Italian Baked French Fries

I'm pretty positive I could eat french fries every single day and never get sick of them? My favorite, are the ones that are probably the most horrible for you: McDonald's.

A few weeks ago, I tried to make my own fries (except in chip shapes..) they were pretty good for my first time trying on my own. I quickly learned that my grandma upstairs HATES the smell of frying foods. And i'm not too fond the oil smell either.

So I found a recipe for baked fries on pinterest (of course) that I modified. And guess what? I even took enough pictures to count this as a tutorial! (i even made a new "tutorials" label to celebrate. and also to give myself a reason to do more in the future...) Wahoo! SO. Here they are. Italian Baked French Fries.

Ingredients:

Potatoes ( i used 2. because that's all i had. and i was just cooking for devin and i. you can do as many as you want though. 2 made quite a bit.)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Italian Seasoning

Parsley (fresh or dried)

Cheese (the recipe I looked at said Romano. I had Parmesan (the dried crumbs kind.)

Other herbs/spices if desired (I added more garlic salt and thyme)

Butter (I used 1/2 stick. recipe called for full stick. seemed like way too much to me!)

1. Wash potatoes.

2. Skin potatoes. I just skinned mine quickly, leaving some skin behind. I don't mind a little skin on my fries.

3. Cut into fries. I just cut the potatoes in half, and then into 1/3-inch strips, and cut the strips down until they looked like fries.

4. Soak fries in cold water. It didn't say for how long... mine were soaking for probably 5 minutes... this is

to keep them from browning too quickly in the oven.

5. Drizzle 1 tbsp. olive oil onto baking sheet. (use more than 1 sheet if you have more potatoes)

6. Drain fries, pat dry with paper towels.

7. Spread out on sheet. It's okay if they overlap. I tried not to. Just cause I'm weird like that.

8. sprinkle generously with herbs and cheese.

9. Drizzle 2 tbsp. olive oil on top.

10. Cut butter into small cubes, and scatter them around the pan.

11. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, rotate pan, and bake for 15-20 more minutes (until golden brown and fry-like).

12. Serve hot!

They were pretty great. Devin isn't a huge fan of homemade fries (which i didn't learn until after I made them... oops! but he liked them. I loved them. And I'll probably make them all the time now.)

We ate the fries while our dinner cooked (mainly because I timed my cooking wrong, and they were done too early to be a part of the meal...)

We had chicken that I had marinated for 5 hours in this: (plus some vinegar, brown sugar, and spices. so good!)

guess who's home?

 

 the tiny humans are.

and as much as they can drive me crazy sometimes, i'm glad they're back. watching all that Friends was getting old (by the way, i got it all the way down to 30 episodes instead of 80.)

aria loves her new minnie doll, but won't talk about much else. carter loved it all, of course. especially legoland, which doesn't surprise me!

i'm happy to be back in the swing of things. but also happy that it's almost the weekend...

Devin and I are starting a Christmas Tradition this year, starting next week and i'm excited to share it. I got the idea from another blogger's blog friend. Naturally.

The first half of this week was pretty normal. Devin's had classes, like always, but Brandon and his friend Amy came down to see us for awhile. Love seeing them! Brandon is working as a chef at The Stag restaurant in Deer Valley and he acquired a bunch of free passes to Deer Valley resort, so Devin and I are excited to get to ski with him!

We are both getting pretty bitter about how it hasn't snowed yet. We are more than ready to ski (not exactly. i still need to base grind my skis and wax them... oops!) so we're pretty sick of the cold, dry weather. I mean... if I'm going to have to scrape my windows in the morning, i would at least like to see some snow on the ground. But I also remember that it took awhile for things to cool down here. It wasn't until October that we started wearing jackets and getting chilly. So maybe it's just taking a little longer than usual. I will protest if there isn't any snow on Christmas though. Because that is an absolute necessity.

Devin has finals coming up, so has been spending a lot of time studying and locking himself away in the office. I can't wait for the semester break! I will get my husband back! It really hasn't been that bad. He is only taking 6 credits right now, but when the only time we have together is at night, and he has to spend his nights studying, it becomes a major bummer for me! Trying to stay supportive though.

I haven't really started to listen to Christmas music very much yet, mostly because the only time I have the chance to listen is on my drive to and from work and in the morning, It's always Radio From Hell on x96 with Kerry, Bill and Gina, and in the afternoon, I default to my 6-disc CD changer (even though it's getting a little old). BUT I almost have enough songs to make a decent sized playlist thanks to all my favorite local artists offering free downloads of some of their songs! Namely... Hue and Hum, Ryan Innes, and The DC, Dustin Christensen! I love all their renditions of old favorites. So great! (What I don't love? Justin Bieber christmas music... the main reason why I've avoided the radio. I have heard the song once, and it was one time too many...!)

blogging

I know I have spent a lot of time lately talking about other blogs that I follow and love, but I can't help it! Just read another great post from Young People In Love. It was pretty much exactly what I needed!


Blogging has been a back and forth battle with me, and I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've always wanted this to be a strictly positive space, but I found out fast that that could never be the case. People tear you down. People are rude and don't respect your opinions, most of them, without even taking the chance to learn where you're coming from, or what your intentions are. They can be judgemental. Some people don't understand that they are just opinions, not to be taken personally. It's a rough thing to do. I'm still trying to figure out the core reason of why I blog. Why I spend so much time documenting my life, and sometimes even worrying over it. Should it really be that big of a deal to me? I like what Sam wrote in her post over at YPIL. It's good to know I'm not along in the blogger vs. blog battle.


