If You Give You Will Recieve....

So, whenever there is a blood drive Ryan always donates; the Red Cross loves him! Well a few days ago we got a phone call from the American Red Cross to let Ryan know that his name was chosen for the American Red Cross Dream Vacation get-a-way. We get 6days/5nights in the San Diego Marriott on the Marina and a South West gift card. We couldn't believe it! We won....well Ryan won, which means I also win by extention so ... We won!! We are tre-mundo excited and are planning on using our trip for October when we celebrate our 5th year of blissful marriage! So next time you're asked to give something - give it - you may get something back in return!!

The Wedding Cake

So my friend Candace was asked to make a wedding cake for her brother-in-law's reception & Heidi & I helped out. It was so much fun to learn how a wedding cake is made! So here are a few key elements that I learned on how a wedding cake is made:

• Cake Release: a concoction that is made with butter and flour. It costs $3.95 a bottle, has about a billion calories per tablespoon and when you turn that cake pan over - it really does release!
• The Cake: To make a wedding cake it takes 3 to 4 days. The cake is made on the first day, cooled & cut. Sits over night and is then moistened with any flavor of basting you choose (Candance I think did an orange-honey one? BTW: Basting isn't the technical term, but you get the idea of what you do with it). You put in the filling (Raspberry mousse for this one), you stick dowels in and stack it. Frost with buttercream and await the fondant.
• Fondant: It's the stuff that looks like frosting that is really, really smooth. Classic fondant is made with powdered sugar and crisco, but Candace made this one with powdered sugar and marshmellow!!! Soooo yummy. You knead in any colors you want & roll it out thin - Candace told me that I have an excellent talent at fondant rolling! Then place it on the cake and mold it around to fit.
• Tools: Being the thrifty mormon women that we are the fondant smoother was the bottom of a measuring cup, instead of a pastry cutter we used a pizza cutter and sissors & instead of a pastry brush to brush off the powdered sugar we used a cleaned makeup brush.
• Powdered Sugar: You need ooober amounts of it! It is everywhere! What you think is flour in the pictures is actually powdered sugar it was everywhere & we smelled like Jessica Simpson for the week!
• Decorating: That is on the final day! It was soooo much fun. Rolling out the chocolate fondant and Heidi cut out the picket fence posts & Candace arranged the flowers!

It was so much fun & I would loooove to do it again! Ace of Cakes here we come!

A New Year!

We were able to ring in the new year with my family (Caldiero) and our friends the Johnsons this year. It was fun! Good food and games galore. Our vacation with our families, both of them, were awesome!! We really had alot of fun in Utah and got to see alot of friends as well (not everyone sadly!!) We miss having our nieces and nephews being around, all of the food and all of the many activities: movies, games, Beatles Monopoly, late nights, Cafe Rio, ice cream at Leatherby's, family pictures, food, Rock Band, food, and more food, sleeping in, snow, icing cookies, holding a niece, playing with a nephew.... so many good times and memories by the end of it we were just pooped (and we weren't the only ones)! Thankfully Candace brought down my camera so I was able to take a few shots of my nieces and nephews. Between the Merry Christmas post and this New Years you will be able to see how all of them have grown! Bryson - 8 years, Abbey- 5 years, Parker - 2 years, Tiffany - 1 year (and a few months), Caiden - 11 months & Katrina - 6 months. We are truly blessed! We look forward to the new year with hope and optimism. We hope that all of you have a great 2009!
P.S. Sorry that the pictures are so dark in the widget. I'm still learning about our camera and such. Click on the thumbnails on the side to enlarge the picture & and click the down arrow to see more thumbnails. Enjoy!

