Starting off the school year....

Yesterday was the first day of school for my kids. Shane went on to 7th, Blake 5th and Abby in the 3rd. When I really stop to think about how fast time is going, it depresses me a little. To think that this past year flew by, and it seems like the kids just got out of school and now, they are a year older and starting back to school.

To me, when school starts back I think fall, even though it is still near 90 degrees here. Buying schools supplies, high school football, then labor day. The leaves start changing and the darkness of night comes earlier. So one of the first things that I think of when I think of fall is apples. I love going apple picking, making apple butter or whatever...but that is what I think of.

A coworker brought me these little green apples from her apple tree in her yard. Luckily, there were no worms! I had a ton of things that I wanted to make with them, so I halved them and made half apple butter and the other half jam.


The recipe that I used called it Caramel Apple Jam, but really I think that I will call it Apple Pie Jam. I really don't taste any caramel, but it does taste like a great fried apple pie filling. The hardest part of this was peeling and slicing those tiny little apples, but it was well worth it!

Apple Pie Jam

6 cups peeled and diced apples
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp butter
3 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix all of the ingredients into a large pot. Stir them until all combined. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Cook the jam until it reached 220 degrees. (see my note at the bottom) Pour into jars and top with lid. Flip the jars on their lids to cool. The jars should be sealed when completely cooled.

Some of my jams have been really thick when I cook to this degree, so with this jam I cooked for 20 minutes then I used the frozen plate method. You freeze a plate, then put a little bit on the plate, stick it back in the freezer for a few seconds then check the consistency of it. If it is not as thick as you want continue to cook the jam in 5 minute increments until you get it the consistency you want. I cooked this jam for 20-25 minutes.

Abby bakes Key Lime Pie!

Abby decided this week that she wanted to make key lime pie. I was really excited about it, because I love it, but the hubby was even more excited. This has to be his favorite dessert, other than strawberry shortcake!

Have you ever tried to juice and zest a key lime? They are tiny! Abby squeezed the whole bag of key limes to get 1/2 cup of juice and it took about 4 key limes to get 1 Tbsp of zest. But it was worth it in the end. It is a great tasting pie!

We will make this pie again and again. It is really that good!

Abby's Key Lime Pie:

1 9in. graham cracker pie shell--we used store bought

1/2 cup key lime juice

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbsp key lime zest

4 large egg yolks

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix all 4 ingredients until combined. Pour into graham cracker pie shell and bake for 15-17 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then put into the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

**If you make your own graham cracker crust, make sure to bake it first before you pour in the filling.**

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies

My favorite book series are from Joanne Fluke, the Hannah Swenson Mysteries and I have read all except the latest one. I really like good murder mysteries and this series satisfies that for me. A plus in each of these books are that they have the recipes included, for whatever is in the story line.

This cookie recipe is from the first book, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, and they did not disappoint! If you like a good murder mystery this is a great series to read!

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies:

1 cup butter (2 sticks, melted)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups crushed corn flakes
1-2 cups chocolate chips (I used 1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter, add the sugars and stir. Add soda, salt, vanilla, and beaten eggs. Mix well. Then add flour and stir it in. Add crushed corn flakes and chocolate chips and mix it all thoroughly.

Form dough into walnut-sized balls with your fingers (I used my cookie scooper) and place on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Press them down with a floured or greased fork in a crisscross pattern. (I am not sure what this does, because my cookies spread enough that you couldn't see the crisscross pattern.)

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack until completely cooled.

Taste Like Home...or New York!

A few weeks ago, I co-hosted this even with Megan of Megan's Cookin. Those who signed up were paired up with someone and you exchanged local goodies from your area. I was lucky enough to me paired up with Stephanie at Stephchows, who is from Rochester, NY!

Stephanie included a very sweet letter that explained all of the goodies she included. One of the things that she talked about was a white hotdog..weird. I didn't get them, but she says that they are the phenomenon there, completely made from pork and literally white. If I am ever up that way, I will definitely have to try them. I am sure that my kids would enjoy them! Stephanie also told me about sponge candy. Evidently, you can only get it when the humidity is low, so...I just think that gives me another reason to go there! Well, lets get on with the package...

What a great package! See the printout at the bottom? It is for a recipe for a thing called the "garbage plate", come to find out, it is a huge thing with college kids after a night of drinking. I just don't know if I could make myself do it! There is also 2 bags of candy from Stever's Candy. A bag of Salt Water Taffy, since she is an original Jersey girl, and a bag of crunchy gummy bears that she threw in for the kids! They are loving them! Let me break down the package!

