I'm Pregnant!!!

Take a close look at my ultrasound and see if you notice anything a little different.

Yep there are two babies in there! I'm only about 8-9 weeks along right now. Originally I didn't want to tell people until I was passed my first trimester, but I couldn't resist. Their due date is June 4th.

Puss n' Sneaks

Whenever I take a cake on a plane, I usually get a lot of people interested in what I'm traveling with. Last month when I took my ugly ducking cake to Idaho, I came equipped with business cards. A flight attendant from Dave's airline called me shortly after to make this cake for her friend's birthday. Her friend is a marathon runner who has two orange cats. So I made her some running shoes with her feline friends playing with the shoelaces.

More Bouncy Balls

A woman in Dallas stumbled across my blog and saw the bouncy ball cake I made for my friend Melinda. She asked if I could make the cake and send it to Dallas. I wasn't sure how well that would work so we came up with a compromise. She had a Dallas bakery make the cake and I made all of the fondant bouncy balls. So here they are, ready to be packaged and delivered.

Ready for Ski Season???

Every fall Dave and I dry up Little or Big Cottonwood Canyon to see the changing leaves. Last night we went up to Alta. Up at the top of the canyon the leaves were starting to turn red, which is my favorite stage. We'll have to go again in a few weeks to see the whole canyon transformed.

I know it looks silly with me wearing my big puffy green coat when it really wasn't that cold outside. I was just so excited to wear it. I bought it last Spring at a snowboard shop and haven't had a chance to wear it yet. I fell in love with it because the fabric is Herringbone which I thought was an awesome choice for a ski jacket. Maybe if I have some cute snow gear I'd be more willing to give skiing another try. We'll see.

Rocking Swan

I was at D.I. last night looking for some furniture I could refinish. Instead I found this awesome wooden rocking swan. I thought that one day it would look darling in a little nursery. It's missing the velvety plush body. Hopefully I can find a replacement or figure out something similar I can make. I was excited to find that my $8 purchase sells new for $475. Not bad.

Yummy Chicken Noodle Soup

Now that's it's getting colder outside I'm going to start experimenting with soups. On Friday night I was craving chicken noodle soup. I found this recipe at foodnetwork.com and thought I'd give it a try.

This was the best chicken soup I've ever made. I used a rotisserie chicken and frozen egg noodles. That was pretty much the only alterations I made. The mushrooms sauteed in butter were the best part of the soup. And definitely don't skimp on the fresh lemon juice.

Ingredients
2 quarts canned low-salt chicken broth
1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 cup mushrooms, quartered
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
8 ounces dried egg noodles
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley


Directions
Combine chicken broth and chicken in heavy large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover partially, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to large bowl. Cool chicken and broth slightly. Discard skin and bones from chicken. Cut chicken meat into bite-size pieces and reserve. Spoon fat off top of chicken broth.
Return broth to simmer. Add onion, carrots and celery. Simmer until vegetables soften, about 8 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover chicken meat and broth separately and refrigerate. Bring broth to boil before continuing.)

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Add mushrooms to broth; stir in noodles, parsley and reserved chicken. Simmer until noodles are tender, about 5 minutes. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.