Zinkes: New England Style

Justin & Ariane get shot…

vanessa — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:35:43 +0000

See more of their portraits HERE.

Posted in Ramblings

“It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark…”

vanessa — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:05:25 +0000

THRILLER!

On Wednesday, we gathered together as dance lovers, to learn Michael Jackson’s Thriller for the upcoming Stake Harvest Dance.

Meet the Dancers:

Chase & Missy

Justin & Ariane

Rick & my hot little self:

(Really, what’s not to like about this costume? I got so many looks…they’s all jealous.)

This is what you can get at the Salvation Army for 5 bucks:

Skirt, shirt and tights, and then make them your very own with scissors.

Oh, and that adorable little baby is Josie, Justin and Ariane’s little girl.

She had so much fun, it knocked her right out!

Here is some footage of our dance. Yes, the dance that we practiced for over 6 hours. We all knew the dance and we were ready to RAWK IT!

Yeah, did you catch the parts where I totally forgot the moves? Yeah, like most of it?

I was so excited about hearing the music, that I totally lost count and focus and it was a mess, but hilarious all at the same time.

I hope you get a good laugh, if anything.

My friend Savannah, the Nun!

Ben & Annie and their baby girl, Shiloh.

(Thanks for catching some of our dance moves on film!)

Here’s Shiloh in her adorable ducky costume. LOVE IT!

Savannah and her muchacho, Aaron

(Savannah, I love that you’re wearing his mustache!)

This is Jean. I met her at the dance, and she had to share with me how excited the thriller dance made her.

She was so nice and friendly, I had to include her in this post!

So I know you’re asking yourself, “Man, how did they learn that dance?” or, “I totally wanna learn THRILLER!”

Well, just click HERE to learn the moves, step by step!

Print out the dance script HERE.

We had so much fun practicing the dance.

(I think I need to order a brace for my neck, it hurts so bad.)

Special thanks to my friends for planning this and performing it!

The biggest props go to my husband, for agreeing to actually learn the moves and then perform it!

I was so proud of him.

(And he is NOT a dancer!)

But he did it!

And I bet he’d do it again.

ROCK ON THRILLER!

Happy Haunting!

Posted in Ramblings Tagged: harvest dance, nun costume, thriller dance, zombie costume

I’m Published!

vanessa — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:56:14 +0000

… Sort of!

Some of you may know Matt & Shari:

“they created the very first show to air on HGTV, the ever popular room by room. They hold the record for the longest running decorating show of their genre in TV history, 14 years and over 350 episodes. They developed the highest rated prime time decorating special on HGTV called “Christmas – room by room style”. More than a dozen additional specials were developed. Available in over 90 million homes, they have taught literally millions their detailed process of step by step decorating, improving the lives of many.”

About 4 weeks ago, I was contacted by Shari asking to feature my Gingerbread Houses for their November e-mailer and to feature it on their homepage.

“Why, those ol’ thangs?!” I was secretly flattered!

Jump on over to their WEBSITE and see what fun projects they are featuring for November.

From twice baked potatoes, to a simple Thanksgiving and a Tree for All Seasons.

They have tips for decorating, sewing, food, crafts, and more!

Thank you Matt & Shari for featuring my passion for Gingerbread Houses!

And to answer Shari’s question: Yes, believe you me, every ounce of candy is consumed from the gingerbread houses before we toss them!

Usually, it will take about 1.5 hour to make, cut and bake, then an additional 2-4 hours to decorate, depending on the complexity of the house.

So worth it, as it’s a fun activity for our family!

Posted in Ramblings

Butternut Squash Soup, Persimmons and Christmas Tree Shops…

vanessa — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:01:22 +0000

My mom ‘n me:

The first thing my mom asked, before she came out:

“Do you guys have a Christmas Tree Shops!?”

“Uh, ya, Don’t you just love a bargain, mom!?”

Well, we dropped in and found these awesome 3 tiered cupcake stands that were so cute!

“Yes, I do love a bargain!”

My mom insisted she buy it for me.

It was hard not to turn down her offer.

So I didn’t!

Thanks mom, I absolutely love it!

