Journey of a Hockey Player

Okay, so were not hockey players yet, but we're gonna be.

Tuesday night we went to Centennial Lakes in Edina. It was a little chilly but nothing we couldn't handle (2 degrees). The ice there kinda sucks. They don't actually go over the ice with a zamboni they just spray water on top to smooth it. Being a lake there are a lot of cracks because of shifting and they don't allow hockey sticks. We took this photo there. I love it how you can see our breath! Notice the heart it makes? That's all natural, no photoshop here!

I should also mention that I kinda suck at skating on hockey skates. I spent my whole life on Figure Skates which have toe picks and more blade. So I am constantly trying to push off the front of my skate and lean on the back. It truly is a miracle that I have not fallen yet. *knock* on wood.

Wednesday night we went to Gene C. Kelly playfield at 104th & Nicollet in Bloomington. This was fantastic! The weather was perfect! It was cool enough (12 degrees) to keep us from getting too warm but not so cold that we were freezing! They had both a hockey rink and a general skating area. The ice was nice a smooth and we only had to share it with one other family, who were really nice.

This was my first time skating with a hockey stick. I was amazed by how much it helped with my balance. We also played with a few pucks. I am surprised by how hard it is to shoot. Balance is key in this and I just never saw that coming. I have definitely learned most of my hockey skills from The Might Ducks and Miracle. So I of course had to attempt the Knuckle Puck - which is SO much harder to do in reality! Ever tried to flip a puck on its side like that? It doesn't work so well.

I'm learning a lot about my body through this adventure. Mostly in conjunction with balance. I'm trying not to think about the skating and balancing so much and just let it happen. Patrick and I are having a lot of fun! Today we're trying out the rink at Oak Grove Middle/Elementary School.

New Logo

Here is the new logo for my baking and coffee stuff.

The Infamous Cake Balls

Today I shall share with you the recipe for my infamous chocolate covered cake balls. They are so easy, it is going to BLOW YOUR MIND! All of these items may be found at Target.

Ingredients:

• Box of cake mix, try not to use extra moist but sometimes that is all they have.
• Can of frosting, premade just adds to the simplicity.
• 1/2 pound coverture chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate works best.

How you do it:

1. Make the cake. Follow all directions on the box. When the cake is done and still warm, mix it by hand with the frosting. DO NOT USE A MIXER! Place it in the fridge overnight.
2. To melt the chocolate, boil water in a small sauce pan, over medium heat. Chop up chocolate into small pieces and place in a metal mixing bowl. Place that bowl over the boiling water and stir. This is the best way to melt chocolate without having to worry about it burning to the pan.
3. Scoop out cake mix with a small ice cream scoop (or a spoon works just fine) and place in small paper cups. Drizzle melted chocolate over the balls. Add sprinkles for extra goodness.
4. If you wish to make these more like a truffle, I would suggest scooping out the cake mix and placing the balls on a pan and freezing them. This way they will stay together better when you dip them in cholcoate. You will need closer to a pound of chocolate for this.

Chocolate:

I use good old Baker's brand chocolate that you can find at the grocery store. They come in 1/2 pound/8oz packages. It is decently priced and works well.

Here are my Christmas Cake Balls. I used white cake, vanilla frosting, semi-sweet chocolate and Christmas sprinkles!

Cranberry Appetizer Meatballs

Here is a great cold weather appetizer! Originlly from The Taste of Home Cookbook and revised a little by myself!

The Meatballs

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup dried bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup miched fresh parsley
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoon finely shopped onion
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 garlic gloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 pound ground beef

1. Mix everything except the meat together. Then mix in the meat, this works best by just getting your hands dirty and going for it! (hint: not a bad idea to defrost the meat so its not so cold on your hands.)
2. Shape mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Place in shallow baking pan and place in oven. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until no longer pink. Transfer meatballs to a slow cooker or chafing dish.

The Cranberry Sauce

• 1 can whole-berry Crnberry sauce (16 oz)
• 1 bottle chili saice (12 oz)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occassionally. Pour over meatballs. Serve warm.

