The prodigal blogger returns!

I have returned!!  time to kill the fatted calf!

 So- here is our gross totally 80s brass "chandelier"  ick.  Not only is it brassy, but it is totally un-centered.  Why does that happen?  is it that hard to measure out what would be the center of the "dining room"?  ANYWAY, I am too cheap to buy a new fixture....but I did buy some spray paint! (do you like how half of the lights are burned out?? classy.)

 Soon- so very soon, we will have moulding up....so so soon.  Dave got a nail gun/air compressor for Christmas....what a great gift right?  I digress....

 eeewww so dusty.  Here is one of my skeletons....I HATE dusting.  It is one of my "pay" jobs.  The kids know that if they want money, there are always jobs that I will pay to have done.  Dusting is one of the many :)

 My VERY high tech spray guard.  I didn't want the hassle of taking it down just to have to put it back up again.

 TA-DA!  ooooooo so much better  AND it is now centered.

 hmmmmm couldn't decide which was the better pic--lights on or lights off.

 I know right?  you want to blow this picture up and put it on your wall :)

I recently saw a post on another blog about how to cover these little dandies....so that might be coming sooner than later.

Bean cake? I'd love some

 I have been reading about using beans in place of "fats" in cakes, cookies etc.  what??  I know right?  So I was hosting a book club at my house, we were going to discuss "Freakonomics" which-if you have read it- you know it is all about unlikely comparisons....hmmmm as unlikely as beans in cake?? Perfect.

Here is the recipe-as in the whole thing- nothing taken out...all the "modifications" will be listed!  I have no idea where the original recipe came from so I can't give proper "props"  It is my favorite go to cake recipe for box cakes.  SO many flavor combinations--I have yet to have a bad one.....well OK chocolate cake mix and banana pudding=not so good.

BEAN CAKE

1 cake mix (I used white this time)

1 4 oz box of instant pudding (in this case I used white chocolate)

1 cup sour cream

1/2 water

1/2 cup oil (this is where I used 1/2 great northern beans blended up)

4 eggs

mix on low until ingredients are combined then speed it up for 2-3 minutes.

***if you usually use 2 rounds- you might want to consider 3...this will overflow!

350 degree oven for  ?? minutes.  Times will vary I usually check mine after about 18 minutes.  Nobody likes dry icky cake!  Whatever the box says for the pan size, I usually take 5 minutes off.

So YUMMY!  I made a swiss meringue buttercream recipe.  SO light and fluffy!  It uses A LOT of egg whites....so what do you do with all the yolks??  you make lemon curd to fill your cake of course!!

 This might look hard- but it is way easier than trying to get a smooth layer of frosting!  As you might have noticed in the first picture- I did a crumb coat first.  Then using a 1M or 2D (sorry, I can't remember) tip you start from the center of the rose and swirl out.  

It was DELICIOUS!!  So moist, there is no way that you would know it had beans in it.  

What we have been up to....

I LOVE the fall.  Not only do I love the weather but I LOVE  as Mr Putter would put it "all the juicy things to eat!" (Mr Putter books are some of my favorite children's books)

I got these beauties from a neighbor...in hindsight I should have taken all those tart little green guys out, but it still turned out good.

I borrowed this guy from the same neighbor.

mmmmm, "homemade" grape juice.  VERY nostalgic.

 I LOVE grape jelly.  I had never made it before and had a few gallons of grape juice on my hands.  Is that like making lemonade out of lemons??  I guess it can't be, 'cause, since when is having gallons of fresh juice a bad thing?  

 Walmart had peaches for .50 a  pound! I bought 10 pounds and I had to do something with them before my daughter ate them all.

 *sigh* even messy, it is a beautiful kitchen.  I can't wait to get that backsplash done.

There is something seriously satisfying about seeing a counter full of "canned" goods.  Only freezer jams here, I think that they taste so much better than the processed variety.  I can't wait for my counters to be full of canned apple pie filing!!  On to find some cheap apples!

Fish bowl no more!

