Bacardi Rum Cake

When my mom passed over 15 years ago, one of the lasting momentos I received was one of her personal cookbooks. No i'm not talking about one from some random author, the one she wrote her favorite recipes in. Now my Mom was a fabulous cook, and she had many but unfortunately we could only find one (not even the best one!) Luckily, my Dad found it not so long ago, and I have discovered some really fun (random) recipes that i've been trying week by week. 

For Easter I actually made three of her favorite dishes, and one of them included the 1970's hit "Bacardi Rum Cake" while at first I thought this was some special recipe, turns out this is a recipe Bacardi famously included in all of their magazine ads for Mom's to make. So while it's not one of my Mom's personal recipes,  it was still fun to make and eat this weekend. 

Cake: 

1 C. Chopped Pecans or Walnuts (I opted out on this since i'm allergic) 

1 Pkg Yellow Cake Mix

1 3 3/4 oz Vanilla Pudding

4 Eggs

1/2 C. Cold Water

1/2 C. Oil

1/2 C. Dark Bacardi Rum 

Glaze: 

1 Stick Butter

1/4 C. Water

1 C. Sugar

1/2 C. Dark Bacardi Rum

Preheat oven 325 degrees. Grease and flour 10 cup bundt pan. Sprinkle with nuts. Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour over nuts. Bake one hour or until brown. Cool. Invert and prick sides for the glaze to stick. Then drizzle and brush evenly over top & sides. 

I personally sprinkled powered sugar to make it look a little bit prettier, and added fruit along the sides. 

Enjoy! 

5k Music Playlist

 

Photo Credit: From Here

A couple weeks ago, Andy and I ran in a 5k downtown. It was the first of the season, and with very little training, a bit harder then expected (then again it was only 25 degrees out), but I did complete it with no walking. 

 To prepare, I wanted to make sure my music was on point. I'm one of those that tends to run to the beat of the music, so making sure I have a descent playlist to keep me motivated is necessary. I also, tend to want to start walking at certain points so by putting music in an order knowing when I'd slow down really helped.  Here's what I created:

1. Faded - Zhu 

2. Worth It - Fifth Harmony

3. Made In Gold - Nova Rockafeller

4. I Want You To Know - Zedd (feat. Selena Gomez) 

5. Blame - Calvin Harris (feat. John Newman) 

6. Booty - Jennifer Lopez (feat. Iggy Azalea) 

7. Turn Down for What - DJ Snake & Lil Jon

8. You Know You Like It- DJ Snack & AlunaGeorge

9. Break The Rules - Charli XCX

10. Hey Mama - David Guetta (Feat. Nicki Minaj & AfroJack)

11. Delirious - Steve Aoki 

12. Til It Hurts - Yellow Claw (feat. Ayden) 

13. DJ Turn It Up- Yellow Claw 

Happy Running!

Working From Home

On occasion I sometimes have to juice up my work laptop and work from home. You would think normally it would be a dreadful task, because lets be honest you're working. But, I actually quite enjoy it.  We turned one of our bedrooms awhile back into my office, which we made light and airy painting it a light grey.

Since it's my office, and Andy already has his own I was able to purchase furniture that is a little bit more girly, like this not quite zebra or chevron print chair from Homegoods.

 I was also able to organize all my cookbooks and craft supplies, without it looking too crazy or cluttered.

I also was able to put up some chic art that wouldn't make sense being put on display in our house anywhere else. Including this horse head. 

So while isn't always fun working from home,  this space provides a much needed creative outlet and it is definitely more inspiring than my cubicle. 

What do you think of the my office so far? 

Easy Crockpot Chili

With the dip in temperature lately, i've been loving the opportunity to make some of my favorite savory recipes including this easy crockpot chili recipe.  While not the most spicy of recipes, it's sure to become a fan favorite on those lazy Sunday afternoons.

