Framed Pumpkins

We have been wanting to do some fall related decorating/crafts lately. And, when I say we I mean me way more-so than Garrett. He couldn't care less. However, he did drive me around town yesterday to get all of the supplies for this cute little project. Thanks hun! Also, thanks for cutting through that tough little foam pumpkin! (I am not being sarcastic. You would think a FOAM pumpkin would cut easily. But it doesn't.)

I hope this inspires you to do some fall decorating of your own! Or, maybe you already have. It is September. I guess I am a little behind, but Denver's cool mountain air has finally inspired me to get busy with the fall food, decorations, football watching, and whatever else "fall" that I stumble across.

So, Happy Fall!

To make a Pumpkin in a Frame you will need:

One picture frame with the glass removed

One foam pumpkin. These come in different sizes and shapes so just choose whichever you like and whichever will fit your frame the best!

And one piece of scrapbook paper with a cute print!

The only other things you will need are a hot glue gun, scissors to cut the paper to the size of your frame, a sharp knife, and a strong husband. 

To start making your Pumpkin in a Frame:

1. Take the glass and foam lining out of your frame. All you want are the frame itself and the backing.

2. Cut your scrapbook paper to fit into the frame. I just held the backing from the frame against the paper and sized it from that. Then go ahead and put the paper into the frame and affix the back of the frame into place. You should have something that looks like this:

Now for the tough part. You, or your strong significant other, needs to cut the foam pumpkin in half vertically leaving the stem intact. This was harder than we thought it would be! Then again, our knives aren't the sharpest. 

Cut it into half like this:

With this:

Now, just hot glue the half of the pumpkin with the stem attached into the middle of your picture frame! 

Like this:

I love the way these look and I think they will definitely add a cute touch of "fall" to your home or apt!

We Can All Relate...

Garrett stumbled across these " Truth's for Mature Human's" awhile back and I have been meaning to add them to our blog. They are just short little sentences but we could relate to almost everyone of them and I bet most of you can too! We got a kick out of them and felt that the conversations they sparked between us and the laughs they created needed to be shared with our nearest and dearest. We hope they make you smile and think about things a little differently! : )

Here goes:

1. I totally take back all of those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

2. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

3. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I am pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood!

4. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

5. I can't remember the last time I wasn't atleast kind of tired.

6. You never know when it will strike but there comes a time at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

7. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after BluRay? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

8. Do not machine wash or tumble dry means I will never wash this...ever.

9. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring but when I immediately call back it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

10. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

11. I think the freezer deserves a light as well. 

12. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet that on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than with Kay. 

13. I wish Google Maps had an "avoid ghetto" routing option.

14. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I am trying to finish a text.

15. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger. 

16. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they were saying?

17. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch three consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

18. As a driver I hate pedestrians and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

19. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you are sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far. 

20. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty and you can wear them forever.

I told you you could relate to some of these! And I bet atleast a couple made you laugh? I hope so and I hope that you had a great weekend! 

Bring on Monday...

Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies

Happy Friday y'all!

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Butter, Softened

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Cups Rolled Oats

1 Cup semisweet chocolate pieces (6 ounces)

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for about 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda; beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Then, with a spoon, or your mixer, stir in the remaining flour, the oats, and chocolate pieces.

2. Drop dough from rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

3. Bake on 375 degree for about 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

We hope everyone has a great weekend!

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese!

What's more comforting than a big bowl of Mac and Cheese? Absolutely nothing! 

After trying the Pioneer Woman's Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork recipe ( learn how to make that here ) we decided she could do no wrong and opted for trying out the mac and cheese recipe we eagerly watched her make on her show. It turned out absolutely delicious!

To make the best Macaroni and Cheese you will ever eat, you will need:

4 Cups Dried Macaroni

1 Whole Egg, Beaten

1/4 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

2 and 1/2 Cups Whole Milk

2 Teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard

1 Pound Grated Cheese (we used sharp cheddar)

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

* This will make about 6 servings of Mac and Cheese. AKA delicious leftovers! If you want to make less just cut the ingredients down. Not wanting to do math, I used what is called for. 

You will need to:

1. Cook the Macaroni until it is almost ready but not quite. You want the noodle to be a little tough because you will bake them later which will finish the cooking process. I tested a noodle after about 5 minutes and they were close to being ready. In a nutshell from Ree Drummond herself: undercook the macaroni! Also, go ahead and add a teaspoon of salt or so to the water.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl whisk the egg and set aside.

