What Ha' Happen Was...

     You know, I just want to set the record straight.  When I said the other night that Dachshunds were little shits, I didn't mean it.  What I meant to say was that Dachshunds are little shit-stirrers.  Yeah, they get the drama started, and then sit back looking all cute and innocent while someone else takes the heat for it.  As most of you know through Facebook, my "good dog", Roux dug out of the backyard the other day and was picked up by on-base police.  What y'all don't know is exactly what ha' happened.  To be fair to my little instigator, this is all speculation.  I was not home, but I've seen him do this before so I'm going out on a limb here and assuming this is how things went down.

     Roux, as I said is my good dog.  She is very well-trained.  She comes when you call her; she's well-mannered, and she can even be trusted to stay near your side when she's off her leash.  Aside from the usual puppy antics, we've only ever had one problem with her, and that was digging.  After her first few digging escapes, I began kenneling her throughout the day.  After a while I gave her another shot, and she left her digging behind.  Then we adopted Andouille.  He, being the instigator,  will dig a little, enough to get Roux's attention, and then walk away once Roux takes over and transforms his tiny hole into a crater.  The best part is that Andouille will walk to the door, and begin barking to come inside so that I come to the door just in time to fuss a Roux before she gets out of the yard.  The plan backfired on him the other day because I was in school, so he couldn't tattle-tell, and he's too big to fit through Roux's holes.  Therefore Roux got a few hours of freedom and joyriding with the base police, and Andouille got time-out in his kennel.

     Sadly, when getting Roux in trouble stopped being fun, he moved onto a new set of shenanigans.  Monkey is allowed to have her toys out, but before bed she has to bring them back to her room.  Lately, I've been finding her toys strewn along the stairs.  My first thought was that she was simply dropping them on the way to her room.  Then I began watching her go up the stairs with her toys, and discovered that she was able to make it up to her room without dropping a single thing.  So next I thought she was being rebellious and throwing her toys down the stairs.  After all, she went through that stage just a few months ago.  I started fussing at her to pick up her toys.  Come to find out, Andouille was going to Monkey's room, gently carrying toys to the stairs, and placing them there before disappearing to watch Monkey get in trouble.  At this rate I would trade my mother's "gremlins" for my vindictive diva-dog.

     I promise this is the last post about him, though.  Mainly because I'm afraid for my safety.  Who knows if he's logging into my computer at night a reading these, and I'll soon be paying the price for calling him a diva on the internet.  Or maybe he'll be seeking vengeance because I refused to share these with him.

Hmm....muffins

Mmmmhhmmmm....Nutella

Nutella-Stuffed Cinnamon Sugar Muffins
1/3 cup (5 TBS) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
8 tsp Nutella

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
3 TBS butter

Preheat oven to 425F.  Spray muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed.  Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and milk. Gently stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  DO NOT overmix – stir until *just* combined.

Spoon 1 heaping Tablespoon of batter into muffin cavity.  Layer with 1 tsp Nutella in the center and spoon another heaping Tablespoon of batter on top.  If the muffin tins are completely full, that is ok.  They will not overflow.  Repeat layering batter + Nutella into each muffin tin.  I got exactly 8 muffins.

Bake at 425F for 5 minutes.  Reduce oven to 350F and bake for an additional 13-17 minutes until batter is set. Allow muffins to cool for about 5 minutes.

While the muffins are cooling, make the cinnamon-sugar topping.  Melt the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave.  Stir and stick back in microwave if not fully melted.  In a separate small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon.  Dip the top of each muffin into the melted butter and dip into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Swirl them around in the cinnamon-sugar a bit to make sure you get a thick coating. Set upright on cooling rack.  

Enjoy!

My Brain's Going to Explode

     I'm sitting outside my next class, shooting the breeze with a fellow student while surfing the internet, and doing just about everything to ignore the fact that I have three major tests next week.  Don't get me wrong, I've been studying.  I'm just to the point where I feel like anything more than an hour a day and my head will explode.  I'm also sleepy, and hungry, and surrounded by distractions and otherwise not inclined to crack open any more books.  But, hey, it's Friday!       Since it's Friday, I feel like sharing something fun with y'all.  Warning: this stuff is dangerous, because it's that good.  Here it is, a recipe for Nutella Pound Cake:

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 
1 1/4 cups sugar 
4 large eggs, room temperature 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
One 13-ounce jar Nutella

Preheat oven to 325 F; lightly grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and set aside.  Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  Scrape sides of the bowl, lower speed to medium and add in the eggs and vanilla until fully incorporated.  In 3 batches, add in the flour mixture, mixing at low speed after each addition until just blended.  Spread 1/3 of the batter in the pan, then spread 1/3 of the Nutella on top.  Repeat with another third of the batter and another 1/3 of the Nutella.  Top with the remaining batter and Nutella and lightly swirl the Nutella and batter together with a knife.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes.  Allow the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes.  Remove cake from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack for about 2 hours.  Store well wrapped at room temperature.    This stuff it best warm, so stick it in the microwave and enjoy.  The original poster even mentioned serving it with vanilla ice cream.  My advice:  Don't do it!!!  It's soooooo good!

     As you can gather, there is no real point to this blog entry, other than the fact that I wanted to waste some time before class without going over the Pericardial Cavity for the 10,000,000th time.  Thank you, and enjoy the pound cake :-)