Ma! The Meatloaf!

I think meatloaf is an incredibly underrated dish. It's a hefty comfort food that's not exactly horrible for you...now there's something you don't see every day! It isn't the most beautiful food, but it certainly is satisfying.

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My favorite thing about meatloaf is that no two recipes are alike. They can be simple or complicated, spicy or classic, they might taste like mom's recipe or they might be something completely innovative. It's almost as though the recipes reflect who the chef is. I think my recipe is pretty representative of my personality - it includes some veggies, some spices, and of course, some Coca Cola.

Julia's Meatloaf

Ingredients:

• 1.5# ground beef
• 1 small carrot, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, minced
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1.5 c whole grain bread crumbs
• 2 t mustard
• 1 t black pepper
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper
• 1 t chili powder
• 1 t worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 c ketchup
• 1/2 c Coke

Directions:

Combine all ingredients through worcestershire sauce in a large bowl. Spread into loaf pan. Combine ketchup and Coke in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to glaze loaf. Bake at 350˚ for 40-45 minutes.

What are your favorite meatloaf ingredients?

One Man's Trash

Those of you who followed me over here from Weddingbee know how obsessed I am with antique stores. I'm a sucker for shabby chic decor. Maybe it's trendy, but I just can't get enough of shabby pieces of furniture and their little imperfections. It's like each piece has a story behind it. This look is quite the opposite of my husband's style; thus, most of our home consists of compromised design so that we can both be happy. But when it came time to furnish my newly painted craft room, I knew I wanted to stick with furniture that was more my style. After all, it's my room!

I shopped around for a few weeks (and stalked Craigslist like it was my job), and finally ended up with three perfect pieces. Best of all, I didn't spend a penny over my budget of $200!

Here's my husband putting the hardware on my Craigslist cabinet:

The cabinet is a combination of plastic and wood that has been painted white. I haven't decided if I want to distress it or not. For now, it's just solid white. I also found a distressed desk and chair set on Craigslist. The chair seat looks like a poodle's butt, but I bought fabric to recover it as an easy update (stay tuned). My favorite piece that I bought, however, was an old sewing table that I found at one of my favorite antique stores. The tabletop was missing, and had been replaced with painted wood - perfect to hold my new sewing machine!

I found the little garland at Target. It has five clips on it to hold pieces of inspiration, and it sticks to the wall easily.

What are your favorite treasures that you've found in someone else's leftovers?

Don't Drink and Blog

Last night, something terrible happened. I had the brilliant idea that I would be efficient and try to get some blogging done while watching the Superbowl with my husband and his friend. Naturally, I opened a beer...to help get in the mood for this multitasking, if you will. My beer foamed over ever so slightly and poured onto the keyboard and trackpad of my MacBook. I blotted up the liquid as quickly as I could, but it was too late. The damage was done. Almost instantly, my keyboard stopped working. When I attempted to click on something, my screen thought I was right-clicking. When I attempted to scroll, my screen thought I was zooming. I turned the computer off, set it aside, and hoped for a better tomorrow.

My attempts to turn it on this morning were futile.

Fortunately, Mondays are my days off, so I was conveniently able to race to the nearest Apple store. My heart pounded throughout the entire drive. I had the same pit in my stomach that I have when I have to take my dog to the vet, the same sense of bargaining, "Please let it just be an ear infection; I'll do anything!" Upon my arrival at the Apple store, I was greeted by an odd little man who had a serious issue with eye contact (a serious issue of about ten inches). I explained my embarrassing predicament, and braced myself as he delivered my beloved computer's fate.

Apparently beer is corrosive, and even the smallest amount can cause death by liquid. He believed it was repairable, but the damage was over his head and he would need to ship it out to Apple's daunting repair depot. The folks at the depot would be able to give me a better idea about prognosis from there. Now, I'm a Southern girl, which means that my inherent tact prevents me from discussing finances. Let's just say that the cost of parts and labor was enough to make my jaw drop; however, it was still considerably less than the cost of a new computer. If my laptop was older, I might have opted to replace it instead. Since it was only two years old (that is, just old enough for the warranty to have expired), I decided that this was a necessary investment. I handed over my computer, and hung up one of my favorite quotes for good:

{via I Could Cry But I Don't Have Time}

I suppose Hemingway ruined many a draft with a draught beer...or twelve. He didn't have anything to short circuit, but on the other hand, he didn't have an external hard drive to back up every idea that had ever crossed his mind. I suppose my predicament isn't so bad. After all, it's only money.

Nonetheless, I'm unreasonably attached to my computer. I suppose all bloggers are. I told my husband that I would not be nearly this distraught if I'd somehow acquired a need for significant repair to my car. He then pointed out that my car doesn't mean as much to me as my computer does. (He knows me so well!) As I mourn the hopefully-temporary absence of my computer, I'm grateful that the internet is forever. I have a couple of posts saved as drafts, and I'm happy to use them over the next couple of weeks - it sure beats writing on my husband's HP as I am now (ugh).

Contrary to Hemingway's quote, I have officially banned food and drink while blogging. You might think this is a bit harsh, but actually, this isn't the first time I've killed a computer in this manner. In 2005, I knocked over a bottle of Gatorade while stretching after a workout. My computer was open, and the sticky pink plague completely drenched it. It's one thing to make the same mistake twice, but I'm sure as hell not making it again. Besides, I can't afford to.

