Fireworks - what fireworks?

With the 4th of July comes fireworks - lots of fireworks!!

I had wanted to go upto the Provo Temple and watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks because I wasn't paying $60+ a ticket to be there! The temple is currently closed for maintenance and as it was so hot and we are without a car we both didn't fancy walking all the way up there to find the grounds were closed too so we decided to stay at home and watch the fireworks from NYC and Boston.  That was pretty fun too especially since Ben was surprised with just how many Patriotic songs I knew. Once the NYC fireworks ended we switched channels and watch the Boston fireworks and I sang the same songs over again much to Ben's delight!  I had to take some pictures of the fireworks so I took then from the TV because I'm that classy. Thank you NBC!

As I mentioned before I made some Patriotic treats and we had our own "firework" desserts. 

Ice Cream and Jelly (Jello!) - American Style!!  Then Ben said we should add some sparklers and this is what we got!  It was delicious but then I would eat Jelly every day if I could

Next Up - 4th of July Cupcakes



Happy Birthday America!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

I have to say that now I live here and to be honest I think the UK could learn a thing or two about patriotism from the USA.  Although I know since last year the UK have stepped it up and I think most people are loving their country again.  I'm sure we will see more of that with the Olympics in London later this month - I'm excited for that!

Anyway back onto July 4th!  Provo celebrate big style with their "Freedom Festival". It lasts for quite a few days over the first week in July, and from what I can make out they have events all year.  I've been told that the parade in Provo on the 4th is the biggest in Utah and since Ben and I live 3 blocks away from the parade route we were not missing out on this - plus this would be my first parade, well apart from the numerous parades that me and Marie have seen at Disney World on our travels.

About a week before the parade I was at the library and started to notice these little signs on the side of the road saying that you were not allowed to "stake out" out parade spot until 3pm on 3rd July.  I laughed at this because who would really stake out a spot 18 hours before a parade would start.  Little did I know that Utahn's, and no doubt most American's take this holiday very seriously as was evident on 3rd July.  I walked to the grocery store at 9am and there were sneaky people who had already "staked out" their spot.  They were sitting on chairs with blankets over them because it was already so hot.  Ben and I took a walk downtown later that day and the whole of University Avenue, on both side (around about 1.5 miles from where we walk from) were "staked out", and it was still 15 hours before the parade.  It looked like tent city... don't believe me? Check out these pictures...

Very few people were actually there at that time - the stipulation was at least one person had to be there the whole time.  The city even has active power points so people can run their fans, power their mobiles and of course go on facebook on their laptops as I witnessed. It was certainly interesting!!

Ben and I decided we were not going to be crazy and stay outside in the heat all night just to see a parade, it was 98f (35c) at 7pm, but that we would get up early and try and find a spot.  That night I was grateful for a bed and AC when I thought of all these crazy people sleeping outside in that heat.

After an eventful night which resulted in me not being able to take any more of the noise I got up at 4am and cleaned - I put that part in because the whole night people in cars honked their car horns, set off fireworks constantly and played really loud music coupled with really loud singing. I guess they were really getting into the holiday. Sometimes I hate living so close to BYU!

We got to the parade at 7.30am and managed to get a space right on the corner of our intersection which meant we were 3 blocks from the apartment - perfect!!  This was the scene in front of me - I kid not they had this couch out the night before too. I loved it! This bunch of people were super friendly and even loved the fact I was Scottish...phewww!

After waiting around an hour the pre parade happened - I didn't know this happened.  We figured these were the people who didn't quite cut the actual parade but in the spirit of Independence Day they let them go down the parade route.  It was fun.  I'm just going to overload you with pictures now BUT the highlight of the parade for me was seeing The Nielsons. I've followed Stephanie Nielson's blog for about 3 years now and she has an inspirational story and is an amazing example.  Her family were the Grand Marshalls for the parade.  You can read her blog at:  nieniedialogues.blogspot.com

Enjoy the photos!  We really did have a fun time, especially with the Slurpee drinking at 8.45am!



Mojitos minus the alcohol!

