Lemon Brownies

I made these last weekend and they were an instant hit.  I have no idea of the origin of this recipe but I did tweak the lemon zest amounts a bit.  The next time I make them, and there will definitely be a next time, I’m going to make half the amount of glaze.  It was a little much for us but for those of you that love icing, etc., use the whole amount list below.  I’m sure they’re delicious either way.

LEMON BROWNIES -

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs, large
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt

For the tart lemon glaze:

4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1 rounded cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.

3. Zest and juice two lemons and set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice until combined.

6. Pour it into the flour mixture and beat for 2 mins at medium speed until smooth and creamy.

7. Pour into baking dish and bake for 23-25 mins, should turn golden around the edges.

8. Allow to cool completely before glazing. Do not over bake, or the bars will dry.

9. Filter the powdered sugar and whisk with lemon zest and juice.

10. Spread 1/2 the glaze over the brownies with a rubber spatula and let glaze set.

11. Spread 1/2 the glaze over the bars, and let it set (not harden like most).

12. Cut into bars and serve.

13.  Savor and enjoy!

On an entirely different note, I’ve finally finished painting our master bedroom  and am currently in the process of tearing-out the carpet.  That’s only taken 2 months since I first mentioned it.  We figured the long weekend was a good time to knock it out and I just hope we’re not getting in over our heads.  The carpet and tacking strips are already up.  It’s the room full of 50 year old latex rubber padding stuck to the floor that’s making me nervous.

Have a great weekend!!

 

Swing Refresh

This is where I started out two years ago, with some homemade pillows, a wadded-up hose, a sorry-looking flower pot and a greenhouse over the window well.

Here’s where we’re at now with some gorgeous new pillows, a nice hose reel, the window cover removed and some updated modern looking pots.  Oh, I’ve refreshed the swing with a nice paint job, as well.

(That thing sitting on the vent is a large hive that fell out of our tree. There’s nothing living in it now, don’t worry.)

My fluffy cat apparently wanted to be on the blog since she kept wandering into the pictures.
So that’s a bit of my evolutionary tale regarding our swing.  What about you?  What’s evolved around your house?

How to Make Dinner in a Cardboard Box

Today we have our first-ever guest post by J (with his tongue firmly planted in cheek).

“J” here… making a guest appearance on SSABK because I managed to construct this wonderfully creative (and thrifty) appliance that no household should be without. It’s a smoker, and yes… it’s made out of a cardboard box. I know what you’re thinking: “That is definitely a dangerous looking fire hazard that no household should have around.” While I can agree on some level with you, I must also point out that I am a man and men love fire, not fear it. We love campfires, bonfires, fireworks, firearms, firewalls and basically anything with fire involved, even if it’s just in the name. Unlike racism or politics that can be passed down through generations by example, the love of fire is a mysterious hidden gene that science has yet to discover. It’s there in all of us, I can assure you. Even though this project appears to be inspired and fueled with the testosterone levels of Charles Bronson, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, and Clint Eastwood combined, I’ll fully admit I got the idea from an episode of Alton Brown’s “Good Eats”. As much as I love Alton Brown, I’m certain he’s not going to be invited as a keynote speaker at a Ninja conference anytime in the near future.  Then again…


The whole rig is quite simple in materials and construction. As you can see from the pictures, the basic structure is just a cardboard box lined with aluminum foil stapled on the inside. Four oak dowel rods must be inserted – two for holding a drip pan that protects the heat/smoke element, and the other two for holding the racks to place your food. You don’t have to use oak dowel rods but I figured the extra strength couldn’t hurt and I’m sure MacGyver would approve. I used heavy duty Reynolds Wrap foil too, because I’m hardcore like that. You’ll also need a hot plate, sometimes referred to as an “electric range” in more exotic regions of the globe. Here’s where things get dicey. If you have an older hot plate from days past when men didn’t wear skinny jeans and women knew their place (that was a joke – please don’t leave angry comments), you’re good to go. If you have a newer model like I’ve got, there’s bound to be all sorts of thermal protection “safety features” involved because of all the  law suits that have plagued the kitchen appliance industry. The particular model I’m using appeared to be a higher-end unit that has a cast iron element, which really holds the heat. It’s an Aroma model AHP-303. Anything with 303 in the name is automatically awesome in my book because I’m a child of the Techno era and we all know and love the iconic sound of Roland’s TB-303 Bassline synth. This unit has an Access Virus sticker on it because I took off the Aroma one and replaced it. Sidetracked… Anyway, this one generates enough heat to properly smoke some fish and chicken wings without modification. I eventually ended up taking it apart to bypass the thermal regulation for MORE POWER (because that’s what Tim Allen would do) but that ended up to be not so helpful because the other plastic parts such as the plastic feet and orange light bulb were not designed to withstand full-on 1000v temperatures and started melting. I prefer to have hickory and apple wood flavors in my vittles, not burnt plastic, so I changed it back to factory specifications.

