The cake worked!

I made a cake for Trevor's birthday today, and for once, it worked out!  I've had some horrible cake failures in the past (thanks to Cynthia for the reminder of the 'brain' cake...LOL!) -- and this cake will not fall into that category.  Hurrah!

(Although there was one thing Trevor noticed, he thinks it says 'Happy Birthday Trevon' since the 'r' in his name comes a tad close to the awesome border effect.  Oh well, you can't win them all.)

Almost done!

Just letting everyone know that my new 'getting Christmas on track sooner' idea is working well so far.  The tree is up (but not decorated yet -- and will not be lit up until Dec. 1), other decor is going up around the house (hiding lingering reno supplies, but I suppose they can be festive too!), I've started gathering supplies for crafty things and baking, and...AND...I'm *thisclose* to finishing my Christmas shopping.  

Fa la la la la...LA!

I had no idea this was such a problem

Brownie lovers rejoice, you can now have TWO chewy edges to your slice, instead of the horrible flat pan effect on your batter.  Who knew this was such a problem before?

I guess I have more pressing concerns in the kitchen.

via not martha

Tastes like fall

This little buttercup squash is in the oven cooking away as I type. mmmm...

Tomatoes

There's something really satisfying knowing that I grew these from seed. These are the first two ripe and picked from the back yard, with many more changing colour. If I'm lucky, there will be enough for a salsa. (mmmm...salsa!)

Slow Monday

Well, no completely slow with all the work drama I have going on at the moment, but slow mentally! We were busy this weekend, and yes, I did manage to clean the siding on the house (a few failed attempts and then I managed to find a scrubbing brush solution that worked!), mowed the lawn, cleaned all the windows I could reach, pruned and cleaned up the garden, and Trevor went wild putting up more moulding, a hand rail to the basement, putting up closet doors, installing laundry room cupboards... *whew* It was a weekend. And we plan on doing more than that this coming long weekend.

But the big drumroll is...we can now officially call in for a FINAL INSPECTION! Almost a full year ago we were starting, and now we will be close to taking down the horrible neon permit sign on our front window. Hurrah! There's still a lot of painting, filling and caulking to be done, but that's just the icing on the cake right?

Damn you Martha!

She always sets the bar so high. I post two pictures of my peonies and she goes and throws a 'peony party'. I swear, I will never live up to her standards. Sheesh.

Now to plan a weed-whacker social...

Tiny pies

This is a small pie that's baked in a jar. You can make these in batches and freeze -- then bake on demand! I think this would be perfect for summery get-togethers with little scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Here's the link with more instructions.

Okay, so still no photos

But we did make a trip to the dump today! Hurrah! We got rid of the old office mini fridge, old shelving, a bag of junk and styrofoam. We still have to make another trip to an electronics recycling place to get rid of the old techie stuff around here.

Pictures will be coming some day...

I know that I mentioned (a long time ago) about posting pictures of the basement on here, and they've never surfaced. I've taken a few, but maybe it's the pursuit of perfection (or not!) that keeps me from posting them. I want to take pictures and post them and be able to do a big *sigh* and have it look the way I have it in my head.

The reality though...

It's not so perfect at the moment. I don't think it's got to that point yet. At the moment my office is a piled of dragged out junk from under the stairs (beside my office) and all the dirt that's come with it. Driving me crazy. I'm working on that today so I can hopefully clear out a good amount of crap from the spare bedroom (you can't even see a bed in there it's that bad). Then I want to swing the vacuum around without sucking up boxes, Christmas goodies and other large miscellaneous items. And I want to be able to walk in a straight line down the upstairs hallway. We have mastered the 'junk swagger' and learn to cross by things by using walls for balance...lol.

Maybe I'll post some goodies later on today. And maybe not! (Just for the suspense you know!)

Who knew you could do so much with this?

I learned this at step class this morning. Our instructor brought out the ball and proceeded to contort and roll all over it. We did all sorts of sit-ups, twisty things, roll-y things and squeeze-y things on it. At one point I had to try not to laugh as we all rolled up on the ball at the same time and made this big farty noise that echoed through the room (I've been hanging out with Trevor too much, lol). It was fun, and a nice way to get out of the house (I've been working in the 'compound' here all week).