Every Saturday morning at Pioneer Park in Provo they have a farmers market.  I was so excited when I found out about this because I was excited to rake through all the fresh and local produce.  Well if baby hair bows, jewellery and home trinkets are what you would consider as local produce then this market is for you.  I was a little disappointed that I didn't see one farmer there and not one apple or peach or corn on the cob BUT Ben and I did come away with our new favourite drink. 

There was a little stall making what looked like homemade limeade.  Ben being as brilliant as he is haggled the guy down on the price for two and we went away with our plastic cups filled with yumminess.  While we were drinking these in the 90f heat I realised they would be so easy to make at home so off we went to the grocery store and got the ingredients for what is essentially a non alcoholic Mojito! (or Mormon Mojitos as I am respectfully calling them!)

Non - Alcoholic Mojitos!

Source: Provo Market and The Heyworths!

Photos: Mine again!

Serves: 2 people

Time to Prepare: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 Lime

A little fresh mint

Simple Sugar Syrup

Water

Lots of Ice!

How to Make a Simple Sugar Syrup

Equal quantities of sugar to water (1 cup sugar to 1 cup water) 

Boil until dissolves

Leave to cook and then put into a air tight container and use when needed.

This also keeps for ages so I made a batch of it so I don't need to make the syrup every time I make this drink

METHOD:

1. Juice one lime into a jug

2. Cut the lime into quarters

3. Add 1/2 the lime juice into a jar with a lid or a container with a lid which hold all the liquid to come.

4. Add a couple of sprigs of mint, 2 quarters of the lime you have juiced, a couple of spoons of the sugar syrup.

5. Top up with water

6. Put the lid on your jar and give it a good shake.

7. Taste and add more sugar syrup or lime juice if needed according to taste.

8. Fill the glass with ice and add in the drink making sure the mint and limes go in the glass.

9. Repeat steps 3 to 8 for the second glass

Sit outside in the sun and enjoy... or if you are in the UK turn up the heating, grab a blanket and hot water bottle and enjoy this taste of Summer.

This drink goes so well with the salsa fresco recipe and chips or a good tikka masala - you can then use the jar from the curry to mix the drink as I did! Thank you Costco for being one of the only places in Utah Valley I've found to date that sells curry to make at home. Yummmm!

Tip Time:

If you buy a bunch of mint as I did and didn't want the rest to waste so the following!

Put a few sprigs into each section of an ice cube tray. Fill with water and put in the freezer. When they are set and hard remove the "mint cubes" and put them in a zip lock bag for future use.  I now just drop a cube or two into the jar when I add my lime juice and shake well. It works really well and I don't need to worry about having fresh mint around.

Coming up:

RED, WHITE, AND BLUE.

It's Independence Day in the USA tomorrow and hopefully we will get good views of what I have heard is the best parade in Utah tomorrow.  It also happens to take place 2 blocks from our apartment.  Unfortunately there have been people staking out their spots since 9am this morning, a full 24 hours before the parade.  We will be heading out early tomorrow and I'm hoping I will get some fun pictures.  Also I've make some fun 4th of July treats including strawberry filled red velvet cupcakes, and I'll also blog about a great tip for coring strawberries!

Watch this space and HAPPY JULY 4TH - The day when America told us Brits to go home!! haha  At least we are still friends though.





Salsa Fresca

Ben LOOOVVVEEEESSS his spicy and hot food and I am starting to think he would put hot sauce on everything, even a grilled cheese sandwich! ;-)  I on the other hand don't like it so hot and spicy although I do love milder mexican and indian food etc.  So when Ben wanted to make salsa I was a bit hesitant but I actually really like this fresh salsa and have made it lots.  I now end up making two batches though because I know how much Ben wants his full of jalepenos and I don't. 

On a side note my brother, who really is one of the funniest people I know, told me today that he just had salsa with Scotch Bonnet chillis - he is also one of the craziest people I know too.

This salsa is so easy to make and I'm guessing pretty healthy too because it's all fresh vegetables.  It takes a little time to prepare because you have to finely chop everything by hand unless you are lucky enough to have a food processor that chops.  It's worth the chopping time though and it keeps really well in the fridge for a good few days, if it lasts that long without being eaten of course =)

SALSA FRESCA

Recipe from Ben Heyworth (who is amazing!)

Pictures are mine again

Ingredients (in photo form because it's easier!!)







