What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?

Tonight, the hubbs and I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up a book for his mom. We're meeting them this weekend for dinner and since we have one in the area she asked us to stop by.

Now, there's an elusive wooden "L" that's never stocked. Apparently it's a popular letter. So when we got into the store we had a conversation that went like this:

A: "Oooo, maybe they'll have the "L"."
R: "No, we're not getting an "L"."
A: "Why not?"
R: "Why do you want one?"
A: "Because our last name is LaBarge."
R: "What's that got to do with it?"
A: *mimicking* "What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?"

And then we started laughing and continued to look for the book. We couldn't find it right away so Ryan went one way and I went the other. On my journey I found my "L"! I also found the book. Ryan, of course, not being adept in the layout of Hobby Lobby turned up empty handed. As we were walking to front of the store we had another conversation:

R: "What else do you have there."
A: "The "L" I was talking about."
R: ""L"? I thought you wanted an elf."
A: "What elf?"
R: "The shelf elf thing. That you move around."
A: "The elf on the shelf? No, I mean I do want one. But I wanted to "L" for the door. Did you think I was saying I wanted an elf?"
R. "Yea."
A: *laughing* "I was saying I wanted the "L". Now our earlier conversation makes much more sense."

I mean our last name being LaBarge might have well been a good reason to get an elf on the shelf...but it would take some explaining.

Wonderful Wednesdays - Game Night for Two

This past weekend I relaxed. And it was pretty wonderful. I'm trying to work on enjoying life more. Part of that I believe is playing games with friends and family. I tend to get...competitive and not in a good way. There's no good natured  trash talk. There's just me, getting pissed, throwing cards, and other game objects. This is why I haven't played canasta in about five years. In general, I try to avoid those situations. But I want to play; I want to have fun. Thankfully, I have Ryan. He knows exactly how I get. So I asked him to give me a chance and for us to have some fun.

It was awesome. We ordered a pizza, had a couple drinks, played card games, and played Jenga. Ryan even taught me a new game, Pitch. The game we played the most was Palace, which apparently is also called Shithead. Playing the game, I completely understand, ha!

We're going to have to do game night a lot more often because it was a blast. Now, I'll leave you with some pictures from Jenga:

no smiles, just concentration

something obviously wasn't going well

just tap, tap, tap it out

right before it all fell down

What's in your game night repertoire? Are you more serious or do you like to just goof around?

What can I craft this Tuesday? Spice Shelves

My parents basement is a treasure trove. It has so many neat things in it. Possibly because they live in the house my grandfather was building and most likely because he was what you would have called a hoarder. Any way, I get to benefit from it! My parents want the stuff out and I want things to repurpose.

While I was perusing the basement a few weeks back I had been eyeing these drawers that used to hold various building materials like nails and screws. These drawers are old, dusty, and grimy. Literally, after I cleaned them I was blowing black snot out of my nose (sorry for that picture). What one person might deign to the burn pile, I salvaged and made kitchen storage! Go me.

Here's what I did:

Step 1. Scrounge your favorite basement, garage sale, etc for the perfect drawers. Note that these may not be in ready-to-use condition.

Step 2. Using a wire brush, scrub away years of grit and grime. You may need to vacuum out dust before and after.

Step 3. Wipe away any loose dirt and grit. Let dry and then wipe down again.

Step 4. Envision your wall and think strategically. Measure and screw in two d-rings on each side of the drawer. For larger drawers, you may want to add a third. Then get to nailin'. In the future I think I'm going to add another drawer lengthwise so that I can put taller spice jars there.

my future fourth drawer (please marvel at my photo editing skills)

Step 5. Now that I've got my drawer shelves hung, I had to get my spice jars ready. I have a spinning spice rack that has all your basics, but I have a ton of extra spices (for refill and other ones like nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon). I didn't want to just hide them away in my cupboard and, let's face it, having to dig through Penzy bags is just a pain. Thankfully I'm a hoarder thoughtful and keep empty salsa, cherry, and topping jars. I brought out my chalkboard paint and painted their lids so I could label my spices. For some reason, just by looking I'm always confused by basil and parsley. Please, please, don't judge my cooking skills because of that. I promise everything I put on here's delicious or at lest not awful.

