear them once I got home... I mean really? They are kind of out of my style... what is my style? I'm not even sure. I'm still not sure if I still regret not getting a pair, but at least I got a picture. They are pretty cool.

Sushi Making Class

Back in January I saw a Groupon for a Sushi making class. I asked Allison if she would want to go with me. She is always up for an adventure and we both love sushi.

The class was yesterday at a Japanese restaurant called Rice Basil. Nate was our Sushi master who was going to be teaching us our sushi skills.

We were in a room with 6 other people to learn the art of sushi. Two other girls and then two couples. The two couples seemed to be good friends, but I didn't really pay much attention to them beyond that. They were friendly and chatty. The guys of the two couples were these guys....

I didn't recognize them, but at the end the other girls asked to get their picture with them and said they were fans of the Piano Guys. Oh.... the Piano guys. I have recently heard of them. They are good. If you have never heard or seen any of their stuff... you can see a video here.

Anyway.... back to the sushi class. We made three different types of sushi rolls. First roll was more what I like to call the sushi cone. I have never seen sushi made this way.... but we did. I feel like the seaweed paper is a little hard to chew this way, but besides that, it was very good. This one had tempura shrimp in it.

Next roll we made was the special roll. These are my favorite. I think in order to make these work, you have to have the perfect sticky rice (which Nate said the trick is after cooking the rice adding rice vinegar). You put rice all along the seaweed paper and then flip it over. Then on the other side you add avocado, cucumber and a crab salad. Then you roll it up so the rice is on the outside. Once you rolled it up nicely, we added raw white tuna on top and thin slices of lemon. Roll it again and cut it up and add yummy eel sauce and spicy mustard sauce. SOOOO good! Looks pretty too. I was proud of my roll.

The last roll we made was a competition. That got the excitement up in the room. I have also never had a roll like this, but I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi on Netflix and he makes a lot of rolls like this. Maybe watching that documentary is what helped me do so well in the competition. I just thought... how was Jiro make it. ha ha. However... I didn't win. I came VERY close to winning... but I didn't. I came in second. First place winner got to take home some sushi that Nate made. Of course I was disappointed, but I'm also happy that I was a natural at making the sushi.

Allison and I were both so glad we went to the class. It was fun and super delicious. I LOVE sushi and maybe I will try making it on my own sometime....