Here are 2 mini bottles of wine, one white and one blush wine from Bully Hill Winery. It has a screw top instead of a cork, and has a very fun history! Go and check them out at www.bullyhill.com.

Next there was a bottle of Dinosaur BBQ sauce, which came from a biker style restaurant and people come from all over to it their BBQ. This will be great on the ribs for dinner! Just another reason why I need to go and visit! And yes, that is a car freshener that looks like sushi. I haven't opened it yet, afraid of what it smells like! Ha!

Here we have bottle of some great looking honey, and a bottle of Apple cider molasses rub that came from a local organic farm. I can't wait to try it on grilled chicken or pork chops! There was also a back of organic popcorn! This will be great for movie night with the kids!

Stephanie also sent me a ton of visitor pamphlets, so I will know exactly what to do once I get there!

Thanks again Stephanie for the great package and giving me a virtual tour of Rochester!!

My little rant for the day!

So, yesterday, my kiddos and I take a trip to the library..do you guy remember going when you were younger and the library filled with books? Well, here, they are not like that anymore. Half empty shelves, that should be filled with books....anyways, that is not my rant. Well, maybe it is part of it, but on to the real reason. I am in the cooking section, what there is of it, and see the Martha Stewart Baking, so, I get it to check out and take home. So, last night, I am flipping pages, one by one, and see that someone had ripped out a page!! I flip and few more, and another page ripped out! Why would someone do that? Just go and copy the page if you want the recipe that bad! Ok, just had to vent a little!

Hope you guys are having a great day!!!

Countdown until Christmas already?

Today while blog surfing, I can across a banner that is counting down the days until Christmas, 142 days to be exact. I just can't bring myself to start counting down myself. Although, it did get me thinking. Do you make homemade gifts? And if you do, what are some things that you make? I would really like to get some new ideas!

Back from Vacation and a chocolate cake!

Well, we are back from the beach. I am missing it already! We had a ton of fun and the first day that we were there we saw 2 sharks about 10-15 feet from us! That really made me nervous, especially since we were watching Shark week on TV each night! The weather was gorgeous except for the last 2 days we were there and it was rainy. Here is the ocean the first of the week that we were there..

See how blue/green and calm...the only thing wrong with this, is that it was filled with this....

Do you see the striped ones? Those were some mean jellyfish! Abby got stung by them twice. And the blue one? I was told that it was a man-o-war? and that they are poisonous. Luckily, no one was stung by one of those. There were so many jellyfish, the kids made a game out of it..see who could get the most! Now, the picture below shows the end of the week, see how green and and rough? There are never waves like this in the gulf! We stayed in Seagrove Beach, which is half way between Panama city and Destin, FL. The last 2 days the beaches in Panama City were closed because there were 6 drownings and 40 rescues because of the rip currants.
Oh, and here are my babies...right after dinner at Pineapple Willies... (We didn't like it too much, a complete waste of a $63 meal!)

Now on to the chocolate cake! Normally on Monday, one of my kids would post their baking project for the week. This week would have been Abby, but since we were gone and didn't bake anything last week, we will pick up again next Monday. I'm not sure what she will pick yet. But, yesterday was Jamey's birthday and we can't go a birthday around here without a cake, and what better cake to try than the recipe that I got with my Askinosie chocolate, right? Well, I normally don't like a cake naked. I have to have the frosting...well, are you sitting down? This cake does not need anything to go with it. In fact, I probably would have like it better without the frosting! And now, I am an Askinosie convert! It is so good!! This cake is probably the best chocolate cake that I have ever had! You definitely have to make it!

Do you notice the darkness in the middle? That is the moist part that melts in your mouth! Needless to say, we cut this cake last night, and when I got home from work today, it is completely gone!! I guess I am going to have to make another one!

Askinosie Chocolate Cake:

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 Tbsp (heaping)Askinosie cocoa powder

1 cup water

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9x13 pan. (I used a bundt pan)

Mix sugar and flour together in a large mixing bowl, set aside. Melt butter in a small pan on the stove. Add vegetable oil, cocoa and water. Bring to a boil. Pour cocoa mixture into sugar/flour mixture. Mix for 5 minutes. Add buttermilk, vanilla, salt, baking soda and eggs and mix again until thoroughly combined. Pour into baking pan, bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cake cool completely before serving.

I am not going to type up the recipe for the frosting, because I prefer it without it. But, if you really want it, you can find it here.