Football Fun

This past weekend, Jonathan's best friend and his wife got us tickets to the Auburn v. South Carolina game. So, we headed down to Auburn for the big game, and we had the best seats in the house! We were so close to the field that I felt like I could touch the players. Here's a pic of the four of us:

Erica, Buck, Jonathan, and me

We drove back after the game Saturday night so that we could go to church Sunday and attend our small group. We are LOVING our new small group and are making friends with other married couples. Fun!

Yes We Cam

War Eagle!!!! Tonight we had fellow Auburn grads over to watch the Auburn v. Clemson game. What a game! Auburn pulled off a win in overtime, and we screamed so loud it probably woke the neighbors :) I fixed some yummy snacks for tonight's get-together. The menu included:

1. Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars
2. Fruit Platter with Pineapple Cream Cheese Dip
3. Ham and Cheese Sliders
4. Rotel Dip

All the treats were a huge success. Jonathan helped out by making his signature Rotel dip, and he added ground beef into the mix, so it turned out really well, too. Here are a couple of pictures for you.

P.S. If you're wondering about the misspelling in the title of my blog post, it's in honor of our Auburn's quarterback Cameron (Cam) Newton.

The fruit platter (notice the dish is a stadium and the dip is in a football)

The spread (yes, I am using orange and blue plates leftover from the groom's cake at our wedding, lol)

I think the biggest hit were the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars, but I LOVED the ham and cheese sliders (recipe modified from Annie's Eats). Here's the recipe if you want to give it a shot:

24 mini Hawaiian rolls
24 slices honey ham
24 slices swiss cheese
Mayo
1.5 Tbsp. yellow mustard
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Poppy seeds (for sprinkling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut rolls in half and spread a very thin layer of mayo on the insides. Fold a slice of ham to fit on each roll, then top with a slice of cheese. Place in a baking pan or on a baking sheet. In a bowl, combine the butter, mustard, onion, and Worcestershire sauce. Drizzle over the tops of the rolls. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes, then remove foil and bake for 2 more minutes. Serve warm.

Labor Day Weekend

On Labor Day weekend, our friends Walt and Maryanne invited us to go to the Alabama State Fair with them. Neither Jonathan nor I had been to the fair in ages, so we tagged along, and we had a blast! Here are a few pics from the night:Me tearing it up with some fair games :)

Jonathan and I hanging out in some hot air balloons

Riding the ferris wheel with Walt and Maryanne

We left bright and early the next morning to hang out with Buck and Erica (Jonathan's best friend and his wife) in Pensacola. We watched the first Auburn game of the season (War Eagle!), and we stopped by the beach for a few minutes. It was hot but beautiful!

Group shot

After leaving Pensacola, we swung by both of our parents' houses to visit. All in all, it was a very good weekend. We were exhausted after all that fun, but it was worth it!

Big, Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have an amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe that I use as my staple recipe. However, this weekend, I was feeling adventurous and tried a new one. They were SOOO delicious. It's a hard decision whether they're better than my normal recipe, but I decided I can like them both :) Here's the recipe (courtesy of Annie's Eats blog):

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1 cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside. With electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll a little less than half a cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Place on cookie sheet with jagged surfaces facing up, leaving ample room between each ball. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.

Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The result:

I let a few of my classmates have some, and they flipped out. Try this recipe...you won't be disappointed!

My first carrot cake!

Because I've been so tired when I get home from school everyday, I am not much fun. I crash on the couch, and I feel bad because Jonathan doesn't get much time to talk to me. Since he's been so kind and patient, I told him I would make him whatever sweet treat he wanted this weekend. Expecting the "chocolate chip cookies" response, I was surprised (and a little nervous) when he asked me to make him a carrot cake. Now, Jonathan LOVES carrot cake, and I've never made carrot cake before. I had always imagined it being a difficult process, so I didn't want my first one to be a disaster. Fortunately, I was surprised by how simple it was. Here's the recipe I used (modified from Sam's Famous Carrot Cake on allrecipes.com):

3 eggs
3/4 cup light buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
3/4 cup raisins

For the cream cheese frosting:
1 package light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13" pan. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture, and mix well. Fold in the carrots, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, and raisins. Pour into pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. Check with a toothpick. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, beat together the cream cheese and butter. Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over the cooled cake.

The result...moist, delicious carrot cake! Here's a slice to make your mouth water :)

By the way, you could make this a layered cake by splitting the batter between two 8" round cake pans, and reducing the baking time to around 30 minutes. Make sure to double the frosting, though, if you want to ice the whole cake.

In other news, we're looking forward to all that this fall has in store for us. Jonathan is itching for football season to start, and we're both looking forward to some cooler weather :) We're also really excited about starting a new small group with our church in September. We're praying that we can make some genuine, Godly friendships, so say a prayer for us!

Nacho Stars

Last night, we had planned a game night with another married couple, so I decided to make a snack for everyone to much on. My friend, Ashley, from school makes this awesome treat called Nacho Stars. I forgot to snap a picture, and before I knew it, they were devoured! So, I borrowed this picture from the internet. It doesn't have the same filling, but you can get the idea. I like how versatile this could be. You could do a spicy filling, a chicken salad-type filling, a crab/cream cheese-type filling, etc. The possibilities are endless. Here's the recipe I used:

1 package wonton wrappers
3/4 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 lb. sausage
1 jar jalapeno slices

Directions: Spray a cupcake tin with non-stick cooking spray. Place wonton wrappers in the tin, and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 6 minutes. Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a skillet. Drain, and add the ranch and cheese. Spoon into pre-baked wonton shells. Add a little more cheese, and top with a jalapeno slice. Place back into the oven for 6 more minutes. Enjoy!

Suturing!

Today was a very big day for me. I've spent all week rotating through our Oral Surgery clinic. I've pulled nine teeth by myself so far and assisted seniors in pulling countless others, My patient today had badly broken down teeth, so I had to use a surgical approach. For the very first time EVER today, I used a scalpel to cut back a tissue flap, extracted the broken-off teeth, and sutured the patient up when I was through. There aren't many things in dental school that have come completely natural to me, but I felt that suturing came so naturally to me. I was good at it, and that put me on cloud 9. Yay for God reaffirming that you've made the right career choice! Here's a illustration of the suture technique I used: