Rekindling an Old Flame

Tonight we did something we haven’t done in a very long time. We used our grill.

I know! Exciting, huh? And not at all what you thought this post was going to be about, is it?

Jake bought me this beautiful grill for my birthday in 2004. And then we discovered that in the summer, our patio is hotter than the seventh circle of hell from about 4 p.m. until after the sun goes down. The grill has an internal thermometer and I’ve gone out to heat up the grill before, only to find that without the gas on, it’s reading at 300 degrees. Ouch. Needless to say, we don’t do a lot of grilling in the summer. In fact, before tonight, the last time we used it was when I was pregnant and had an overwhelming craving for hot dogs made on the grill.

But we eat much better when we grill - how can you not? So I bought some steaks at the store and vowed to get the grill ready to go by this evening. It wasn’t easy. Our grill tends to get blown around quite a bit when it’s windy outside, and we’ve found it blown into the grass more than once. So in order to get it ready, I had to scrub it, clean the grill plates, use the shop vac to get all the grass out of it. I was quite legitimately concerned about how much it might ignite when the flames came up. It took a while, but it was spic and span (almost) and ready for cookin’ by dinner time. I made some yummy roasted potatoes and zucchini to go with the steaks.

I estimate we can grill a few times a week until probably May and after that, we can only grill during the day when our backyard is shaded until September or so.  Then we can maybe grill through November.

I love living in Texas.

We’re Traditionalists

Don’t most people spend Super Bowl Sunday taking down their Christmas decorations?

Well, to be fair, the house was mostly undecorated weeks ago. The decorations were sitting in the formal living room, though. Now they are boxed and put away.

I might have to unearth my Easter decorations just so I can have something else to hang over my head for a month after a holiday is over.

0 for 2

This week I’ve tried two new recipes that I found different places online. And both of them have been big flops. There is nothing I hate more than finding a recipe that sounds so yummy, then shopping for it and preparing it with anticipation, only to find nothing but disappointment at the dinner table. And yet I’m so bloody sick of everything I cook that I’m desperate for new options. I also want to find things that are somewhat kid friendly so that Bridget can eat what we eat more often. I know they say she should be, but we like a lot of food that is either too spicy for her or that she couldn’t chew.

And so the search continues….

Only 57 Shopping Days Left

That’s right, Christmas is less than two months away.  And I am so freaking Christmas-y already, I can’t even stand myself.

I made two loaves of banana bread yesterday. Tomorrow, I am hoping to try out Swistle’s chocolate-crusted pumpkin cheesecake recipe.  And today, I ordered my first Christmas presents and my Christmas tree from L.L. Bean. (As an aside, I just discovered that there is an L.L. Bean store in South Windsor, CT. I’m hoping that someone can confirm for me that this store was not there when I lived there for two years or else I’m going to be really pissed at myself.)

I know it sounds nuts-0 to buy a Christmas tree online, but stick with me here and I’ll walk you through my logic.  First, I’m pretty sure that all trees get cut on the same day. So even if I bought one here on December 15, the odds are good that it was cut the same damn day as the one that L.L. Bean is shipping to me for practically the same price I would pay some carnie-type person in an RV in the Albertson’s parking lot, and they aren’t even charging me shipping. You can bet the carnies charge you for rope and to bale the thing. Second, we’ve had such bad luck with Christmas trees for so long that I just can’t bear the thought of another fugly tree. So much so that I seriously considered buying an artificial tree to avoid the cussing and hand-wringing when, after a week in the stand, we discover that the damn tree is not taking any of the water we have provided. But I can’t stomach the thought of a fake one. I need the smell. I need sap on my hands or else it’s not Christmas.   If this tree sucks, you can bet that ol’ L.L. is going to hear about it and my $75 will be promptly returned to my bank account.  Lastly, we are going out of town for Christmas this year. Which usually means we take the tree down before we leave to avoid fire hazards and pet damage while we are away. So if I am going to take it down on December 22 anyway, I want to put it up as soon as possible to get as much Christmas delight out of it as possible. I learned the hard way last year that not decorating for Christmas is one of the most horribly depressing things in the world. I won’t ever make that mistake again.  Yes, it’s a hassle, but it’s always worth it.

