Reveal cake

Yesterday, our friends, Cameron and Hannah found out what gender they will be having in April. They wanted it to be a surprise, so I volunteered to do a gender reveal cake for her. They had the appointment earlier in the day, had the doctor write it on the paper and they folded it up so they couldn't see it.

They brought to our house and I started on the cake. I just did a box chocolate cake and added a few things to make it a little bit richer. I made my mom's marshmallow frosting, that I forgot how much I LOVE, and filled it with pink frosting.

I then put the rest of the frosting (that I kept white) all around the outside of it. As we were getting in the car, I had what I call an "incident." I was holding the cake and leaning down to get in the car. As I did so, the cake rammed into the car frame and slid the top layer over. It definitely could have been a lot worse, but that's what kind of the started the fall of the cake. After that, it had a hard time staying centered, the frosting starting drooping, the pink started showing through, I had to recover multiple different times. Basically the cake was a disaster, but it held together while they cut it and it worked out.

Luckily, it tasted better than it was looking. They were so excited to be having a girl and we spent the rest of the night looking at a ton of cute little girl stuff! I'm so excited for them and can't wait to meet their little one!

*It was brought to my attention that I raved about the frosting, but I didn't give the recipe. You really won't regret this one.

Marshmallow Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 1 C sugar
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 C boiling water

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients in the bowl
2. Add hot water after beater starts
3. Beat about 10 minutes or until real stiff (it should hold a peak)
• *Best if going to be eaten soon. 

The first snow

It's official, Rexburg has had it's first snow fall. It was mostly rain, but it definitely had bits of snow flakes! I didn't get a picture because it was so dark outside, but it was there and it fell on my head. I'm a little surprised it's held of this long considering it's Rexburg and it's the end of October.

I'm actually quite pleased with how this Fall has been. I'm obviously still in scarves and sweaters everyday, but it's been pretty pleasant. The colors are beautiful, and the leaves are just starting to fall from the trees. Seriously though, the colors here are absolutely breathtaking. I love all the red, yellow and green leaves decorating the trees and roads.

Baked burritos

I was feeling in a funk of always doing the same meals (Since I've actually be trying to cook everyday). I saw a recipe for baked burritos that Brennan had pinned. I decided to pin it and she told me I wouldn't regret it. She was absolutely correct. They were fantastic! I completely forgot to take pictures, but the recipe is fantastic!

Recipe (and picture) found here.

Here is my modified recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 can of black beans (drained)
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• 1½ teaspoon chili powder
• dash of salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of shredded cheese of your choice
• 10 tortillas
• olive oil to drizzle on top

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Lightly grease a baking dish with olive oil (I just sprayed Pam).
2. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and break up with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking until the meat is cooked through, then drain off any fat if necessary.
3. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute.
4. Stir in the beans, spices and add salt to taste.
5. Top with a generous amount of the beef and bean mixture, add a little cheese on top of the beef and been mixture.
6. Roll into a burrito by folding the left and right sides in and then rolling away from you.
7. Place the burrito seam-side down in the baking dish and repeat process with remaining tortillas, cheese and filling.
8. Lightly drizzle with olive oil, then bake for about 20 minutes until the tortillas are golden and crisp.

We topped ours off with our favorite salsa (On The Border) and it was absolutely delicious! A few other fixings they suggested were sour cream, cilantro and olives. If you visit the original recipe, she gives other fillers and options as well. Go check it out. Enjoy!

Juicy oranges

One food that I tend to forget that I love starting in the fall season is oranges. That is when oranges start getting good. I'm already on my second bag of oranges, and I have yet to be disappointed by one. They're not quite as good as the ones straight off the tree in Arizona, but they'll definitely work for me!

I'm pretty sure the past week each of my dinners have started with the meal and ended with an orange. It's like my dessert. I can't wait until the cuties start getting good so I don't have to spend so much time getting all of the white peel off the orange so I can actually eat it!