KALEIDOSCOPE - Not Just For Kids

Ririe-Woodbury is and incredible dance company with incredible talent and am so inspired each and every time I have gone to one of their productions yet it's been so long since I have been able to go. Lately my innards have been needing new inspiration so when I saw the opportunity to enter to win Tickets to this
http://bit.ly/kaleidoscoperw
I was more than thrilled. Read the description of this production from their site:


"Giant elastic bands that define space like a huge cat’s cradle give form to the exciting work “Tensile Involvement.” “Noumenon” fascinates us with dancers moving in strict unison, creating dynamic forms while completely enshrouded in silver bags. Garish clowns, frolicking in a black light filled arcade, set the stage to entertain us in excerpts from “Gallery” (Premiere). “Kaleidoscope” brings strange-footed dancers balancing on discs, men hanging precariously out in space, and a pair of dancers on a journey while balancing a long pole between their feet. “Clothes,” a statement on fashion, features outlandish costumes which are changed on a whim by the characters on stage. This exciting collection of Nikolais’ works is presented here for the child in all of us!"

Gah! I want, no NEED to go to this! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

http://bit.ly/kaleidoscoperw

ALTITUDE: 2, CHELLOR: 0

When you have a master cook like Pops at home (he doesn't like me to use the term "chef" when describing him) like I do, why would I make him suffer with my amateur at best cooking? Needless to say it's rare to find me in the kitchen making more than an egg sandwich or creepys (crepes.)

However, when a friend posted a picture of the most beautiful chocolate chip cookies on Instagram over the weekend I found myself, 20 mins later, in the checkout line with 2 bags of chocolate chip cookies! Ok as well as a basket full of other ransoms groceries, but that's only because I turn 5 years old upon stepping into the grocery store and I "NEEEEED" everything. Pops loves this about me *sarcasm* and loves even more when I try to sneak things in the cart... I digress.

Long story short, after rushing home, chocolate chips in tow, and carefully following the instructions on the bag, I ended up with flat cookies. As well as slightly over-cooked cookies, but we're gonna blame that one on the stove mmmm'k? Damn you, high altitude! You've done it to me again with your cookie flattening skills! Ok, no biggie, we will just add more flour like my sis taught me to do years ago (and turn the oven heat down a bit.) Batch 2: still flat, but slightly better! Ok, now we're getting somewhere. More flour. Batch 3: Oh my word, Fluffy cookies! Yay! I anxiously wait for them to cool scoop them onto the plate and take a bite of a lovely fluffy cookie..... Blerg! Now they taste funny! Not so funny you can't eat them, but definitely not that perfect fluffy to gooey goodness ratio I demand in my cookies! *sigh* Oh Well. Pops and I enjoy the cookies best we can, I bag up the leftovers to take with me as a afternoon pick up snack at work the next day, and call it a night. *double sigh*

The next day, cookie bag in tow, I have a cooking queen co-worker try batch 1 vs. batch 2. She confirmed my thoughts from the previous night. Batch 1 had the gooey good quality while batch 2 had the fluffy quality, but tasted slightly off. She recommended a few things to try, I tried to pay attention to a subject I like only to reap the benefits from- cooking, logged the most simple of the suggestions and resolved to try again when the string of my prior days efforts had wore off.

Yesterday, I decided to try my hand at said cookies again. Remember, how I said I bought 2 bags of choc.chips? Usually that's simply because I tend to eat too many of them while making the batter and never end up with enough for baking, but luckily enough I somehow manager restraint and the seal on back 2 was never broken! Work ended and I had a splitting headache. Migraine are very common for me and this one was getting there quick. After coming home and trying to comfort my aching head for a couple hours I decided Pops shouldn't have to suffer with downer Chellor anymore and the cookies would definitely make my throbbing go away. I went into mechanical mode and started following choc.chip cookie recipe again. Since my brain wasn't thinking clearly, I managed to turn the oven heat down, but I did the exact same thing I had a few days prior in making the recipe! Gah! Flat cookies again! *see pictures below* At this point I throw in the towel for the night. I've had it! This is why I don't go in the kitchen! If a simple recipe leads me astray and doesn't work the first time I get bored and frustrated all at once. But this time I had resolved to actually try, try again only to fub it up again! Granted my brain wasn't fully functioning, but c'mon, Chellor! It had been just a few days! At least they weren't burnt due to the lower oven temp, I guess. I put the rest of the batter in the fridge and called it quits.

I may tackle this high altitude cookie baking again in the near... or not so near future, but for now I'm just fine eating my paper flat gooey cookies.

You win these rounds, High Altitude.

EGG SANDWICH PERFECTION

The egg sandwich is my fav breakfast. It may not be the most delicious, but when everything is factored, The Egg Sandwich is #1.

