Organization Gone Wrong

  Things that are supposed to help you get organized can sometimes lead to bigger problems. This is the story of how a bright idea to make more space became a black hole of clutter.


  Ah, organizing... That thing that's supposed to help you find things easier, clean up, and get rid of unneeded items. Right? This isn't that post about how to get organized. It's totally the one about what not to do. Please excuse the blurry photos from my dark bedroom, but believe me, you won't be seeing anything pretty anyways. So, let's just get to the aftermath of what I was left with when I decided to clean out my closet:

  How did this happen to me? I used to consider myself a clean and organized person, but moving in with a spouse that constantly disrupts that order has caused me to slack off. I can't really pinpoint the exact reason... I think it's either because I'm so busy cleaning up after him that I ignore my own messes, or it's because I'm so focused on taking care of him that I forget to deal with the problems that pile up behind closed doors. Either way, by the time I'm done beating concrete out of clothes, vacuuming it off my floor, and wiping up anything else that needs dusted off, I'm too tired to remember that I have a pile of mending to do.

  We've all probably seen thousands of tips and tricks for how to get rid of clutter, save space, and keep things in their place. There's one I saw a long time ago for saving space in the closet. It's simple! You just place soda can tabs (I've seen various other items used) on your hangers, and it adds a space to hang another hanger. Perfect for squeezing more clothes in there! But in my case, it's the worst thing I ever could have done.


  Let me say that we're still using this trick in The Other Half's closet, and it works great for him. The most of what he has in there are his work uniform shirts, then there's a few jackets and dress shirts. That does stay organized, for the most part. The big problem is my closet: The junk space. The mending pile. That evil place that things get tossed in, to never be seen again after being eaten by the notorious Organization Monster.

    All of this mess got placed on my "stacked" hangers, and shoved behind the next thing. Then that thing got shoved behind the following thing. Hanging almost to the ground, some of it got knocked off the hangers and ended up piled on the floor. And again: None of it is stuff I wear. Ever. Although I have a closet full of garments that need mending or altering, I don't have many clothes to wear. I think that's what caused me to hoard these items in need of repair. When I realized I never open my closet door except to store something else in there, I decided it was time to clean it out. The plan is to put a hanging organizer... Ha ha, there's that word "organize", oh no! So anyways, I'm going to empty out my closet so I can put an organizer in there, and it's time to evaluate what should stay and what should go.

  Some of the things in there are beyond repairing, at least with my lack of sewing skills. Ripped collars, broken zippers, and that sweater that I planned on darning are all too much work for me. I don't really have a strong desire to wear any of these things, so it's time for them to go. I got to work and in no time, I had a pile of garments that towered over my collection of wearable items.

  So, here's the plan: I'm going to use the new hanging "organizer" for my sheets, so I can get them out of the cheap plastic drawer cart I have them in, which will also get that out of the way in my bedroom. I have a problem with spiders making their homes behind the cart, and now I've been finding them inside the drawers. Sorry spiders, I don't want to share my drawers -or my bed sheets- with you.

  Even that cart is messy! The Other Half doesn't bother to pull things out nicely, so it's typical for stuff to be hanging out of drawers after he goes in for a blanket. Plus, there's some sheets in there that don't fit the bed. I think it's time to turn them into rags.


  So this should be simple, right? Just get rid of the stuff I don't need, and make space for the sheets in the closet. Well, some things are easy to throw in the rag pile or the "project" pile, but the thing that really tripped me up was all the hangers. Literally. I had a pile on the bed but they slipped off onto the floor, and I ended up tangled in them. Then they got tangled up in themselves. I untangled them, hung them up, and they fell all over the floor again. So, I got frustrated and took a break (we won't talk about kicking the pile of hangers across the room), which didn't help get it done.

  Have you ever stopped mid-project, whatever it is, and then walked back into the situation to realize you're buried deeper than you thought? After sorting, vacuuming spiders, and a few sneezing fits, I was done for the day. I was left with a very small pile of donations, a large pile of junk, and a ton of hangers.


  The good thing about the junk pile is that it won't go to waste. I love to cut up material for crocheting things like bags and rugs, and the yarn from that sweater could be salvaged. The problem with that is, none of the "junk" leaves my house. I got the closet cleaned out, the sheets in their organizer, and got rid of most of those hangers. But now I'm left with a laundry basket of "potential crochet material" that's really just more potential clutter. Will I find time to recycle it, or will it only end up taking the place of the cheap plastic cart in my bedroom? In hopes of saving it, I'm hanging on to it for now. I have a feeling that this mission to get reorganized could turn into a never-ending saga.

To be continued...

Layered Pineapple Upside-down Cake

  Every year on his birthday, the Other Half gets a pineapple upside-down cake - His favorite. But I mean, c'mon! It's a birthday cake! Shouldn't it be a little more special than just your average pineapple upside-down cake? So for his birthday last month, I had two missions: Make it more special, but also try to make it a little less bad-for-you. I succeeded at one of those goals... I fell a little short of the other one.

  But, it's still just a tiny little bit less-bad! Usually, I make an entire 9 x 13 pan of this cake, but I can only fit one can of pineapple in it. Plus, all that sugary, buttery topping that pineapple upside-down is famous for! I'm worried about the hubby developing diabetes because his father had it. And now that he's getting older, gaining weight, and still hasn't done anything to change his diet, I'm even more worried about it. His favorite thing for his birthday could very well become his death sentence!