The rest of the week has been filled with work (getting ideas for a new logo project that's due for the first presentation TOMORROW, no pressure), cleaning the house and doing overall domestic things. I made an awesome chicken dinner on Tuesday (roasted chicken...on a Tuesday you say? Why yes!) and was very happy with the way it turned out. I tried a Jamie Oliver technique of salt and pepper-ing the chicken in a bag the morning before it was roasted and then added the garlic, butter and lemon before it was put in the oven. MMM-mmmm. It was so juicy that I literally had to POUR it out before it was carved up. And then I made chicken stock out of the rest of it yesterday (it was a pricey organic chicken, so I'm using all of it up!). Über domestic, that is moi.

And for the weekend, we're partying it up with Mike and Cynthia. Mike is having a man time with Trevor playing video games on the big tv and Cynthia and I are going to TARGET!!! Woop woop! I love going there. I think I could go there every weekend, in fact. So we'll see what we score there.

I think I might try and tackle some closet organizing as well. I tried to do that last week and failed. (Okay, if you don't really try, can you really fail?) So we'll see what comes out of all of that. :)

Made it!

Well, Thursday take two! I finally made it to the step class that was going to take last week. It went about an hour long and *hurrah!* no 6-pack nazi instructor. I hate to be smug, but I really like it when there's people in the class worse than me! It was a nice change from the usual week routine and the class wasn't huge. I thought there would have been a lot more 'resolutions' keeners getting in on the class, maybe it's because it's at 9:15am and they don't turn out that early. :)

We also got Trevor's wheel back yesterday, all repaired! No more sinking our savings into a $550 wheel from Chrysler! The repaired wheel looks so good you wouldn't be able to tell where it happened (but I can, I have an eagle-eye *caw caw*). But it looks great and makes the other three wheels look like crap because they're all dirty and the repaired one is all *bling bling*. lol

Other than all that excitement, I've been trying to finish the pantry organization (slowed down a bit, I have to plan things out a bit more for optimum efficiency, lol!) and we went to Ikea on Tuesday night and bought a bunch of storage boxes (in green *lovely*, warm grey and white). I also bought two of these:They are glass and stainless steel (and wood somewhere), and can be wall mounted or have legs added to become a sideboard. So one's going next to my desk (where there's a heater, and mounted to the wall with the extra support from 2 legs) and the other is going under the 'fake-out' electrical panel (thanks to a 'Sarah's House' idea of mounting a frame with a hinge over top with a magnet closure, voila! no ugly panel!). Both are nice and compact and offer oodles of storage, which is what I need in here.

And I'm still basking in proud auntie mode. I went out and bought a little teddy bear for the little man that I had my eye on last night. *sigh!* Can't wait to meet him! But I've had word from the new mom that he gained 5 grams in weight yesterday, so it's just a matter of being patient and waiting for him to beef up and get strong.

Tupper-worn-out!

*The photo above represents my Tupperware purchase! (Okay, maybe only a fraction of that...)

This past weekend I went to my first ever Tupperware party. For me, the domestically challenged, I realized even more how much I am in need of organizing things around the house (and if it means organizing things in containers that make a *pthhht!* noise, well then so be it). My pantry is out of control. ( I think it may be genetic though, LOL.) The party came at a good time as the pantry area in the basement is ready for shelves to be put up (this week's project). I'll take some picture once that's all done (and yes, eventually there will be pictures of the rest of the basement!).

Other than that, we spent the weekend taking down all the Christmas decorations and finding a new storage solution for our tree. The cardboard box it came in was not cutting it anymore. So we hit up the Canadian Tire and got some flexible laundry baskets (BIG), and have the tree bits in it now. It's not perfect, but at least it's a bit more compact and the ratty cardboard box is gone. We also did a big cardboard run into Langley yesterday (2nd this year!) and ditched more office moving boxes. Things are starting to look a little more civil in here now.

