DIY: Easy Storage for Old [and New] Vinyl Records

Ok, so I know that this was originally intended to be a cooking blog, but I’ve been inspired by Pinterest (seriously, I’m going to have to start attending PA [Pin-aholics Anonymous] meetings, I am that addicted!), and I’ve realized that I have “crafting” on the brain. Jake and I are currently living with his dad, so we don’t have much storage space in our room. Because of this, I’ve decided to get creative in terms of storage. :) Oh yes. But first things first:

I, Danica, hereby dub this blog … well ok, so I haven’t really thought of a name yet, but when I think of one I’ll let you know… so for now, I dub that this blog is about more than just cooking.

SO! Now for the fun part.

If you have any vinyls that you can’t seem to throw away (or found some that you couldn’t live without), but have no place to store them that isn’t a box hidden away in a dark storage shed? Here is your problem solved! [truthfully, my hubby came up with this idea, I just thought it was incredibly clever]. Pin them up on your wall!

All you need are thumb tacks.

Put two tacks underneath the record case (each one about an inch in from the corner), and then set the record so it rests between the head of the tack and the part that’s in the wall (the grooved part).

  Line the third tack in the middle of the top of your record; BEFORE you push it into the wall, pull your record case a little (so it’s leaning towards you), and place the grooved part of the pin on the case. Push the pin and record into the wall. If you were to take a piece of yarn and line your tacks with them, the yarn should form a triangle (point on top, base on bottom).

Presto-Changeo; a useless mess to art…sort of :)

Lavender-Lemon-White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
Cookie:
1 (18.25 oz) white cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 medium eggs
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1-1/4 white chocolate chips
1 tbsp dried lavender buds
Icing:
1-1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp grated lemon zest
3-5 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Position oven rack in the middle of the oven. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place half of the cake mix in a large mixing bowl with shortening, eggs, zest, and lavender buds. Blend with electric mixer until smooth (about a minute to a minute and a half). Stir in remaining cake mix and white chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Stir until all the cake mix is moistened and the mixture is thoroughly combined.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 10-13 minutes (I find that with our oven, if I bake it for 10 minutes and then turn the cookie sheet around and then bake for 3 more minutes they get nicely cooked). The center will still be soft, but should not be gooey. Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes; transfer to wire racks to complete cooling.
5. Prepare the icing; drizzle over the cooled cookies.

Icing:

Place powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Mix in zest and enough juice that the icing is just thin enough to drip off the fork (blend until smooth…you don’t need to add more juice to make it smooth, just stir it really well with a fork). Put prepared icing in a small sandwich ziplock for easy icing. Snip off a corner and ice away!

*Notes:
My hubby likes these cookies because they’re soft, but can only eat so many because they’re sweet. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to down on the cookie’s sweet factor. The original recipe calls for a vanilla cake but that was way sweeter than the white. I think I’ll try and figure out exactly what’s in a white cake mix and maybe making that part from scratch will lower the sweetness level. I absolutely Adore these cookies. They’re super easy to make and impress people with…hehe.

Happy New Year: 2012!

So for those of you who were wondering, I’m still alive. If you want to read all about where I’ve been click here. If you don’t care, don’t worry about it. All you need to know is I’m in Oregon and, while I haven’t been cooking, I’m about to start again.  There are some recipes I’ll revisit, and others I’ll try for the first time (as soon as my Potter cookbook comes in the mail…or we find it in storage…p.s. we moved.) Right now I don’t have much to work with, but I can promise a lot more dinners and a few more desserts. Until then, Happy Hunting.

Lavender Lemon Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups white sugar
2 tsp dried lavender buds
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil, softened (mine was liquid)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 dash salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 c lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp dried lavender buds
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8x12 inch baking dish.
2. Make lavender sugar by blending the sugar and 2 tsp lavender buds in a blender; blend until the lavender is powdered.
3. With a electric mixer, blend together 1/4 cup of the lavender sugar, butter, coconut oil, 2 cups of flour, and salt in a bowl until dough forms; press into the bottom of the prepared dish.
4. Bake in the oven until the top begins to turn golden brown; about 15 minutes.
5. While dough bakes, mix together remaining lavender sugar, 1/4 cup flour, eggs, lemon juice, lemon extract, and 1/2 tsp lavender buds; pour over the baked crust. Return to oven, and bake until the center is set—about 20 minutes. allow to cool completely, and dust with sugar.

*Notes:
This is a pretty phenomenal little lemon bar. I was nervous about using the lavender buds, since I actually bought them for a different reason other than cooking with them, but the lavender is just there. It isn’t super overpowering. The aftertaste with the bars is a hint of lavender. I really like these. I’m definitely putting these down as a “to-use-again” recipe. Yum.  

Delicious Pizza!

Ingredients:
1 pkg active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups of flour, divided

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl. Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Mix with dough hook on low for about 1 minute.
2. Continuing on low, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Knead on low about 2 minutes longer.
3. Place dough in greased bowl (i just used olive oil), turning greased top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour—or until doubled in bulk. Punch dough down.
4. Brush intended pizza pan down with oil. Press dough across bottom of pan, forming a collar around edge to hold toppings. Add toppings as desired. Bake at 450 for 15 to 20 minutes (we went with 16 minutes).

*Notes:

This is absolutely, wonderfully delicious. We just used some spaghetti sauce for our sauce, grated up some Colby-jack (our favorite cheese) and Jake put some ham on his side. All i can say is i don’t think we’ll buying pizza anytime soon; it’s all homemade form here.

Update

So while I have not been documenting every pizza or burrito I've made since...well forever ago, I have still been cooking...kind of. I made gingerbread men the other day...who actually turned into balls because making men took too much time. Anyway, with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas on the way, I am hoping that the Blogging world will get to see more cooking! (Let's just hope my dress size doesn't regret it)

Molasses Cookies

made with help from the lovely assistant Melly

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks) room temperature + 2 tbsp warm
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup molasses
1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp white vinegar
3 eggs, beaten
4 cups sifted flour
2 cup packed confectioners’ sugar, sifted
5 1/2 tbsp milk warm + 3 tbsp, very hot
1 tsp lemon extract

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses, sour cream, ginger and salt. Combine the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowls, and add to butter mixture. Beat in eggs until well combined. Stir in flour. Place a heaping tablespoon of dough per cookie, 2 inches apart, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean—about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
2. To make frosting, beat confectioners’ sugar, 5 1/2 tbsp warm milk and remaining 2 tbsp warm butter together using a wooden spoon. Stir in lemon extract. Add remaining 3 tbsp hot milk and beat until smooth. use immediately to frost cookies. Spread 1 tsp frosting on top of each cookie. Let frosting set before serving.

*Notes:
As always, too much frosting. Our conclusion was these cookies taste like Thanksgiving, so if you’re looking for a Thanksgiving cookie…we found one. This could also be fun to make with little kids because you mix baking soda and vinegar together and that’s always fun.