Slow Cooker Ribs

My husband and (two) children are some serious meat eaters.  David?  Notsomuch.  Jack is a straight up carnivore.  He sits and the table and, I kid you not, says, "I WANT MEAT!"  A favorite winter recipe at our house is some slow cooker ribs.  There really isn't a "recipe" for this.  I buy a package of beef ribs, and a bottle of barbecue sauce.  Dump them both in the slow cooker, set it to low, and you've got some dinner.  We usually eat them with some rice, whatever frozen veggie we've got, and some cornbread.  It's a big, easy favorite with pretty minimal clean up.  And usually no leftovers!

Orange Cupcakes

I make cupcakes for everyone at work for their birthday.  They get to request whatever kind they would like.  My most recent request was for orange cupcakes.  The same person requested banana last year, with chocolate icing.  I think he feels like he's challenging me.  Uh, no.

Not my actual cupcakes.  Gorgeous though - no?
howaboutorange.blogspot.com

The recipe I used was a recipe from the Cake Mix Doctor.  Have you used her cookbook?  If not, use it.  Just trust me.  I bought her original cookbook from one of my employees at the Gap probably ten years ago, pretty much just to buy something so she would shut up.  I cannot even count how many times I have used that book over the years.  It's probably my favorite cookbook, other than the one my mom made with her recipes.  Try these cupcakes (or as a cake).  It's SO worth it.  And don't be scared that it seems like a lot of work with the fresh oranges, etc.  You could easily substitute the freshly squeezed juice with orange juice from the carton.

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil spray, for misting the pans

Flour, for dusting the pans
1 large orange
About 1 cup orange juice from a carton
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
½ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)

Directions:
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly mist three 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil spray, then dust them with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pans aside.


2. Rinse the orange and pat it dry with paper towels. Grate enough zest to measure 2 to 3 teaspoons. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into a small bowl; you will have about ½ cup of juice. Add enough orange juice from a carton to the fresh orange juice to measure 1 1/8 cups.

3. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, oil, vanilla, eggs, and orange juice and orange zest in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are moistened, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the batter until well combined and smooth, about 1½ minutes longer, scraping down the side of the bowl again if needed. Divide the cake batter evenly among the 3 prepared cake pans, about 1¾ cups of batter per pan, smoothing the tops with the rubber spatula. Place the cake pans in the oven. If your oven is not large enough to hold 3 pans on one rack, place 2 pans on that rack and one in the center of the rack above.

4. Bake the cake layers until the tops spring back when lightly pressed with a finger, 18 to 20 minutes. The cake layer on the higher rack may bake faster so test it for doneness first. Transfer the cake pans to wire racks and let the cake layers cool for 5 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of each cake layer and give the pans a good shake to loosen the cakes. Invert each layer onto a wire rack, then invert it again onto another wire rack so that the cakes are right side up. Let the layers cool to room temperature, 15 minutes longer.  (To bake cupcakes, I usually start my timer at 15 minutes and test.)

5. Make the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting.

6. To assemble the cake, transfer one layer, right side up, to a serving platter. Spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer of cake, right side up, on top of the first and frost the top. Repeat this process with the third layer. Use the remaining frosting to frost the side of the cake, working with smooth, clean strokes. Arrange fresh orange slices around the base of the cake, or place candy gum drop orange slices on top of the cake.
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

*Note* I double this recipe.

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 to 3 teaspoons fresh orange juice
3¾ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions:
Place the butter and cream cheese in a medium-size bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine. Add the orange zest, 2 teaspoons of the orange juice, and the confectioners’ sugar, a bit at a time, beating with the mixer on low speed until the confectioners’ sugar is well incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the frosting until fluffy, 1 minute longer. Add up to 1 teaspoon more orange juice if the frosting seems too stiff. Use the frosting at once.

How do you zest an orange?  Use this:

Don't have one?  Get one.  I'm sure they're available at places other than Williams-Sonoma and probably for less than $14.95.  Buy a good one, because it will last.  You will use it a lot - zesting, freshly grated cheese, grated chocolate, etc.  I use mine pretty much weekly.  But use it with caution so you don't zest your fingers.  It's razor sharp.  Just trust me.

Just Jack

I am so thankful for this boy Jack.

He is sweet, and loving.

He says things like, "Henry, I'm kissing you. 

 Do that make you happy?"

He loves his brothers and his Daddy more than anything.

Except maybe candy.

And as sweet as he is?  He's also that naughty.