The worst part of clearing things away is that I now see things that I can't stand, such as the entryway linoleum. Yuck, it's days are done. But that's just another project for when the giant list of projects is a little smaller. *Sigh* Let's just call the whole house a work in progress.

Woe is mantle.

Yes, I know there hasn't been a blog update in a few days. Blame Telus. A port in Fort Langley went down for almost three days, leaving me in an internet-less void for a while, which was a pain. But, I'm back up and running, and why yes, here are some juicy updates:
Our mantle is gone. Gone gone. (For Trevor specifically: 'gone gone gone she's been gone so long she's been gone gone gone so long' - bonus points for anyone who can identify who sings that line.) It's a sad state of affairs around this house now, with the clutter and the reno dust still swirling around...and now this. The mantle had been sagging for a year or so, with Trevor sometimes cocking (yes, I just wrote that...MUAHAHAHAHA) his head and checking on it with a 'yup, it's moving' declaration. Well two days ago it really moved, enough that there were worries of it falling off and taking out whatever it landed on below. And we don't want any squashed or maimed kitties in this house (ditto for dvds, tvs, tables, etc.). So we sadly snapped it off the wall. It was only attached with a few blobs of glue and TWO nails. TWO! Retards who put that up need a smack up the side of the head (which I will volunteer to administer). *sigh* So yet another thing gets added to the list. This is one thing that has me really miffed, so much so that I want it fixed, and fixed soon.

I also got all 'culinary goddess' in the kitchen today and made creme caramel from scratch for dessert tonight, which turned out well...but not so well for the glass ramekins. I put them in a metal water-filled pan when I cooked them (should have been glass, perhaps?), which caused every single one to crack on the bottom. So bye bye six ramekins. Tasty dessert = all new kitchen wares. Whoops!
And why not throw in a thumb update? You'll all be glad to know that I'm going naked with it every day now. Except at night, I have a phobia about catching it on a blanket in my sleep so I wrap it up and polysporin the crap out of it. It doesn't hurt any more, but it sure isn't pretty to look at. It looks all gimped to me and I wish I had my normal pretty thumb back. One of the really weird feelings I have with it is from the nerve damage, and I either can't feel parts of it, or it feels pin-prickly. Plus it's shedding a lot of skin (yes, I know, too much information), and still doesn't bend right. But I'm slowly trying to use it a little more every day and make sure it heals fast.

That was so three days ago...

Here's the cake that actually TURNED out. Despite a few strange icing recipes (is it supposed to be the consistency of oatmeal?) I finally found one that worked and worked well. And it did taste as good as it looked (raspberry and white chocolate...mmmmm).

We had a semi-slow weekend, birthday dinner on Saturday (we made the BEST rotisserie chickens on the bbq, must note to do that again), and I went out to Metrotown with Cynthia on Sunday. I think Trevor and I are both still trying to get out of the routine of seeing each other for 24 hours everyday like we used to. It can be very strange because we were with each other like that for two and a half years -- and we didn't rip each other's heads off, it worked quite well. When the weekends come around now we both just have the feeling of wanting to bunk down and just have time to ourselves, which I think we'll do this weekend.

Even though we don't see each other all the time now, we still manage to share each others GERMS. Trevor had a cold last week, and I managed to catch it just in time for an important presentation with a new client today. I made sure to drug up, but still found myself feeling woozy and tired on the drive downtown (wait, maybe that just happens normally). Things went really well in the meeting (exact words to Trevor on the drive home: 'I killed!!!'), despite feeling -- and probably looking -- all hot, sweaty and clammy. No, no, no, not nerves, LOL. I think I hate that upper lip sweat you get the most when you're sick.

My mountain of kleenexes are calling...

Wish me luck...

I'm making another attempt to make a cake. Those who know will recall the memorable other attempts: 'The Slider', 'The Melter' and the 'Brain Cake'. LOL The last cake I made was a Barefoot Contessa chocolate cake that turned out really well and reaffirmed my faith in cake baking/assembly.