You’ll also need a small cast iron skillet to place your wood chips on. You don’t need a larger one as shown in the photos and I’ve since swapped out the larger one for a smaller one I had sitting around which actually works more efficiently. If everything is working OK you should probably be replacing your wood chips about every hour or so. You’ll know when they burn down to white ash, or close to it. It helps to have an electric thermometer you can place either on the inside of the smoker to measure ambient temperature, or place inside your thickest cut of meat to make sure it’s killing all the microscopic nasties. I prefer to measure ambient temperature because I’d hate to mangle a beautiful hunk of salmon and I’m obviously too rugged to be killed off by something so small anyways. If you can get the ambient temperature up to a sustained 160 degrees ~ (fahrenheit) you’ll make some killer smoked goodness. It takes about 4-5 hours to properly cook a batch of fish or chicken wings at that temp. If yours is heating up too much you can regulate the temperature by venting the box appropriately. Just keep an eye on it because not all meat is created equal and I’ve mistakenly made some salmon jerky. That’s great if you’re planning a backpacking trip. Not so great for a dinner party. But dinner parties can always segue into a poker game or even better… a bonfire.


Thanks, J!  Please note that if you’re interested in making one of these smokers there are numerous youtube videos giving detailed instructions.  Just search for ‘cardboard smoker’ and you’ll find lots of information out there.

I’d also like to point out that we’ve since acquired this combination grill and smoker off Craigslist for one-third of it’s current retail price at Home Depot but J is also still smoking away in his cardboard box.

A Couple of Things

I’ve had my eye on this Shiitake kitchen towel from Crate&Barrel  for a while now.  It’s so unbelievably cute!

It’s on sale right now for $3.95 but the shipping is $4.95, which makes it a rather expensive towel, at least in my world.  Unfortunately, the closest Crate&Barrel store is over an hour away, so I can’t just run out and pick one up.  Last weekend my friend and I had the chance to go shopping, though, and I finally snagged one.

I love it!  That is $4.00 worth of happy hanging right there.  The website says “quantities are limited” so if you want one, better get it soon.  J asked me if he was allowed to use it or if it was just for ‘show’.  I told him he could use it because it’s silly to buy dish towels that can’t be used but secretly I didn’t want him to use it.  I actually want to sleep with it under my pillow and keep it close to me at all times.  However, in an effort to appear normal, I’ve been using it to dry dishes.

Also, our friend JZ gave us this really cool vintage marble chess set.  He loves mid-century, too, and had this sitting in his house.  He decided it would look better in our house and surprised us with it one day.

It’s really nice and does, in fact, look great in our house.  Thanks, JZ!  You can visit it anytime you want!

So what about you?  Did you recently procure any little things that make you happy?

The January Cure Continues in May

Way back in January (how can it already be the middle of MAY???) I discussed J’s studio and its abundant clutter.  Over the weekend I finally got around to corralling a corner of the mess.  Up until then it had looked like this.

Now it looks like this.

I guess you can call that progress.  If you’re going to have a mess in your living room, at least it can be an orderly mess.  I still need to order a frame for the Charley Harper print that will eventually hang above the printer but, as has been our mantra lately, one thing at a time.

Teeny Tiny Project

I have been absolutely slammed with work and kid-running.  Those things have pretty much dominated my life for the past few weeks.  I haven’t had much time to breathe, let alone  complete any real projects.  I did have time for one tiny project, though.  These plate hangers have bothered me for the last six years.

It’s a small thing but the white hangers really stick-out against the black, especially in the view from our bed.

Six years (and 15 minutes) later, after a little Sharpie action, they’re not nearly so noticeable.


That’s much better.  Sure it’s a small thing, but at least I feel like I’ve accomplished something.  I’m fast approaching burn-out and I need some happy projects to keep me sane.  We did get the paint for our bedroom, so that’s a step in the right direction toward our master bedroom upgrade.

Of course, as I knew would happen, the weather is finally nice and we’ve been doing work on the outside when we have a free moment.  We had to get our garden planted and unearth our patio furniture, so nothing has happened with the bedroom, so far, other than the purchase of paint.  One step at a time, I guess.

So what about you?  Are you outside planting away or inside painting up a storm?  Maybe you’re like me and have been so busy you haven’t been able to tackle your projects yet.  Let me know!

So I Went With Turquoise

I went to Target last night with the full intention of buying these pillows.

However, when I saw them in person, I didn’t love them. They were okay but not really doing it for me. I’m not sure why. The colors were a little more vibrant in person and they were nice enough. I was excited all day about going there and rushed through the store to find them, only to find myself inexplicably apathetic.  Then I saw these and it was all over.

I wasn’t thinking about this color at all but I love it!  They look great on my still sad looking swing.  I also bought some spray paint so I can freshen things up a bit. In the meantime, my pretty turquoise friends, er pillows, are doing the trick.

I also planted some coleus, vinca vine and a purple thing in my new planters.

They don’t look quite this lush, yet, but they will soon enough, minus the dinosaurs of course.

Baby steps.  Things are perking-up out there, that’s for sure.