Cooking Like A Pro

This past Tuesday I had an opportunity to expand my cooking experience...I got to cook in large quantities! At work we hosted a breakfast and I cooked (with help of course!) french toast sticks, scrambled eggs, sausage links and had orange juice. It was an interesting experience to say the least but it was fun. Afterwards my managers told me that I did a really good job and they were how impressed that I kept everything well stocked and warm at a good pace so that everyone was happy and full (:D)!

(me rocking the awesome hair net---Mom told me that they were frumpy looking hair net that she had ever seen. Luckily this week we got new hats so I won't have to wear these again unless I forget my hat at home. Of course most of the time when I was wearing the hair net I didn't even remember unless someone said something to me)

Fun Center

You may have wondered what has been keeping me away from my ever faithful blog... Trafalga: Fun Center of course! I am so lucky to have gotten a job before I even moved home, I'm getting pretty decent hours and money to go into the savings for school (plus it being not too far from Mom's doesn't hurt either).
I wasn't too sure if I was going to get this job or not, after I had turned in my resume and application I received a phone call asking if I could come in for an interview (while I was on my way to Oregon fro Leah and Jamie's wedding)--I was afraid that me not being in town was going to go against my chances. I called as soon as I got back and didn't hear anything for another week, but than I was asked to come in for an interview (YEAH!), it was the most relaxed that I have ever been in an interview and I thought that it had gone pretty good, but I was told that I would hear back by the end of the week. Nothing happened :( After a week and a half had passed Libbey told me that I just needed to call her and check what was going on. I was told that they had just hired a bunch of people and were waiting until the next week to hire another group, that my name was "on hold" and that I would hear back by the end of the week for sure (I really wasn't sure what that meant but hoped that it was good considering that she didn't just straight out tell me that I wasn't hired).
Wednesday of Utah Counties spring break I was making dinner at my apartment with Brea when my phone rang, I looked down and saw that it was Trafalga, I quickly grabbed my phone and went into my room. They asked if I was still interested in a job and told me that they wanted to hire me (I think my heart might have stopped right there from excitement), I quickly asked her questions on what I should be wearing, when to come, where to come, etc. She asked if I could start that day or the next day, because I was in the middle of making dinner and it was already nearly 5 o'clock I asked if the next day would be ok, she said that it was fine as it was kind of last minute.
I went in on Friday (0f Spring Break!!) and filled out paperwork, was shown around a little bit and then immediately thrown into doing stuff--it was a little crazy at first because it was spring break but I think that it's always better to train in the middle of a rush partly because than you immediately know how to work quickly and efficiently.



It has already been an adventure (a fun one!). My 2nd day of working someone asked me if I was single (wasn't sure if they were serious or not so chose to ignore that) and was kicked/hit by a little girl that was having a temper-tantrum on the ground outside the airplane ride when her sister chose to get in another airplane. The 2nd day I also got put in the kitchen (good thing I love cooking and have had some experience in kitchens/concessions before), it started off a little slow which was good because than I could learn what we served and how to make them but then it very quickly jumped up to the point where we needed 8 whole pizzas made at one time...luckily someone else came and took over for me than and I got sent on break.
Some other exciting/strange happenings from this job:
I got to vacuum with a backpack vacuum, if ever there was a time to feel like a ghostbuster that was it--though it was a little heavy so not the most fun to be carrying up and down the stairs. I have vacuumed and washed glass (mostly windows/doors) more in the last two weeks than I have ever in my life, I'm working on getting my left arm stronger but so far most of it has been done with the right.
During my 2nd week the fog machine in laser tag didn't stop when it was supposed to so it completely filled up the laser tag room- setting off the fire alarms. We had to evacuate the whole building and stood outside for probably close to 20/25 minutes while we waited for the fire department to come and to declare it safe to return inside. On one hand it's nice to know that the fire alarms are working but kind of annoying as I guess it had been like the 3rd time to happen in the past couple of weeks--I guess we are not working on getting a different ventilation system so it won't happen again (or at least not as much).
This lady insisted that she had seen me the previous day at all of these different stores when in reality I had had the day off and stayed home all day in my pajamas reading and being lazy. She wouldn't give it up either when I told her that I hadn't gone anywhere--kind of annoying and strange. (what's even stranger was that she was the 3rd person in a week to tell me that they were sure that they had seen me somewhere. So apparently I have many clones out there sharing the goodness of Beth :D)
I already thought that this was going to be a fun job but it got even cooler/fun when I discovered that I get a free Pass of All Passes, it actually works as my ID for work...I'm excited and can't wait to go to Seven Peaks with my roommates on my days off (when it get's nice outside that is).
The first day when I had to answer the phone I was a little nervous about having to do that, I was afraid that I wouldn't know the answers when people asked them and that it would reflect badly on the business, but luckily I haven't had to answer any extremely difficult questions yet and people have been really nice at helping me and answering any questions that I may have. One day I was up front when I got a phone call, it was really noisy and so I struggled to hear at first but I finally understood what the lady was saying. It was actually an agency that was calling, people that are deaf or cannot speak call this agency through their phones and then the agency calls whomever they need to "talk" to. The person calling types what they need to say/ask and then the agency relays that to me, I answer and then she responds back to the person via the computer. It was a really neat experience, it made me even more grateful that I can speak and hear but also that there are people out there who have made the opportunities available for those that cannot.

