Saturday, January 18, 2014

Easy Caramelized Onions

Caramelized onions are the best thing ever.  They're tasty, they're easy, they sound complex, and if made my way, they're really pretty good for you.  Also you can make a great big batch of them on a Sunday night and use them all week.  I toss mine in salads with gorgonzola, on top of chicken or steak, in scrambled eggs or omelets, even in baking or soups.

I may also occasionally fry up a skillet of them with some mushrooms and eat it as a meal.  Or I may not, who can say.


Friday, January 17, 2014

Minecraft Creeper Mini Cupcakes

I do enjoy a good video game, as does Hubs.  As of late we have been playing quite a bit of Minecraft.  So when I was trying to come up with an idea for his birthday cake, I thought why not just GO there?  Who cares if we're adults?  Parents even?  If I want to make my dear husband a video game themed birthday cake, you had better believe I will do so.

Because I'm mature like that.

Anyway, I thought I might go the route of mini cupcakes to simulate the pixelated style of the video game.  Plus mini cupcakes are divine.  I figured I could line them all up and ice them in the form of a Creeper.  

I guess this is kind of a fail post.  The concept worked out nicely, however there were a few technical issues.  The first thing was that I didn't put enough batter in each cupcake.  Being able to see the white liners makes the whole thing look a little disjointed.  

Then I made all of the different color icings and intended to put them in zipper bags, snip a corner, and pipe a standard swirl in order to make light work of the decorating.  Well that was all good, except I used my cheap bags in an effort to get rid of them and they split at the seems.  So I ended up icing each individual cupcake with a toothpick.

Overall, as a trial run, I'll take it.  Here's some pics after the jump.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Hide-Away Cat House

Today is Hubs' birthday!  Or at least it was when I started writing this post.  I thought in celebration I could show off a little bit of his handiwork!

As previously mentioned, we have two annoying, entitled, anthropomorphic precious kitties in our family.  Unfortunately we've always been stumped with where to place their litter box.  There is no scarcely used bathroom, closet, or unused mudroom.  Thus wherever our cats are doing their business, it's more than likely going to be out in the ongoings of our house.  We talked about making a hidden litter box for months, and one day we just made it happen.

(Byyyyy the way, anytime I say 'we' in this post, you can be pretty sure that I actually mean 'he'.  I'm more the point and suggest type.)

We got this beaut of a dresser from Craigslist for $15.  Solid wood, just time worn and slightly bedraggled.  Most of the work that was done on this bad boy was repairing and solidifying the existing dresser.  If you had a somewhat newer piece of furniture, you could make a version of this in no time.

Here's what it looked like to begin with.  Actually this is even after a little bit of tlc.  Not gonna lie, when Hubs brought this home, I originally had my doubts...

But behold, the finished product!  He stripped, finished, and varnished the dresser, got new pulls from the hardware store, and unintentionally made it match the panels in our back room to a T!

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Secret Family Stuffing Recipe

Simple and delicious.  That is pretty much the only way to describe my Mother-in-law's famed stuffing recipe.  With only five ingredients (give or take), it has very basic flavors that meld perfectly into the epitome of holiday warmth and comfort.

Baaaaaaasically it is the best stuffing I've ever had.  (With the exception of my sister's mushroom walnut version, but they're on two different ends of the stuffing spectrum.)

And it's a rather simple recipe!  The only thing is that it isn't quite an exact science...  Eh, I'll show you.

Okay so you start out by chopping a head of celery and two large sweet onions.  Throw them in a skillet and add enough water to just cover them.  Simmer on medium low (covered).