Salsa Parfaits

Ok, not really.  I love those yogurt parfaits at the coffee shop, but they are $5...five dollars!  That is lame.  So I made a big batch of parfaits layering frozen berries and vanilla Greek yogurt.  I used old salsa jars that Al had been saving up, and taped baggies of granola to the lid.  (I may or may not have been a super nerd and calculated the exact ounces per parfait and weighed the granola baggies on a scale.)  The frozen berries have melted over the week and their juice has soaked the yogurt...so they get better as they age a bit.

Candy Corn Brownies

As you can see, I am a little behind in blogging...at least I took pictures!  That has been my plan.  Take pictures now, blog latter...well, I accomplished the first part!

Back in October I wanted to experiment with making a candy corn brownie because what's better than brownies?...buttercream on brownies!

I put a brownie mix in round cake pans.

I lined the pans with wax paper and ran a knife around the edge before using two cutting boards to flip the brownies.

I used a pizza cutter to divide the brownie into eight pieces and cut off the tips.

My original plan was to use buttercream because mmmmmmm.  Buttercream won't ever be completely white (even if you don't add vanilla) because butter is yellow.  I made an icing out of corn syrup and powdered sugar to ensure the whitest white.

Left: Buttercream
Right: Corn Syrup and Powdered Sugar

Finally I pipped the frosting on top.  These were a hit at work and more fun than a regular brownie.  Look forward to a Christmas tree brownie post sometime in July.

Bacon Porn

***Dear Googler, this is a post about a bacon recipe, not porn.  You will have to continue on your Google way.***

When I first read the words Bacon Jam on my friend Tracy's Facebook page, I thought, "eeew...gross."  I was imagining grape jelly and bacon.  Once she listed the ingredients, I was completely on board.  I invited my friend Jono* over to take photos...he works for bacon.  Below is our journey to Bacon Jam.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds sliced bacon cut crosswise into 1 inch pieces
2 medium yellow onions, diced
3 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled, and minced
3/4 cup strongly brewed coffee
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup

Artsy Onion

BACON!!!

So basically it is a lot of bacon with syrup and sugar...what could go wrong.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally until the fat is rendered and the bacon is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Steamy Bacon

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

The most difficult part of this recipe...do not eat the crispy pile of bacon...it was my Everest.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings from the skillet and reserve for another use.  Add the onions and garlic to the skillet and cook until the onions are translucent, about 6 minutes.

Add the coffee, vinegar, brown sugar, and maple syrup.  Bring to a boil.  Cook, stirring and scraping up any of the browned bits from the skillet, 2 minutes.  Add the bacon and stir to combine.

Oh yea...pour the syrup.

If making this on a stove top: Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid almost completely evaporates and turns syrupy, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. 

If making this in a slow-cooker: Transfer the mixture to a 6-quart slow cooker and cook on high, uncovered, until the liquid almost completely evaporates and turns syrupy, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

I used the stove top because I had the time, and the pan was already dirty.  It took an hour, but my stove is gas and cooks very quickly.  If you need to head out, the slow cooker is your best bet...and your house will smell like baaaacoooon.

Let the bacon concoction cool slightly before transferring it to a food processor and pulsing until coarsely chopped.

Spoon the bacon lusciousness into individual jars or other resealable containers (don't eat it all yourself in one sitting, it will make you very ill).  It can be refrigerated for up to 4 weeks.  Transfer to a pan and rewarm gently over low heat prior to indulging.  (I used a tablespoon of olive oil to help reheat it.)

The bacon jam is great on crusty bread, apples, and crackers.  Jono also reports that it is excellent on toast with an egg.

To keep it real, Jono took a picture of me slicing the apples.  We did most of the shoot during K's nap, but she woke up while the jam was cooking.

Using a knife while holding a toddler...Mother of the Year

*Jono doesn't just take pretty pictures of bacon, he is also a professional lighting designer.  If you want him to work in your theater, you can contact him on LinkedIn.  (Don't worry, he also works for cash...not just bacon.)

Damn You Calphalon!!!

