So Long 2008 & Happy New Year!

I truly cannot believe that 2008 has come to an end. Time really flew by this year. Overall it has been a good year for us. Here's a brief look back at 2008:

- Hubby and I hit a very rough patch at around this time last year. We were in the verge of separating but we decided that we should try to save this marriage and work things out. I could not begin to tell you how glad I am that we stayed together. I know for sure that our relationship grew even stronger since then.

- Around Feb. or March this year, I stumbled upon Razor Family Farms blog and I am so very gald that I got to know Lacy, my first blogger friend!

- May 2008, hubby was fixing an equipment at a jobsite and almost amputated his index finger. I do not want to gross you out so I will not go into details. He was rushed to the ER in an ambulance which was right on site(his jobsite was right at the emergency corps.) I had to call 911 because everyone was inside the building and instead of me running around like a mad woman looking for help, I just called 911. I could here my call being dispatched at the same time while I was on the phone with 911(which I thought was pretty funny afterwards).

- Also in May, with the encouragement of my friend Lacy, I started this blog. Ever since then I have made some wonderful blogger friends. I really enjoy reading comments from you, my dear blogger friends, and I love visiting your blogs.

- June 2008, hubby and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.

- In July, hubby gave me a KitchenAid stand mixer for birthday. I have always wanted one and now I got one!

- November, we found a growth on June and she had to have a surgery to get that removed. Luckyly it wasn't malignant.

- Also in November, my sister and her husband moved to their new Condo. And their little girl Grace celebrated her 2nd birthday.

So, as we say goodbye to 2008 and welcome 2009, I would like to make a toast to:

My hubby: Thanks for being who you are. I love you and I look forward to many more years with you!

My family: I know I am very far away but I think of you guys all the time. My warmest hugs and my very best wishes for a New Year filled with joy and happiness.

My blogger friends: Wishing you all the best in the coming New Year. May each new day brings for you happiness, prosperity and continued success!

Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas!

Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright

'Round yon virgin mother and Child

Holy infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Sleep in heavenly peace

Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

A Christmas Meme

Sorry friends for being MIA since Thanksgiving. I have been very busy with work and it probably will be this way until after the new year. I have tried to stop by a few blogs to visit, some I have commented but some I didn't. I will try to visit more often.

Here's a fun Christmas meme I saw over at The Fraker Farm today. I thought I would copy her idea and do this at my blog. Please play along by answering one question in the comment.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? No presents
3. Colored light on house/tree or white? white
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No
5. When do you put your decorations up? if I do usually the first weekend in December
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I love all food
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? We used to go out carolling on Christmas eve(on a bus, going to church members' houses) and our house is always the last house. Usually it's after midnight before we got to our house. It was fun.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't know. I don't think we "believed" in Santa bringing gifts.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With very little decorations, I don't like a "loaded" Christmas tree. The bottom of the tree is usually bare because of the dogs.
11. Snow. Love it or dread it? Love it love it love it! Especially at Christmas time!
12. Can you ice skate? Not at all.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? No
14. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you? Being with loved ones
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? All desserts!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? None
17. What tops your Christmas tree? usually a bow
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? giving
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Where are you Christmas, Have yourself a Merry little Christmas & White Christmas
20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck? Not yuck but not yum either. Neutral i guess
21. What do you want for Christmas? All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, my two front teeth. I just had to type this. Now I have this song stuck with me.
22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? No
23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's? just normal clothes
24. Do you own a Santa hat? at one time, not anymore
25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? hubby and my girls

Happy Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for:

My loving husband

My sweet girls(by girls I meant dogs but you already know that)

My parents

My brother & sisters

My cute little niece, Grace

My good health

My job

My landlord

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Hope you have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey plump

May your potatoes and gravy

Have never a lump

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

Thanksgiving Menu

Thanksgiving day is next week and I've got my Thanksgiving menu ready. This year I will be cooking for 3: hubby, his son and myself. Here's what we'll be having:

Soup: French Onion Soup
I usually make this in the crockpot with wine, beef broth, onions and garlic and just let it cook for hours. I will probably make a loaf of bread for the bread & cheese topping.

Salad: Bacon wrapped Shrimp on Mixed Greens with Maple glaze
Shrimp wrapped in bacon, pan fried, serve on mixed greens and drizzle with maple glaze.

Meat: Hickory Smoked Roast Beef
Sirloin tip roast seasoned with cracked black peppercorn and McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning. Serve with horseradish sauce.

Side Dish: Twice baked Potatoes

Dessert: Cinnamon Apple Walnut Cheesecake
For recipe, click here.

What will you be making this Thanksgiving?

S5

You were probably thinking, S5? What's that? Please allow me to explain...

There is a sandwich shop about 1.5 miles from us that makes very good sandwiches. S5, roast beef on focaccia, is by far our most favorite. Now with the slumping economy lately, it is only wise for us not to order out often or at all. So I have decided to make my own S5.


I don't usually measure out the ingredients, it is really up to your own taste as of how much meat or mayo or greens you would like on your sandwich. Here are the basic ingredients you'll need to make this delicious Roast Beef sandwich on Focaccia:


Focaccia bread, For recipe see here
Roast beef
Blue cheese dressing (I use Marie's premium blue cheese dressing or you could use garlic mayo or tomato basil aioli)
Crispy fried onions (Pioneer Woman has a great recipe here)
Crumble blue cheese
Mesclun mix or any kind of mixed greens (I like Dole's Spring mix)
Salt & Pepper to taste

To assemble:
1) Slice the focaccia in half and spread the top half with blue cheese dressing or garlic mayo.