Sorry that it has been awhile- school started here a few weeks ago and life has been crazy busy!! We have a footballer for the first time and that has rocked our world!! anyway on to the house, which has been as neglected as this blog these days :) 

LOVED these golden beauties from IKEA!  they are an orangy goldy color.  To the right is how they came- you know the type- you wad it up on the rod and it never looks quite right?  We also bought some chocolate brown curtains for our room and they had a tab system on the back--not the hangy tabby things but a tab on the back of the curtain.  I liked how they looked SO much more than the wadded up business, so I took matters and my scissors into my hands.  dun dun dun!

 I made these slits every 5ish inches- and then 1 inch so...every 5 inches there is a 1 inch "tab" does that make sense?

 oooooooooh that hangs so much better, so much neater---so... not "college dorm room".

So the rod actually gets looped on the 1 inch tabbys only.  hmmm If I decide to "invent" the word "tabbys" for the multiple tabs on my curtain....should it have 1 b or follow the double the letter rule, like in rub to rubbing? or should it be spelled tabbies?  hmmm spell checker likes that, but maybe it thinks I am talking about cats?

Anyway, now I just need to hem them up, because right now they hang a little too low, and I am not taking about that nice pooling on the ground that is so hot these days, I mean they are flooding onto the ground, they look a bit silly--it will happen evetually.  

At Last!

 Here's a little reminder of how we were washing dishes

 No fun

 Who doesn't like to wash dishes with a plunger nearby??

 The final before shots! Here is my spice drawer with the spices that I use the most-- the rest are in the cupboard--where did you get those cute little matchy matchy bottles/lables??  Well, I am glad that you asked.  They are from Penzey's spices my FAVORITE spice company!!  Thank-you Jeanne, I will love you FOREVER for introducing me to their cinnamon 7 years ago!!! You can order them online, or the lucky ones will have a store nearby! I am not one of the lucky ones :(

 eeeeee!!  here they are!!! I am still a little giddy about it!!

 oohhhh soooo pretty!

 It was almost a shame to have to cut the sink hole--it was such a beautiful length of counter!

 Seriously,we just sat and looked at them- we couldn't stop touching them.  I would leave the room just so I could come back in.....and they would still be there!!!

 too bad there is that pesky wall back there that isn't finished.

 I LOOOOVE my new kitchen....can you tell?

Talk about some yummy celebration food!!!  Graeters ice cream is quite possibly THE best ice cream in the world and my guilty secret is I love little Debbie cosmic brownies....I know- I shouldn't like them so much--and I have no idea why I do.....but there you go- every lover/maker of good food has a dirty secret and that is mine....well one of them anyway :)

HOORAY!

The counters have come in!!! They are at the store waiting to be picked up!  This is killing me that they are here and not at my house aaaaaahhhhh! 

From creepy motel chic to "Spa-tastic"

 So here it is- our icky bathroom (icky seems to be the "theme" word for this house, I really must get the thesaurus out)  Like the title suggests, it is decorated in creepy motel chic.  The walls were dirty white, there was old tile grout and tub grout pasted onto the tub it was due a makeover!

 Blech.

  "hmmmm I wonder why the previous owners left that mirror on the wall?"

 ahhhhhh!  that's why! wow.  There are good surprises and bad surprises, I'll let you guess which one this was for me. It is a wall heater.  Now, I am not an HVAC specialist, but doesn't heat rise?  so, shouldn't a heater be--oh, I don't know, not at eye level?  Unless you were prone to have a cold face or neck?  I'll tell you one thing.  When we sell it, the new owners will be thinking "hmmm, I wonder why the previous owners left this mirror here?"  

 (In case you were wondering....of course I turned it on! but it started to smoke as well as put out heat, so it was turned off really fast!)

 So pretty.  I love blue.  It is my new favorite color.  Now when the kids drive me nutso I might lock myself into the bathroom.....oh wait, but I can't do that because it no longer locks.  One of the kids locked it and closed it somehow and there was NO little keyhole!  what??!!  so after numerous attempts at trying to be Macgyver we instead turned to Mr. T for our inspiration!  Long story short- until we get a new door, there will be no bathroom privacy.  Good thing my kids seldom even close the door when they use the "facilities"

Gotta love those curved shower rods!

So, there is now a picture above the toilet and one to the right of the sink and I just bought one of those pull out mirrors from IKEA , because how can you live without seeing the back of your hair?