Gopher Hunters

In my last post, I talked about our gopher problem. Here is a clip of Pearl and Dodger trying to help.

Audio commentary is courtesy of my sister and our friend Joann.

As you can see, Dodger - the Jack Russel terrier - was the one who's actually designed to hunt rodents. Pearl, on the other hand, just wanted to feel like part of the action so she dug... and ate weeds.

The hunt was unsuccessful, as in no gophers were found, killed or even scared out of their holes. But it was fun to watch, and there is now less area for me to rototill when we do get around to landscaping in this area of the yard. Thanks doggies!

Waiting for Spring to spring...

I don't know about you, but I've had just about enough of the cold, windy, cloudy, snowy, windy, cold weather this winter. It's been one heck of a late winter... we've had over 300" of snow so far in the Sierras! So, while Spring takes it's sweet time getting here, I'll be day dreaming about flowers, gardening, warm weather and open windows.

My lovely sister-in-law from the east coast got us a gift certificate to White Flower Farm for Christmas and I've been pouring over the catalog and website trying to decide what to get. Here are some of my favorites:

The floral front-runner at this point is the lavender. (Also shown above: hydrangeas, prairie blue, asclepias, Peruvian lilies, and petunias.) Living where we do, we have several gardening challenges. One - we're in the middle of a desert, two - our soil is really alkaline, so in order to use our garden budget wisely we need to pick plants that are more likely to survive. We didn't plant many new things last year after we moved in, so I'm sensing some trial and error in our near future.

We like to grow vegetables too. At the old house, the hubby built me some great raised planters for our veggies. I was sad to leave them. We'll probably do that again here at the new house since it makes planting, maintaining and harvesting so much easier, but also because of a third problem - a furry, burrowy, annoying gopher population. The images above are some of the veggie types that we've planted in the past - tomatoes, garlic, peppers and assorted herbs.

Below are some new veggies that we've never tried... lettuces, rhubarb and potatoes. Not sure if this is the year to try something new, but they're on my list.

Doesn't all of that get you excited to get outside and start gardening?

Why, I do declare!

You have to say the title of this post in your best southern accent... which is exactly what I did when I finished these Southern Comfort Red Velvet Cupcakes for my sister's birthday this weekend.

This recipe comes from a cookbook by Lucy Baker entitled The Boozy Baker... it is fantastic! Every recipe has some kind of booze in it, plus some really yummy-looking cocktail recipes. I stumbled up on this gem of a cookbook when I was down in San Diego last summer. To-date I have made the Donut Bread Pudding with Tennessee Whisky Sauce and the "Bottoms-Up" Pineapple Tequila Cake. I didn't blog about them then, but they were so good that I will probably make them again and write about them afterwards.

Anyways... back to the southern yummy-ness... The full recipe is included at the end of the post, but I'll walk you through some of these steps...

First, get your ingredients, mix the dry ones together in a bowl, mix the wet ingredients together in a different bowl.

Then, cream your butter and sugar together in the bowl of your mixer, add eggs (not shown), alternately add the dry ingredient mixture with the wet ingredient mixture - ending with the dry ingredients. Scoop batter into cupcake liners - I used a 3T scoop that portioned everything out nicely. I also happened to use a new liner from Reynolds with a design on it that they swear will stay vibrant after the cupcakes have been baked. (They work!)

You'll notice above that my batter isn't especially vibrant - at least not as vibrant as some I've seen. I think this is because I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa rather than the regular kind. If you're a stickler for RED Red Velvet, stick with the regular cocoa. (Side note: I've often thought that it would be fun to make Blue Velvet Cupcakes... or Purple Velvet Cupcakes... wouldn't that be fun?)

This is where some bakers would tell you to start working on your frosting while the cupcakes are in the oven. Not me. I start mine AFTER I've pulled my cupcakes out. This way I'm not tempted to frost them while they're still warm. Check out my GIANT icing bag below!

Ah, the finished product... The cakes baked up even darker than the batter, but I'm sure they'll still be fabulous. And see the cupcake liners? Looking good!

Like my cupcake tote? That was a birthday present from the Hubs one year. I love that thing. The bottom part is a cupcake pan that you can bake in (it's pictured in the top-middle pic of this bottom collage) and then there's a plastic layer that holds another 12, and a fancy lid with a handle that snaps shut and makes your cupcakes portable.

Southern Comfort Red Velvet Cake from The Boozy Baker
Makes 12-16 servings or 24 cupcakes

Cake Ingredients:
3 cups cake flour
4 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Southern Comfort
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 (1 oz.) bottle of red food coloring
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

Frosting Ingredients:
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup Southern Comfort

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare cake pans with nonstick spray or butter and flour, or put liners in cupcake pans.

To make the cake - whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, Southern Comfort, vanilla, vinegar, and food coloring.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture alternately with milk mixture in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans (or cupcakes) and bake for 30-40 minutes (15-20 for cupcakes), or until toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool completely.

For the frosting - beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes. Add 6 cups of the confectioners' sugar, the milk and the Southern Comfort. Beat on low speed until creamy. Gradually add the remaining confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, until the frosting has reached the desired consistency.

