My Husband Rocks Friday

Happy Friday!!


This week, my husband rocks because he loves to cook!! It has always been a big weight off of my shoulders to know that I don't have to be the one who cooks meals all of the time. Jon really enjoys cooking and he is really good at it too! He is definitely better at it than me, though because of his mission he does have a bit more experience. He is really good with spices. He doesn't have to follow recipes in order to cook! I can't even count how many times he has just made up a recipe! And every time he does so it always turns out amazing!! I don't know how he does it, and I'll be honest and tell you that I am really jealous.


I really enjoy cooking as well and most of the time we cook together for dinner. It's really fun and something that we enjoy sharing with each other! I hope to be at least as good as him eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later! :)

I adore my husband!!

Valentines Day Weekend

Jon and I had a fun, and interesting, time this weekend! On Saturday we went to Matt and Kim's house and played Settlers of Catan! Jon won, of course. And I didn't, of course. Haha! It was really fun and it was so nice to see Matt and Kim again!!

After that we went to Costco and Jon bought me pink lilies, my favorite flower, and then we met with Josh and Jamie to take Jamie down to see the Pinnacle building. Unfortunately, the building was closed so we couldn't give her a tour of the inside. It was disappointing but not a big deal. So we went Johnny Carinos for dinner! It was yummy and lots of fun! Then we went to their apartment and watched 'Taken'. That movie is so intense! It just never calms down! It was crazy!! After the movie we ate a snack and started talking. Then Josh and Jon decided to watch an episode of South Park and towards the end Jamie and I joined them. It was really fun to spend some time with them!

We got home around 11:30 and saw a car in the driveway getting ready to leave. So we drove past and turned around, then revved our engine and sped up to scare whoever it was. We found out later that it was one of my sister's date. We got out of the car and were chuckling about it when the guy from across the street started yelling at us. It took us a minute to realize he was talking to us. He kept yelling "Are you serious?!!" We were confused. So he came across the street and was getting in Jon's face and yelling about how he has kids in the neighborhood and calling him names! (We never even got above the speed limit, it was only about 10 feet that we even sped up at all.) He grabbed Jon and started pushing him around. His girlfriend ran over to try to stop him. He was holding a cigarette and definitely smelled of alcohol. It was so scary and I didn't know what to do. I finally decided to reach for my phone to call 911 when Jon told the guy that he already had them on the phone. He finally got him to let go and we hurried inside. I was so freaked out and I was shaking. Eventually the cops came over to talk to Jon and then they went to talk to the neighbors. It was not the funnest end to our night. I'm still nervous whenever we get home, afraid that he might still be mad about it.


Anyway, so that was that. On Sunday we went to church and then came home and exchanged presents! I got Jon a salt cellar, which he has been wanting for a long time. He got me some awesome measuring tools for cooking and the book 'Julie & Julia'!!! I was SO excited!! He is so amazing at giving gifts, he always knows just what to give me and certainly outdoes me every time!! It's something I'm trying to get better at!! Afterwards we went over to the Peterson's house to play games! It was really fun!! We had a great time!! Then we came 'home' around 5 and we made dinner for my family. We made Pesto Calabrese Pasta with Breaded Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, and Jon's amazing Homemade Bread! I made the pasta sauce so that I could count it as one of my recipes (Jon always makes it so this time I did). We ate with Jon's favorite pasta, bucatini, that we got in Italy. It was SO yummy!! I loved it!! Then my mom brought out Ghirardelli squares and peach sparkling cider for dessert! It rocked! That night Jon set up some candles in our room and he turned on 'August Rush' which is a special movie for the two of us. He then spent 20 minutes massaging my back, shoulders, arms, and legs. It was really sweet and super romantic! Gosh I love my husband! He never ceases to amaze me!!


This recipe is Jon's creation!

Our Valentines Day was great and I hope that yours was awesome as well!!

Oreo Kisses

I found this recipe online and it looked SO good. So I decided to make some for Valentines Day.

It's a really simple recipe, but it sure is time consuming. I really wish I had an electronic food processor. It would have really come in handy to crush up all of those Oreos. Once everything was mixed up it looked so yummy and it smelled so chocolately and delicious!

I rolled the mix up into little balls and then began to shape them into kisses. I got a little less than halfway done with it when I got tired of shaping them, so I left the rest as balls. After that I dipped them in chocolate (which took FOREVER) and then stuck them in the freezer to harden up.