3. In a large saucepan or dutch oven, melt 1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 4 tablespoons) of butter. Sprinkle in an equal amount (4 tablespoons) of flour. Whisk the mixture together over low heat until totally combined. Be careful not to burn!

4. Then continue cooking for around 5 minutes, whisking constantly.

It will look like this:

5. Pour in 2 and 1/2 cups of whole milk. Immediately dump in your 2 teaspoons of dry mustard. Now, cook the mixture for about 5 more minutes. Keep up the whisking! It will thicken. After about 5 minutes reduce the heat to low.

6. Now, use a 1/4 cup measuring spoon to get some of the mixture you just made and add it to the egg that was beaten earlier. You want to add this slowly so that the egg doesn't scramble. Keep whisking as you add the mixture to the egg until the mixture is somewhat cooled. This is just to help keep the egg from cooking when you add it to the rest of the mixture. 

7. Now you dump the egg into the pan. Whisk it together until combined. 

8. Now for the cheese! Dump in all but 1/2 cup of the grated cheese.

This much cheese = the cheesiest, yummiest mac and cheese ever!

9. Stir the cheese into the mixture until it is completely melted. Once melted, go ahead and turn off the heat. 

 All melted:

 10. Now you want to season the sauce. Garrett and I used only salt (1/2 teaspoon) and pepper ( to taste. We used quite a bit) but you can use whatever you like. Seasoned salt (1/2 teaspoon) would be great to add as well. Be careful not to under salt the sauce, it needs quite a bit to bring the flavor to it's best!

11. Now you are ready to mix the cheese sauce with the macaroni! Dump the macaroni in with the sauce and stir until it is completely coated. We used a little less of the noodles than we made just to keep it extra creamy but just add whatever amount to get the consistency that you desire!

12. Now, go ahead. Just taste a little. You know you want to! Once you are through with your taste test,  pour the macaroni and cheese into a buttered baking dish. Add the rest of the grated cheese (1/2 cup) left over from earlier to the top of the dish.

13. Bake it for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown!

Like this:

Let it cool and dig in! Man my mouth is watering now!

We hope y'all love this as much as we did. In our opinion, it is the best macaroni and cheese we have ever had! 

If you want to follow or use Ree Drummond's (Pioneer Woman's) website as a reference you can find that here.

Happy baking! : )

Zac Brown Band Concert!

So, we finally attended our first concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater! Let me tell ya, that venue is absolutely awesome! Outdoors, in the mountains, nice cool weather....so perfect! Except that it rained on us the whole time and we, like idiots, didn't bring jackets or an umbrella. But other than that, perfect!

The concert was great. Those guys are awesome musicians! I guess the people who handle the Grammy and ACM nominations know what they are talking about! I mean, they nominated/awarded these guys AND Taylor Swift? Smart fellers! : )

Here are a couple pictures from our night:

Our little "taste" of Texas for the night. My sweet dad paid for our dinner from home. Thanks dad!

It doesn't say so on the front of the menu, but did you know they have fried pickles there!? Not as good as Skeet's but still pretty good!

My handsome hubs at dinner! : )

Finally made it halfway up the ramp at Red Rocks! I made him stop and take a picture so I could take a breather!

See the parking lot past that building? Our car is in there somewhere. It may not look like a rough walk but it is a workout to get into the amphitheater! A long, uphill, workout! It was worth it though!

 We made it up the ramp and up the stairs to our seats!

Notice the people on the left putting their rain jackets on. Smart people. I wish we had those.

Cold, a little wet, and excited about Zac Brown!

They light up the rocks in different colors throughout the concerts. This was my favorite color!

Zac Brown Band! 

We sat kind of far away. And my nice camera wasn't allowed into the concert. Talk about making me mad! I guess I should've already known. But I didn't.

And since we sat too far for my little camera to zoom effectively, I stole some pictures from 98.5 KYGO's website. So what.

Atleast someone was allowed in with a nice camera!

We are towards the middle left. If you squint REALLY hard you may be able to pick us out of the crowd. If you can, that means you have super powers. Pat yourself on the back.

Getting after it!

Not only did I steal those pictures from a radio station, I also recorded a video while at the concert even though I wasn't supposed to. Please don't be disappointed mom! I did it so that you and dad and a couple of other people could feel like you were there with us! : )

Knee Deep by Zac Brown Band @ Red Rocks Amphitheater!

