Christmas in Mexico

We are back from Mexico. It was fun and very warm (so happy about that). The only problem was travelling home. I will finish this post later because we have been travelling for 30 hours thanks to Frontier Airlines. Off to bed for us.

Christmas Tree Cookies

Robert and I have started Christmas baking. It just wouldn't be Christmas without cream cheese brownies, magic cookie bars, sugar cookies, and of course Christmas Tree Cookies. Cream cheese brownies and magic cookie bars come my mom's side of the family, and sugar cookies and Christmas Tree Cookies come from my dad's side of the family. We have these every year without fail. My mom was great and always let us help even though it would have been easier and faster to just do it herself. Grandma Duffy has the best sugar cookie recipe. Jan and Ann gave it to me at the family shower. Our family has never found a better one. The cookies stay nice and soft for days afterwards and they are yummy.

Christmas Tree Cookies are good but can be a chore to make. You need a cookie press and the one my mom (and hence the kids) used was one that you had to screw down and then you had to bend over and check the bottom of the cookie press to see how much dough was coming out. Grandma Duffy bought a cookie press for my parents when they got married and taught my mom how to make them. Robert and I received a cookie press for our wedding and I decided to make the cookies today after we came home at seven from studying for the final. I was prepared for a long night of baking when, lo and behold, I was done and my kitchen cleaned in less than an hour. The reason? My cookie press is totally awesome. It has a hand trigger that you squeeze and it doles out the perfect amount or dough, no twisting the handle or having to crane you neck to get the job done. I was shocked. I called my parents and they said "no fair, Christmas Tree Cookies are supposed to be a chore." They used to be but not anymore. Thank you Crate and Barrel for making a totally awesome cookie press. Now, onto more finals. sigh.

Death to Finals!

Finals are almost done. We have one left tomorrow and then we are done and free until next semester. My computer crashed during our business associations final. Thanks computer, really, you shouldn't have. So I had to grad a bluebook and finish my final by hand while everyone else had their computers. Robert saw what happened but he couldn't do anything about it. They were able to get most of my computer final off of my backup final, but I lost about twenty minutes of my final (bad grade here we come, oh goody). We had Professional Responsibility on Friday, it was a normal final. We went to dinner and ice cream with some of out law school friends and it was great to be able to see them all outside of school.

Monday we had Geek Night 2. It all started with a movie that we had to watch for one of out classes. The Ellises, Smiths, and us all had the same class and decided to watch it together to get it done (there was a question on the final that asked if we had watched it this semester). We started playing video games and then we organized an official Geek Night for the following week. We are all geeks/nerds by default because if you are in law school you are a nerd. It's a fact. So we had another one. We had the Shills and Jackie come and it was so much fun. We just bring snacks and play a ton of video games, including the original Nintendo. So we had a little break and even some fun during crazy, stressful finals.

We're Back

Sooooo it's been a while. Before I get flamed there was Thanksgiving, and then one week before finals started. We have four finals in four days this week and it sucks (sorry for the language but it really does). We had evidence yesterday and the test was so hard it sucked out my will to live. I walked out of there convinced that I failed it. Well, everyone else thinks that they failed it too so with the curve I may be okay. We had trusts today and both Robert and I feel that we did well. Business Associations is tomorrow. It has been our least favorite class and it appears that the final won't disappoint. Friday is Professional Responsibility and then we will be done until next Thursday when we had Real Estate Finance.

My Visiting Teacher is so awesome she found out about our crazy schedule and brought us dinner tonight. Well, this was my study break so back to un-fun stuff.

We are Sick

We got hit with the flu/cold bug this week. Robert has a nasty cold and he tweaked his shoulder wrong when he slept and is in a lot of pain. I have to flu. Not fun; especially when we had a test today and finals are in three weeks. We have four finals in four days. Yikes. That is a lot. Each final is three hours in length. We type on our computers the whole time. We cannot cheat even though we use computers. We install a program that administers the exam; it locks us out of everything on our computer but the exam. They also video tape the exam to see if anyone if cheating. Personally, I would turn someone in if I saw them cheating.

Mom, Dad, Shaun, Christine, and Grandma and Grandpa are in town. We were supposed to go to MoTab with them tonight, but being sick we decided to stay home and get better so we are not sick for finals. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving.

Pizza

Yummy Finished Pizza

Pizza About to be cooked

Tonight Robert and I had pizza for dinner...homemade pizza. When we were engaged we went to the Smith's house for a couple get together. We played 'Settlers of Catan' and made homemade pizza. I asked Maret for the pizza dough recipe and she gave it to me.

4 1/2 cups flour
1tsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cup water

Mix together dry ingredients. Add olive oil and water. I use my Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook attachment to make the dough. After it is moistened I let it continue to mix for about five minutes to knead the dough well. Take the bowl from the mixer and place a clean cloth over it (dish towels work well for this). Let the dough rise for an hour. (hint: yeast needs to be stored in the refrigerator but makes dough rise in warmth. Make sure the water is warm and it will help dough rise faster).

The recipe yields two pizzas. When dough has finished rising, take half the dough and shape it into a pizza (I use a rolling pin because I cannot toss the dough). Then spread with sauce, cheese and toppings. (I use ragu pizza sauce; I also like grating the mozzarella myself, it melts better).

Cook the pizza on 450 degrees until cheese is melted and dough is your preferred crispness.

I use a pizza stone for this. The stone needs to be placed in a cold oven and heated to 450 degrees. I put the stone in when I turn the oven on. I pull the stone out of the over and place the dough on the stone. I add the sauce, cheese, and toppings to it then, then I pop it back into the over. Yuuummmm!! (If the stone is not thoroughly heated the dough will never fully cook)

The dough freezes well. The yeast will still 'work' as long as it is not frozen for a very long time. Just prepare the dough and freeze it in a plastic tupperware. When ready to use remove it and allow it to rise (it will take longer than an hour).

Friday Fun

Our morning classes were cancelled so we went to the Temple and then to our afternoon class (evidence). Robert had to work for a few hours so I made dinner and then went to pick him up. We had spaghetti (yum) and then off to Divine Comedy with the Ellis's. This time they did Nickelcade Royale; it was pretty funny. Then we went to the Ellis's to watch A Man for All Seasons. We have to watch the movie and contrast certain characters for Professional Responsibility. It was pretty fun. We started playing GameCube after the movie and then somehow we started playing the original Nintendo. It was so much fun. Around 1:30 am we came home. I have not stayed up that late in years (okay so probably more like months) and now I am tired today and I have to clean (I love cleaning).