The only thing that gets to me about Utah weather is what a tease it is. Last week, we had three days that were almost HOT. It got up to 74 degrees and our kids actually got slightly sunburned playing outside. It was a beautiful thing. People were wearing shorts, t-shirts, flip flops (well, I wear flip flops all year round...so that didn't change for me) and working in the yard. Annnnnnnd today....as I sit here blogging about these three beautiful days, we are currently being blessed with a snowstorm. Fiddlesticks. I hate that. Strike that...hate is a strong word....I really dislike that a LOT. It's not really the snow that bothers me. If it would STAY like this and then POOF!, be spring, then that would be fab! But this whole...."74 degrees one day, 32 degrees the next" thing is enough to drive anyone insane. It's just sad. When I look out the window at the snow, I just want to cry. But I don't...cuz that would be a dumb thing to cry about and there are way too many things to be happy about anyway. LOL! Soooo anyway....back to last week when we had three fabulous days of 74 degree weather....
As soon as it warms up even SLIGHTLY here in the cul-de-sac, we are chomping at the bit to get our weekly BBQs going. So, last Saturday, my neighbor Jed, "Master Griller," fired up the grill and we celebrated the temporary warmness with our first BBQ of the season. Life in the cul-de-sac is a funny thing. We are together just about EVERY SINGLE DAY during the spring and summer...and then come winter, EVERYONE HIBERNATES...literally. So on Saturday, we were all out "getting reacquainted" and catching up with everything that had gone on while we were shut ins for the winter......one neighbor is pregnant and due in 2 months (which we didn't even know about at the end of the fall BBQ months), a new little one is finally walking and has grown so much, so-and-so lost 30 lbs, I lost 19 pounds and have a crazy fun new hair color, one neighbor grew out his hair really long and so did his wife and the kids have all grown a few inches... It's hilarious.....so many things change in the space of a few months where we LITERALLY don't even have contact with each other (other than the few that are members of the LDS Church that we see briefly on Sundays). It's good times. :-) And in this little "getting reacqainted session," I learned that one of my neighbors actually graduated FROM MY HIGH SCHOOl the SAME YEAR I DID and that we know all of the same people. What the crud? Not sure how we never figured that out until not. Oh yay...good times! (Pics below are Saunie & Neil and Jed {Master BBQer} & Angela. Pic in this paragraph is of me and Dania...her hubby was 4-wheelin' this weekend.)
Not only do we all get excited about the BBQs because of the time we get to spend with each other (we seriously have a ROCKIN' group of neighbors!!!), but we are MASTERS at creating the best BBQ food spreads EVER!!! I look forward to every BBQ every week, because I almost always try a brand new recipe that I've never tried before. And this past Saturday, on our very first bbq of the season, I picked a WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!! I decided to try out a recipe for Ultimate Scalloped Potatoes..and good gracious...they are HEAVENLY! While everyone ate the other delicious dishes, I was a good girl and had my turkey burger (without a bun) and orange slices....but I did have to at least try my potatoes to make sure that they were good. And "good" doesn't even do them justice. WOWSAH....delish! LIkely some of the best potatoes I've ever had!!! So of COURSE, I have GOT to pass along the recipe to you. So with this new recipe, we now start a new season of DELICIOUS new recipes here on {unwrapped}. YAY!!!! (Although with the snow this week, I'm not seeing another BBQ in the near future.....but when we do, I will most definitely have another tasty dish to share with you!!)
ULTIMATE SCALLOPED POTATOES
1 tsp. butter or margarine, softened
1 C. heavy whipping cream
1/3 C. milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed (or I used a few dashes of minced garlic)
6 medium potatoes
1 C. shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 C. shredded Parmesan cheese
Grease a shallow 1 1/2 qt. baking dish with the butter; set aside. In a saucepan, combine cream, milk, salt, pepper & garlic. Cook just until bubbles begin to form around sides of pan. Remove from the heat; cool for 10 minutes.
Peel and thinly slice the potatoes; pat dry with paper towels. Layer half of the potatoes in prepared baking dish; top with half of the cream mixture and half of the cheeses. Repeat layers. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving. ENJOY!!!
I think I've mentioned this before, but when our cute neighbor Dania moved in, I could NOT believe how much she looked like Marisa Tomei!!! It's uncanny. I mentioned it to her and she said that she hears that quite often actually. Crazy. So today I decided to do a side by side for ya.
Crazy huh! Dania is so gorgeous..but the funny thing is, she will NOT look at the camera!!! It's so funny...in every picture, she looks somewhere different, but NEVER at the camera. We tried to take some pics with the girls at the BBQ...LOVE how these cute pics turned out and had to laugh at Dania moving her head around or just being silly... :-)
BUT....oooh oooh OOOOOH...after like 60 bazillion pics, we ACTUALLY managed to FINALLY get her to look at the camera for a BRIEF second...and Chas caught it! HAPPY DAAAAAAAY! Love this pic and love these girls....Angela, Dania & Saunie. GOOD TIMES in our circle! YAY!
Hoping that once it warms up a little more, more of our friends from the cul-de-sac will join us for the BBQs, but the four of us are really the diehard BBQers in the circle....we BBQ until it's so freezing that we are FORCED to stop and start up again as soon as the slightest HINT of warm weather comes around. LOL! Unfortunately, it looks like we may have to skip this week due to snow, but you can bet that as soon as the sun comes out and it warms up JUST ENOUGH for our fingers and toes to not turn blue, that we will be out there gettin' our GRILL ON! :-)
I don't know about you....but you guys need to start your own reality TV series about your culdesac. : D So cool! Awesome fun!
Posted by: lynn Crapo | March 25, 2009 at 12:49 PM
WAH!!! it's blizzarding here today. You are such a tease! I'm glad someone on this continent is enjoying nice weather, though - and those pics are too fun! now, HOW do you get your hair to do that thingy in the front? Seriously. I want to "Heather D. White" my hair! (Isn't it great to be a verb?)
Posted by: Bobbi-Jo Grunewald | March 25, 2009 at 08:31 PM
Hey, Heather, glad I checked in to live vicariously...here in the Northwest we're still stuck in the 30's and drizzle...I know what you mean about living next door to someone and not seeing them for 5 or 6 months - lots can happen! And good on the self-control...I might have to try the potatoes, but just a taste!
Posted by: Kirsten | March 25, 2009 at 10:04 PM
She really does look like Marisa Tomei!
Posted by: Heather | March 26, 2009 at 03:10 PM