M&M

Some of you might recall a time when I had a candy dish full of M&M's in my room. I knew that people would eat them from time to time, but at one point they were dissapearing pretty quickly. When I brought it up at the dinner table everyone assured me that they weren't eating them. I asked all the brothers and they denied guilt. Scott admitted to eating a couple when I wasn't there, but not enough to account for a rapid drop in my M&M supply. I couldn't believe that nobody was guilty in the dissapearance of so many M&Ms. Finally Mom spoke up and admitted to sneaking into my room while I was at school. In fact she snuck in several times a day to fulfill her chocolate-in-a-crunchy-candy-shell cravings.

Fine Foods

As you all know the new movie, Ratatouille just came out, and one of the main themes of the movie is "anyone can cook." Remy also says that his favorite thing about humans is that we don't just survive we thrive and create things. So I got to thinking about food and how much I love food, and what are some of the reasons that I love food. Here are some of those factors.

TASTE - This is the most important aspect of food. Like Remy says it is what sets us humans apart from other living creatures. We create food. There are endless possbilities for what we can create, and how good it can taste.

PRESENTATION - This is important for social events. Some foods like goulash might taste really good, but presentation is poor. I have found that a lot of people like to add red, green and yellow peppers to food to add bright color and enhance the presentation. I suppose that food can be as much of a visual art as a palpatory one. In my opinion you should taste should not suffer at the expense of presentation (especially if you are preparing food for a blind group.)

PORTIONS / QUANTITY - If you would have asked me during my teenage years I would have said that quantity is slightly more important than quality. However, I have rethought this philosophy a little more recently, and have realized that high quality and flavor is more important than mere quantity. Buffets just don't have the same appeal as they did when I was younger. (However, there are some expensive ones that have really high quality food).

HEALTH - The main reason for eating is to survive, so health is important. However, I don't think that you should make it the focus of your eating habits. I mean food still has to taste good otherwise you can just eat lettuce and plain cooked chicken with no flavor. Of course if you get food fresh from a garden you get the best of both worlds, full of flavor and organic and healthier. I find that heath ends up being more of a theme in and of its self when talking about food. Usually when health is the main reason for eating, quantity, taste, and presentation are all irrelevant.

Fajita Faux Pas

Grandma and Grandpa Nichols came over and were visiting Mom & Dad's house tonight. Grandma Nichols was helping Mom make the fajita dinner. Tonight as Scott was mixing the fajitas he noticed that there were some stickers in with the bell peppers and onions. He asked about it and Mom esclaimed, "Well who put those stickers in there?!" as Grandma walked by.

This experience reminds me of a time when a coke exploded in the freezer. All of us kids were lined up in the kitchen and Dad asked us which one had left the coke in the freezer. I don't know why he thought it was us, because we didn't even drink coke - ever. Well after telling him we didn't do it, he then asked us one by one and still the answer was that we were not the culprits. When he was on the verge of asking again Grandma Nichols walked by saw the freezer open and the coke can on the counter and exclaimed, "I forgot all about my coke last night!" Dad promptly told us to go upstairs and get ready for church.

Halloween Day

Here are some pictures from the Halloween party at work (SitesUSA) and some more pictures later on at Mark and Caroline's house. For some reason I didn't have any pictures of Braiden. I am sure that someone else got some pictures of his awesome dragon costume. We had lots of fun going "Trick or Treating" with Braiden Lacey and Kloey. Oh and the prize for Most Costumes in One Day goes to Scott. Jen and Corey maybe you guys can add some of your own pictures.

Of course we all had a fun time at the 12 Oaks Third Ward Halloween party. I didn't get pictures there but hopefully someone else did. If you weren't a braut lover before the party you are sure to be one afterwards! Oh yeah, we will be eating brauts this Thanksgiving and Christmas too!