I really didn't have too much fun doing it and when they were done I didn't really like them. They were super rich and the chocolate coating I used was not the best. Jon didn't really like them either. I'm sure I could change something to make them better, but in the end. This recipe was not really a success.

But, one more recipe is done! Yay!!

I found this recipe on bakerella.com.

My Husband Rocks Friday

I decided to start My Husband Rocks (MHR) Friday. There is a huge group of bloggers who blog every Friday about why their husband rocks and I really liked this idea.

Since today is Friday, I decided that I would start today!

My Husband rocks because he works so hard for us. He really puts in so much effort to make sure that we have everything we need. He spends countless hours on the phone, which can be a little frustrating at times, but I am so glad that he does because I know that he is doing it for us! He honestly does his very best to make me happy. He is encouraging me as I look for a job and in so many other things. I love him SO much and I feel so lucky and blessed that I get to be married to such an amazing man for all of eternity!


Happy Valentines Day Jonathan!


Also, my Dad came home from Haiti this morning!! It is so nice to have him back! He did so many things there and helped so many people! I'm so happy for him that he was able to go! He's an amazing man! I sure missed him!!

ALSO, I am really excited to get my pictures back from Chelsey!! She told me yesterday that she would send the CD to me today and I am just tickled with excitement!! She posted some of the pictures on her photography blog http://chelseyheidornphoto.blogspot.com/!! I'll post some of them here and on facebook when I get them! I just can't wait!

Today was a good day, Jon brought me a hat back from the Manager Conference!! I missed him and it is SO GOOD to have him home!!

Guess Where We Are Going?

We have been waiting for months to find out where we would be spending this summer and today our waiting was finally over!!

WE ARE GOING TO NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE!!

It is such a good feeling to finally know where we will be!! We think that it is going to be a really successful summer and we can't wait! Now that we know, we'll get to start looking for apartments and we hope to get there as soon as possible! Since Jon doesn't have school this year we get to start selling earlier, which will, hopefully, lead to more sales!

We are way excited for this summer! We plan on saving saving saving our money and we are looking forward to it! We hope to be able to pay off all of our debt this summer and hopefully be able to have enough to purchase a condo in Michigan for when Jon starts medical school!!

I can't wait to be out in the summer with all of my favorite Pinnacle people! We have a such a great time together! I am especially looking forward to spending more time with Rochele and Chelsey, who I have talked to a lot more during the year that previous years and I think that will lead to a really fun summer! Yay for the Pinnacle wives!! I'm looking forward to making new friends too!! :)

So we are really excited! It's a big weight off of our shoulders now that we know where we will be! Yay for Nashville!!

2-in-1 Dessert

I haven't cooked anything off of my list for a few days. That tends to happen when you don't have a place to call your own. I sure do miss all my kitchen gadgets!

But today, the greatest thing happened! My sister said, "Shalay, make dessert!" then my husband quickly joined in. "Yeah, DESSERT!!" They continued to nag me for a few minutes as I looked on my list to see what desserts I had on them. I agreed and they cheered. It made me so happy! It is such a great feeling to know that people like your food enough to ask you for it! Two summers ago, Jon's 2 best friends came out with us to sell and about once a week or so they would come over for pasta night. They always wanted me to make Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. I offered to make something else, it's not hard to make, but that is what they always wanted! It's the best feeling!!

So, for dessert I decided to make 2 things! I made Margarita Bites, which you can make with either tequila or water, I chose water. I also made Meringue cookies!


The Margarita Bites are super simple! It's mostly just fancy jello. But they turned out to be pleasantly cute and refreshing! I really enjoyed it! The cookies were harder, meringue can be pretty touchy but they turned out fantastic! They are so light and they just melt in your mouth!! I really loved them and, luckily, so did my family!!

It felt great to make more food for them and I am even more excited to continue this project! I am anxious to make something other than sweets too! Haha!

The recipe for Margarita Bites can be found on foodnetwork.com and the recipe for meringue cookies I found in my America's Test Kitchen book!

If you ever see a recipe that you would like to try, please let me know and I can send it to you!

Peterson & Co. Anniversary

As of yesterday, my blog is 1 year old!! I can't believe it's been a whole year and 67 posts already!! I love my blog SO much and it's been a fun year!!