But for the record... I'm not sure I'll change anything at this point. I like my blog. I like being able to write about my days, or the weird random things I find and love. I like sharing things in this way. It's a healthy outlet for creativity. I don't do it to please anyone, and I know i've said it before, but it really is just my way of documenting my life. It's important to me that these things get written down and shared. I've grown up with the teachings that "journaling" is important, and a good thing to do. Why I do it in a public forum for the whole world to read, I'm not sure. Makes it more interesting? I'm not even sure where I'm going with this anymore, so I'm just going to stop.


But it really was a great post. And I needed that. So thanks, Sam and Chas of Young People In Love, for saying it first!

ashby christmas update

more pictures of ornaments? sure, why not. plus also, the pile of presents under our tree is growing! they are pretty much all for everybody but us, haha!

 

also? I finished step 4 of making our stockings!

step 1: choose fabric

step 2: cut into strips

step 3: embroider names

step 4: sew into fabric block

step 5: cut out stocking shape of front, back and lining

step 6: sew together. including lining.

I'm nervous about sewing them all together! they are exactly what I wanted so far... but if I don't do the last steps right, they'll be a fail. 

I keep forgetting that I don't like to sew because I'm not good at it. Remember the tablecloths fro the bridal fair? Those were straight lines, and it was still hard! Luckily, I will have some help. I just want to get them done ASAP so I can hang them up! Then the decorating will be complete. 

powerful

One of my facebook friends shared a link to this article on buzzfeed.com called "The 45 Most Powerful Images Of 2011". Some of the photos depicted things I don't necessarily support or agree with, but you can't deny that they are all extremely compelling and dramatic photos, capturing important parts of history.

I want to share a few of my favorites, along with the captions posted with them on the original article (again, you can view the whole article here.)

What a year it's been! I think after seeing this article, it kind of came into perspective for me. A lot of major things happened this year. Tragedies. Successes. Violence. Acts of Kindness. What a world we live in. This article sums it up in a pretty straight forward way. I am so impressed with all the photographers that captured these intense, vivid images to share. Photos like this really make these things real, even when they are all happening far from home (for me at least).

Robert Peraza, who lost his son Robert David Peraza in 9/11, pauses at his son's name at the North Pool on the 9/11 Memorial. 

(Getty Images / Justin Lane)

Members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May1. 

(Reuters / HANDOUT)

Two lights from the former site of the World Trade Centers shine for the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

(Reuters / GARY HERSHORN)

A monstrous dust storm (Haboob) roared through Phoenix, Arizona in July.

source: danbryant.com

A man sits in front of a destroyed apartment building following the Joplin, Missouri tornado. 

(Reuters)

Chile's Puyehue volcano erupts, causing air traffic cancellations across South America, New Zealand, Australia and forcing over 3,000 people to evacuate.

(Reuters)

Firefighters of Ladder Company 4 - which lost seven men on 9/11 - perched together on their aerial ladder, watching a news bulletin in Times Square declaring that Osama bin Laden was dead on May 2.

source: lens.blogs.nytimes.com

Slain Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson's dog "Hawkeye" lies next to his casket during the funeral services in Rockford, Iowa. Tumilson was one of 30 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan on August 6 when their helicopter was shot down during a mission to help fellow troops who had come under fire.

a roasted chicken, sunday dinner, and the first of many christmas parties

earlier this week, Devin and I were grocery shopping at Target like usual. We have such a routine when we go to the grocery store, and our last stop is usually the meats. We were looking for ideas for dinner when Devin pointed and jokingly said "maybe we should get a whole chicken? haha" and I said "...maybe we should!" So we did. We bought a whole chicken. 

on Saturday, we did a whole lot of nothing, which was perfect. We left the house for just a few hours to run some errands and see the babies (Makayla, Kaden and Addison) and then headed home to cook. We invited our good friends Josh and Amy over to eat with us. Devin rubbed the chicken with brown sugar and applewood rub and added onions and fresh garlic and roasted it in the oven for about 2 hours. We were worried it wouldn't work, since it was still a little frozen when we put it in the over (oops!) but it was amazing! Plus also? BYU won. nbd. needless to say, it was a great night! 

Sunday, we went to church, and it was the first time in a long time we were able to go to Sunday School. We are usually in nursery or have something going on, so it was nice to be in class with adults for once! (even though i was restless and a little bored). After church, we headed up to Spanish Fork to grab something from my nanny mom's mom (sweetest people!) and then to Sean and Chloe's for dinner. We had great burritos, which is no surprise from them! They are both really great cooks. Love them! The kids were all so funny. I love that Addi calls me Kabie and Devin is Demin. She is seriously adorable. I can't wait for her to start talking in English! She loves to talk, but it's in baby jibberish that we usually just pretend to understand. So hilarious! She always talks in the highest pitched voice. After dinner and some amazing pie, Devin and I challenged his parents to a game of Nerts. We've spent a lot of our nights lately playing against each other and I told him that we had probably practiced enough to the point where we could beat his parents. boy, was i wrong! They are just too fast! Still so fun to play though. Once we lost the game, we headed to my Dad and Uncle's store, which is conveniently less than 5 minutes from Sean and Chloe's house in Springville, for a family party with my dad's side of the family.

We love having parties in the store because there is enough room for everyone, for one thing, but also, they open up a few of the hot tubs for everyone to get in, and we play pool, shuffleboard, ping pong, air hockey and fooseball. They also smoked another turkey! It was a great night. AAANNNNDDD? Kelli and Sean came down! I love those guys! They crack me up. I love spending time with them. 

I'm so glad we have all of our family right here in the valley. All our friends keep asking us where we'll be for Christmas.. right here! Everyone is here. I love it! I love our family and I love that we get to see them all so often and that we're all so close. 

Another great weekend! And of course, we get our first little snowfall on the night of the first of all the Christmas parties! Now if only it would really blizzard so Devin and I can finally go skiing!! 

ear candy

new favorite song. coldplay has done it again.