To Inspire

Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Sauce

September 30, 2012 By Suzanne

We moved about 4 months ago. In that time I’ve been spending a lot of time enjoying summer, staying busy at my day-job, and figuring out just how we live in this new place. For that reason, you haven’t seen any organizing posts from me lately. But I didn’t want to totally neglect my readers and so I figured I share what I have been up to.

Today was a lazy Saturday. My 5-year old A & I made a pumpkin cake. It turned out deliciously!

I started with this recipe for Pumpkin Cake with Cider Caramel Sauce from Mandy’s Recipe Box but I made some modifications that matched my available ingredients and preferences.

For the cake, I used her recipe almost exactly.

The Original

Pumpkin Cake with Cider Caramel Sauce

1 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. oil

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

2 eggs

Combine the first 6 ingredients. Add oil, pumpkin and eggs. Whisk until blended. Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes. Cool and top with the sauce before serving.

My Adjustments

1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

2 tbsp flour (to adjust for high altitude cooking)

I was concerned there wasn’t enough spice in the recipe as written so I added a bit more.

It turned out beautifully. Exactly as I had hoped.

For the caramel sauce, I couldn’t make the recipe Mandy provided because I didn’t have any apple cider or juice. Instead I scoured my cookbooks and the inter-webs for a caramel sauce that I did have all of the ingredients for. What I found is that all the delicious looking ones on Pinterest all called for heavy cream, which I also did not have. I did, however, have a pint of half-and-half. Hooray. Now to find a recipe to fit it… Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond to the rescue. A search for Caramel Sauce Without Cream yielded this Easy Caramel Sauce recipe.

Ingredients

1 packed cup brown sugar

1/2 cup half-and-half

4 tablespoons butter

Pinch salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the brown sugar, half-and-half, butter and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until it gets thicker. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat, cool slightly and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold.

I found that I needed to cook longer. It was probably 15 minutes total cook time for me. But I may have been using a lower heat. And I knew I wanted it a bit thicker for pouring over cake.

**The result was divine.**

After devouring a healthy sized slice with the family I poured the remaining sauce into an old jam jar to keep in the fridge. I can’t wait to pour it over some ice cream!

What delicious fall goodies are you cooking up this month?

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2 Comments Filed Under: Cooking, Homekeeping, To Inspire Tagged With: autumn, cooking, dessert, food storage, kitchen, seasonal

Independence

July 4, 2012 By Suzanne

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I owe you all a slew of posts. But you’re not getting them today. Instead I’m going to share with you some of my favorite images of our Independence Day celebration.

This week is always busy in our house because both Mr Brown and my middle child celebrate their birthdays right before the 4th.

For P’s birthday celebration at school I took in a platter of fruit skewers for him to share. His old school didn’t allow sugary treats. The new one does but I still feel better about taking something a bit more healthy but still fun. For kids (grown-ups too, really) anything on a stick is fun! These have been all over Pinterest but we’ve been making fruit skewers for birthday celebrations for a few years now because of the no-cake rule at the old school.

Some decorations around the house.

I hope you enjoyed a fantastic holiday and had a chance to celebrate our nation’s birth.

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2 Comments Filed Under: Cooking, Holidays, Make It Beautiful, Party Planning, To Inspire

Birthday Party – Tailgate Style!

September 22, 2011 By Suzanne

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I’ve been absent from blogging for a few weeks. Between a birthday party for my 1 year old, back-to-back grandparent visits, back-to-school for my two older ones and soaking up the last few days of summer things have been busy around the Brown house. Hopefully you’ve been enjoying the craziness that comes with the end of summer.

In a break from my usual blog topics today I’m going to show you my 1 year old’s birthday party. Since his birthday this year landed on the opening day of college football we decided to take advantage and go with a football tailgate party.

The Menu

Chicken Wings with ranch
Fried Chicken
Veggie Tray
Grapes

The above were all courtesy of our local supermarket. The rest I made.