Are any of you ridiculously attached to your computer? Or am I coming across as a little crazy right now?

Vlog Friday: Daily Routine

Welcome back! I guess I didn't scare you away with last week's vlog mishap! This week's video is a little less scary. I promise.

This week's topic is:

What is one of your current daily routines? Record it and show us!

Once again, I've decided to record video involving my dog. Here we are with one of Chelsea's daily routines:

What's your pet's favorite game?
We vlog Fridays! Do you?

• Marsh Mellow Goodness
• Adventures in Love and Happiness
• Folly Life
• Forget me Not!
• Heart on Homestead
• Conventional Bliss
• Life's Journey with a Smile

Live Colorfully

Do you like my post title? Do you know where it's from? I'll give you a hint: I ripped it off from one of my favorite designers.

Speaking of designers, today I wanted to talk about some interior design. But what in the world could I be talking about if the title of this post is "live colorfully?" Paint. My husband and I painted all weekend, and I've got the aching biceps to prove it!

When we first moved in, we hired painters to paint our red kitchen a dark gray, to paint our pink guest room a pool blue, and to paint our yellow master bedroom a light gray (photos of those last two rooms coming soon). Those rooms were kind of tricky to paint (and we hadn't purchased a ladder yet), so I'm glad we paid to have them done. Most of the house was fortunately painted in colors we would have chosen, but there were still a couple more rooms that we wanted to redesign. Now that we had been in for a couple of months (and had purchased a ladder), we decided to go the DIY route and paint these rooms ourselves.

Upon entering our home, the first room on the left is a large room that the previous owners used as a playroom. We hadn't used it as anything yet. It's just a giant, green, empty room.

 After much brainstorming (about how my husband could have a lawyer office that smelled of rich mahogany) and much dreaming (about how I could play Belle in a library with a sliding ladder), we decided to turn this room into a study. In order to create this room in a way that lives up to the standards we imagined, we'll probably have to do it little by little over the course of a year or two. We're talking about building shelving, shopping for a couple of leather chairs, and updating my husband's desk set. For now, we decided to start this project with a change from the serene green to a more vibrant garnet.

The other room we wanted to paint was my beige craft room in the basement. I wanted a room that was whimsical and inspiring. We decided to paint three of the walls with the same pool blue paint that we used in the guest room.

For the fourth wall, I had a different plan. What's more whimsical and inspiring than an entire wall of chalkboard?!

These two rooms took two days, on and off, to paint ourselves. It was nice to have someone else paint for us, but doing it ourselves was so much more gratifying. We were incredibly proud of ourselves, and we had fun in the process! I mean, any serious project demands some not-so-serious moments:

Intense tape ball is intense. And look! I'm making an intense face.

Chelsea was exhausted from not helping.

Stay tuned! More on my craft room later.

This Pudding is Bananas

Let me just start off by saying that it's rare for me to write about a non-chocolate dessert; when I do, it's because it's absolutely worth it. I recently traveled to New York to visit my sister. Many of my favorite memories from that trip involve food (shocker), and one of my favorite places that we noshed was Magnolia Bakery. Magnolia Bakery is famous for their cupcakes, as well as many other "icebox desserts." Perhaps the most famous of the icebox desserts is their banana pudding. Every New Yorker I was with told me I had to try it. Yes, even though it wasn't chocolate.

I know I have a tendency to oversell things (I'm easily amused - what can I say?), but this was the best banana pudding I've ever had. It kind of made me sad because it was so good, and after this trip it would be several states away. Fortunately, I found the recipe on Pinterest. I tried it, and it's legit.

Magnolia Bakery's Banana Pudding (from Not Too Shabby / via Pinterest)


Ingredients:

• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups very cold water
• 1 (3.4 oz) package of Jell-O instant vanilla pudding mix
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 (12 oz) box Nabisco Nilla Wafers
• 3-4 ripe (but not banana bread ripe) bananas, sliced

Directions

1. Beat together sweetened condensed milk and water for about 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat for an additional two minutes. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to set for at least 4 hours (overnight is fine).
2. Beat cream until stiff peaks form. Stir in pudding mixture once it's set.
3. Assemble the dessert in a large glass dish (so you can see the pretty layers!), preferably a trifle bowl. Place 1/3 of the Nilla Wafers in the dish, then cover with 1/3 of the banana slices, then 1/3 of the pudding mixture. Repeat with the two additional layers. Garnish with Nilla Wafer crumbs. Serve within the next day so that your bananas don't get too soggy!

What's your favorite dish you've discovered while on vacation?

Vlog Friday: I'm Back!

Remember a long time ago when I did this series called Vlog Friday? Well, I miss it, so I've decided to return!


Today's topic: What's the worst haircut you've ever had? Describe it! Bonus points for pictures! Well, I hate to disappoint, but my story isn't that interesting. The good news is that somehow, my dog managed to pull apart our air vent...I don't know, because she somehow grew thumbs when we weren't looking?

This little mishap occurred while I was recording (ah, the beauty of live video). The result is a corgi blooper, which makes my haircut story more interesting. Maybe?




Have you had a really awful haircut before? Did you pay for it or was it self-induced? Has your dog ever tried to destroy your home?
We vlog Fridays! Do you?

• Marsh Mellow Goodness
• Adventures in Love and Happiness
• Folly Life
• Forget me Not!
• Heart on Homestead
• Conventional Bliss
• Life's Journey with a Smile