All in all, I think they turned out good. The frosting was a bit sweet, but it had that wonderful spicy SoCo taste. And, I couldn't really taste the SoCo in the cupcakes that much, but they made a nice counterpoint to the frosting.

Love is in the air, part 2

Remember how I said I'd post picture of my Valentine's Day project up after I got it done? Well, I did get it done... and it was done in time for Valentine's Day, but I had a couple of malfunctions on it that made it un-worthy for a post. It needs a tune-up, so I'll post it when it's out of rehab.

In the meantime... I do have another post that I'll get up soon that PROVES that I have been busy doing other things. In our family we're wrapping up the Week of Birthday for my sister, so the next post will be all about the Southern Comfort Red Velvet Cupcakes that I made her for birthday celebration #2.

Stay tuned!

Hello stranger...

Dear Blog,

I didn't give up on you. I promise. I just got really busy for a couple of weeks and didn't have the time to write. How are things with you? Oh, the same you say? Nothing has really changed that much? That sounds about right. I'll try to get better about posting things, but in the meantime here's a funny little style survey that I thought would be fun to share. I originally saw a post on it over at Young House Love...  

Love,
Me

P.S. Here's my results of the style survey...

Love is in the air...

Today, among lots of other things, I'm working on a Valentine's Day present for the Hubby. We tend to keep it mellow for National Flower, Chocolates, and Greeting Card Day - dinner at home, little gifts, that sort of thing. And while I'm not ready to show you the finished project, and don't want to blow the surprise should he see the blog (or someone who does see it tips him off) I do want to share one of the great little thingies that I'm making it with -- a Martha Stewart Stamp-All-Over-the-Page Punch. Now, she doesn't really need any help promoting herself or her products, but I thought I'd share my experience with you on using this.


It's a brilliant concept... most punches only let you get in to the first 1 1/2" or 2" of a page, but with this it can go anywhere allowing you enormous freedom to craft. The punchy part and the hole part are magnetized so they can be taken apart, placed anywhere and then stuck back together wherever you want to punch. I first saw this on Martha's show (she was making a butterfly lamp - not my style but cute for a little girl's room or something) and was skeptical about how well the magnets would hold and how hard it would be to get the two pieces to align, but it turns out that the magnets are strong enough to find each other and match up through whatever paper you're punching.


The particular punch I'm using for my surprise project is the "Studded Heart". I've used it on regular weight paper and card stock, and some card stock that's a little bit thicker than normal. Because this punch has those little tiny "studs" it was really hard to use on the thicker card stock - the punch dented the paper somewhat - and I could easily see the posts that punch through to make the "studs" breaking of if you're working really hard to get it through the paper. The little confetti pieces left over from the holes are pretty cute too... I'm sure that you could find something fun to do with those.

Recently, MS's craft blog, the crafts dept., showed a bunch of heart-themed projects that they put together, and some that would be good year-round. I love the heart flowers on the chocolate brown box and the lattice look of the party invitation.

Images from the crafts dept.

All in all, it's a good product. I give it an A+ for concept, and a B for execution and craftsmanship (I wish it didn't dent the paper.)


(Again, I have not received any compensation whatsoever for this post, I just wanted to share my thoughts on this product with you!)

Chalkboard Decor for All Seasons

I'm the kind of gal that likes her decor to reflect the seasons and holidays, but I don't always want to look like a Hallmark store. Going all-out for Christmas is a no-brainer because I love Christmas. I also go the extra mile for fall since that's the Hubby's favorite season, but other than that I don't go too crazy. That's why I like this project.

This is a super easy project that you can probably do with things you already have. You need:

• A picture frame that matches, or works with your own decor. It can be any size you like.
• A can of chalkboard spray paint, or if you have the brush-on kind that would work too. 
• Chalk, white and/or colored

(That's a pretty simple materials list if I do say so myself.) 

The first step is to take the back off of your frame, get the picture of the fake family out of there and get to the piece of glass. Be careful here because sometimes the edges of those pieces can be sharp. 

Once you isolate it, take it to your favorite drop-cloth, piece of newspaper or lawn that's getting mowed soon (I was so excited about the project I couldn't be bothered to find drop cloth or newspaper) and lay it out so that you can paint it without worrying about the overspray getting on things that you don't want painted. (I didn't photograph any of the spray painting.)

In short, even sprays, paint one side of the glass with the chalkboard paint. Once the first coat dries, give it a second coat for good measure. Allow the paint to dry for 24 hours per the instructions on the can.

Fast-forward 24 hours... prep your chalkboard surface by rubbing the entire surface with chalk and then wiping it off. I think that this gives the surface a nice worn in look.

Then, put your glass back in the frame (make sure that the painted side is facing out), put the back of the frame back on, and voila! Instant chalkboard.

Top left: Disassembling the frame. Top right: Prepping the chalkboard surface with chalk after paint has dried. Bottom left: Putting it all back together. Bottom middle: All done! Bottom right: Get creative with your chalk.

