Thanksgiving weekend

This weekend was insane. We took the nephews to the Nickelcade and Taco Amigo, which we all had a blast! I can definitely see this becoming a tradition. We LOVE being aunts and uncles!

Ran a 5k on the buttcrack of dawn Thanksgiving morning. I pulled something in my abdomen halfway through so I had to walk the rest (boooo.. but at least I beat the kid in a back brace! barely.) Braden did amazing at just over 30 minutes. Neat fact: Braden's wearing my number from last year!

Shopped our hearts out at the Riverwoods. So pretty when it's all lit up for Christmas.

Went to City Creek, my favorite mall as it's sooo pretty with its outdoor/indoor construction.

Wandered around Temple Square in SLC with hot chocolates. We listened to an amazing man play piano for half an hour in the JS Building. He didn't even play off of sheet music!

I had to elbow so many elderly couples and small children out of the way to get this photo. Haha kidding, but seriously, it was so insanely crowded.

Finished the night off with some Pat's BBQ in SLC. Reportedly the best BBQ in Utah by Guy Fieri. Having lived off of real Texas BBQ for two summers straight (and raised in Georgia), it was kind of a letdown. The sides were amazing however, and we might go back for that (red beans and rice, cornbread, glory hallelujah!)

Making Butter in the Blender

Blender Butter:

makes one stick of butter

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 tsp salt (to start)
• ice water

1. Pour the heavy cream and salt into your blender and "liquefy" for 3-5 minutes (sometimes it takes longer than that). You know you're almost there when it turns into whipped cream (more on that later). 1/4 tsp of salt keeps your butter light and almost a little sweet. If you prefer your butter salty, add 1/2 tsp of salt instead. 
2. Keep going until the butter separates from the buttermilk. Carefully drain the buttermilk out and keep in a separate container for pancakes! or cornbread! or biscuits! yum! 
3. Then you're going to pour the ice water (no ice!) into your blender and hit "liquefy" again to rinse your butter. Drain carefully. Do this about 3-4 more times until the water runs almost clear.
4. Take out your butter and pat carefully on a strainer to squeeze out the excess water and press it together.
5. Plop onto a sheet of saran wrap and wrap it up into a log and stick it in the fridge to form!

I prefer to keep it out so it's soft but always keep it in the fridge when you're not using it. There are no preservatives so this butter will not keep for very long. Good thing it's gone in less than a week at our house!

Ridiculously easy and sooo delicious! Made jalapeno cornbread and had this slathered all over it! Also amazing on crusty bread (quickly run cold water from the sink over your french bread and stick it in the oven  at 350 for a couple minutes. Crusty on the outside, fluffy on the inside!)

Dinner at Happy Sushi

The ika looks like a baby squid!!

The attention to detail is great! Happy Sushi is the best sushi in Logan so I was a very happy girl!