Now, don't you feel like you were there?

Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork

Garrett and I got this recipe from my sweet little mother-in-law Julie Cypert who got the recipe from sweet little Cayley Wilburn who got the recipe from the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummons. (From watching her show I would label her sweet as well!)  So, to all three of you:  a huge THANK YOU!

This is our newest favorite thing to make. By far. Even more than dessert if you can beleive that coming from me! It is so simple and yields so much deliciousness for the amount of effort it takes. Also, you get left over goodness for several days! 

Ok, I will stop blabbing and give you what you want, the recipe!

You will need:

1 Whole Onion (Don't worry if you don't like onions, I don't either. They are there for flavor and can be removed afterwards!)

1 Whole Pork Loin

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Can (11 ounce) Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce (These can be removed after cooking also!)

2 Cans Dr. Pepper

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar

What you need to do:

0. Keep in mind these instructions are very simple. I just like to blab alot so they look long and complicated. 

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Peel the onion and cut into wedges. Lay the wedges in the bottom of a big dish that you can use to bake in. Keep in mind it needs to be big enough to fit the roast and 2 cans of Dr. Pepper!

2. Generously salt and pepper the pork and then lay it on top of the onions in the dish, fat-side up.

3. Pour the can of Chipotle peppers with Adobo sauce right over the pork and onions. If you are a little wary of using these peppers, don't be! Even if you aren't a huge fan of spiciness you can pull the meat you eat from the inside rather than what was cooked near the peppers. They give it a wonderful taste!

4. Now, pour 2 cans of Dr. Pepper into the dish with the other ingredients! ( If 2 cans doesn't look like enough you can always add more.We ended up adding more because it wasn't covering the meat.) Sounds strange but it gives the pork it's sweetness! Also, speaking of sweetness, you can now add the brown sugar.

Before baking:

 5. Cover your roast with a lid, or foil, and bake at 300 for atleast 6 hours. Sounds like forever, and it is, but beleive me it is worth it! This is what keeps the meat tender and moist and fall-apart-in-your-hands yummy! Also, you will need to flip the pork over atleast once during cooking. We usually do it about half way through the cooking process.

6. Once the 6 hours is up you are ready to go! Well, I take that back. Let it cool or you will burn your hands, mouth, and tummy and that's no good. However, once it is cool, dig on in! You can either leave it in the dish and liquid it was cooked in (that's what we do) or you can go ahead and "shred" it with a fork and store it in another container. Either way, I would keep at least some of the cooking liquid with it for moisture!

After cooking:

We like to eat ours on corn tortillas with cheese but it is also great on a sandwich or just by itself! Be creative!

Looks delicious doesn't it?

I hope y'all love this as much as we do!

Also, if you haven't watched Pioneer Woman on Food Network, do it! She makes wonderful things!

Happy cooking! : )

Lazy Day Weekend...I Mean Labor

Labor Day weekend was pretty great here at the Cypert household. Or, apartmenthold I guess would be more appropriate. Before the weekend had arrived we planned on doing quite a few different things: Visiting Mount Evans, getting our bellies filled at Taste of Colorado, cooking burgers and hot dogs on our FREE Craigslist grill, painting our newly acquired antique door/table, and of course getting 7 for $25.50 panties at Victoria's Secret (Garrett will kill me if I don't clarify that obviously the panties were my idea)! 

Sadly, we were too lazy to get some of these things done but we did make it to Mount Evans, I got my 7 pairs of undies at a great price, and we made a yummy Lemon Meringue pie that was previously blogged about. Oh, and of course we grilled burgers and hot dogs. Basically, it was extreme labor day for our digestive system and that was about the only labor being done around here!

Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend:

Stopping on the way up to Mount Evans Summit. Cheesy picture I know...

This lake was breathtaking!

Favorite picture!

 We saw a herd of Mountain Goats! Look at the baby's tongue! : )

Made it to the top!

 

This little guy was adorable. He kept tearing up pine cones and they were falling down onto our heads.

Had to add a picture of our pie! : )

And sadly I don't have a picture of the 7 pairs of undies I picked out to add today. Hey, don't laugh! You know that 7 for 25 bucks is a great deal! : )

I hope you all had a GREAT Labor Day weekend!