 I chose 2 frames that fit 5" x 7" photos that had a stand allowing them to be propped up either horizontally or vertically. I loved the texture and color of the wood. Customizing these to fit a holiday or season is super easy. I made my chalkboards right before Halloween last year, so I have already incorporated them into my Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and now Valentine's Day decor.

You can see that for Christmas, I didn't write anything on them, but used them as backdrops for some wood cut snowflakes. These would even be fun with colored chalk... maybe around Easter when pastels are prevalent.

Additionally... if you have kids, or any other family member who is so inclined, it would be fun for them to draw a seasonal picture so that they can feel good about contributing to how the house looks. And if they decide they don't like it, erase and make something new. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Ok, so we don't live on a ranch, but we are surrounded by them... and a dairy. I thought that I would post some of the pictures of the house when we first moved in. The previous owner of the home was a single fellow that was obsessed with hanging things on the walls. I don't really blame him there is a lot of wall space in this house after all, and I think he just want it to feel full or wanted to just add some color. However, I'm on team "less is more" and "just because you can, doesn't mean you should." Here's what the house looked like with his things:

Did you see the pictures hung on the back of the cabinets over the kitchen peninsula? What about the too-big picture over the kitchen sink? The first time we met him, I made the mistake of asking him where his wife was. He wasn't married. Oops! Sorry for assuming... Oh well, to each their own.

You know how sometimes on the house-hunting or get-it-sold shows, there's always someone trying to convince the potential buyers to look past the current owner's things or someone trying to get the current owner to get rid of some of their stuff so that the potential buyers can envision themselves living there? None of that advice existed in our transaction. He clearly didn't do any "editing" of his decor (or maybe he did... eek!) but even so, the Hubby and I had no problem looking past it. However, I still couldn't wait to see what the house would look like empty.

The first day in our new house was so exciting! I apologize for the lack of empty house pictures, but I had some painting to do! As you can see, I wasted no time getting to the paint in the kitchen... but can you blame me? The house lacked definition AND color. In fact, the only thing that had been painted in the house before we got there was that "lovely" peach partition wall. Peachy didn't stick around for long...

Gong Hay Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year! "Gong Hay Fat Choy" is Cantonese and roughly translates to "may prosperity be with you." It is now the year 4709 (according to the Chinese calendar) and the time of year for paying old debts, getting a haircut, buying new clothes, and basically starting fresh.

2011 (or 4709) is the year of the Rabbit. Depending on the year you are born in, it is said that you will take on or tend to have the characteristics of the animal for that year. People born in the year of the rabbit can be quiet and shy, yet determined. Here's a chart showing the different animals, years and characteristics:

From Jackie Chan Kids

I was born in the year of the Dog. Most descriptions I've read about "Dog People" are pretty accurate... I'm a worrier... I am loyal. How about you? Do you fit your description?

Brrr!

Over a year ago, I told my husband that I would knit him a scarf... He was super-excited. Fast-forward to January of this year... still no scarf. I had lots of good reasons for not getting it done: we were busy looking for a house, we found one, we moved, then it was summer (Who knits in the summer? Not me apparently,) then school started again, the holidays rolled around... Those aren't very good reasons, and actually none of those things were THE reason why my project stalled.

The reason why my project stalled was because the stitch that I was trying to create had me baffled. I was attempting a fisherman's rib pattern and I found a really great book with all kinds of knitting patterns that I couldn't wait to try. I'm a novice knitter but I really felt like I could handle "S1, k1b, k, pl, k1b* repeat from *" or whatever that pattern was. I started the dang thing maybe 5 times, made a mistake couldn't figure out how to fix it and then tore the whole thing out. I even went to You Tube and watched videos on how to "k1b", but my brain malfunctioned and it didn't happen. (I maintain that it is a really great book, it was all user-error on my end.)

Then the clouds parted, the sun came out, and angels started singing (Ahhhh!) when I found The Purl Bee website a couple of weeks ago. The Purl Bee is a blog that accompanies the online store Purl Soho that accompanies the brick-and-mortar store Purl in, you guessed it, Soho! They "strive to create fun and approachable projects for you to knit, crochet, sew, stitch and more.." and have supplies and ideas for knitting, crochet, sewing and embroidery projects. Their products are gorgeous... I could stare at these pictures all day!

All photos from www.purlsoho.com.

They featured a Fisherman's Rib for either a scarf or a cowl and I was inspired to try again. Easy, instructions, clear, well-lit, step-by-step pictures (this is what I needed!) and I was ready to go.

Knitting has commenced! I will keep you posted on progress and show you the finished project when it's done!

(I have not received any compensation whatsoever for this post, I simply think that Purl Soho is an awesome site and wanted to share the loveliness with you!)

Welcome!

Hi, I'm Katherine and this is my blog. I am an interior designer, university instructor, home owner, do-it-yourselfer, crafter, and I love cooking and baking - generally if it results in something creative, crafty or delicious I have done it... or look forward to doing it. 

This blog is going to highlight ideas and projects for around the house, yummy recipes for you to try, and products that I come across and generally anything that I think is too great to not be shared with the general public.

I've been inspired by a lot of other bloggers for awhile now, and have decided to try to join their ranks and share the things I love.

I hope you enjoy my blog!