Sorry about the swearing, but even though it has been a few months since I had to buy a new set of pots and pans, I am still bitter about it.  When Al and I registered, I wanted to get stainless steel pots and pans.  The lady at Bed Bath and Beyond conned me into hard anodized since "it is like non-stick but doesn't chip."  It is my fault for listening to her, but I'm also a little mad at her too...damn you Bed Bath and Beyond lady!!!  Long story short, the $300 set started to chip after 3 years...ugh.  We always washed them by hand, and they were never in the dishwasher...but alas, still chipping and the beginnings of rust...UGH!!!

After about 6 months of pretending like it wasn't a problem, I started looking into a new set.  Throwing $300 away every 3 years, seemed like a bad idea.  Spending $1,000 on an All Clad set also seemed like a bad idea (because the bank prefers it when I pay the mortgage rather than buying new pots and pans...lame).  I asked my good friend Monica what she used (because she is an awesome cook and is smart enough not to be conned at Bed Bath and Beyond).  She stated that she could not help me since she uses her grandmother's copper bottom set.  That had me thinking...I received two copper bottom pots from my grandmother...hmmm.  Monica confirmed that they were the same brand!

Revere Ware started making cookware in the 1880s.  Although they are still around, their product is now made overseas, and the quality has been compromised for a lower price.  The good news is that their products from the 60s are so good, that many of them survived today.  Stop by any estate sale, and you'll probably find a pan or two.  I started my search on ebay, and quickly acquired the rest of my set.  I also found two pans at an estate sale, but one was in bad shape.  I used Bar Keeper's Friend to clean them up.

The large skillet was purchased for $25 with shipping from Ebay and included a lid.  The large stock pot in back was $30 with shipping.  The small skillet was $1 at an estate sale, but you'll see that it is a huge mess on the bottom.  The following day I found another skillet at the same estate sale (2nd day they reduce prices and with more stuff gone, you can find more treasures).  I think it was under $5 and came with a lid.  The two sauce pots came from Grammy.

...hence why it was a dollar.  I actually forgot to take a
real "before" photo of the $1 pan...so this is after some cleaning...yikes.

Pretty gloves make it feel less like work...since I am fancy.

These four cleaned up fairly easily with a little scrubbing.

This one did not clean up so well.

 I made a paste with the Bar Keeper's Friend and some water and slathered it all over the pan for a good soak.

after one round of paste

after two rounds of paste and one round of Oh My God Get Clean! scrubbing

In the end it cost me under $100 for a new set of cookware.  After a few months of cooking with them, I like them better than the Calphalon set.  The copper heats up the pans super fast, and the stainless steel makes a great sear and cleans up easily.  Clearly I should have listened to Grammy and Monica a lot sooner...they are both very wise women.

Excuses Excuses

It may seem like I have fallen off the face of the planet, but I'm alive!!  The past few months have been a little nuts.  Here's why...

List of Excuses for Not Blogging
1. Al got pneumonia before Thanksgiving.
2. We hosted Thanksgiving.
3. Al got better but then got worse...antibiotics round 2!
4. I went on a business trip to California. (It sounds fancier than it is.  To sum up...traveled for a day, spent a day in a conference room, ate a fabulous dinner, threw up fabulous dinner, and traveled for a day to get home.)
5. While on the trip, Al threw out his back so badly that the chiropractor told him to get drugs.  He almost couldn't get K out of her crib.  :(
6. I interviewed for a new job which involved me giving a 1 hour presentation on a 40 page paper on regression analysis.
7. Christmas...which involved 460 miles and 8 hours of driving with a toddler and 2 dogs.

Sooo, those are my excuses.  They aren't earth shattering.  Nobody died, but we were fairly crazy over at our house...so crazy that I didn't even ask Al about hosting our annual holiday party.  Hopefully next year we can get our turkey on with friends again.

The good great news is that I got the job!  It was crazy to prepare for such a difficult interview, and I thought that they hated me.  But this new position will give me a lot more career opportunities.  I start on Monday and am very excited.

The sad news is that I won't be able to teach econ this spring.  Although my position will be in research, it will be at UW-Madison which has a rule about not working an overload.  I will miss teaching, so anyone who wants to stop by my house on Monday nights for a free 3 hour econ lecture is welcome (crickets).

