Soup Swap

Did you know that yesterday was National Soup Swap Day? It's true! To celebrate, I hosted my First Annual Soup Swap! It works like this: I invited about 8 friends to each make 6 quarts of their favorite soup. They divided them up into six (one quart) containers, froze them, and brought them to the swap.




After enjoying lunch (Hawaiian Haystacks, a Mormon favorite, and banana muffins) we went around and told about our soup (what was in it, what it's good to serve with with, any toppings to be added, etc.) Then we let the swapping begin!


Everyone drew a number. The first person chose one container of soup to take home, then the second, and so on. Then we repeated this cycle until all of the soup was gone!

I came away with six different containers of soup to enjoy at a later date. I received Taco Soup, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Veggie Chili, Regular Chili, and Baked Potato Soup. I made a yummy, healthy soup called Gypsy Soup.



Some of the Swappers

It was so much fun. I can't wait to pull out one of my soups for dinner when I don't feel like cooking. I love opening my freezer and seeing all of the soup goodness! Nothing like a warm bowl of soup on a cold winter's night.





Lucky me, I had a sous-chef to help me in the kitchen.

Crickets, Sweaters and Cocoa...Oh My!

Brandon, Patrick and Stoney Basking in Sweater Beauty

As you probably know by now, I love to entertain. This last weekend we had a Christmas party and invited 8 couples. We required all guests to wear Ugly Christmas Sweaters, which apparently is quite the trend nowadays. I had to search many, many thrift stores to find attire for myself and for Brandon. They are hot commodities! My friend Shannon had to resort to making one for her husband, Patrick (pictured in the middle in the picture above). Is she crafty or what? The lights on the trees even lit up!

I made all the guests join me in playing Christmas songs on chimes. Each person gets one chime which is labeled with a number. I had posters of Christmas songs and each person hits their chime when the number comes up. Everyone was skeptical at first, but it ended up being a hit!

We did a white elephant gift exchange. One of the gifts was a box of live crickets that caused quite a stir. There were some other clever gifts like one that included a can of beans, a bottle of Beano, and some air freshener. Nothing like mature adults laughing about passing gas!

'Tis the season to overindulge...I had all the guests bring an appetizer to share and we ended up with a great assortment of food...spinach dip, veggie pizza (thanks, Holly!), orange rolls, fruit and dip, taquitos, shrimp and more. All of this yummy holiday eating is helping increase my girth until soon I will resemble Old Saint Nick.

Brooke and Holly

I decided to put out a hot chocolate bar. I made a big pot of hot cocoa on the stove, and then put out a tray with all kinds of things to mix in.

Cookies for dunking were also a necessity.

For my centerpiece, I used an easy idea I got from my Mom. Take three glass cylinders, fill halfway with real leaves (I clipped mine off of the bushes in my front yard), pour in some real cranberries, fill with water, and float a candle on top. They are simple, but I think they are so beautiful. (They will last for a week or so.)

Brandon ended up with a wooden tie (yes, made of wood) after the gift exchange. He kept threatening to wear it to church on Sunday, but thankfully, he did not. Knowing him, I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to wear it to work. Would you buy furniture from a man in a wooden tie?

Are we hot or what? Look out, Brad and Angelina!

I'm already trying to think of the next reason to have a party. Martin Luther King Day?

Remember Me?

After much pondering, prayer, and harassment from family and friends, I am sheepishly returning from my nearly six month blogging hiatus! Here's what I have learned about blogging:

once you stop, it's hard to start again (it's the opposite of what happens when you eat Pringles). You miss a week, a month, and it's a slippery slope from there. So, because I do want to document my life and the life of my child, I am resolutely resolving (how's that for a tongue twister?) to be a better blogger. If you want to come along for the ride, that's fine too!

Last night, Brandon and I hosted our first annual Halloween party. Costumes were required; children were forbidden. We invited 8 couples to come in costume for a night of merriment and mayhem (okay, not much mayhem occurred). I think it was a smashing success. I hope my guests would agree. We dined on baked potatoes, chili, rolls, salad and cookies.

We had a costume contest.

(Yes, you can hire me for your daughter's Disney princess birthday party.)

We had old people.

We had pirates:My cousin Shelby and her husband, Tom.

(I only recently met her, but that's a story for another day!)

We had '80's punk rockers.

Everyone had fantastic costumes. We laughed and played games and enjoyed the freedom of being childless for a few hours. I can't wait for next year!

(Oh, one more thing. I decided to make my blog public again and just be more careful about what I write. Please don't share this blog with any of your friends who are dangerous stalkers.)

Entertaining the Masses

I love to entertain. SO, last night, Brandon and I had eight couples over for game night. Yes, EIGHT! I invited so many because I figured half of them wouldn't be able to come. Everyone came! I was happy about this because I really like all the people I invited-however, such a large group would have made it hard to play the new game I got for Christmas, Things, or my other favorite game, Perudo. I felt it was necessary to come up with an alternate game that everyone could play together. I decided we should all play the Newlywed Game. You've played this game, right? First the wives are asked questions about the husbands, then the husbands answer the questions and see if the wives were right. If a couple has the same answer, they get a point. Then you switch and ask the husbands the questions. We have played this game at parties before and it can be really funny and entertaining. I told Brandon about my plan and he kindly reminded me that the last time we played this game, we got in a huge fight over one of our answers. I decided that I would just ask the questions and we wouldn't play. The guests arrived and we chatted and ate for a while, and then started the game. It turns out that the game took forever, husbands and wives were turning against each other and the men starting moaning about how this game always made them have to sleep on the couch. After the game was over (an hour and half later), my guests seemed bored and worn out. No one wanted to play any other games. I began to worry that people weren't having a good time. I always feel obligated to ensure that everyone enjoys themselves and feels comfortable. I looked around and noticed that one girl wasn't talking with anybody and another guy was being left out of the male conversation in the room. At this point, Addyson starting whining to be fed so I had to leave the room for a while. When I came back, all the couples but two had left to go home (it was 10:00ish and they all had babysitters). I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone. Overall, the evening was very anti-climatic, left a bad taste in my mouth and I ended up feeling deflated. Of course, I worried that my guests thought the party was lame. Though I enjoy it, I always stress about entertaining. The actual event usually turns out to be not as great as I build it up in my mind to be before hand.


The best thing about the evening was the food. We had quite a spread of artichoke dip, spinach dip, seven layer dip, homemade salsa, cookies, and guacamole. I made stuffed mushrooms. They were delicious and pretty easy to make. This is what they looked like before I put them in the oven.

Get the recipe here. Tip: if you ever make these, use a mini-muffin tin to bake them. They fit perfectly and then they don't roll around on the cookie sheet.


***Do you like The Newlywed Game? What is your favorite party game? Do you stress about entertaining and worry that your guests didn't have fun? Do you like stuffed mushrooms?***