Today I am going to, step by step, tell you how to make THE perfect egg sandwich! But first, a little history and understanding of my love for this morning delight. It could get long so feel free to just skip down to said instructions if you so desire to skip my trip down memory lane. :)

Most of the love stems from my mother. See my dad was always the main cook in my household, but when I was in high school and going a million miles an hour at all times, some mornings my mom would make me an egg sandwich, wrap it up in tin foil to keep it warm and put it in my hand as I was rushing out the door. The thing I remember most dearly about this though was how, before she would make one, she would come and knock on my door or catch me in the hallway as I was rushing to get ready for the day and match my movement speed with her talking speed and quickly ask with anticipation, "Can I make you an egg sandwich to go?!" I think she got so much joy from this because she was a corporate business women from the time I entered pre-school and didn't get many opportunities to do quote, un-quote "motherly" things for me. (did I need to use the quotes since I said quote, unquote...?)

Anyway, I quickly found myself making my own egg sandwiches from time to time when she went to work early. I could never get them to taste quite as good as hers, but I still loved the act of eating that egg sand wrapped in tinfoil as I *sped to school or early morning dance or wherever I was headed.
*let it be known to all that I do not condone eating egg sandwiches while driving, nor do I condone speeding! I have also only received 2 speeding tickets my entire 12 yrs of driving.

Even after high school if there were a few months I was back at home mom would sometimes ask me if she could make me an egg sandwich with that same anticipation and giddy smile. This even happened at times just before K & I got married. I was living in my grandparents basement in Orem and because my parents live clear down in Salem, but work in Provo/Orem they would often sleep at the G-parents too. I think as I get older she finds more and more joy making these sandwiches for me. (Don't tell her, but I love it too and not just because they're so delicious!)

Enough reminiscing, let's get to the food directions! These are not my mother's instructions. These come from years of becoming more and more obsessed, nay enthusiastic about egg sands. Also this isn't necessarily a recipe, but more so directions on construction of said egg sandwich. I'll include the recipe steps and how I cook my eggs, but the construction is what I want you to focus on.

Here weeeee GO!

First: the correct ingredients and kitchen essentials

• Small pan
Small amount of eggs, small pan. It just works best.

• Toaster on low/med
Toasters are all so very different. Basically you want your bread just slightly browned.

• 2-3 Eggs -
2 for just the sandwich, 3 if you want extra eggs on the side. I'm not too picky on the brand of eggs, but I like to use large eggs

• Cracked Pepper -
To taste. I like just a few twists of the pepper cracker

• 1 of 3 seasonings: Italian seasoning, Seasoning Salt, OR garlic salt -

All are also to taste, however, do NOT use all 3 or even 2 of the three. Only ONE! It throws off the entire taste. I mean it.

• 2 TBSP Water
This is one I haven't played with. My mom did it so I do it. End of story. I just turn the tap on medium strength and use 1 full seconds worth of water and guess that this is about 2 TBSPs.

• Mild cheddar (not pictured) -
This is the one ingredient I don't always use simply because sometimes I'm not in the mood for cheese. Also I like grated, but I'm sure sliced would do the cheese job required when using it... You'll get what I mean by that soon enough.

• 12 grain Wheat Bread -
I am slightly picky on the bread I use. It has to have the perfect strength to hold the egg&cheese after being toasted and buttered. Then it has to have the right texture to provide the perfect crunch in contrast to the smooth egg. Yes, I'm serious! There are a few brands I've found to work nicely and the Country Oven picture above is one of them. (Plus Smiths has this bread on sale often which is of course awesome!)

• Brummell & Brown butter -
Again, I'm very specific about my butter. The taste of this yogurt whipped butter makes a huge difference!

• Paper towel -
The bread MUST be toasted flat and crumbs on the counter drive me mad no matter how easy they are to clean up.

• Plate -
It may seem obvious, but the plate plays an all important roll of catching egg that may fall from the sandwich so you can still eat them. It also catches said pesky bread crumbs.

Ok, let's get to making and constructing this sucker!

•Heat pan just below Med

•Oil or spray pan when heated up

•Eggs, water, pepper, & seasoning go in a cup and get whipped with a fork

•Pour egg mixture in heated, oiled pan

•Get bread, butter, & knife ready. Yes, this is a very important part or I wouldn't be saying it. Ever tried to butter cooled down bread? It would RUIN this sandwich. The two slices need to be ready in the toaster but not yet toasting, butter lid off and a long scoop of Brummell & Brown already on the knife. Just do it, ok?

• By this time the eggs are starting to get hard enough on the bottom to flip over or scramble. I like a mixture of scrambled then ending them solid so they sit together in the sandwich without continuously falling out and having to reconstruct the sandwich as I'm eating it. To get this perfection I slightly chop them into strips when they are still a bit soggy on top but done on bottom, then flip the whole egg mixture over in one quick motion. Because the sogginess that was on top is now on bottom, they finish as a solid egg scramble. Get it? I don't blame you if you don't. It's really difficult for me to try to explain without pics... Hmmm, maybe a perfect solid egg scramble tutorial is in order. Later! We have a sandwich to construct here!