On Friday, I received a package from my grandma who lives in California. She has a persimmon tree.

She carefully boxed up over 15 persimmons for me, along with some chocolates and these little green things.

I am no sure what they are called. So I called grandma to find out.

“Grandma, what are those little green things called, that you sent?”

“I dunno, ‘little green things?!’..”

Whatever they are called they are so delicious. I remember eating them from her tree when I was little.

Rick even thought they were tasty.

Speaking of Butternut Squash, here is a delicious soup I made last week, vanessi-fied!

Coconut Curried Butternut Squash Soup

2 teaspoons EVOO

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 tablespoon ginger, minced

1/2 tablespoon curry powder

2 cups chicken broth

4 cups of butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can of light coconut milk (about 7-10 oz)

1 T lemon juice

In a large sauce pan, sauté onions in olive oil over medium heat, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ginger and curry and sauté another minute. Add broth, squash and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until squash is soft, about 10-15 minutes. Pour entire contents into a blender and puree. Pour back into sauce pan, add coconut milk and lemon juice. Stir and serve warm.

Posted in Ramblings, Recipes Tagged: butternut squash soup, coconut milk, persimmons

Monday In Montreal

vanessa — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:16:24 +0000

Arriving the day after we finished our trip with Rick’s family, my mother finally made it just in time for Foliage.

Needless to say, I was excited.

I was happy that a member of my family finally made it out to see us!

Monday in Montreal:

Sites were incredible.

Parrot man.

The weather was perfect!

The architecture breathtaking!

Although we really had no clue where we were going exactly, it was fun to explore!

Nothing says “Happy Haunting” like this store’s facade! Awesome, no?

Albeit creepy, it was well done and obviously impressive enough for me to capture it on film.

I wish I had names of these buildings, but you’ll just have to find out when you visit!

This reminded us of the Boston Duck Tours:

Rick diggin’ for a plate to add to his collection.

We both love Quebec’s Fleur De Lys everywhere!

The only time we’ve spent in the Montreal area is visiting the temple.

It was great to finally be IN Montreal and see what it’s all about!

Annie, we hope our next visit to Montreal includes a guided tour by YOU!

Posted in Ramblings Tagged: montreal canada, vacation to canada

Don’t be Jealous….

vanessa — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:17:58 +0000

…just because your husband can’t pull this off:

I’ll explain in the next post!

Happy Friday!

Posted in Ramblings

it all happened in a 12 Passenger Van

vanessa — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:55:51 +0000

1,500 miles

7-9 people

in a 12 passenger van

4 states

in 7 days!

Rick and I drove this passenger van from Burlington VT to Bahston MA.

We picked up his family near the airport and headed downtown to walk the Freedom Trail.

We walked through cemeteries…

Through memorials…

…past the Union Oyster House…

…across the street…

…to the North End…

…Through the Old North Church…

…up and down the streets of the Italian District…

…across a bridge and up the Bunker Hill Monument…

…a 15 minute wait for the ferry…

(iPhones are genius.)

…on the ferry…

(Rick’s adorable sister with her fancy new sassy hair-do that I just love! And Rick’s Mom)

…Rick’s dad re-living a Titanic moment…

…more ferry pics…

…and back to the Italian District to dine at Giacomo’s Ristorante, because Rachel Ray did, and so must we.

and it was AWESOME!

As you can see here, people are lining up around 4:30, for the restaurant to open and 5.

It’s a very intimate setting, and they squeeze you in.

The food is amazing! The pumpkin tortellini was incredible, but I understand that the butternut squash ravioli is to die for too.

Next, Kennebunk Maine for a good nights rest at a very old inn with much charm!

….we stopped by the Portland Head Lighthouse…

…and then on to the L.L.Bean Flagship Store in Freeport, Maine…

Then headed to Conway New Hampshire that night for a comfortable stay at the White Mountain Hotel.

I thought this hotel was a gem! It was built in the early 1990’s but it has the feel of a 1930’s or 40’s hotel.

It was beautiful!

The hotel sits at the base of this cliff that is breath-taking!