Clockwise from top:
Vinegar, Tomatoes, Jalepenos, Cucumber, Garlic, Lime, Cilantro and Red Onion


Method:
1. Chop everything up very finely apart from the lime. 
2. The amounts you use is solely down to taste and what you like. If you don't like something leave it out.
3. I deseed the pepper and only use one for me (any more is too much!) but you can leave the seeds in if you like hot and use as many jalepenos as you wish.

It should look something like this:

4. Add the chopped ingredients into a bowl and squeeze in some lime juice, add a good gulp of vinegar and if you want a pinch of salt.

5. Mix well and taste.  If it needs anything else just add it - that's the beauty of the recipe. It's completely open to your tastes.

6. Serve with tortilla chips or add on top of mexican food.

YUMMMMMMM

I think I should go and make some now!



Blueberry Cobbler

I made this quite a few weeks ago and it's another easy, dump all the ingredients in and put in the oven kind of dish.  I had a couple of punnets of blueberries that I had to use - that'll teach me for buying too many while they were on sale.  I was trying to find a recipe where I could use them and stumbled across this one on the Betty Crocker website.  I also happened to have a Costco size box of Bisquick in the cupboard (I still do!) because it was the same price as a tiny little one at the grocery store so that worked for me.  I know you can get Bisquick in the UK too at a decent price so that's why I'm posting this recipe.

EASY BLUEBERRY COBBLER

Source: www.bettycrocker.com

Picture: Mine!

Time To Prepare: 15 minutes

Time To Cook: 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly

Feeds: 4-6 people (or 2 gutsy people throughout a day!!)

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons of melted butter

1 1/4 cups of biquick

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup milk

3 cups of fresh blueberries (3 little punnets!)

Method:

1. Heat oven to 350f

2. Pour melted butter into 8 or 9 inch square dish that you will use to bake the cobbler

3. In a bowl mix together bisquick, sugar and milk

4. Pour this mixture over the butter in the dish

5. Sprinkle the blueberries over the batter and put in the oven for about 40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Disclaimer for the photo!

I didn't have a square dish so I use a pie dish which caused some of the butter to spill over when cooking, resulting in me having to clean the oven...booooooo!

I only had 2 spare punnets/cups of blueberries so that's why it doesn't look as blueberryish as it would have - but it was still delicious and Ben and I polished this off during the course of a Sunday!

You could serve with ice cream, cream or custard but we ate this on it's own, almost like a pie, and it was yummy.

We started eating it before I remembered I wanted to take a picture so it's not pretty BUT it was yummmmmyyyy! 

It's another easy pudding!  Enjoy.



Brownies In A Mug!

I had to blog this recipe for a few of reasons:

1. Because it's as quick to blog it as it is to make it
2. It's perfect for a quick treat
3. It's so easy that my 3 year old niece could make it (with supervision if course!)
4. They are a perfect desert for Family Home Evening Night and the kids will love making these. OR a Young Women activity where a quick desert would make the girls happier. **Jade if you read this the girls might love this!!**
5. The finished product looks like the picture - does that happen often?

I found this on pinterest about 30 minutes ago and had to make it there and then because I thought it was too good to be true.... wrong. It works and it's pretty good.  Next time I'm going to add chocolate chips to give it more depth of flavour.

Disclosure:
These are good for a quick chocolate fix. Don't expect luxury tasting brownies - BUT they are worth the 3 minutes they take to make.  Make sure you add the ice cream or whipped cream. I think they need the extra creaminess =)

BROWNIES IN A MUG

Source: http://blog.gopromos.com/how-to-make-brownie-in-a-mug/

Quantity: One

Prep Time: 1 1/2 minutes (really!)

Cooking Time: 1.40 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

Pinch of Salt

2 tbsp olive oil (or veg. oil)

3 tbsp water

A few chocolate chips (optional)

Ice cream/Whipped Cream (optional)

Method:

1. Add all dry ingredients together in the mug you want to use

2. Add wet ingredients

3. Mix until consistent and smooth

4. Put in the microwave for 1 min 40 secs

5. Add a scoop of ice cream/whipped cream and enjoy

**Be Careful It Will Be Hot!!**

**Blueberry Cobbler, Salsa Fresca and Non Alcoholic Mojitos Recipes to follow next**