  Last year, I tried to change the cake. That was a bust. The less-butter, less-sugar cake I made was tasteless and dry. No amount of gooey topping could change it. This year, I went back to the classic cake (see the recipe for how I already make that a-little-healthier!), and worked to change that topping instead. By baking the cake in two smaller round pans, I was able to fit two cans of pineapple in the cake. More fruit = good, right? (Well, kinda...) And then I reduced the amount of butter and sugar for the topping, so there will be just a kiss of that caramel-y goodness.




  It's a hit! The cake was moist without being drenched in butter/sugar sauce, the extra fruit added a ton of flavor, and he ate half the cake in under two days. If only I could get him to understand that cake does not equal "good for you" just because it has fruit in it. So much for trying to get him to eat healthier! Let's get to that recipe:

For the prep work:
One 8" and one 9" round cake pans
*I used spring-form pans, because that's all I have right now! I tried two 8" round pans, but the batter was almost overflowing. If you don't have/want two different sizes, use two 9" pans.
Non-stick spray
Flour for dusting
Electric stand or handheld mixer


For the topping:
2 tablespoons butter, divided
4 tablespoons brown sugar
(2) 20 oz. cans pineapple - in juice, not syrup - minus about 1/2 can
*You'll need some of that juice for the cake! Make sure to reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid, and reserve about 1/2 can of fruit for cake


For the cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 - 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 - 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 - 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 1/2 can pineapple reserved from topping, plus flour for dusting

Used as garnish (optional):
Dried pineapple pieces and dried sweetened cranberries





Directions:


Preheat the oven to 350°F.

While the oven preheats, prepare the pans. Spray the sides with non-stick cooking spray and dust with flour.

I got quite a bit of over-spray on the bottoms of my pans, resulting in much of the base being floured, too. The little extra flour just adds some glossiness to the topping, and I don't worry about cleaning it up unless there's big clumps.

There's just one tablespoon of butter -sliced thin- for the topping in each pan - plus or minus a little. Since one pan is bigger, I take one from the small pan and divide it in the larger pan.

Pop the pans in the preheating oven for a minute to melt the butter.

Only a minute to melt that thinly sliced butter! Now, to add the sugar: As for the butter, I take a bit from the two tablespoons of sugar in the small pan and add it to the two tablespoons in the larger pan.

Place the pineapple rings in each pan as close to each other as possible, but don't crush them together.



Now, for the cake!

  This classic yellow cake is moist and buttery... And not exactly a healthy option. In my opinion, you just can't have yellow cake - or cake at all - without butter. To make this cake without butter is like making frosting without sugar. It might look like cake, but it will have a taste and texture more like something from the local sawmill. Use butter, or don't make the cake.

  Where we get to make it a little healthier is with the milk - Go ahead and use non-fat if you want to. Or, use whole milk if you want. Either way, we're going to take a little of the milk out of the classic butter cake, and add that reserved pineapple juice.

  Now, I learned the hard way that this makes a little extra work... You already have to alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk, but you can't just add the milk to the pineapple juice, so you'll have to alternate three things. The first time I tried this recipe I dumped the pineapple juice into the milk right before I started creaming the first ingredients, and the milk was cottage cheese by the time I needed to add it. So, don't skip that step. I know it's more work, but it's worth it. Something about the juice - maybe the acidity? - makes the cake even softer and fluffier than your average yellow cake.

The first thing to do is cream the butter and sugar together. Beat on medium to high until the mixture is light yellow and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time while mixing, and then the vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth, creamy, and golden yellow.


The remaining steps are too difficult for me to do while taking pictures, but you'll be okay from here: Sift together the dry ingredients, and measure out the milk and pineapple juice. Usually, you would alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk in thirds, but you'll need to stretch those dry ingredients a little farther.

While mixing on medium speed, add less than a cup of the dry ingredients. Mixing until incorporated between each: About a fourth of the milk, then another scant cup of flour mixture. Add half of the pineapple juice, more flour, another fourth of milk, flour again, and the other half of the juice. Alternate the remaining flour and milk until completely incorporated.

Split the batter between the pans, adding about a cup extra to the larger pan, if using two sizes. Sprinkle the remaining pineapple slices with flour, place on top of the batter in the larger pan (or whichever will be the bottom layer).

Even if you're using two pans that are the same size, your bottom layer with the extra fruit may need up to 10 minutes of additional cooking time. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (Find a spot without fruit to check it!)

Allow the cakes to rest on a wire rack just until cool enough to handle.

Now, fun! Invert the larger or bottom layer onto a plate. Place the plate on top of the cake, hold the plate and cake pan firmly together, and flip!

Here's the "dirty" part: You have one shot here. Once the sticky top touches the bottom cake, it stays there. You're not moving it. You'll probably have to touch the cake a little, unless you have magic powers. But that's okay, since this doesn't have all that runny, gooey topping! You might get a little sticky. The top layer is more difficult to flip onto the existing cake. Line up the edge where you want it, hold it in place with a (clean) hand as you gently invert the pan, and hold your breath as you slide it off.

Many people like to add maraschino cherries, but The Other Half prefers his pineapple upside-down cake with strawberries. Of course at the time, strawberries weren't available. I stuck to just pineapple this time, and chose to garnish it with some crushed dried pineapple.

As you can see in the first display photo, I added some dried cranberries to pretty it up with a bit of color. I thought about baking them into the cake to replace the strawberries, and I'm sooo glad I didn't. I liked it. A lot. But The Other Half took one bite with the cranberries and pushed the rest of the garnish to the side. Oh well. At least he still says it's the best pineapple upside-down cake he's ever had, and he doesn't even notice that I cut the sugary topping in half, added more fruit, and replaced a bit of the fat.

Happy Baking!