Joy to the Freakin' World

Here's a random montage of Cabbage Ranch doings and goings-on, just for you.  You're welcome.

I found the best gift bags ever at World Market.  Owls?  With coordinating wood grain tissue paper?  Si, por favor.

I can really make some little crap seem special with those.  Sign me up.

Ready for my magic act?  Now you see it...

Now you don't.  Astonishing, I know.

ACT II
Now you don't see it...

 And now you do.

A credenza in the bathroom?  Sure.  Why not.  Martha doesn't live here.

The credenza was moved out of the living room to make room for an armoire we inherited from Cabbage's mother.  It's awesome.  I'll show it another time, because I can only handle so much furniture arranging.  You know that's not my thing.

Beep got an awesome hat.  Hilarious, right? (especially when her dad puts it on her backwards and the face hole gets even smaller)

We put Christmas lights on the gate.  It's the sum total of our outdoor lights, because lights wouldn't be very visible from the road.  Or we're too lazy.  It's one or the other.  We'll go with visibility.

Cabbage and Beep had a pretty good time helping with the lights.  They're really two peas in a pod: on the right is Cabbage wearing two kinds of camo, and on the left is Cabbage's baby wearing two kinds of [polka dot] camo.

Having a toddler sift through the lights really helped the untangling process.

She did help by passing lights to me through the gate.

When I put Christmas lights on the gate, I know it's really the holidays.  And until I buy a timer for the lights, they stay on all night.  So I'm pretty sure our neighbors across the street are also aware it's the holidays. 

Oh, good.  Katie put Cabbage Ranch's gate lights up.  And now they'll stay on 24/7 until January 1.  Joy to the freakin' world.  
 

Gum Drop Bars

Every family has its favorite holiday treats, and Gum Drop Bars top our list.   They're a little cakey, a little chewy, and just sweet enough.  Every bite is warmed by cinnamon, studded with bits of softened gumdrops and slathered with a fresh orange glaze.  This recipe was my grandmother's... to find roots any earlier than that, I'd have to go through ancestry.com. 

These bars aren't trendy or sophisticated. They're kinda retro and they make me think of one-car garages and tomato aspics.  Excuse me while I go pouf my hair.  In the meantime, try making these for your family this holiday season.  You won't regret it.

Gum Drop Bars
4 eggs
2 c light brown sugar
1 T cold water
2 c sifted flour
1/4 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 c chopped pecans
1 c cut-up gumdrops (not spice drops, and no black gum drops), use kitchen scissors dipped in flour for easiest cutting

Frosting:
2 T butter
2 T fresh orange juice
1 t grated orange rind
6 t powdered sugar (more if needed), sifted

Beat eggs thoroughly.  Add sugar and water.  Beat again. 

Sift flour with salt and cinnamon.  Sprinkle a little of flour mixture over pecans and gum drops and toss to keep them from sticking together.  The flour coating will also help suspend them in the wet batter so they won't sink to the bottom of the pan.

Add remaining flour mixture to egg mixture.  Fold in pecans and gumdrops.  Spread batter in greased and floured jelly roll pan.  Bake at 325* for 35 minutes. 

For frosting, start by melting butter in a small bowl.  Add juice, rind and enough powdered sugar to make a thin frosting.  Spread over bars while they're still warm and allow to harden.  Cut into 1 x 2 inch pieces and enjoy!  These bars get stale quickly but they do freeze well.

   

Dishwasher. Reborn.

When we bought our house- or to be more exact, when we bought Cabbage Ranch- it was really a dream come true.  A few acres in a nice neighborhood, a little shop to make into a barn, and a spacious family house.  Yes and please.

Our home was built in the 70s, and had a pretty decent renovation sometime along the way.  Although it's all a bit dated now, those updates included some really thoughtful upgrades to the kitchen cabinets.  The appliances were less than stellar, though, and the fridge was not included with the property. 

When we shopped for appliances, I knew I wanted black.  I'd chosen black appliances in my previous home in Colorado, and I loved them.  Stainless was too expensive and prone to fingerprints... White was not my thing. 

When we bought our fridge, Lowe's was running a great special, so we opted to also get a new stove (the old one was scary!). 

We did not buy a new microwave or dishwasher... The existing ones were white but worked fine, and it wasn't a necessity.  We figured it wouldn't be hard to save for new ones in a year or two. 

Four years, one baby and a pile of horse bills later, we still have a checkerboard of kitchen appliances.  But I've gotten used to my black/white appliance mash-up.  No biggie.

However.  It just hit me that the "hopefully someday" black appliances were still too far off and I couldn't stand it anymore.

What to do about the big, huge, glaringly white dishwasher?

I know that with the right primer you can cover just about anything. 

So this is my extremely long and wordy way of telling you I painted my dishwasher.  I primed it and painted it black.

WITH CHALKBOARD PAINT.

Am I brilliant?  Am I a total whack-job?  Will it really work?  Nobody knows...

And by nobody I mean me. 

I figured it would be the perfect place to have Beep play while I get dinner going, and any stray chalk dust will be easy to wipe up from the (wretched pink) tile floor.

So here's how I did it. 

I bought a quart of deep base, all-purpose, super duper primer.  I carefully cleaned the dishwasher, got out my trustiest paintbrush, and painted the main panel and sides.  I paint enough that I have a steady hand and I didn't tape, but the primer was verrrrry drippy so I definitely needed floor protection.

I left the top part for last because it required the most detail work, and I wouldn't be able to open or close the unit when it was wet.

I rocked it out carefully cut in around the edges. 

And around the front, always watching for those pesky drips.

Then I started on the vent.

A little time, and careful work with a steady hand around the control panel, and it was primed!

We then left the house to allow it to dry... And went to a local festival, where my baby proceeded to eat corn on the cob like the Midwesterner she is (by proxy).

Look at those maniac eyes. 

After we got home I put a coat of paint on.  This part is not documented because 1. it exactly mirrored the steps above, and 2. my photographer (Cabbage) deserted me and my nutso project and went to bed. 

I followed up with a second coat a few days later. 

Finished product! 

There's no way around the white control panel, unfortunately, but we now have a (mostly) black dishwasher that coordinates a lot better with our other black appliances.  Hooray!

It's been about three weeks since I painted it, and so far it's holding up perfectly.  I haven't introduced Beep to its magical chalk powers yet... mainly because I haven't bought chalk.

Now I have a mostly-full quart of chalkboard paint, and I'm wondering what else will fall victim to my paintbrush. 

What projects have you been working on lately?  Any ideas on what I should chalkboard next?

I just made a noun into a verb and my day is complete.  Over and out.