A Christmas To Remember

Sadly, we'll have to try to keep all of these memories since I FORGOT my camera!!! So I dedicate this widget to my sister-in-law Shelly who took these pictures. We have been having a BLAST here with our families this good Christmas season! All of our nieces, nephews, bothers & sisters are all here and we can't ask for anything more....well maybe that our nieces and nephews will stop growing up and that I had my camera!!, but it has been wonderful and full of snow!! West Jordan (my family) has at least 12" and Pleasant Grove/Cedar Hills has pretty much the same amount. Needless to say we've had a white Christmas. We have had alot of fun playing in the snow (sledding with the Steiny family is a long standing tradition), shopping (hello Park City!!), eating and eating and eating, games (video/board and the like),gingerbread houses, step aerobics (I was sore for three days) & playing with our nieces and nephews .....soooooo adorable. We hope that your Christmas has been just as wonderful and we are looking foreward to celebrating New Years (Candace, if you get this will you bring my camera down....I'll call you!!)and yes, I got my hair cut. Love to you all!!

The Steiny's Year In Review

(to the tune of Jingle Bells)

Passing through the months, there’s so much we can say,
started the year off great, but unemployment got in the way.
Life continued on, there’s so much that we’ve done,
We hope your year has been as great as we share our year of fun!
Oohhh…

Elder’s quorum, enrichment board, church callings are great,
Jeanette gave us another niece, she was born on 8-8-8! Hey,
Jana and Brent tied the knot, AJ and Lindsey too.
We spent so long away from Burns, our ward thought we had moved!

Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Parker’s little Crocs,
Ryan’s 10-year class reunion anything but rocked!
We went to Bear Lake, raspberry shakes were oh so fine,
Michelle freaked out while riding a horse for the first time.
Oohhh…

We came home, here to Burns, back to daily life,
Reffing soccer, blogging blogs, cooking with the wi-ife.
Subbing here, subbing there, subbing everywhere,
Doing everything we can, to not pull out our hair.
Oohhh…

Yoga days, card swap nights, gardening a lot.
For Halloween we had two heads, a la Michael Scott.
Things are good, things are great, things are just the bomb,
Merry Christmas, Happy New year, go to thesteinyfamily.blogspot.com!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Love the Steinies!!

Oh Christmas Tree!

So the day after Thanksgiving, and still digesting the dinner from the night before, The Steineckert family decided to take a trip up to the National Malheur Forest to find the perfect Christmas tree. It was a perfect day. The air was crisp, cool & with no snow yet we were able to pick whatever tree we wanted without wading through snow to get it. We looked at a lot of trees and right before we turned around to go down another way ....we found her...Zola, the perfect Christmas tree. We cut her town, tagged her & brought her home. Doesn't she look fabulous!!! With the house full of the pine tree scent.......it's begining to seem alot like Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

There was much to be thankful for this year!
#1. Family. Ryan's family came up to be with us this Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to have a house full. Watching movies, puzzles, games (I've learned that singing my clues really gets me no where!), cooking & eating!! It was soooo much fun. We are always thankful for visitors!
#2. Food-a-Plenty! Ryan & I loooove cooking together and it was soooo much fun to cook with him and my sister-in-law Allie. Our turkey was rubbed down with butter and herbs......aaaahhhh so tasty! We also had our sweet potato balls - if you don't like sweet potatoes you NEED to try Paula Deen's stuffed sweet potato balls:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/sweet-potato-balls-recipe/index.html
Our apple walnut salad was great, but the cranberry vinaigrette on top of it was devine!!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Walnut-Salad-with-Cranberry-Vinaigrette/Detail.aspx?prop31=1
And of course dessert and since it's Thanksgiving it must be pumpkin!! This year I tried the beautiful Turtle Pumpkin Cheesecake!! A total winner. And, for the pumpkin haters in our family (Ryan hates the stuff) Bubba's Buttermilk Pie.
http://www.recipezaar.com/Turtle-Pumpkin-Cheesecake-332592
#3. Ryan. I'm so grateful for Ryan. He truely is the perfect husband & I love him more than anything!
#4. All of you my friends. I love you all and hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!