There have been many other experiences--good and bad even in these 3 weeks of work. I'm glad that I have this job, the people that I work with are so much fun and entertaining and most of the time I don't even feel like I am working. I feel like if I have a question or idea already that people will listen to them and consider if they will work or not. This is not somewhere that I would like to be for the rest of my life but it is a great fun job for now!

Butcher It

Last night my roommate Candace and I went to Smith's do some grocery shopping. I needed some hamburger for the lasagna that I was making for the Stake Leaders. I was looking at the different prices, there was some that was really cheap but you had to buy 5-6 lbs, which I didn't need. I looked over at the butcher counter where they have the pretty meat on display and noticed that it only cost $.10 more per pound (as compared to the smaller packs which cost almost $1 more) and decided to order it from there. I rang the bell, waited until the guy came over, requested a 1 1/2, was handed a white lump and walked away. For some reason this experience left me feeling so grown-up :) I had never ordered meat before from the butcher and it has always seemed like it was something that grown-ups and rich people did...and here I was doing it! Candace told me afterwards that I sounded like I knew what I was doing-yeah for being a "grown-up!"

新年快乐

Happy (Chinese) New Year!!

Before going to Taiwan Chinese New Year was just something that I heard in passing, but since being there and celebrating in person it is something that I will celebrate for now on. My roommates were just as excited to get involved with it so we went all out :)

It was Anna's night to make dinner and she went with chicken fried rice...

The rice had to be completely cool according to her recipe so we rigged up a good way to get the rice cooling while we went grocery shopping :)

The finished DELICIOUS fried rice!

All the food...not only did we have fried rice but we added dumplings (potstickers) and egg rolls.

We even took our hand at chopsticks (Candace and I may or may not have ran to Panda Express and asked for several sets of chopsticks while the car was parked illegally so that I could run in :D). I was so impressed with how long Candace was willing to try the chopsticks...she had said that she was going to last all of 5 minutes trying them and she almost went the whole meal!

Anna had a creative way of using her chopsticks

Janet had a little more experience using chopsticks and looked like an old pro!

Ciara was the first to dig into the yummy fortune cookies!

This cracked me...I'm taking suggestions

Our "Asian-y" picture

We ended our night with a good ole classic from Disney... got to love Mulan :D

Cinnamon Roll Extravaganza!

The baking fun continues! I had always thought that it would be fun to have a bread maker but I never realized how much I would LOVE having one! I've only had it for two weeks and as of this morning it has already been used 6 times, let's just say we've gone through quite a bit of flour :D

After I tried my hand at a loaf of bread I made dough in the maker and then used it to make cinnamon rolls. I found a recipe online, they were good but probably not my favorite that I have ever made---a little too dry for me.

(notice the pretty new placemats that we got...Janet's sister made them for us!)

Since this I've also tried making a quick bread (an hour instead of 3), it wasn't my favorite and I think that I will avoid it generally unless I don't have a choice and I also made dough again to make scones with honey butter the other night---delish!

There's Some Bread in the Oven...

the oven, the oven. There's some bread in the oven, the oven, some bread! (sang to There's A Hole in the Bucket :D)

Last weekend at Libbey's exchange party I got two awesome things...a blender (which I've already used twice this week while making the Sweet Pork) and a bread maker! I was so surprised and excited that I got two really big items that would be useful now and in my future home. When I told my roommates found out that I got a bread maker one was excited because then she could make pizza dough and another talked about cinnamon rolls (which I am sure both will be made at some point). I was excited to just be able to make bread! So last night I did it (let me tell you it smelled SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!!). Last night at about 11:30 I heard the beeping telling me that it was finished, I was so excited and ran into the kitchen with the camera prepared to take some pictures.

Such a beautiful shade of light brown.

So tall and pretty (I'm not proud of it or anything ;D)

I was so impressed with how clean it came out of the pan, that was one thing that I always remembered from when I would make the bread in my Mom's bread maker, that little mixer arm wouldn't stay in the pan and it would come out in the bread so then we would end up tearing out half the bottom to get it out. Stinky! :(

If only you could see the steam that was coming off this as I took the picture!

You'll be glad to know that less than 24 hours from it being finished it is all gone (with the help of my roommates of course---I left a note for my roommates when they woke up that they could have bread, my roommate Anna said "I notice that you didn't exclude Anna from that, yeah!")

I'm excited because next when I go to my Mom's I get to grind wheat so that I can make whole wheat bread, yum, yum!

Next Challenge...

