The Unadventures of Tracie

So I saw this months and months ago and I planned to do it but I didn’t. So anyway, according to my search on Google, these are things that I supposedly need. (Do a search with your name and needs in quotations.) Tracie needs... .....to be pushed (I usually manage quite well on my own.) .....a date (always) .....to bite some chumps (Now where do I find some chumps?) .....a dress (a pretty one that fits me and isn’t expensive) .....a tumble (I think I’ve taken enough tumbles as it is, thank you.) .....a breakthrough (hmmm....still waiting...) .....to go to chuckle school (Awesome! I would love to go to Chuckle School.) .....to take a vacation (Don’t we all?) .....to lose the bad hair (Bah! I didn’t think it was that bad!) .....needs help, but can she be saved in time? (This is the question) .....a reality check (constantly) .....a chuckle right now (always) .....to pull the stick out of her gluteus maximus and relax (I’m quite relaxed now but sometimes this is true of me) .....to win t...

I love fall. It is my favorite season by far. I love it when it cools down and there's the slightest twinge of crispness in the air. The air smells crisper, cleaner. The sky showcases beautiful sunsets. And all the leaves in the mountain change color. I have many fond memories of going up the canyon to see nature's paintbrush. Everywhere gold, red, green, brown, yellow, and orange. I think Utah is at its most beautiful when the mountains display a master's palette of autumn colors. Recently Austin and I went up with my mom, dad, and my younger brother to see the leaves before they started falling off and dying. We went probably a week too late to see it in its full splendor, but it was still quite beautiful. Here are some of the pics I (and Austin) took: Alas, fall has fallen and now the seedlings of winter are on their way! It's already snowing! It's going to be a long, cold winter. :( If it were up to me, winter would last exactly 1 1/2 months. Beginning o...

Don’t these look yummy? They were. They absolutely were. A few weeks ago Tyler informed me that he had learned from the infallible Alton Brown that you could substitute avocado for butter and shortening when baking. Since I’m always on the lookout to make unhealthy treats a little bit healthier, I decided to try this idea out. So with Austin as my partner-in-cooking I set out to reinvent Mom’s chocolate chip cookies. I replaced all of the shortening and two-thirds of the butter with pureed avocado (I didn’t have enough avocado, otherwise I would’ve done all avocado.) It was quite the interesting concoction: green, wet, sticky, and a bit stretchy. I had to experiment with the cooking times quite a bit to get them so they were cooked on the inside and outside without burning but the final result was delicious. The cookies looked different but besides the slightly different texture, they tasted almost exactly the same. I will try this again. Project Status: Success!