Making Stuff

Today I've decided to do things a little out of the ordinary.  I'm going to talk about things that Ben and I have made -- crafts, shelves, and recipes.  Prepare yourself.

About a month ago I saw THIS TUTORIAL and thought, "Hmm... I could totally make those for cheap, but I'd do it a little differently."  So Ben and I went out to one of my favorite stores in the world (Goodwill) and spent about $5 for all of these vases, jars, and candle holder.  We decided to use sharpie to draw the faces because then we could erase it with rubbing alcohol and use them for the rest of the year.  We turned on While You Were Sleeping and got to work on our coffee table.  It probably took us a little over an hour to make these.  I give you Frankenstein, a witch, a jack-o-lantern, a ghost, and a skeleton (which I accidentally used acrylic on instead of tempera.  Whoops.  I hope it comes off).

With all the canning we just did, we knew we needed a place to put the jars.  Our pantry was already packed, even though it's ginormous.  Sooo... Ben and I thought it would be awesome if he could build some cheap shelves.  So on his lunch break one day he went to Home Depot, spent $50, and then he spent this past Saturday designing the shelves and assembling them.  They don't look like they should be on the cover of a Pottery Barn catalog but they fit our budget and they will be be invaluable as we finish getting our year supply (hopefully that will be soon).  I'm just praying that we'll be able to fit everything in our laundry room (where these shelves are) and our pantry and other the other big closets in our house.  Otherwise we're going to have to get creative again.  :)

 Where we're going to store our year supply of paper products.  Now that we've lived in our house for a year I realize that it won't take as much as we originally thought.

OK y'all.  Let's get Southern.

When Ben and I were first married he always complained because I was constantly talking about pig pickin's and how amazing the food was (unfortunately he didn't go to his first pig pickin' until last month).  So I searched far and wide for a legitimate NC BBQ recipe.  Everything I tried was wrong.  And then one day, after I had opened up this little flimsy cookbook that came with my crockpot, lo and behold, the recipe was practically glowing at me.  Holy guacamole y'all, this stuff is legit.  So I'm going to share the recipe with y'all.  You're welcome. ;)

Carolina Barbecued Pork

2 onions, quartered

2 T. brown sugar

1 T. paprika

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 4-6 lb. boneless pork butt or shoulder roast

3/4 C. cider vinegar

4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Hamburger buns (optional)

Place the onions in your crockpot.  Combine the brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper and rub the mixture all over the roast.  In a bowl combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt and cayenne pepper (we like to make a double batch of the sauce.  Nothing like drowning your meat in it.... yum).  Mix well.  Drizzle half of the vinegar mixture over the roast.  Cover and refrigerate the remaining sauce.  Put the lid on the crockpot and cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6.  Remove the meat and onions and drain.  Chop or shred the meat and onion.  Serve it by itself or put it on hamburger buns with cole slaw. 

 Alrighty y'all.  Now it's time for something sweet.  Y'all know I'm such a chocoholic.  Well, these are my absolute favorite cupcakes ever.  But then I'm under the impression that if it has cream cheese in it, it will be off the hook.  Y'all will die when you eat these.  I have a very clear memory of my mom making these for her girls one Sunday when she was in Young Women.  When church ended she handed me the basket that held all the leftovers and told me to go wait in the car for the rest of the family.  I clearly remember having that basket in my lap, knowing that I shouldn't eat any of them, but I totally did.  I think I ate three or four before anyone could see me.  I don't remember feeling guilty either.  :)

Self-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

(makes 2 dozen)

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
(1) 8 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
1/3 C. sugar
1 egg
dash salt
(1) 6 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 dozen paper cupcake liners

Mix cake mix according to directions on package. Fill cups half to 2/3 full with batter. Cream the cheese and sugar together, beat in egg and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and vanilla. Drop a rounded teaspoon of cheese mixture into center of each cupcake. Bake as package directs. Frost with favorite frosting.

While we're talking about how much I love cream cheese, let me introduce to you my family's mashed potatoes.  It is one of my top two recipes that people always ask for.  We eat this every Christmas.  It's that good.

Mashed Potatoes

3 lbs. potatoes

1/2 tsp salt

2 T. butter

8 oz. package cream cheese (the low-fat stuff is just as awesome)

2/3 C. sour cream

1/4 C. milk

salt and pepper to taste

paprika

Peel and cube potatoes, add 1/2 tsp salt to water and bring to a boil.  Cover with lid and let simmer for 20 minutes.  Drain water and place in a large mixing bowl (I use my kitchenaid).  Beat until crumbly.  Then add butter.  Mix in next 4 ingredients until creamy.  Spray 9x13 pan with PAM.  Pour potatoes in pan and brush top with melted butter.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

*Can be made 2-3 days ahead of time and baked later.

Happy cookin' y'all!