Oh how I love getting scared!

Nightmare on 13th. If you haven't been there you should. It's so good--and it actually lasts long enough to make it worth your money. This time of the year is seriously so fun!  So many awesome holidays to look forward to. I get so excited it's kind of out of control. I almost bought my Christmas Tree already...but I decided I'd better hold off and finish enjoying Halloween first. I don't want to be one of those people that jumps the gun and starts listening to Christmas music the first day of November...ha. 

Far too much Garlic

Remember that soup I posted about? Well if you ever decide to make it I would go WAY easier on the garlic than the recipe states.  I couldn't get the taste of garlic out of my mouth and my apartment still smells super potently of garlic and I made it SUNDAY. Ew. 

Here in the Gubler home we eat a lot of...

Cereal.  Ya Cereal.  I always justify not cooking because we have time restraints, or I'm really tired, or the ever popular "I'll cook when I'm a mommy."  Well enough is enough.  I'm done with excuses. There will always be a special spot in my heart (eh-hem...stomach) for cereal but I've decided to get a bit more "wifey" and domestic and start cooking some yummy recipes.  So far all I've made are desserts... But who can resist peach cobbler and apple cinnamon bread pudding??? I'll work on making some REAL food next.  I'm quite excited about some of the DELICIOUS looking recipies I've found so far.  The first one I want to try is this little number:



Crock Pot Minestrone Soup

Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
Calories: 215.7 • Fat: 0.7 g • Protein: 8.7 g • Carb: 42.0 g • Fiber: 6.7 g  

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained, rinsed (cannellini or navy)
• 3 cups fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarians)
• 1 oz chunk of good Parmesan cheese rind
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 2 cups chopped fresh or frozen (defrosted) spinach
• 2 cups cooked small pasta like ditalini or elbows (al dente)
• extra parmesan cheese to top (extra pts)

Rinse and drain beans. Puree beans with 1 cup of the broth in a blender.

In a crock pot, combine broth, tomatoes, pureed beans, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, Parmesan cheese rind, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Forty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Add cooked pasta, cook 10 minutes more. Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, parmesan rind and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and top with extra parmesan cheese.

This is also great with mini turkey meatballs, or even some sauteed crumbled turkey sausage. 


You can find this any many other delicous sounding recipies at skinnytaste.com.
Mmm... This soup sounds hearty, full of vegtables and just plain wonderful. Plus is has pasta in it which will give me my carb fix.  Ha. Wish me luck:).  Happy cooking! 

Labor Day Weekend

Last weekend Ryan and I headed to Southern Utah for a MUCH needed vacation.  On Saturday we went to Peach Days...Ironically I didn't eat one peach. But I did get plenty of heat!  Man, that's one thing I wouldn't change about Nothern Utah... in Southern Utah a "cold front" is when it gets below 100 degrees.... thats is not what I would call cold...just saying. What was the highlight of Peach days? I must say it was Ry's dad dressed in full clown attire and make up. So funny!... And a little creepy... ha. Clowns have always scared me a little. 

On Monday we went to Sand Hollow to ride wave runners. It was such a blast!!!!!  But what are the odds - the sun didn't grace us with its presence the whole time. That was the first cloudy day in Southern Utah in a long time (another irony).  But even with the chilly lake weather I was very hard to get myself to leave. It was such a fun weekend! It's always fun to visit the Gubler's. 

Now tell me this doen't look delicious.. I dare you.

Ok, ok I know I've got your mouth watering.  Tell me about it. I look at this stuff for 8 hours a day and salivate.

Anyway, what is the point of me showing you this? Well I just wanted to make sure you all knew  that Zupas did CATERING!  I never really thought much about it until I applied for the catering manager position here. But now that I do think about it it's a really great idea! So if you guys are ever near American Fork come pay me a visit. It's right off the freeway on Main next to In n Out. Or if you need a catering order give me a call (801) 216-8148.

http://www.zupas.com/index.php/catering/

Wedding 2

My wedding recommendations?
1. Camilla Binks Photography (She did the bride groom session in the orchard). Man, Can you say talented? The way she works with lighting is amazing! http://www.camillabinks.com/

2. Blossoms and Company. Marynika will bend over beackwards for you. Really, she is the sweetest and her flowers arrangements are beautiful! http://blossomsandcompany.blogspot.com/

3. And of course... AVENIA BRIDAL! They really can't be beat.  http://www.aveniabridal.com/blog/

As promised here are some more wedding photos:

Ok, I'm not the biggest fan of traditional wedding cakes, they're just not my style. All that fondant sure it's pretty but you don't ant to eat it.  As far as I'm concerned cakes are to be enjoyed.  And man did we enjoy this beauty handcrafted by Amy Jenkins.  It tastes as good as it looks. I mean, there are mandarin oranges throughout the cake--how could it not be good?
 
Me and Ry with his best man James West.



Our sign in table of vintage trinkets.


Whitney, little Sophie, and Sharlie chatting at the reception.

The food table.  Pasta Salads of all varieties.  We also had a soft serve frozen yogeurt machine with beeries, cheesecake bits, and brownies to go on top. 


Written by Ry himself.  We'll have to work on his heart drawing abilities but atleast he's got good hand writting. 


Table Centerpieces

Maid of honor giving her speech.  Best man Jimmy feeling extremely nervous he's up next. 

His speech was the funniest thing of my life.  We were on the side dying of laughter.  So adorable. 

Still Terrified. Poor thing.


Our reactions to the speaches. Ha.

"Knucks." Speaches over.


See how nice I was to him? See??!!  I put the cake right in his mouth.

...And he put it nicely into my mouth....

But then he shoved it in my face. Rude. Don't worry. I got him back. 


Ladies waiting for the bouquet...don't worry I didn't throw the huge one. That could've been bad.


First dance.

Watching the first dance. Probably my favorite wedding photo of all time. What wonderful, beautiful ladies.

Good ol' daddy. Probably teasing my in-laws about "Thanksgiving Gubler Goblers" or talking to the many small children in attendance.

Who Knew??  My dad is quite the master of the dance floor!  He blew me away!

Dance with mom.

Dancin with the in-laws :)


Dancing Fools




Firework Send-off.


My favorite reception memory?
I witnessed the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life... My cousin Amber's little son Jared ran up to Brittany Russon's (my neighbor growing up) son Parker and just started hugging him (these little boys had never met before.) Parker grinned. They stepped back and immediately started hugging again. And just kept doing it over and over and over again.  SO precious. I wish everyone had  that childlike love!

This is Jared:)








Isn't he handsome??? :)
I

I got sisters!! It's about time...just saying.





TOLD you he was handsome :)

Our rings

We also had the most darling open house in Southern Utah hosted by my amazing mother in law Sandi.  It was decorated as a cute old fashioned ice cream parlor :).