He wants to play school and "detend to pull a card and get in trouble."

Why he wants to "detend" to get in trouble is beyond me.

He pretty much stays in trouble. . . no need to pretend.

He's smart and curious.

He's considerate and sweet.

He's trouble and naughty.

He's loving and throughtful.

He's creative and kind.

He's handsome and cuddly.

He's funny and silly.

He's sneaky and cunning.

And like he tells anyone who will listen, he's

"Mama's baby."

What We've Been Up To

Back to the breakfast room. . .

We knew we would paint these globe light fixtures when we moved in.

We just couldn't decide what color. 

They almost were just blending into the wall and ceiling when they were white.

Down they came.

And they were f.i.l.t.h.y.

A little of my beloved Rustoleum ORB paint.

And they're f.a.b.u.l.o.u.s.

The difference is pretty dramatic, and they stand out nicely now.

Next up?

I painted the backs of this bookcase the same blue as the dining room walls.

It's in the hallway between the kitchen/bathroom/dining room/and living room.

What do you do with a space like that?

We removed the door between the living room and hallway, and I'm going to use this as a built-in bookcase.

I think I'll put a little rug on the floor and some paint on the walls.

And a new light fixture.

Maybe from IKEA?!

Paint, Paint, Paint

Just when we thought the paintbrushes were put away to dry. . .

I'm at it again.  Next up?  The downstairs hallway.  And breakfast room.  And entry.  And playroom upstairs.  And landing/computer area.  What colors?

For the breakfast room, the downstairs hallway, the entry, and the landing/computer area I've picked Valspar Laura Ashley Taupe 4.

We're starting in the downstairs hallway, which is not large.

It's really more trim than walls.  

I've also painted the backs of the built-in bookcase in that hallway blue.  

I can't wait to see it all together.

In the breakfast room we're going to do beadboard on the bottom half of the walls and the taupe on the top.

We did this in our first kitchen and I loved it.  

It's so easy to clean little fingerprints off of.

And it comes already painted, which is a huge time saver.

The stairway will be interesting.  

Because it's roughly 20 feet tall, and I don't want to die painting, or have my husband die painting.

My solution?  Leave that wall unpainted for now.

I'm going BOLD in the playroom.  

I'm going to do Olympic Paint's Field Poppy.

I was inspired by playroom pictures in the Land of Nod.  

The Land of Nod photos are Mythic Paint called "Have You Seen Tangerine?"  I'm not ordering gallons of paint online, because that seems a bit foolish.  I'm quite certain I can get it reasonably close at Lowes.

I love, love, love this playroom. 

And am even considering painting our Target bookcases in this room blue like the storage in the Land of Nod room.

It looks so cute, and I think it will make that room feel more cozy.

I'm going to do some more of my favorite drop cloth curtains in that room.

Get your brushes ready!

Energy Audit. Otherwise Titled "Holy Electric Bill Batman!"

We're having an energy audit of our house done by the TVA.  Why?  Because we had an $839.76 electric bill.  I know it's unebelievable.  Shut your mouth.  And yes, I'm serious.  No, that's not exaggerated.  Yes, that's more than our house payment.  We have a heat/air unit for downstairs and one for upstairs.  The upstairs doesn't have a heat issue, partially because (duh) the heat rises from downstairs.  Downstairs is another issue.  Well, another lot of issues.  We have true hardwood floors - slats of wood on the floor joists.  No subfloors here.  The house *I'm sure* is not insulated well.  You can pretty much feel the wind blowing through the floor.  The audit costs $150 to have done, but there are lots of rebates, incentive monies, etc. available to have suggested repairs done in an attempt to make the house more energy efficient.  I'm very curious to see what the audit says. . . and scared at the same time.

The Great Ottoman Search

I'm on the great ottoman search.  Why?  Right now I have the coffee table of death.  It started out as such a nice little table.  I should have known better.  Jack sliced his face open about 2 months after we got it.  We need something round.  And not sharp.  Something like this.  But not for $520.85.  Because it will be jumped on.  And likely chewed on a time or two (hopefully only by dogs, not children). 

I like this seagrass style.

I also like this one from Pottery Barn.

More reasonably priced at $200, but considerably smaller.

This is cute too, but I would need two of this size to be the right scale for the room.

I really am loving the round.

This one is almost $800.00 though.

Um, clearly not happening. 

I was thinking about 1/10th of that price.

This is probably what I'll end up with.

Not what I want, but I could live with it.

And slipcover it later if I hate it. . .