Pizza Bites

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it’s one of my new favorites. I did not make my own dough. Instead I spent $3 on a fresh whole-wheat dough ball from Whole Foods. This saved a lot of time. I went with the very simple pepperoni and a cube of mozzerlla for the filling but I suppose you could add whatever your favorite toppings are. A can of warmed pizza sauce for dipping and there wasn’t a single one left.

This recipe is courtesy of Annie’s Eats

Ingredients:
½ batch pizza dough (enough for 1 pizza)
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed (about 20-24 pieces)
Sliced pepperoni

For topping:
Olive oil
Italian seasoning
Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Lightly grease (Suzanne’s Note: I heavily greased my pan: aka Crisco to ensure they wouldn’t stick. I didn’t want to take chances) a 9-inch pie plate or cake pan. Divide the pizza dough into 20-24 roughly equal sized pieces. Take one of the dough pieces, top with a cube of cheese and a slice or two of pepperoni. Pull the edges of the dough around the fillings and pinch closed. Place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.

Lightly brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Serve warm, with dipping sauce as desired.

Chips & Salsa

One of the moms in my playgroup shared this salsa recipe for me and I love how light and simple it is:

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can sweet corn, drained
1 can Rotel Original tomatoes with chilis – I half drained this. I wanted some of the liquid but not too much
fresh cilantro, loosely chopped
lime juice – this is to taste. I like the juice from one whole small lime

Combine and serve. Yum!

Taco Dip

This is my version of a 7-layer dip

1 can refried bean
1 lb ground beef, cooked & seasoned with taco seasoning
lettuce, shredded in the food processor
tomatoes, chopped
cheddar cheese, shredded in the food processor
Rotele & green onions (chopped) to garnish

Buckeyes

I first discovered Buckeyes when I went to college in Indiana. Having grown up in California I had never heard of them. But one bite of these little balls of yum and I was hooked. This year I finally decided to learn to make my own. There are a lot of recipes out there but I used this one from All Recipes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (Suzanne Note: I used 6oz of chocolate candy coating instead of chocolate chips)

2 tablespoons shortening

Directions

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper; set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar with hands to form a smooth stiff dough. Shape into balls using 2 teaspoons of dough for each ball. Place on prepared pan, and refrigerate. (Suzanne’s Note: This is a good stopping place if you need to do something else. These will keep in the fridge covered in cling wrap for quite awhile)

Melt shortening and chocolate together in a metal bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth, and remove from heat. (Suzanne’s Note: You can also melt in the microwave. Melt 1 minute, stir then continue melting 30 seconds at a time and stirring afterward until the consistency is right.)

Remove balls from refrigerator. Insert a wooden toothpick into a ball, and dip into melted chocolate. Return to wax paper, chocolate side down, and remove toothpick. Repeat with remaining balls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set.

Muddy Buddies / Puppy Chow

This is an old favorite from junior high. My friend Sarah’s mom used to make it occasionally and whenever Sarah brought it in her lunch she was very popular with our lunch crowd. As a kid we always called in Puppy Chow but I prefer the name Muddy Buddies.

9 cups Rice Chex® cereal

Peanuts (optional)

8 oz chocolate candy coating

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 Tbsp shortening

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Measure cereal into a large bowl. Add nuts if desired. Put into a 2-gallon zip top bag. If you don’t have a 2-gallon bag, split it into 2 1-gallon bags.

Melt shortening, chocolate & peanut butter together in the microwave 1 minute. Stir. Continue melting 30 seconds at a time and stirring afterward until the consistency is right.

Pour melted chocolate into zip top bag (or divided into the 2 1-gallon bags)

Zip bag and mix to coat.

Add powdered sugar. Seal bag and shake until well coated.

Spread onto waxed paper to cool.

Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Chocolate Pretzel Bites

Another recipe I found on Pinterest. But it’s originally from the blog Megster Meter.

Hershey’s Kisses
M&Ms – I pulled out just the blue, yellow & green ones
Pretzel Twists

Layout the pretzels on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray. Top with one Hershey’s Kiss. Heat 5 minutes at 275*. Remove from oven and gently push an M&M into the center. Let cool. Refrigerate to harden completely and keep them from melting before eating.

