This morning my Little Brother and I had the chance to meet Big Buddha from Fox 13 news. We are promoting the big Bowl For Kids’ Sake fundraiser for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah organization and Big Buddha came to do some promo clips that was going to be aired on the afternoon news. The Bowl for Kid’s Sake is the biggest fundraiser of the year and we are hoping to bring in $120,000.00 dollars during the bowling events. All this money goes directly to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah and helps in matching Little Brothers and Little Sisters with mentors here in Utah.

I have loved being a Big Brother, I think I get more out of the relationship then my Little Brother does.  It is very easy to become a Big Brother or Big Sister and there are hundreds of young children that are currently waiting to be matched here in Utah. If you don’t have the time to become a Big Brother or Big Sister and mentor a child here in Utah, then you can donate to the Bowl For Kids’ Sake. Every $5.00, $10.00 or $20.00 helps to match a child with a mentor.

It chops, It dices, It slices…..

Yeah if you come over to do some cooking at my house you no longer have to do the tedious work of chopping onions by hand. At our last cooking lesson, Ashlee had to chop the onions by hand. We made an excellent and quick 4 cheese pasta. I will include the recipe at the end of this post. She did a fantastic job of chopping the onions, but didn’t like it one bit. She was appalled that I did not have a handy dandy chopper do-dad gadget thing-a-ma-bob. Today when I met her for lunch she surprised me with a the all-in-one handy dandy chopper thingy. Of course as soon as I got home I had to test it out. I didn’t have any onions to chop tonight, so it was cheese or strawberries. I thought the chopped up strawberries would go great with some granola and yogurt so I began to chop away. It worked out great. Thanks Ash.

Baked Four Cheese Pasta 

This quick pasta dish is especially easy - you don’t need to boil a large pot of water, since the pasta is cooked right in the sauce.

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bacon - chopped fine (I LOVE bacon so I always add a whole thing of bacon)
• 1 small onion - chopped fine
• 2 garlic cloves - minced
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 pound penne or ziti pasta (about 4 cups)
• Table Salt
• 1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Italian four-cheese blend pre packaged (I prefer to shred my own Italian cheese such as: Fontina, Mozzarella, Provolone, Gorgonzola, Pecorino Romano, Grana Padano)

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Cook bacon, onion and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until onion is softened. (about 5-7 minutes) (I use a Staub cookware, that way it can go directly into the oven)
3. Add cream, broth, pasta and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cover and bring to a boil
4. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until pasta is tender. (about 15 minutes)
5. Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan and frozen peas. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Transfer to a 2-quart casserole dish and mix in a 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese.
7. Sprinkle the remaining  1 cup of shredded cheese on the top of the pasta.
8. Bake until the cheese is melted and spotty brown (about 7 minutes)

I love the four distinct seasons we have in Utah. I am a creature of change. I love how each season brings on change. I long for the snow each winter but as we slowly moving into spring I am excited by the change from blah to beautiful. I love the fresh new crocuses that start to push through the dirty ground hinting as to what is to come.

Today I headed up to Alta Ski Resort early for some wonderful winter skiing. I got up there just as the lift lines were opening. My weekends have been so busy this year that I haven’t had the chance to get up and do any skiing, so I was very excited I had the morning free to carve through some powder. There was a decent storm on Friday and I knew that most of the great powder would be taken, but I was lucky enough to find a few runs among the trees. I am not a fanatic skier. I just like going up to the top of the mountain and working my down. I don’t mind skiing alone, I find it to be very relaxing. I turn my iPod on in my helmet and drift off into my own world. Everything felt so comfortable today. It wasn’t the best skiing day I have had, but it was well worth getting out of bed this morning to enjoy some solitude on the slopes. The wind did blow on the very top of the mountain. I actually found it to be very beautiful. As I rode up on the chair lift as I approached the top of the mountain, I could see drifts of snow blowing of the peaks, creating the most incredible columns of drifting snow. The sun was hid behind clouds all day and it eventually started to lightly snow. I enjoyed the whole day to myself.

I like to think that I am a very social person. I love being among friends and don’t have a problem creating conversations with strangers, but at times I really like to be alone. Today  was one of that days and I was glad to be skiing alone on that mountain. I created paths through the snow to the likes of Michael Buble and U2 as my thoughts raced through my head. It was a very therapeutic day and allowed me to solve some of the little problems in life that we all must deal with from time to time.

I then spent the afternoon being lazy, chilling in my favorite chair while watching a movie and cuddling up with Maddie. I really like days like this where I can focus on what I want to do, even if it really is nothing at all. I need my alone time, but damn I am boring and now look forward to hanging out with my friends now.

It is a perfect time to sit down and thing about things that I want to accomplish in the new year. Last year was an incredible and fortune year for me. It was filled many great memories and events. I look forward to 2009 and conquering many new challenges. I am going to compete in my first triathlon, I am trying to get in the lottery to run the St. George Marathon, I want to travel and grow the businesses. I believe in setting BIG goals and thinking BIG. What is the use of dreaming if you don’t Dream Big?

This is my theme for 2009….What is yours?