My Mountain Man

On Monday, Sept. 23rd it was Chito's birthday! He is a quarter of a century old! Crazy! Because he had class all day until 11:00pm (boooo), we mostly celebrated over the weekend. Chito has become my mountain man. He LOVES everything outdoorsie. We have slowly been stocking up on our emergency preparedness and camping supplies, as well as getting ready for Peru. This means we are constantly checking Steep and Cheap, reading reviews, and drafting strategic game plans for the next REI garage sale.

So for Chito's birthday weekend we went camping. We just went up Wasatch, but it was the PERFECT weekend to go. The leaves were so beautiful! Lots of vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows.

We set up camp and tested out our new pocket rocket stove with our Mountain House meals-that's my kind of cooking.

Saturday morning we went fly fishing and then Chito headed off to a golf tournament with his friends.

Sunday we spent time with his family and I made a big birthday dinner of breakfast foods and a cake.

On Monday Chito got his birthday present from me-a new backpacking tent and sleeping pad. He is really excited to use them this weekend on his big backpacking trip with his UVU backpacking class. I hope he doesn't freeze with this cold weather!!

Tuesday we celebrated Chito's and Christina's (even though she is on a mission) birthday with my family at Texas Road House. He was such a good sport and even rode the saddle :)

It was a fun weekend and I'm glad we got to spend so much time together. As I'm sure with all of you, this time of year is really busy and its hard to find time in our schedules where we can both just play.

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband that I can grow old with. I love you sweetheart!

Lomo Saltado

Tuesday was Chito's dad Luis' birthday. Originally, we were going to have Luis come to our house for dinner. Unfortunately he was really busy at work and told us we would have to celebrate another day. I, however, wouldn't have that. Everyone deserves some sort of celebration on their actual birthday day. So Chito began cooking. Together we made Lomo Saltado, a delicious Peruvian dish (Chito's dad is from Peru). After we made all the food, we packed it up and drove to Heber. We set his dad's table and called him over to take a little break from work. Luis was so surprised. The Lomo Saltado tasted amazing and I was very impressed by Chito's skill to just throw it all together-no recipe needed. We then had apple pie a la mode for dessert. It was so great to spend time with Luis on his birthday, but not so great coming back to our house with the very strong smell of garlic....it's been a couple days now and I can still smell it!

What is your favorite birthday dish?

Orange Tea Rolls

In honor of my grandma's birthday today-Happy Birthday Grandma!! I want to share this Orange Tea Roll recipe that we always have at her house for the holidays. They are so yummy!!! It's hard to decide if they are a dinner roll or dessert. This past Christmas I (actually Chito) made these rolls for my company Christmas party and we took step by step pictures. I was so impressed by his baking skills. They are pretty easy to make, just make sure they don't over bake and make a lot-they tend to go fast!

ORANGE TEA ROLLS

Yields 24

About four hours from start to finish

1. Make the dough

Dissolve together in a small bowl:

2 Tablespoons Yeast

1 Cup Water (room temperature)
2 Tablespoons Sugar

Mix in a different bowl:
3/4 Cup Crisco

4 Beaten Eggs (whisk)

1 Teaspoon Salt

4 Tablespoons Sugar

6 Cups Flour

1 Cup Milk (room temperature)

2. Combine both bowls, knead dough, cover and let rise for two hours 

3. Make the filling

1 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Butter (melted)

4 Tablespoons Orange Zest (about four oranges)

Orange zest

4. After the dough has risen, roll out about 1/4 inch thick

We made two batches

Use flour as needed

5. Spread the filling evenly over the dough

Like you would with sauce on a pizza

6. Roll the dough into a jelly roll

7. Cut into 1 inch slices using thread

We used floss

8. Spray Pam on muffin tins and place sliced dough inside

If they don't fit perfectly inside that's okay, they may be a bit differently shaped

9. Cover dough and let rise in tins for 1 hour

10. Bake in oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes until slightly golden brown-check constantly


Unfortunately I was so excited to eat the Orange Tea Rolls that I forgot to take a picture of the final product. Here is a similar pic I found online.

They are best when eaten warm

I hope you get a chance to try these and love them as much as my grandma and I do!