Football Cupcake Cake

Courtesy of Sam’s Club but if you have the patience it would be super easy to make your own.

The Decorations

Play Like A Champion Today sign

This greeted guests on our front door upon arrival. I promise it looked much nicer before being manhandled by my kids after the party. Big thanks to my dad who freehanded the letters

A House Divided wreath

In this house we are split between rooting for the Irish of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Michigan Wolverines. I made this wreath to reflect that. To make this I used:

1 Wreath form
Wooden letters
Navy spray paint
Gold spray paint
Ribbon – Navy, gold, yellow
Wooden footballs

First I spray painted the letters and let dry (actually my dad did this!)

While those were drying I laid out the ribbon and used a small bit of fabric glue to attach the navy/gold and navy/yellow near the centers. I wanted the ends of the ribbons to hang separate but wanted the middles where they were getting tied to always stay together.

Once the fabric glue dried I tied them on the wreath and used hot glue to secure them down.

Next I hot glued on the letters and wooden footballs.

Finally I made a hanger out of the navy ribbon by tieing it it some loose branches on the back of the wreath and looping it at the top to make the hook. The wooden football on the hook (hot glued) keeps it in place.

Pennant Flags

These served as both decor and party favors. They were super easy to make.

Felt “squares” (they are really more like 8.5×11) in school colors of your choice
Iron-On letters
Felt sticky-back footballs and helments
Wooden dowels
Hot glue gun

Cut the felt into the triangular pennant shape. Cut out the letters and iron them on – leave enough room to wrap the far end around the dowel. Wrap the felt around the dowel and secure with hot glue. Add footballs, helmets or other decorations.

Pennant Birthday Banner

To make this I used the same “varsity style” iron-on letters as from the pennants. Cut out triangles out of a piece of blue fabric I bought as a remnant. And attached them to leftover gold ribbon to make it hang. I have to give credit to my awesome parents who actually made this for me. It was my idea but they actually did all the work!

All in all the party turned out well and the kids had a good time. My baby loved his first cake (unlike his older sister) and the weather cooperated with a nice crisp fall-feeling kind of day. HUGE thanks to my parents who were visiting and were very patient in helping me create all the ideas in my head.

What’s your favorite tailgate food?

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2 Comments Filed Under: Party Planning, To Inspire Tagged With: football birthday party, kids birthday party, party planning ideas, seasonal, tailgate birthday party, tailgate party, tailgating food

Cues From The Workplace: Motion & Waiting Waste

July 14, 2011 By Suzanne

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Yesterday I introduced the concept of waste in terms of misuse of resources that keeps us from meeting our goals. The first two forms of waste are Transportation and Inventory. Today I want to continue exploring the forms of waste from the world of lean. The next two forms are Motion and Waiting.

1. Transportation

2. Inventory

3. Motion (movement of people)

Traditional Example: A worker’s job is to attach a cabinet door with flat-head screws but the screws are kept in a central bucket 5 feet away from his workstation. For each cabinet the worker has to walk to get the screws he needs.

Solution: Keep a day’s supply of screws at the workstation.

Household Example: Your kids’ handheld game systems take 4 AA batteries each and they need to be replaced about every 2 weeks. The batteries are in a central location in the basement so each time they need replacing you have to make a trip to the basement to get batteries.

Solution: Keep a stash of batteries in a location near where the kids use their games.

4. Waiting

Traditional Example: A single machine is used to stamp out 2 different layouts of stove tops. The machine requires 30 minutes of cool-down time before it can be changed over to the other design. This results in pile-ups of material from the prior step as each waits for it’s turn at the machine.

Solution: Adding a 2nd machine would allow Machine #1 to cool down while Machine #2 is working on the next stove top. Another solution might be to only produce one kind of layout each day resulting in no need to change over the machine during the work shift and no waiting.

Household Example: You and your spouse both like to shower in the morning. But your small water heater only has enough hot water for about 1 1/2 showers at a time. After the first person showers the other has to wait for 45 minutes for the tank to build up enough hot water for the 2nd shower. If the your husband doesn’t get in the shower right at 6am you end up late to work.

