Learning Curve

Oh, our poor little puppy!  We intend to groom Bruiser all by ourselves, but we've never done this before.  So we're learning.  His hair was getting really long and the Summer heat was not letting up.  Consequently, we decided to give him his first Summer cut.  My Nana and Grandpa gave us some great clippers, but there's no guard.  That combined with Bruisers aversion to ANYTHING coming near his head or face during grooming, and we have a tiny-bodied, big-headed puppy.  Shih Tzu literally means "little lion"; he embodies that definition!  He looks pretty ridiculous, but at least he's not pantingly hot all the time.

In other news B.dawg is still spending every spare moment working on the living room.  It has been quite the challenge!  We planned to simply expose the beautiful ceiling beams, but we knew we'd risk finding unwanted issues.  We had no idea we'd end up redoing pretty much the entire room!
We discovered an ant's nest in one of our exterior beams.  The damage was minimal needing no repair, but work was stalled while we got an exterminator up in here.  The kids were fascinated to observe the ants trying to save the eggs by carrying them out.  Daddy even dissected a few abandoned eggs for them.  Crazy stuff.
On the perpendicular exterior beam we discovered old rot.  I posted a pic of it in my first post about the project.  We found out it was probably from "Powder Post Beetles."  They no longer exist, but you can tell by their name what they did to houses.  The damage just happens to be where the cross beam sits.  B.dawg has tirelessly sought the best solution to that problem, and finally found a way to support the beam and rid us of all worry that our ceiling will cave in at some point.  Yesterday he and a friend tore down all the plaster on the walls, blew in insulation, and hung new drywall.  They tried to update the electrical for the room, but it is a horrible mess.  We'll have to have a professional come and figure it out.
After...
sanding the walls,
cleaning and painting the radiator,
removing the last of the paint on the trim and baseboards,
hanging new trim around the windows, (what was up was not original, and bulky to boot)
and cleaning up all that debris and dust, we'll finally be ready to paint!!
It has been a long, hard project, and B.dawg has done most of it by himself.  I cannot brag on him enough--but I will still try!!
We are very excited to enjoy the finished project!  I will most certainly post pics as soon as there is something worth seeing.

For the Mamas and Papas

For all you Mamas and Papas and Anyone who has cared unconditionally for the needs of little ones....

(For the rest of you: you will be grossed out and not understand how I could let myself do what I do in the following story.)

The kids and I had a wonderful day at the beach last week.  It was cool and overcast with low waves.  The kids had a blast in the sand!  They were covered from head to toe.  At one point I looked over at Li'l Bit and she was literally rolling around like a dog, giggling.  So, as soon as we got home they each took a very thorough shower.

Gizmo was the last to get clean, and I observed most of his showering skills to be quite impressive.  I mean, he washed his feet twice with soap and a rag.  I thought the coast was clear.  When I got him out of the shower and wrapped the towel around him, I pulled a Mom.  A big one.  I ran my finger between his booty cheeks to make sure he'd gotten all the sand out.  And I asked, "Did you get all the sand out of here?"  

His nonchalant response: "Huh. I forgot to wash in there."

I took the next shower.

These are photos from a different beach trip.  They still got all wet and sandy even though they were fully dressed.

Longest Cake Recipe Ever

I've gotten in the habit of making my friend, Stacey, the most decadent cake possible on her birthday.  Two years ago it was a Chocolate Toasted-Coconut Cheesecake--not bad, if I do say so myself.  Last year we were 1500 miles apart, so we just took her to Cock of the Walk when she visited that Summer.  (Shout out to the big AR!)  This year she said, "I don't care.  Just chocolate.  Anything chocolate."  And viola!  I found a recipe I'd been DYING to try but needed a big occasion to justify the effort.  True to form I can't just follow the dadgum recipe.  I had to change this and that, and that is what we have below.  Take it or leave it.

On her actual birthday Stacey was fairly certain that her dearest friend had been killed in Syria, so it was to say the least, a heavy hearted occasion.  But last night was not.  Her friend is home, safe, and alive, and we are all rejoicing!  So last night I served up a fresh plate of birthday cake!

Now listen here.  Although very simple in ingredients, this cake has three distinctly demanding steps.  You'll have to pardon my wordiness if you actually read the recipe.  If any of my friends try this cake, I need to share my full experience--especially what I learned from my mistakes.  Without further ado, may I present....

Stacey's Birthday Cake

a.k.a. You Know I Love You Cake

a.k.a. Double-Chocolate Praline-Fudge Cake

The Cake:

Ingredients~

1 1/2 cups butter

1/2 cup cocoa

1 1/2 cups water

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3/4 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

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3 cups sugar

3 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

-Combine your buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla in your main mixing bowl first thing.  Give it a good, little mix.  It's nice to get everything to room temperature when you're making a cake.

-Heat your first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, just till butter is melted and it's all nice and smooth.  Cool. (You don't want this mixture to cook your eggs in the mixing bowl.)

-Line 3, 9-inch round cake pans with foil and grease generously.  The foil will make it MUCH easier to extract the cakes from the pans.  And you can peel it back once it's cooled. (Foil is easier to mold than parchment.)

-Then go ahead and mix your sugar, flour and salt in a separate bowl.  You'll need it soon.

-NOW, pour your cooled cocoa mixture into your room-temp buttermilk mixture and mix until blended.  Finally add the flour mixture and blend until, well, blended.  The batter is thin.

-As best you can humanly manage, divide the batter evenly between your three cake pans.  Bake @ 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes, using the trusty toothpick test for doneness.  You did remember to turn your oven on, right?

-Take the layers out of pans and cool completely on wire racks.  Peel the foil off when you're ready to assemble.

Now for the ganache....oh, the ganache.....don't worry.  If it doesn't set you can just add powdered sugar to thicken it.  That's what I had to do the first time.

Ganache:

Ingredients~

2, 12-oz pkgs. semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

(You can halve these amounts if you want thinner layers of ganache.  Sissy.)

-Here's the deal y'all.  Chocolate is sensitive.  It's delicate.  You need to melt it and combine it with other things, but you can't let it get too hot or it won't do what you want it to do.  So, combine your chips and cream in a heavy saucepan and heat ever so gently, stirring constantly.  Your chips need to get to the point that they are melting, but not completely melted.  You want to be able to remove the pan from the heat and whisk a still lumpy mixture to a completely smooth mixture.  While you are doing this whisking you're going to add your butter one slice at a time.  Whisk until your arm hurts and the mixture is smooth.  

Then you wait.  

To see whether you've succeeded or failed.

I usually fail.

The pan needs to set in a cool kitchen for 25 minutes, being whisked often, until it reaches spreading consistency.  

(We have refused to put AC units in downstairs, so my kitchen is a toasty 85 degrees in the afternoon.  Which means, I had to set my ganache in the fridge.  It did actually set, which was a miracle, but I had to keep the assembled cake in the fridge constantly or the ganache would start melting again.)

If it has reached spreading consistency on its own, spread it between your cake layers--and the sides if you so dare.  If not, just beat in as much powdered sugar as is necessary, and then spread the dadgum ganache on the blasted cake.

And lick the bowl.

Now you can make the Praline Fudge Frosting!

Ingredients~

1/4 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

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1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans

-Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil, stirring often.  Once it is at a full boil--with bubbles in the middle as well as the edges--boil for 1 minute.  Literally, 1 minute.  Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Add pecans and stir for 3-5 minutes until it starts to thicken and cool a bit.  Pour immediately over your hallowed cake and allow to cool.

Slice it up and enjoy!