Step 6. I put two coats on the lids and didn't bother priming the paint (by rubbing it down with chalk) I just went ahead and wrote the spices after the paint dried overnight.

Step 7. Fill those shelves up to your heart's content. Then marvel at your crafty-ness and ingenuity.

Here's my shelves filled with spices! I love it and I cleared up a shelf in my cupboard. Win-win. Now I just need to find a way to cover up that old phone jack. Ideas are more than welcome!

those spice jars are pretty darn handsome

Where do you keep all your extra spices and seasonings? What would you do with an old set of drawers?

Food for thought...Danish Apple Pastry Bars

A couple weeks ago I bought a half a peck of apples from the local orchard at our farmer's market. My original intention was for fruit for lunches. Well...some how that didn't happen and I needed to use these apples. So I searched the interwebs until I found a new recipe online and made it my own. Here's what you need to make these wonderful fall treats:

Pastry

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup milk (approximately)

Filling

6 medium apples

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract (if desired)

Icing

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp milk

There's no ingredient picture because I was throwing everything together late. Please forgive me. There's plenty of pictures for the steps though!

Step 1. Preheat your oven to 375 F. Peel, core, and slice your apples thinly. Place in a large mixing bowl. To prevent apples from browning before you move to the next step feel free to add a dash of lemon juice. Give them a little toss to coat evenly. 

Step 2. Add packed brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla (if desired) to the mixing bowl. Make sure your hands are clean and then give those babies a toss. Set the bowl aside until ready to fill dough.

Step 3. To make the dough, add flour, salt, and tabs of cold butter to your food processor. It is a thousand times easier than using a pastry blender or fork. Add one stick of butter's worth at a time. Pulse until the mixture resembles course crumbs. 

Step 4. In a liquid measuring cup, add the egg yolk. Beat it slightly and then add milk (~1/2 cup) until the measure reads 2/3 cup. Add the mixture to food processor slowly until the dough is slightly sticky. 

Step 5. On a lightly heavily floured surface, roll out about 2/3 of dough. Fold several times and roll it out. Roll out to about 16x20. If the dough sticks to your surface (like it did with mine) roll it up in your hands and work in some extra flour. Then roll out.

Step 6. Fold dough in half and press into bottom and sides (about 3/4" up) of an ungreased 13x9 pan. Take your delicious apple mixture and pour that in. Make sure to drizzle the juices at the bottom on top of it all. 

Step 7. Roll out the remaining dough to 13x9. Press onto the top of your pan. Slice holes in the crust so it doesn't explode the steam can escape. I made mine into an argyle type pattern. Make sure you pinch together the bottom and top crust.

Step 8. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Please don't judge my dirty oven window. Now I won't lie, the recipe I was following said to bake for 25 minutes THEN add the foil. It was just about the worst instruction ever. I mean, have you ever tried to put foil on a 375 degree pan?! It's rough and hot. Burning sensations WILL occur. So add it first then take it off.

Step 9. Remove foil from dish to allow it to brown. Bake for an additional 25 minutes until golden brown. Then remove from oven and let cool. 

Step 10. While the bake is cooling. Put powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons of milk in a liquid measuring cup. Mix together until well blended. I also added about 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla to the icing as well. You don't need to do that though. Then...drizzle, and drizzle, and drizzle.

Step 11. Allow bake to cool completely before cutting into 18-24 squares (depending on your portion size). Or if you can't help but try one before it's completely cool, make sure it's not steaming or boiling still. I waited about 45 minutes until I couldn't stand it any longer. 

Step 12. Enjoy! I think these would pair perfectly with apple cider ice cream. Now, I'll just have to figure out how to make that.

Let me know if you try this recipe and how they turned out for you. I'd love to see some pictures of these delicious treats! Especially considering I made mine yesterday and there are four left...