Solution: A larger or tank-less hot water heater would reduce or eliminate the waiting time between showers. Another solution would be for one person to switch to before bed showers.

Do you recognize these in your own home or life? Waiting is a big one for most of us. We spend a lot of time just kind of hanging around waiting for what’s next: for the microwave to finish heating our snack, for the kids to tie their shoes, for husband to be done watching those last few minutes of overtime.

If you see waste in your home this week, comment and let me know! I’d love to hear what simple solutions you come up with to reduce it. Stuck on solutions? Let me help.

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1 Comment Filed Under: Homekeeping, Living Organized, Office, Routines, Time, To Inspire, Work Tagged With: home office, motion, organizing, waiting, work

Cues From The Workplace: 7 Forms of Waste

July 12, 2011 By Suzanne

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When manufacturing processes try to make themselves more “lean” they focus on what is known as the 7 forms of waste. The idea comes from the Toyota Production System and the Japanese concept of muda (waste). In truth there are many types of waste (more than 7!) and identifying the category of waste an item or activity falls into is less important than identifying the possible improvement. But these 7 are the big hitters – the “deadly” forms of waste.

While we usually think about these things only on the manufacturing floor or maybe in a office the truth is that there are examples all around us. You just have to learn to see them. And once you see them you’re going to be filled with ideas for how to eliminate them.

I want to give you a different perspective on how to organize your home by challenging you to look for wasted resources in your household and trying to find ways to use them more effectively.

What is waste (muda)?

Traditional definition: The use of resources (time, materials, people) over and above what is needed to meet the customer’s needs.

Household definition: Not having enough time, money, and space for what you really need and want because your money, time, and things are being eaten away by activities you don’t need or want.

Forms of Waste

1. Transportation (movement of stuff)

Traditional Example: The assembly of a table involves the table tops being made on the east side of the building, legs being made the middle of the building and assembly taking place on the far west end. This means both the table tops and legs have to be moved to the west end of the building for assembly.

Solution: Switch the location of assembly and leg building so that assembly takes place in the middle. The both tops and legs can converge in the center of the building, reducing the distance they each need to travel for assembly.

Household Example: Your family loves to eat air-popped popcorn – at least 3 times a week. You keep the airpopper in the lower cabinet next to the stove – way in the back. And you keep the popcorn kernals in the pantry on the other side of the kitchen. Each time you make popcorn someone has to bend down to pull out the popper (excess motion) and then walk to the pantry to bring the kernals to the counter (transportation & motion) and then do the reverse (putting away kernals & popper) after your popcorn is made.

Solution: Since you eat popcorn so frequently, find a spot in the cabinets for the popper that doesn’t require bending or stretching to get it and store the jar of kernals with the popper.

2. Inventory

Traditional Example: A furniture manufacturer has orders for 8000 dressers through year end, each needing 4 drawer pulls. They need 32,000 drawer pulls. They have 60,000 pulls in their stockroom. The extra 28,000 pulls take up valuable storage space that could be used for other things. Also, the company paid money to buy each of those which could have been spent on other materials.

Solution: In the long term, better purchasing planning. In the short term, ask the pull manufacturer if you can return them for a refund, find a buyer for just the pulls, or package the pulls for resell.

Household Example: When you finished your basement off to make a playroom and office you moved all of the items stored in there into the garage and a storage unit across town. Now you can no longer park your car in the garage and you are spending $100 each month on the storage unit. You car is getting extra wear from being exposed to the elements and is at greater risk of damage and possible theft. (Solution: eliminate the items in the garage and storage unit that you no longer need. Donate to charity, give to others who need them or have a garage sale. Also eliminate other unneeded items in yoru home to make room for the things from the garage/storage that you do need to keep.)

Do these sound familiar? What areas of waste do you see in your home? What small changes could you make to improve it? As you walk through your day and your home this week, be on the look out for waste and think about what adjustments you could make to eliminate it.

I’d love to hear from you!! Let me know what you find!

And stay with me this week as we look at the other 5 “deadly” forms of waste: motion, waiting, overproduction, overprocessing and defects.