Snoballs

Probably was not what you were expecting with SnoBalls in the title?

I usually don't care for the snack cake type products like Twinkies, but have always liked Sno Balls. Usually they are pink coconut over a white marshmallow layer over a chocolate cake with a cream filling. I've seen them all white coconut or green before (near St Patrick's Day) but was pleasantly shocked when I spotted these at the grocery store!


SNOBALLIMUS OPTIMUS PRIME - check out the red center!!


And a little history of Sno Balls from Hostess website:

First introduced in 1947. Today over 25 million Sno Balls are sold each year. The original Sno Balls were white marshmallow and shredded coconut covered chocolate cakes. In 1950, the cream filling was added, and not long after, they tinted the shredded coconut pink. Each Sno Ball package included one white and one pink Sno Ball.

Today, Hostess mostly produces the original white-colored Sno Balls around the winter holidays, with other colors appearing for different seasons. You’ll find Scary Cakes and Glo Balls (orange and glow-in-the-dark Sno Balls) during Halloween, Lucky Puffs (green Sno Balls) for St. Patrick’s Day and Hoppers (lavender colored Sno Balls) in the Spring.

WSU Game

This was a first. John and Audrey went to the CougarMania game without me this year. I had tickets for the symphony with my mom, so made plans for them to attend without me. Then I got very, very sick and ended up staying home from that too. However, I was able to secure a ticket for Mariska, so the three of them headed down on the CougarMania bus. Check out the SNOW in the pictures!


It was VERY exciting I hear! It was an evening kick-off (which was unusual) so John and Audrey ended up getting home after midnight. Check out the score at the 4th quarter with a little over 5 minutes left to play.... and the Cougs won 37 to 27!!

Below is a write up from the newspaper:
PULLMAN - Welcome to the Pac-12, Connor Halliday. QB has biggest day for Coug freshman. As conference debuts go, there can't have been many better than the one Washington State's redshirt freshman quarterback put up Saturday night before a wet Dad's Weekend crowd of 27,213, leading the Cougars to a 37-27 upset of Arizona State

Bunco!

We were invited to the Jill & Drew Nelson's to play Bunco. Everyone was to bring snacks or appetizers to share. Going along with our regular tradition, we tried something totally new - Caramelized Onion, Gruyere and Bacon Spread. To say it was a hit was an understatement. Some of the guys just hung out in front of the dip while others did not even get a chance to try.

At the party were Robert & Angela Heerdink, Darin & Jen Christensen, Jodi & Scott Riggin, Bob & Kathy Thompson, Doug & Mickey Vermillion, Dean & Natalie Conrad, Tiffani & Dave Adamson, Sam & Angie Abrams, Kara & Travis Bates, Arielle & Nat Murray, Brandon & Kami Berezay and probably the life of the party,Danny & Cristal Gonzalez. Danny has SUCH a fun personality and sometimes it was more fun to watch or listen to him than to play the game. John and I really enjoyed ourselves and the time we had to get to know everyone better. It was nice to have an evening to relax and socialize. At the end of the evening they tallied the scores for top points and bottom points. Such a fun night!


CARAMELIZED ONION, GRUYERE AND BACON SPREAD
1 Tbs Butter
3 & 1/2 cups chopped onion

4 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded and divided

2 TBS chopped fresh chives, divided

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup sour cream

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper
4 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Preheat oven to 425°. Heat a large cast-iron skillet (or heavy duty pan) over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add onion to pan; saute 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low; cook 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.

Reserve 2 tablespoons cheese. Combine remaining cheese, caramelized onion, 1 tablespoon chives, and the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Transfer the mixture to a 1-quart glass or ceramic baking dish coated lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle with reserved 2 tablespoons cheese. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon chives. Serve with baguette slices (toasted or not) and/or crackers.

Audrey Haircut

Kind of short, kind of spunky! We like it!!

Fall Leaves

Leaf raking took place on 11/4, 11/5, 11/8 and beyond this year. The leaves took awhile to "drop" this year and then the winds would bring us presents from neighboring yards. I'm sure our leaves went to visit elsewhere too!

Movie, Lunch and Baptism

We went downtown to see the Puss in Boots movie. Cute! Afterwards we celebrated John's new job by having lunch at the Olive Garden. And finally we ended the day attending a baptism of our friends' son. Great family day!

Job Update

An update on the job hunting. John gave his notice at the bank and finished out his 2 weeks, with his last day on September 30th. He then spent time in Denver helping with the McMackin's basement. When he returned to Spokane, he went to an LDS Job Fair, heard about an opening from them (that he would not have known about), sent in his resume and then got an interview on October 27th. They wanted to do a lunch interview with John and I - - before they made the final job offer. Thought that was an interesting twist. Our lunch interview as on October 31st. We ate at DeLeon's, a Mexican deli & grocery, and tried a drink called Horchata. It is described as Cinnamon Rice Milk. It was in a big jar on the counter and they scooped it into a glass for you. Delicious!


Back to the job! It is a small company (8 people total including the owner). The owner and the supervisor are both return missionaries & love Dave Ramsey ideas. Nicest people! They offered him the job and he started on November 1st. The company does IT work for small businesses and school districts that are too small for their own IT department. Places like Kettle Falls, Tekoa and this week Orchard Prairie. John came home and told Audrey about her teachers that said Hi (since she had gone there in Kindergarten through 4th grade). I think he will like it.

Found a recipe that we will have to try:
HORCHATA (CINNAMON RICE MILK)
1 cup long grain rice, rinsed
2 quarts water
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
1/2 cup white sugar

In a large saucepan, combine rice, water and cinnamon stick. Set aside for 3 hours.
After 3 hours, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Puree rice mixture in a blender until smooth. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine sieve. Flavor with vanilla and sugar to taste. Chill, and serve over ice.