•Here is where you add cheese if desired. I sprinkle enough on top of the eggs to mostly cover them but so you can still see egg. At this point your eggs are almost done and essentially just cooking through and melting cheese head (I call the cheese on top cheese head. Get excited because "Cheesy bum" is to come!)

Solid Scramble with Cheese Head

• Now the bread is a GO! for toasting then buttering! Push that little toaster button down with vigor make sure your napkin, butter and buttered knife is ready.

• If you're using cheese get that ready too. Cheesy bum is coming up!

• AS SOON as the bread pops up in the toaster have buttered knife in hand, take only ONE piece, aka bread slice 1, out of the toaster. Lay that sucker on the paper towel and butter her up!
(THIS WILL BE THE PIECE YOU PUT ON TOP OF THE EGG)
When you are spreading anything on bread I am a firm believer in covering every inch of flat surface. I am also a firm believer that you don't need more than just enough to cover the bread. So as soon as you cover the surface of the first piece of bread run the knife back across top of the bread to wipe off excess butter. This should only take you 3-5 seconds and should be done in no more than 5 knife strokes. Don't roll your eyes at me! I'm serious.

• Bread slice 2 is then taken out of the toaster and is buttered the same way as bread slice 1.

• Bread slice 2 is put on the plate then sprinkle a little cheese all over the bread equally. Don't miss the edges. This is Cheesy Bum! ;)

• Eggs should be completely done and not too hard at all at this point. If you used 2 eggs you can simple scoop the entire cooked solid egg scramble up an slide it off the spatula onto cheesy bottom of bread slice 2.
If you used 3 eggs cut solid scramble with spatula in the shape of your bread slice and repeat the motion of sliding that section of cheese head egg on cheesy bum. (Eat excess egg scramble at will.)

• Lay bread slice 1 on top of solid egg scramble aka cheese head.

• Now because the butter has melted in both bread slices, but bread slice 2 has had solid egg scramble moisture softening it slightly I like to flip my entire completed egg sandwich over so now cheese head is on bottom and cheesy bum is on top! I do this even if I didn't use cheese.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is now time for you to devour your PERFECT egg sandwich! And if you made it to the end of this amazingly descriptive post, you deserve a reward.

Oooh, oooh, I know! Come to my house and I will make you the PERFECT EGG SANDWICH!

Hummer sitting right in my line of vision acting as if he's been starved so I'll share
Silly HumBum. Perfection is for Chellors.

What's that you say?

I have the memory of.... well I guess I don't know exactly, but I would say somewhere between a pregnant woman and a fish. (NO, I'm not pregnant!)

Let's just start this over. I have a horrible memory. Period. My close friends and family know this about me and hopefully they don't get too annoyed with me for it. As I ascend to the latter part of my 20's I'm finally realizing it's not a just a phase that I struggle to remember things and am gracefully coming to terms with it. I'm also less apologetic of it because I really do try so hard to not forget things by making lists, setting reminders, writing notes... constant notes, and taking photos. Well the photo part is what brings me to this sweet little post that you are graced.

I take a lot of photos. A LOT. Not like a professional photographer a lot, but a "I need to document every living second so I don't forget" a lot. I'm not going to try to compete that I take more or less than anyone, (3,000 since August '11) ha!, but my dear Pops (that's my hubby, not my dad- get it straight) reminds me oh so often how many photos I take and that to him it's not normal that I rarely do anything with said photos, but download them to the computer every few months. Well, I also do not care to justify any of my photos or the way I do or do not use them. They are for me. I rarely ask people to pose for photos or even to "SMILE!" because like I said, I am, more often than not, just clicking that little button to capture and remember the moment as it is.

This is an all time fav, photo and is so dear to my heart.
There are many things I will ALWAYS remember from this one photo:

1) At this moment I was showing my mom how cool iPhones are and the Instagram app and she was paying attention.
(my mom is a very excited person and her mind jumps from one thing to another very quickly) :)
2) My parents came over to our new pad in SLC to celebrate my BDAY
3) We were still trying to figure out seating when company comes over as seen by the bistro chair from our patio.
4) Hummer has loved my dad from the moment they met and loves to cuddle up next to him whenever they are relaxing together.
5) The way my dad sits with his arms folded in thought while he watches TV or is listening to someone talk.

I am not a photographer nor do I or have I ever termed myself as that. Most of my photos are taken with my iPhone because let's face it, iPhones and the camera apps you can download on them are bitchen and produce rad photos!

Well, I have been thinking that I would like to display my photos more. Not for anyone, but for myself and my memories. If you follow Pop's and I's blog you will have read that I am going to start blogging more to also remember the doings of the life I/WE live. Well photos will very much be a part of this. There may be a random photo plugged into an even more random blog just because it is, there may be a blog about photos only, there my be a blog with ONLY photos. I may or may not explain the photo or the blog post. Remember this is for me people! Well a little for you too or I wouldn't be putting this on the blogispher, but you get my point.