The one I'm baking today is a white chocolate and raspberry cake. (It's the F.I.L.'s birthday dinner at our house tomorrow evening and I REFUSE to eat another crappy lardy cake from Costco. BLEGH. So it's really more for me. ahahaha.) So far so good. I've had to make a few substitutions -- well one -- I forgot to get buttermilk at the store so I figure some sour cream and a little touch of milk should do the trick. Oh, and I also didn't read the part about THREE cake pans and I've only done two, might have to increase the baking time there.

But for some reason it's smelling like bread baking right now. I should go and check that I haven't put the bread I bought too close to the oven... Pictures to come!!!

Vanilla Cupcakes!

I haven't had a lot of time to do the domestic goddess thing lately with the basement and endless reno's, but I put that all aside Friday night and baked up some treats. Ohhh KitchenAid mixer, how I've missed you!

Here's the recipe:
Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcake
If you would like to make a layer cake instead of cupcakes, divide the batter between 2 (9-inch) round cake pans and bake the layers for 30 to 40 minutes.
Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing:
Vanilla Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Vanilla Buttercream:
The vanilla buttercream we use at the bakery is technically not a buttercream but actually an old-fashioned confectioners' sugar and butter frosting. Be sure to beat the icing for the amount of time called for in the recipe to achieve the desired creamy texture.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Yield: enough for 2 dozen cupcakes or 1 (9-inch) layer cake

The weekend, with a few small details...

On Friday night (after a FAB day of girl time and shopping and etc, etc, etc, with Cynthia) we went to Home Depot and picked up a few things (put off doing grocery shopping until Saturday morning). They had their jumbo pack of annuals on sale -- HALF PRICE! So I, of course, had to pick up a few petunias and other things. The rest of Friday evening was really nice, so I stayed out in the yard planting and weeding until it got dark. Good thing too, Saturday and Sunday were pretty miserable.

Saturday morning we headed out for groceries for the moveable feast that we were preparing for Father's Day (a tradition with Trevor's family -- he/we cook for Father's Day, his sister cooks for Mother's Day). The dinner was at the in-law's this year because his mom just got a puppy, and it needs to have it's routine (not to mention, not destroying my house/garden). We made some burgers, salad, corn on the cob, yam fries (which were hard to cook, took forever) and some easy parfaits from a Kraft recipe. I think we felt like caterers.

Sunday was pretty calm, we took a drive out to Chilliwack to see what the housing options are like out there. Well...not much. Boo to Chilliwack. I will not be living there anytime soon. We came back home after our drive and Trevor cleaned the carpet in the family room (YAY! We bought the lean mean carpet cleaning machine!). And WOW, does that thing ever work. It was pretty disgusting, grey/brown water and carpet that's now a different shade. I've also started to clean out the small pantry and implement the new Ikea storage container* system (note to self: need more, way more).

*Small note: Don't be retarded like me and put the container lids in the dishwasher with a bowl that has a small bit of leftover salsa in it. I now have orange lids. *sniff*

Chocolate cake!

Here is my attempt at a cake that FINALLY WORKED OUT! Hurrah for me! This was made from scratch (thanks to that Barefoot Contessa chick!) for Mike's birthday. Yes, I kept this piece until I finally remembered to bring the camera home from work to take a picture of it.

Suburban Farmer

Well, the yard isn't done yet but we're progressing nicely. We were quite a bit slower this weekend due to the STINKING heat. But, we did manage to get the gate frames up, and hit the Homo Delepot twice. I planted my pride and joy -- veggie boxes! I'm going all Jamie Oliver and going to be all natural (and talk with a slight lisp, and think that everything's easy peasy and lubly jubly). Three tomato plants (one called 'super fantastic' -- how could I not get that one???), some broccoli plants (which would be so rad if they actually work), zucchini (crossing fingers there), butter lettuce, parsley and basil. I will be in heaven if they all grow like mad. I can then fulfill my mental daydream of little house on the prairie/hot gardening chick in overalls with red gingham shirt harvesting luscious ripe veggies in a large wicker basket. HA HA!

Must remember to review this video for reference!