Somehow I started the tradition at my office that when someone leaves, I make them a cake.  This includes emailing The List (a list of cake, frosting, and filling options).  When I told a coworker of my departure, I said, "the good news is there will be cake."  Her response was, "yea, but it will be the last one."  Here are the cupcakes I made.  Smitten Kitchen double chocolate cake (the best chocolate cake EVER) with almond buttercream (made the buttercream for the first time last night, and my official tester (aka Al) was very impressed...and he is a tough critic).

I Love Lamp!!

I went back and forth between that title and "Re-wiring an Estate Sale Lamp...and only getting shocked once."  Not sure which one is better.

Anyway, I found a gigantic metal lamp at an estate sale a few weeks ago for $10.  We need more light in our living room since there is no built in lighting.  It was old and dirty, but I could tell it just needed a little love.

At home I dusted it off and realized it was a lot dirtier than I thought it was when looking at it in the basement of the estate sale.

I took it apart and scrubbed it down with Bar Keeper's Friend.

In order to get the grime off, I needed to scrub down to the bare metal...and that would take hours of work.  So I decided to give it a good soap and water clean and spray paint it.

Fast forward to this past weekend.  I spray painted the lamp with Rustoleum's oiled rubbed bronze metallic spray paint with primer.  I am having difficulty finding a tall enough lamp shade, so I also bought a non-glossy beige spray paint for the lamp shade.  It is only a short term solution until I find the proper lamp shade.

Yes I used a bush as a table so that I wouldn't risk
getting my outdoor furniture covered in paint.

 I followed the directions on the can applying very thin coats every minute.  I let it set for 24 hours, then did a few thin touch up coats.  After 48 hours for the pieces to cure, I was ready to assemble the lamp.

There was one hang up.  The lamp needed to be rewired.  The wiring in the old lamp was very old and non-safe looking.  Al helped me pick out a new lamp wire.  (Helped = said "here are the three they have...what color do you want?")  Unfortunately Al was going to be working tonight...and I REALLY wanted to assemble the lamp tonight.  So I was going to be brave and play with electrical wire...what could go wrong?

First I unscrewed the old wiring and got that out of the way.

How funny is it that I am building a lamp
on my husband's lighting design homework??

Then I assembled the lamp with the new cord through the center.  When I took the lamp apart I made a cheat sheet to put it back together.  I was very happy to have this now...my past self is a genius!

Clearly I should have been an art major.

I wound the new wiring around the screws and screwed them back in.  This is where I got dumb.  I wanted to test the whole thing out before assembling the rest of the lamp.  I plugged in the cord without covering up the exposed wiring...ZAP!  (Another title to the post could be "Lack of Patience Leads to Electrocution"...but that would scare the crap out of my mom.)

 After the shock of the shock (hehe), I put the old cover around the wiring parts.  (Don't be frightened by my highly technical lighting terms.)

 ...and screwed the switch on.

 This time...no shock!!  (Amazing what happens when you don't intersect a body part into the circuit.)

 Here is the living room before. 

 ...and here is it after!

The side by side of before/after is pretty great.

The painted shade does not allow light through, but it looks nice and it will work until we find a replacement.  Here is a cost break down...

lamp......$10
ORB spray paint...$8
beige spray paint...$5

new wiring...$6

Total = $30

The new shade will probably be $30-$50, so the total will likely double, but I'm still very happy considering well made lamps of this size are over $100.  Hopefully I can score a deal on a lamp shade.

What have you DIY'd lately?

Don't forget to drug the baby!

I can barely manage to remember my vitamin every day, so when Katelyn had her first ear infection last spring, remembering to give her medicine twice a day was not going to be easy.  The odds of Al and me getting exactly 2 doses (not 0, 1, 3, or 4) each day was not likely.

In the past when Penny or Guinness needed meds, I would tape a med schedule on the front door so that we would remember.  Once you give meds, you check off the time.  This way we would not over or under dose.

Here is the schedule I made for K and taped to her door.

It may look silly, but it keeps us from forgetting to dose her or doubling her up on the sauce.