In North Conway, we found this wonderful breakfast joint called The Stairway Cafe. The food was fresh and delicious…

as was the ambiance…

…we drove through New Hampshire on the Kancamagus Highway…

…and stopped for photos…

…both scenic and portraits…

…and then drove to Burlington Vermont that evening…

…woke up the next morning…and drove out to South Hero for the Annual Apple Festival..and our huge van got stuck in the mud, which was promtply towed out by a local farmer and his tractor…

…then we ventured to Stowe for a behind the scenes tour of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory…

…exciting, eh?…

Beautiful Stowe

Sunday, we drove around and showed Rick’s family where he goes to Medical School: the lovely UVM campus on a crisp Autumn morning..

…then Family photos were in session:

Rick’s sister and husband flew to Burlington for the weekend. We were so happy they could join us for this leg of the trip!

Rick, Moi, Ma ‘n Pops, Kevin (Rick’s brother)

Dana (Rick’s sister) & Blake, Torben & Cara (Rick’s oldest sister)

Monday morning, bags were packed, and we headed to Sharon VT for a visit to the Joseph Smith Birthplace…

A modern day prophet called of God the restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ back to the earth in this last dispensation.

We then drove on to Portsmouth NH and made our way down the NH coastline towards Massachusetts…

One of the MAJOR highlights was this little place called The Beach Plum

I thought the prices were a little steep for a soft serve cone…

…until they gave them to us.

They were HUGE! This is a “small” that Kevin is holding.

The “kiddie” size is about an inch lower.

We were in hysterics when they handed the cones through the sliding glass window.

It was unreal!

…our visit to Salem MA consisted of jumping out of our car for a photo or two, then back on the road again…

…to Hahvard Square… until night fell upon us…

…then we headed back to our hotel…

and called it a night!

The following morning, we visited the historical sites in Lexington and Concord…

without my camera. I sometimes usually get sick of hauling that sucker around.

We dropped all the family off at the airport that afternoon and Rick and I headed home, all alone in that 12 passenger van.

It was a trip that took us all over New England and I was able to get to know my in-laws better and see more of New Hampshire.

That was a treat!

Thank you Rich and Janna for making it happen! We love you guys!

My mom arrived the next day.

Annie Makes an Apple Pie!

vanessa — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:23:48 +0000

Last week, four Young Women from Church were invited over to my house to learn how to bake an apple pie.

I made one that afternoon, to serve them while the pie they made would be baking in the oven.

We had an hour to put together our pie. They did awesome.

I was so impressed with the way it turned out.

It was delicious!

I took some left overs to my friend, Annie.

Next thing you know, we’re making a third pie the very next day.

Annie honing her culinary skills in my kitchen, with her 3.5 month old kid attached!

She’s multi-talented!

(We had to take pictures so that her husband would believe that she did, indeed, make this pie!)

Filling the pie shell with apples, as high as we could go!

Cutting out shapes for the top.

Drizzled with caramel.

Viola, a totally awesome, best tasting pie, EVER!

Perfect Apple Pie

Perfect Pie Crust: (by Ina Garten)

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) very cold butter

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening

6 to 8 tablespoons; (about 1/2 cup) of ice water

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor* fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Divide into 2 pieces, wrapping each piece in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, at least. (Be careful not to overwork the dough. With warm hands, the butter has the potential to melt, and we want the butter to remain in little chunks.) *A pastry cutter is an alternative. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to dry mixture, once butter and shortening are incorporated.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

While the dough is chilling, prepare

Pie Filling:

8- 10 Granny Smith apples* – peeled, cored and quartered

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1 tablespoon flour

Cut each apple quarter in thirds crosswise and combine in a bowl with cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and flour. Set aside. (I like the thick apple slices, so they don’t cook down into oblivion in the oven, and end up being a pile of apple puree.) * I used a mixture of Cortland, Macintosh and Granny Smith. Awesome combination!

Caramel:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons water

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer. Remove from heat after a few minutes. All the sugars should be dissolved and the mixture should be saucy, not gritty. Add vanilla. Set aside.