Mini Pies

Since Patrick & I have our first place I wanted to host some sort of holiday event. Unfortunately, the apartment is small and the kitchen even smaller. So we ended up just hosting Thanksgiving Dessert. I made mini pumpkin, cherry and french silk pies.

My MVP

Monday, August 23rd at 12:30 the award show started on MLB.com. I was watching it at work on a computer that not only doesn't have speakers, it doesn't even have a sound card!

So I'm just sitting there, watching the mouths move on the screen and the highlights race past. I love watching Mauer highlights. That grab he made behind the home plate net and the out he made at home when he faked out the runner... I could watch those over and over.

Since I can't hear them I don't know when exactly they will be announcing the winner. Then I see it, they get a little more serious, one of them mouths the word Mauer and a banner pops up saying the words AL MVP Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins! Oh my gosh, I was so excited.

I was so ready for them to award it to a damn Yankee so when my guy won I couldn't help yelling out my horray right in the middle of the office. At this point in time I didn't care if everyone knew I was using my work hours to see who got MVP. I told everyone who would listen.

Mauer has to stay in Minnesota and I am quite sure that he will NEVER be a Yankee or a Red Sox.

Must See Movies

About a year ago Patrick and I decided to start a list of movies that we think everyone must see. These are not our favorite movies or the best movies, these are movies that we think everyone must see. These movies might be on the list because of their greatness, uniqueness or maybe their impact on the movie industry and movie viewers alike.

Here are the categories and descriptions:

::Action::
A movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat, there is a lot to see and something is always happening.

::Animated::
These are not necessarily kids movies, they made an impact on future animated movies, and did something different with the animation.

::Biographies::
These movies outline someone's life and tell it in an interesting way unlike what we had previously seen.
As you can see this list is still in progress.

::Classics::
This list is in progress because of an undefined description.

::Comedy::
These movies present their humor in a unique way and have a plot that shows through the comedy.
This is one of our strongest lists.

::Drama::
These movies pull you in, it depicts circumstances that you can relate to, and definitely has amazing acting performances.
::Horror::
This list is in progress due to the fact that Patrick and I hate Horror movies. Needless to say, this will be an interesting list.

::Musicals::
This list is based only on the movie production and is in no way compared to a stage performance. These films have fantastic music and provided great video imagery.

::Obscure::
These movies are not weird, they are obscure. Something about these movies make them different from anything you had ever seen before. Whether it's through videography, acting, plot, or a combination of all three these movies stick with you.

::Romance::
These are movies that make you swoon and think about love in an all new way. Each of these movies has a plot and is not considered just some Chick Flick.

::Sci-Fi::
This is taken from the wikipedia page on Sci-Fi:
Within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature.
Each of our movies exhibits this statement and -more so in this list than in any other- changed the industry forever.

::Sports::
These movies are about the game and the emotions that surround it, they show you more than just a sport, but mostly they show you a sport.

Manager of the Year 2009

In a few hours the MLB 2009 Manager of the Year award will be presented. Here are my thoughts.

National League:
Hands down Jim Tracy of the Colorado Rockies is the best choice to receive this award. After 46 games this season with their past manager, Clint Hurdle, the Rockies were 18-28. Then Tracy stepped in and the Rockies finished the season with a 92-70 record, making it into the playoffs and giving the Phillies a run for their money.

American League:
I would really like to see Ron Gardenhire of the Minnesota Twins win this award. The Twins don't have many amazing players and the amazing ones were hurt and gone for parts of the season. He has an amazing ability to work with what he has. The Twins made an amazing run at the end and got into the Postseason through a fantastic Tie Breaker game. They may have gotten swept by the Yankees but hey, we lost to the World Series winners I guess.

I think the manager that is most likely to win is the Los Angelas Angels of Anaheim's manager Mike Scioscia. He is a good manager and took his team pretty far. But the reason he's going to win is because of the tragedy of Nick Adenhart. Instead of the Angels falling apart, the Angels came together after the accident and used Adenhart's memory to push them through the season. I think this was more of a team effort than something that manager did and I don't think Scioscia should win because of it.