34th Birhtday

Pictures from the last birthday party at Grandma's house.  

Grandma cooked rolled chicken and egg rolls. Yum!

2 Cakes

This weekend didn't offer much for me in the way of Halloween celebrations.  

However, I did make 2 cakes for 2 family parties!

One chocolate cake, one white cake, both with chocolate frosting. 

My mom requested that the white cake have a special portion with only white frosting for her.  Daniel wanted me to write "Brat" on the white frosting part for her.

Pictures form the 1st family party today, Daniel's mom's side of the family: The Miller, Gnade, Carling, & Lewis families.

Opera

The 1st opera of the season was Il Trovatore. I took my friend, Katelin & we really enjoyed the performance. It's always a good thing to get out of the house, especially if it is a means to enjoy something amazing & different from everyday life.
Nothing quite like having a soprano's voice ringing through your body.

Sweet pumpkin cuppencakes!

Dan requested pumpkin cupcakes for his 34th birthday, so I decided to try my new mini-cupcake tins that I got for my birthday in August. They worked out great, needed to bake for only 10 minutes & they were super moist & delicious! Made a ton of them. I don't know what to do with them all!

Fall hike

The colors are still pretty in Salt Lake, but they are fading quickly.  I went on a quick hike to Mt. Aire from Lambs Canyon and caught some great views.  

Whenever a breeze would move through the aspen trees, bright yellow leaves would tumble slowly through the air to rest on the trail.  Beautiful display.
I am sad to see fall go so quickly!

Hopefully I will be able to sneak in a couple more hikes before winter brings different adventures.

Green Beans

The hippies at the neighborhood farmer's market have been producing some incredible green beans this year.  I figured that I would give pickling a shot for the first time!  

One of the booths was selling a red-skinned variety that I thought would add some nice color to the batch.  They were beautiful!

Beans turned out flavorful and spicy!  Used a variation of the Blue Bell recipe.