Assembly of Pie:

Roll each piece of dough on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, with kind gentle strokes, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn’t stick to the board. Roll it about 3 inches larger than the perimeter of your pie dish. Fold the dough in half, place in a deep dish pie pan, and unfold it to fit the pan. Be careful not to stretch the dough when you’re placing it in the pan.

Fill the pie shell with the apple mixture. Brush the edges of the bottom pie crust with a mixture of one egg white + 1 tablespoon of water, so the top crust will adhere to it. Pour 3/4 of the caramel over the apples. Cover with a latticework of crust and trim the edges to about 1 inch over the rim. Tuck the edge of the top crust under the edge of the bottom crust and crimp the two together with your fingers or a fork. Brush the remaining egg wash over the entire top crust and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Pour the remaining caramel sauce gently over the crust and into the slits. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.

Place pie on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil.

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 380 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft. With about 20 minutes remaining, gently tent aluminum foil over the crust, so it does not burn. (Total bake time about 1 hour and 10-15 minutes.)

After making three of these pies, I am addicted!

Hate crust?

Try my sister’s Crustless Apple Pie with clusters of oats and sugar on top!

YUMMO!!!

Posted in Recipes Tagged: apple pie with caramel sauce, Best apple pie, Ina Garten, perfect pie crust

Caramel Apples on a Stick

vanessa — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:00:52 +0000

“Apple on a stick makes me sick, makes my tummy go 246,
not because I’m dirty, not because I’m clean, not because I
kissed a boy behind a magazine….”

Does anyone remember this chant/jump rope rhyme from back in the day?

It was going through my head while I was jabbing these wooden dowels into the apples.

AWESOME.

Our men went to the Priesthood session of General Conference and we busted out the goods.

Last year we decorated Gingerbread Houses for Halloween. This year Ariane wanted to make caramel apples.

We whipped up a batch of homemade caramel, which, let’s face it, wasn’t sticking too well to the apples. I must have cooked it too long.

But when all was said and done, they turned out.

Layers of caramel, white chocolate and crushed oreo.

Ariane said this looked like a lady bug.

White chocolate with drizzles of green chocolate and crushed Butterfinger.

White chocolate, with drizzles of red chocolate and crushed heath bar. MMMM.

So maybe they’re not comparable to Rocky Mountain Candy Factory, but they sure did taste great and we had a fun time being crazy with candy!

Posted in Recipes Tagged: butterfinger, caramel apples, home made apples with caramel, white chocolate

Mazza Farm Festival

vanessa — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:23:24 +0000

Vermont is all about seasonal festivals! Any reason to celebrate, we take full advantage of it!

Sam Mazza’s Farm had their 13th Annual harvest Festival on Saturday, October 3rd.

There were animals you could pet…

Clowns to tie balloons…

Flower gardens to adore…

You could take a hay ride to their Pumpkin Fields to Pick Your Own pumpkin.

(Some of you may remember our experience with this “pick your own” business two years ago. ::: rolls eyes ::: )

There are big pumpkins to look at…and if you’re lucky enough, you can catch your hair in the wind, as so incredibly demonstrated here.

It takes serious talent to pull off this look!

(My eyes were watering so bad, hair in my face..I was a mess.)

This is what happens when I take Rick off his leash:

You could select your own pumpkin for ONLY $.45/lb.

HIGHWAY ROBBERY, I say!

(I remember buying pumpkins in Utah for like $.08/lb, watermelon too. It’s insane how expensive things like this can be!)

GOURDS. I LOVE GOURDS.

Gourds a plenty!

Apples in a variety flavors…

Macintosh, Cortland, Honey Crisp, Granny Smith, to name a few.

If you’ve had Cold Hallow Cider, you know you’ve partaken of some of the most incredible cider available.

Local produce is always organic and displayed beautifully.

Another Vermont staple is SAMPLES!

We tasted pumpkin pie, cider donuts, pumpkin fudge, apple pies and cider, locally made chocolate, salami, jam, bread, marinara sauce and other delights!

I LOVE this about Vermont!

This post is a sample of the things I will miss dearly about Vermont!

Things are so intimate and personal.

The locals are great and the scenery is incredible!

I can’t wait for South Hero’s Apple Festival next Saturday!

WOOT!

Posted in Local Ventures