Ingredients: 
Ground Beef, 1 lb (Browned)
Medium Onion, 1/2 onion
Chili Kidney Beans, 1 can
Tomato Sauce, 1 can
Diced Tomatoes, 1 can
Water, 1 cup
Chili Powder, 2 tbsp
Garlic Salt, 1 tsp
Cumin, 1 tsp
Oregano, 1 tsp
Salt & Pepper to taste

Optional:
Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Sour Cream and Crackers.

Take your ground beef, and brown in a skillet. Once completely browned, remove from stove top and drain fat. Combine all ingredients in crockpot with the exception of the optional cheese and sour cream. Set crockpot to high, and let it cook for 3 hours.  Once done, spoon chili into a bowl, top with a dollop of sour cream, sprinkle with cheese, and add crackers.

Homemade Mac 'n Cheese

I've loved mac 'n cheese since as long as I can remember.  Growing up my mom always made it using pasta shells and Velveetta cheese adding a bit of ketchup. After she passed, I got used to the blue box variety but have recently rediscovered my love for the homemade kind, especially after realizing how easy it really is and have literally made it every weekend for the last month.  Here is how I make it, but you can change up the cheeses and make it your own by adding bacon, ham, hot dog.

Ingredients: 

Elbow Pasta, 1/2 lb (cooked) 

Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 1 1/2 cups

Fontina Cheese, 1 1/2 cups

Bread Crumbs, 1 cup

Flour, 1 tbsp

Milk, 1/3 cup

Butter, 2 tbsp

Salt & Pepper to taste

Cook elbow pasta as recommended. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside pasta but reusing the same pot, mix together the 1 tbsp butter, milk, and flour. Once combined and butter has melted, add in cheeses stirring them in slowly until all the cheese has melted. Then add back in the pasta. Mix together until all is covered. 

Then place mac 'n cheese in either a 9 x 13' baking dish or individual ramekin dishes. Once set, take the remaining 1 tbsp butter and melt in a microwave safe container, once melted add bread crumbs and stir until combined. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of mac n' cheese.

Place mac 'n cheese into oven until golden brown (about 20 or so minutes) depending on oven and choice of baking dish. 

To accelerate the browning process, sometimes i'll turn the oven to broil on hi. 

Enjoy! 

Meet Teddy!

Meet Teddy! The newest addition to our household.  He is a Maltese/Yorkie/Poodle mix or as people like to call them Morkie Poo's.

I'd been talking about getting Lincoln a sibling for over a year, and got more serious about it once we moved into our house. I could tell Lincoln was lonely and we had so much space. Andy would go back and forth but came to the conclusion we really didn't need another puppy.

As I was heading up to Northern Michigan we passed the exit for the breeder in which we got Lincoln, I couldn't help be think there might be a chance she had puppies. With a few wine tastings into my system, I sent her a quick text and she called to let me know that she hadn't had puppies for some time but had some that she was going to list for sale the next day, with the same father as our other pup Lincoln. It was fate.

I called Andy in which I was told that I could not bring a puppy home, regardless if I felt the stars had aligned. He should probably have known by now that I tend to be a bit stubborn, and was going to bring a puppy home anyway, but I guess he gave me the benefit of the doubt.

Needless to say less than 48 hours later, I came home with Teddy. Andy instantly fell in love and the rest is history.

Hello!

Whelp! It's been awhile. I admit, I've been M.I.A. in all facts of life. The new job has kept me somewhat busy, but even more so the craziness that becomes of the weekend and then before you know it, it's Monday.  Hopefully I'll be more regular with my writing, after all this is suppose to be a public diary of how i'm turning my house into a home but i'll be honest,  the last two months, we haven't done much of anything. 

Instead of investing into a renovation, we decided to go on a trip to Washington D.C. for our Anniversary. I'd say it was well worth it, I think Andy was in heaven.  But, now that the weather is starting to turn I feel that our to do list is growing by the minute. 

Ideally I'd like to clean out a few flower beds before the snow falls, remove and trim a few trees in the yard, paint the last two rooms that need some fresh paint, replace our existing garage door and upgrade our fireplace to gas. While the list seems small, we really don't have a budget set away to do it all, so the next few months will be a test on how to save.  We'll also share how that works out for us.  

In the meantime be sure to check back for updates.