A Little Biggs Thanksgiving

Matt and I love Thanksgiving. The good food and wonderful family are the best, not to mention a break from school. Since we have so many family members in the area, we decided to divide up our break with some of our aunts and uncles.

We didn't have school on Wednesday, so I decided I really wanted to make a little Thanksgiving dinner. We had made a delicious roast chicken recipe a few months ago, so we bought two little cornish hens and cooked them! We also had some veggies, stuffing, and cranberry sauce already, so we decided to go all out and make rolls and gravy too. I bought some butternut squash and steamed it with brown sugar and spices. Finally, Matt and I decided to make the best dessert we could think of: cheesecake. My mom sent me a springform pan for my birthday last month, so we were set! I found a pumpkin cheesecake recipe online and we went to work. It took us several hours to cook everything though because we have one tiny oven with just one oven rack, but it was all delicious! We were so proud of how it turned out! Here are a few pictures of our little dinner spread:

 Jessica with the cheesecake mix

 Matt with the finished product! We were so proud!

 Our little cornish hens!

The whole feast! The roll pan didn't quite fit on the table :)

On Thursday, we spent time with my Aunt Rachel and Uncle Troy and our awesome cousins. We had so much fun! The meal was organized Troy's family with some great filipino food, in addition to the traditional dishes. We grabbed some leftovers after the meal wound down and Matt is still craving sinigang. Now we will have to find a tamarind soup packet and make it ourselves! Troy's family also loves dancing, so we got to play Just Dance as a group. It was so fun! My cousin Addy was the star. I wish I had a picture so you all could see it!

Then, Matt and I went to his Aunt Lila and Uncle Leo's house. We had a blast! We played tons of games (we introduced them to Five Crowns and Farkle) and watched at least four Disney movies. It was a serious party! They had also made some wonderful food plus SEVEN pies, so we had plenty of delicious food on Friday as well! We had a great time! We are so grateful for the wonderful family members who invited us to tag along with them. We are very lucky. We hope you all had a delicious, peaceful, and entertaining Thanksgiving!

Brilliant Boston

The circumstances which lead to our Boston trip have previously been mentioned. Matt's iGEM team did well in the America's regional iGEM competition and was selected among 20 other teams to compete at the World iGEM Jamboree, hosted on MIT's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

It was an early morning flight, direct from Salt Lake to Boston Logan. Our journey was made more comfortable with Cinnabons cinnamon rolls.

We arrived in Boston as it was getting dark. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on MIT's campus. There was a military ball being held on the main floor, but we decided not to don our tuxedos and join them. Instead, we went to Legal Seafood, a restaurant that began in Boston, and was recommended by all the locals. In this picture, I'm enjoying a bowl of clam chowder, while Jessica had a bowl of lobster bisque.

By the MIT sign at the Stata Center!!!

The BYU iGEM team didn't win anything at the World level, but it was a great experience just the same. There were teams from Europe, Asia, Africa and of course, the Americas. Jessica befriended a Chinese team who gave her a little whale figurine.

Sunday morning, we attended church a few blocks from MIT in a brand new church building. Half-way through the meeting, we heard that the Portuguese branch was meeting upstairs. There was no restraining Matt who immediately dragged Jessica out of the meeting and upstairs to meet some Cape Verdians.

That afternoon, we, together with the iGEM team, visited some of the local historic sites. We saw Samuel Adams' and John Hancock's graves, we saw the building where the Declaration of Independence was first read to the Massachusetts people, we visited Bunker Hill and the ship "Old Ironsides".

Matt and Ben.

Another spot recommended by the locals was Mike's Pastry shop. They specialize in Cannolis (we got ricotta flavored), Boston Cream pie, cheese cake ... I could go on, but I see your mouths watering. It was one of the high points of the trip :)

Jack-O-Lanterns!

Matt brought home a beautiful pumpkin the other day when he went grocery shopping. It was sitting in our kitchen for a while because we couldn't decide what to do with it! We could do dinner in a pumpkin, we could make pie, the options are really unlimited. Then our upstairs neighbors gave us a challenge. They had a few jack-o-lantern stencils and gave us the most complicated one, so we accepted. A little while later, we had an awesome carved pumpkin and some delicious seeds to roast. Awesome!