I wanted to blog about this yesterday but my computer caught a virus and spent all day getting better. I am SO grateful for my father-in-law who spent all day fixing it! He's the greatest! He does so much for us! Thanks Dad P.!

So now my computer is all better! Thank goodness! It is really hard to get a job that I need my computer for when it's not working. It's a big relief to have it back, safe and sound!

Today has been a great day!!! Jon took me on a date!! We went to Costco and they had Super Bowl samples!! It was awesome fun! Then he took me to Orson Gygi!! It was SO MUCH FUN!! We both just LOVE kitchen stuff and we got to see all sorts of fun kitchen gadgets!! They also had a showroom with a bunch of kitchens and it ROCKED!!!!!! It is always so fun to dream about what we want for our future home! Best dates! We saw some of the most AWESOME things!! It was very exciting!! I just love my husband to pieces! He knows me so well and it's so nice that we have so many things in common that we love and enjoy! He is the best husband ever!!

I made Roasted Garlic last night and for the first time I found out what it's like to eat too much garlic! It tasted amazing but garlic really lingers. My breath still smelled like garlic in the morning, even after brushing my teeth multiple times! Crazy! Anyway, the garlic rocked!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY BLOG!!

Liquid Center Chocolate Torte

I have been watching "Worst Cooks in America" on Food Network and this recipe was on a few of the episodes. It looked so delicious and I just HAD to add it to my list of recipes I wanted to cook!!

Tonight, my sister, Nichi, and I worked together to make this awesome recipe!! I am really glad she was there to help me, I really needed it. I get pretty flustered when I cook, especially when trying new recipes. I really hope to change that. It was a pretty difficult recipe! I did a lot of things that I have never done before! I used a double broiler to melt the chocolate, had to fold in some of the ingredients instead of just mixing them, melted sugar to make caramel, cooked individual cakes instead of one big one, and caramelized bananas!!


The hardest part was trying to get those little cakes out of the tins and onto the plate without breaking them open!! I suppose you don't have to take them out, but I did anyway. I broke 3 out of 6 and definitely got better towards the end, it sure was stressful though!! I even made the plates look pretty with the caramel sauce and the bananas! It tasted AMAZING!!! I really feel very proud of myself, it was so cool to see it come together!! It was a ton of fun!!

Thanks again Nichi for helping me! I had an awesome time!



I highly suggest trying this recipe, I replaced the bourbon with vanilla because I didn't want to spend the money on bourbon when I only needed a tablespoon. I found this great site that had substitutes for alcoholic ingredients! http://whatscookingamerica.net/alcoholsub.htm SO useful! I would have just substituted with water if it wasn't for that site!

You can find this recipe on foodnetwork.com!!

I need to figure out how to take better pictures of food, but I was in a hurry.

The Julie/Julia/Shalay Project

I really love the movie 'Julie & Julia'! I saw it on the plane when we were on our way to Europe and I really really loved it!! From then on I have really been wanting to cook. I missed cooking so bad while we were on our trip. I have wanted to learn how to be a great cook for a while but watching this movie really made me want to do it even more! In fact, the thing that has been most on my mind lately, (other than all the stresses of money and other day to day life things to worry about) has been food and cooking!!

I decided after watching the movie that I would LOVE to do something similar!! So I am! Granted, she did over 500 recipes in 1 year and I plan to only do around 150. My excuse, I am working on getting a full time job, have to move multiple times, and will not have the money to get ingredients all of the time. I think it's a good enough excuse! Haha! :)

Last night I made roasted garlic and it turned out really well!! But it was way too easy to count as one of my recipes. I have put together my own list of recipes that I would like to try. Most of them are from foodnetwork.com. I don't want them to be too easy and I want the ones I make to be really great! What better place than Food Network? I thought about doing a cookbook but there are always too many recipes that I really don't want to try, so I've put together this one on my own!!

I was going to wait until we moved once more to start this little project, but I decided today that I couldn't wait anymore! So I dragged my sister to the grocery store and officially dubbed today as DAY 1!! I am making Liquid Center Chocolate Tortes with caramel sauce and caramelized bananas!! I can't wait!! I'll let you know how it goes!!

I'll have my countdown on the side of my blog! And I'll let you know how each recipe goes!! This should be fun, if not for anyone else, for me!! :) Thanks for listening and in the words of Alton Brown, Good Eating!!