I'm always thinking about new recipes to try, I'm thinking that one of these two may be my next "challenge." Both are from Favorite Family Recipes

Thai Peanut Saute

Orange Chicken

Sww-eeee-tttt PORK!

I'm sure that this picture looks familiar to many and to those that it doesn't you are really missing out. Here is Utah (and it's beginning to spread elsewhere) we have a wonderful restaurant called Cafe Rio. They have many wonderful tasty delights to make your mouth water when you smell. One of my favorites is the Sweet Barbacoa Pork (yum, yum, yum!). Though it's one of my favorites and you get a lot of food Cafe Rio is still a little on the spendy side (from my poor college student point of view that is) but I have been craving it for the last couple of weeks, which left me at a quandary...what to do, what to do? I know! I'll make it myself!

That's just what I did, if you search Cafe Rio sweet pork recipe in google you can find thousands of results. I looked at many of them and decided to just pick one, and boy am I happy with the recipe that I chose. I only spent a little over a dollar for all the ingredients in the recipe, the rice, and vegetables (with tortillas it's a little more expensive) and so far we've gotten 10 burritos out of this and there is still more left in the fridge!

Sweet Pork

2 pounds pork (we use boneless pork rib meat)

3 cans Coke (NOT diet)

1/4 c. brown sugar

dash garlic salt

1/4 c. water

1 can sliced green chilies

3/4 can enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness but any will work)

1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

P.S I got the recipe from HERE

She also has copycat recipes for Cilantro-Lime Rice and Black Beans and the Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette for Salads. Plus many other yummy recipes

Turkey Day 2010

Thanksgiving this year was amazing, the only thing that could have possibly made it better is if Joel, Becky, and Aubrey had been there with us. Last year I was at home and it was just Mom and I, we went to the ward Thanksgiving dinner and then I worked part of the day so that I could get more money. Two years ago I was in Taiwan, so it has been three years since I've had a "real" Thanksgiving.

Nathan, Sallee, and Claire flew in from California and Mom hosted everyone at her house. It was one fun, crazy day with food to be cooked, dishes to be prepared, many different conversations going on, babies to play with, kids running around, food to be eaten, cleaning to be done, etc. but I loved everything about it and was so glad to have much of my family together.

Before the rush of the day began we started with a nice breakfast

Boys will be boys, there were many different "games" to distract them throughout the day (whether it be an Aunts phone, Uncles phone, or gameboy)

Many smiles to be seen! :D

Talking to be done, catching up with those you have seen in a couple of months or a couple of days.

It was so neat the many different "branches" of our family we were able to have join in the fun...besides my siblings and their families we also had my Grandma (Mom's Mom), my brother-in-laws Sisters and Boyfriend, and a cousin from my Dad's side of the family.

You can't get all together without some tickles and loving happening :)

Babies to be rocked...this was Sallee's and Nathan's first time to see baby Alexia.

Getting ready to take a nap...aren't her eyes gorgeous?

Not only did little babies take naps but so did the cousins :D

Ben, Sonia, and Katrina sitting around the table during the "serious" eating time.

Katrina, I can't believe that this little girl is not so little anymore and is going to be 10 in March---a double digit!

Samuel being his silly old self, he came in and surprised us all with his two front teeth missing. Needless to say he got "All I Want For Christmas" sang to him several times.

Madelaine, one of our beautiful adopted sisters.

The remains of the food, I'm not used to having so many different families join in on the fun so by the time we divided up the food there wasn't actually that many remains.

One of the tables...Grandma, Mom, Nathan, Sallee, LaVon, Kyle, and Erick. It was a new experience having to have two tables for everyone. It took some thinking on Mom's and my part to get it all ready and have enough seats.

A cool shot of Kyle with the sunlight on him.

Sara, a very smart and silly girl.

LaVon sneaking a smile without anyone else realizing that I was taking a picture.

My beautiful Mommy, I hope that I have as beautiful skin and hair as her when I get older!

Lily, another adopted sister and her boyfriend Ben (we are all cheering for him to join the family soon :D)

Erick being himself...I have many pictures with this almost exact face. He always takes off his glasses when he realizes that I am taking a picture and then makes this face.

Cute little Claire, it is amazing how much she has changed in the last 3 months since I saw her last. I loved watching her expressions and hearing the sounds she makes.

The piano with the headphones became a favorite of several little girls.

Sam and Uncle Nate, styling in the red, white, and blue.

Half way through the evening we realized that Kyle, Libbey, and LaVon were all wearing the same colored shirt and when we realized it they were all sitting on the couch together.

The only picture taken of me as I was taking all of the pictures, Erick was trying to take it but he needed some help so I actually ended up taking it :D

Samuel, so handsome in his khaki pants and button-up shirt.

Another little girl content playing the piano.

Nathan and Sallee...our cutest newlyweds (:D considering it's almost been 3 years not quite newlyweds but they are the most recent to get married)

Claire with Tia Lily, so cute!

Hanging around just chatting.

Another angle