So tell me, is anyone else as nuts as I am? Who’s been shopping already? I want to hear holiday plans!

Random

I’ve been sick and very tired lately so I haven’t had the ability to cobble together a coherent post. I probably should be saving my blogging energy for NaBloPoMo anyway, since I’ll need to come up with coherent posts every day for the entire month of November. Maybe I should start writing down ideas for that.

Yesterday I discovered (or she decided yesterday, not sure which) that Bridget is terrified of the vacuum. This could be a good thing, really. How can I be expected to vacuum when it sends my little Bridgie Bear into fits of crying and screaming?  Both the screaming and crying would be tolerable since the noise of the vacuum drowns them, were it not for the face she makes. The face which we call the Puppy Face, because to us it looks like the face she might make if someone killed her puppy. It’s the face she makes when she gets shots, in that pause between the time the needle goes in and the time she can work up the scream.  I tried everything I could to reassure her that the vacuum is not scary but finally after about four tries, I had to just let her cry while I vacuumed. My allergies demanded it.  She eventually worked through it. Damn!

Running has been derailed for a bit, as both Karin and I have had allergy/sinus crap. We were set to go on Sunday morning, and I woke up feeling like hammered dog poop, when she called to say she felt horrible and couldn’t go. I was never so happy to receive a phone call at 6:30 a.m. in my life and promptly went back to bed. We are going to try to get back on track tomorrow. No pun intended.

Last night I had the craziest damn dream. I dreamed I was pregnant with a boy. That is funny for many reasons.  The chances of me being pregnant again are slim to none. We are settling our minds around only having one child and surprisingly, I am ok with that.   Plus, y’all know I didn’t want to know the gender when I was pregnant with Bridget and I probably wouldn’t if I got pregnant again. Although honestly this time I might just because I am a planner and I would want to know if I needed to buy all new stuff or if I could use what I have (and stop giving it away). But then the dream got weirder. Or it could have been a whole new dream, it’s hard to say. I dreamed that I was walking around some event, probably NASCAR related (!) with Dale Earnhardt Jr. I know, I know. It’s crazy. I don’t even follow NASCAR.  I do think Jr. is hot. He’d be hotter if he didn’t talk but still, I find him very pleasing to the eye. The weirdest thing was we were at a NASCAR event and we were not being mobbed by fans. And I wasn’t hooking up with Jr, just walking around having a friendly chat with him.  I don’t understand but whatever. Oh I think my parents were there too and I vaguely remember something about losing my purse.

And my last random tidbit is that I made another Applesauce Spice cake, only this time I made it in a 9×13 pyrex pan because when I made it as a bundt cake last time, it broke. This turned out just as well, but I can’t remember how long I ended up baking it, unfortunately. I know I started checking it at about 28 minutes going by the baking instructions on the back of the cake mix box. Maybe I baked it for a total of 40 minutes? Sorry, I’ll have to bake another and note the time. Also I want to try it again with unsweetened applesauce, as I think the cake is still a bit too sweet. I iced it this time with cream cheese frosting (sort of like a carrot cake) but I thought it was way over the top  with the sweetness. I still  contend it’s better plain or with powdered sugar dusted over the top. I’ll keep you posted.

Applesauce Spice Cake

Yesterday I made this cake for Jake. I had been trying to get around to making it for a while but hadn’t had the time. It is awesome! So good I had to share it with you all.

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain spice cake mix
1 cup sweetened applesauce
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 cup chopped peeled apple
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray and dust with flour (I use a Pampered Chef stone wear bundt pan so I don’t flour but if you use a metal pan, you will want to flour). Preheat oven to 350 (325 if  you use a dark metal pan).

Place the cake mix, applesauce, buttermilk, butter, shortening, vanilla, lemon zest, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, scraping sides down again if needed. The batter should look well blended. Fold in the chopped apple and pecans. Pour batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven.

Bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back with lightly pressed, approximately 50-55 minutes. If you use a dark pan, check it at about 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then remove from the pan and turn right side up on the rack. Allow the cake to cool completely, approximately 30 minutes more.

Place the cake on a serving plate and serve it dusted with confectioners’ sugar or top with Brown Sugar Caramel Glaze (see below). I accidentally broke the cake so I put the glaze on half. I prefer it plain but Jake liked the glaze.

Brown Sugar Caramel Glaze

3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp granulated sugar
3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Let boil for 1 minute still stirring often.

Remove pan from heat and spoon or spread the warm glaze onto the cake.

Source: The Cake Mix Doctor  cookbook

Shameless

In case fall hasn’t fallen yet where you live - it certainly hasn’t here - I thought I’d remind you that the holidays are approaching more quickly than you’d like to think. And relax - I am counting Halloween as the first holiday.

There is a new blog called Maybe Painted Pink that is all about holiday magic, be it Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, whatever. You can submit recipes, craft ideas and the like. And since you all know how UNcrafty I am, I simply plan to shamelessly swipe all the ideas that strike my fancy. But in return, hopefully I can refer some of you crafty foxes to the site and you can submit some ideas and make me feel better about not having any of my own to submit.

So go forth and be crafty. And don’t forget to share your ideas! It’s just good karma.

Crafty Fox

OK, so if you know me, you know I am the LEAST crafty/creative person on the planet. I can’t decorate my house, I can’t knit, stamp, cross-stitch or scrapbook. I can’t make fancy bows and the thought of making my own soap causes my ass to twitch. It’s just not a gene I got.

But I do like to have some sort of seasonal decoration on my front door. A few years ago, through Southern Living at Home, I bought this wrought iron basket that hangs on your front door and the idea is that it easily holds silk flowers and you can tie a ribbon on it or not as your heart desires. I much prefer this to wreaths because wreaths are hard to make and require way too much storage room. This solution means I only have a few bags of silk flowers and some ribbon to store. Anyway, in the past my attempts at creating my seasonal baskets have been less than stellar. I don’t know why, but they have been. Well, I like my Christmas one, but that’s it.  I don’t like any of the others.

Earlier this week, I was in the craft store for another semi crafty project that may or may not ever get completed when I decided that my fall flowers were just not cutting it. And the fact that florals were 50% off was the deciding factor. I just picked up what appealed to me and sort of put it together in my hand and decided I liked the way it looked so I bought it. That evening, I put it together and was so impressed with my work that I had to toot my own horn here and show you the fruits of my labor.

Isn’t it pretty and fallish? Never mind the fact that it’s still 90 degrees outside and probably will be for the next month and a half. I feel fallish so my door is going to look fallish too.

Banana Bread Recipe

I didn’t mean to leave you hanging. Here is my favorite banana bread recipe.

1 1/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (3 or 4 medium sized bananas)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 (325 if using dark nonstick pans). Grease BOTTOMS ONLY of two 8 inch loaf pans with shortening or cooking spray.

Mix sugar and butter (best to use mixer for this step to get it really smooth) in a large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Beat very well - may still be lumps of banana.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda .

Add dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix it as little as possible, just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Add nuts if using.  The more you mix, the less the bread will rise, so be gentle!

Pour into pans and bake approximately one hour.

If you used darker pans, you definitely want to check it at about 45 minutes. Bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Don’t be afraid to check it if looks done - you want make it fall by checking too often, but overbaking will lead to a tough crust.

Hope you enjoy!

Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful…..

….but inside, it smells delightful!

OK, so it’s still 90 degrees outside. I had some very ripe bananas and a hankering for banana bread and so even though I equate banana bread with fall and the holidays, we’ve got two loaves cooling on the stove right now.

I love my banana bread recipe so much. I’ve tried others but never found one I like quite as well. It’s a bit of a pain in that it requires buttermilk, which I don’t keep on hand, so I do kind of have to plan in advance if I want to make it, but I always have the rest of the ingredients around.

Now we just have to wait until it’s cool enough to eat.