plant photo: 002

agave americana blue (i call this plant the shark)

plant photo: 001

pencil cactus.  new years eve party hat.

hot

Is HOT the best word to describe the 2017 crew of hot sauces? NO.  Mouth of fire... the Punisher... or May Cause Death, as one of Mark's sauces is proudly named, are way better descriptions.  These are not for the weak!  Even his buffalo style sauce, which is the "mildest" of the four, is still full of heat.  There's a good reason a dropper is used here because you're really insane if you think you need to pour this stuff on.  Mark's pepper plants were outstanding this year as it was a perfect summer for growing peppers.  The 2017 Sauce Line Up is made from his Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Scorpion, and UK hybrid Bubblegum peppers.  Eat at your own risk.

Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas!  This holiday season started off strong.  I got my shit together early and gave Mark his advent calendar of craft beer on December 1st.  I was taking selfies after making my wreath and I even made a giant potted arrangement for the front door.  Things were good!  We chose a Grand Fir for our tree... yep in the living room as we had not had a tree there in two years.  Found some sweet black and white ribbon and mixed up the decor with foxes and orange berries...super happy with the end result.   I was back and full of Holiday cheer!  I took photos of the dogs and made some amazing holiday succulent arrangements for the house.  And then comes the sound of a record needle scratching across the vinyl...I crashed.  The Holidays are so hard. Mark makes a fantastic effort to keep my spirits up - thank you MARK (best husband ever)! After a few very low spirited years, this year is actually quite good for me.  Just a few more holiday-type events to conquer and I'm in the clear.  Hope everyone else is at least hanging in there if not rocking the holidays totally balls out.  Make the most of it.  Love the ones who make you happy. Merry Christmas!

Craft Beer Advent Calendar

Nothing says the Holidays like a box of beer!  I surprised Mark with my Craft Beer Advent Calendar last night and needless to say, he thought it was amazing.  Without even planning, I chose 24 beers from Chicago-Indiana brewers... 3 Floyds, Revolution, Byway, and 18th Street.  Yeah there's a Lagunitas beer in there too but they DO have a Chicago location so I suppose it works.  What could be better than selecting a beer from this box every day until Christmas??  I have a plan for a wooden, more designed version of this for future years.  I'll keep you posted!

Grandma Rose's Apple Cake

If you live in the Midwest and/or have German/Polish/Eastern European heritage... you probably grew up with this apple cake.  My Grandma Rose used to make it regularly and as a kid, I LOVED it.  It's not a cake that needs frosting and is super delicious plain or with a little powdered sugar on top.  A scoop of vanilla ice cream wouldn't be bad either!  Imagine if Apple Pie and Cake had a baby...this would be it.  I opted to make mine today with NO nuts and I added a tiny bit of Vanilla. 
IT IS SOOOO GOOD!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1  3/4 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• dash of salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
• 5 medium apples, peeled and diced
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

Directions

1. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside.  In a very large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, oil and a ½ teaspoon of vanilla (vanilla is optional);  Add egg mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened (batter will be stiff). Stir in apples and nuts (nuts if desired).  Spread batter in prepared pan.
3. Bake in a 350 degrees oven for approx. one hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for at least 1 hour. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

bed

 

Thanks to Mark for building my dream dog bed. It turned out perfect!!  We actually had everything to make this bed... cedar, vintage mod legs, and two beds that fit perfectly inside.  I am partial to the bed that fits directly inside however the bed with the snuggle-up sides is probably preferred by the dogs.  Lottie loves her custom bed.  Now we need to design one for Minnow...perhaps with a built-in step since she's got the luxating patellas in her back legs.