Tunestastic Thursday - Mat Kearney "Fire and Rain"

Last week’s song prompted a new Pandora station and I like it so far. I like it even more as it brought me back to some great songs! It’s wonderful to rediscover music you’ve loved. Especially when you have happy thoughts and memories with those songs. This week’s song brings me back to my lovey state of mind and I like it. I’ve known about Mat Kearney for about six years now so it’s great to listen to him again.

He’s released some pretty fantastic singles, although this week’s song isn’t one. If I were a music producer I would have made this a single in a heartbeat! But there’s probably a reason I’m not one. The song reminds me of the love and commitment for the hubs, because through the fire and rain, my love for him, and his sexy beard, won’t fade. I love you, Red. I hope you enjoy this. And I hope it reminds you all of someone special!

I am in definite need to download this album. Most likely it’ll end up being his entire discography. The hubbs is not going to enjoy this. He’d probably beg you to put my on a different route. You should help him out. Especially because I’d love to hear from you and listen to a new artist/band.

What are some songs that you have memories tied with? Are there ones you avoid for the very same reason? Share a happy one and what the song means to you.

Wonderful Wednesdays - Apple Picking at Bowman Orchards

One of my favorite things to do in the fall is go apple picking. One, because I love eating apples and two, I like spending cool, autumn days in the sun enjoying the crispness of the air. It's even better spending it with those your love. Our haul this year was 40+ pounds of the fruit, a half gallon of apple cider, half a dozen apple cider donuts, and an apple fritter. I probably would've bought a pint of apple cider ice cream (to go with the delicious pastries you'll see on Friday!) but I thought...better not. Here's some pictures of our adventure this past Sunday:

Bowman Orchards in Rexford, NY

we picked jonamacs, greening, macintosh, honey crisp, and twenty ounce

I only ate four apples on premises

the hubbs

our haul

that was the line of cars waiting to drive into the orchard

Are you planning on going apple picking this year? Have you already? What's your favorite kind? I love the pink lady apples. They're perfect for lunches and recipes. Just another wonderful thing about fall!

What can I craft this Tuesday? A Fall Centerpiece

I have been seeing so many things on pinterest for Fall and it's lovely! Of course, I want to go out and purchased everything I see to completely decorate the apartment. The budget, and the hubbs, does not allow this. So I used one of my favorite fall tablescape pins to serve as pinspiration. Also, I just want to note that I couldn't find the original post as I searched through that blog behind the link. That is a HUGE pet peeve of mine! I want to see the original! Not the whole damn blog. Ugh.

Anyway, here's what I did.

Step 1. Use wood form an old deconstructed pallet. I wanted mine to be approximately 30" long. I measured those out and then enlisted Ryan to cut and nail those suckers together. Now you may notice a general lack of pictures between step 1 and 2. This is because there was mishap. It involved nails going through the sides of the wood, a board breaking, giving up hope, and a mini internal meltdown. But the hubbs being the amazing man that he is kept working and building until he built my dream centerpiece box. Thank you cutie!

the wood that Red turned into my centerpiece box

Step 2. Sand, sand, and sand some more. I originally planned on sanding this sucker by hand because I had the sand paper, the sheer determination to do it, and I couldn't steal find my parents' mouse. Again, Ryan swoops in and saves the day. Finding not only the sander, but also the sand paper.

the wood was extremely rough cut and needed about 25 minutes of sanding

make sure someone's on hand to take extremely unflattering pictures of yourself

Step 3. Dust that all off and wipe it clean. I was so excited about this I didn't want to wait to put it on my table. Next year, before it goes up, it's getting stained a nice dark walnut color.

Step 4. Gather together all your fixin's. I had candles, acorns, pine cones, dollar store gourds, a piece of white birch bark, and a black walnut to fill this bad boy with. My candle holders were a little short so I folded up some cardboard to jack them up a little. Then spend an crazy amount of time staging it all to look fantastic.

Step 5. Marvel at your beautiful new centerpiece and light the candles. Wait and waft the beauty that you have just created. I'm waiting to see how long it takes the hubbs to realize the smell of the candles (fine merlot by Colonial Candle). It's his favorite. (That's sarcasm folks!)

What do you think of my new centerpiece? Does it remind you of fall? How are your fall decorations shaping up?