2) Arrange roast beef on the bottom half of the focaccia. Top with mixed greens, crispy fried onion and crumble blue cheese.

3) Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Focaccia Anyone?

I have been wanting to make some focaccia for a while now and I finally got around to doing that this past weekend. I found this recipe from Epicurious.com. The recipe makes two 9x13 focaccia but I only made one, so I only used 1/2 the ingredients. I made the Parmesan Focaccia to go with our Flank Steak dinner.


Thyme Focaccia and Parmesan Focaccia


Ingredients:
Two 1/4-ounce packages (5 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups warm water (105°‐115° F.)
1 tablespoon table salt
about 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan
coarse salt for sprinkling
freshly ground black pepper for sprinkling


Instructions:
In a standing electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat together yeast, sugar, and water and let stand 5 minutes, or until foamy. In a bowl stir together table salt and 5 cups flour. Stir oil into yeast mixture. With motor on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to yeast mixture. With dough hook knead dough 2 minutes, or until soft and slightly sticky.
Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead in enough remaining flour to form a soft but not sticky dough. Form dough into a ball and put in an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Knead thyme into one half and knead plain half 1 minute. Form each half into an oval and invert bowl over them. Let dough rest 5 minutes for easier rolling.
Preheat oven to 450° F.
Oil two 13- by 9-inch baking pans and sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon cornmeal. On lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough halves into 13- by 9-inch rectangles and fit into pans. Cover each pan with a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 20 minutes.
Sprinkle plain dough with Parmesan and sprinkle both doughs with coarse salt and pepper. With lightly oiled fingertips make indentations, about 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart, all over dough rectangles and bake in middle of oven 12 minutes, or until golden. Remove focaccia from pans and cool on racks.

Coming up next: Roast beef sandwich on Focaccia

Dear God...From Dog

Just wanted to share with you this cute little email from my friend.

TO: GOD
FROM: THE DOG

Dear God: Is it on purpose our names are the same, only reversed?

Dear God: Why do humans smell the flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another?

Dear God: When we get to heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it still the same old story?

Dear God: Why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cou gar, the mus tang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit, but not ONE named for a Dog? How often do you see a cougar riding around? We do love a nice ride! Would it be so hard to rename the 'Chrysler Eagle' to 'Chrysler Beagle'? (This one is my favorite!)

Dear God: If a Dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad Dog?

Dear God: We Dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID's, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?

Dear God: More meatballs, less spaghetti, please.

Dear God: Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are , will I have to apologize?

Dear God: Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember to be a good Dog.
1. I will not eat the cats' food before they eat it or after they throw it up.
2. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.
3. The Litter Box is not a cookie jar.
4.The sofa is not a "face towel".
5. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff..
6. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.
7. Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is an unacceptable way of saying 'hello'.
8. I don't need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm under the coffee table .
9. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house - not after.
10. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt.
11. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch.
12. The cat is not a 'squeaky toy' so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.

P.S. Dear God: When I get to Heaven may I have my testicles back?

'Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened!

Happy Halloween!

Boo!
Have a save and happy Halloween!

Cinnamon Apple Walnut Cheesecake

Are you still drooling from the Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake post? If you are, you can still keep drooling for this next one: Cinnamon Apple Walnut Cheesecake.

This recipe was adapted from Kraftfoods Apple Pecan Cheesecake. Their recipe makes a 13 x 9 cheesecake with graham cracker crust and uses sour cream in the cheesecake. I didn't want to make such a big cheesecake and I wanted to try a different crust, so I changed a few things in the recipe. The picture below was from Kraftfoods site:

Ingredients:
1¾ cups ginger snaps crumbs
½ cup melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
or you could use a pre-made graham cracker crust(which I usually do)

2 pkg cream cheese, 8oz each
½ cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla
2 eggs

1 big apple or 2 med apple, peeled, cored & chopped into little chucks, about 1 – 1½ cup
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9” round cake pan or pie pan with foil. Mix ginger snaps crumbs, butter & sugar and press in the bottom of pan. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and cool.
2) In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mix until blended. Be sure to scrape sides of bowl after each egg addition.
3) Pour cream cheese mixture into crust and set side.
4) Mix apple chunks, brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle apple mixture onto cream cheese mixture. Some of the apple chunks will drop in the cream cheese mixture but that’s ok. The remaining will stay on top of the cream cheese mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. (Trust me, it’s better cold. We couldn’t wait to try it, so we tried a small piece within 2 hours after it was baked, it was still a little warm and I did not like it warm.)

Note: The girls gave their paws up for this cheesecake. :-)

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake

Believe it or not October is coming to an end soon and Thanksgiving is exactly a month away! I'm sure a lot of you have already planned out the big feast for Thanksgiving day. For those who hasn't, you still have time.

This year for desserts why not try something different than the traditional apple pie and/or pumpkin pie? Or you could serve these along with the apple pie or pumpkin pie: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake(pictured above) and/or Cinnamon Apple Walnut Cheesecake. Now don't these just sound yummy?

For today I will post the recipe for Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake. Let me tell ya, this cake is to-die-for if you love pumpkin and chocolate! I saw this recipe in the Oct/Nov issue of Taste of Home and had been dying to try it. Well, I finally made it yesterday for a party and everyone loved it!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup semisweet & 1/2 cup white chips)
2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans, divided (I did not put in any nuts)

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake
Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2) In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
3) Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon; add to the creamed mixture alternately with pumpkin. Fold in chocolate chips.
4) Divide batter in half. Stir melted chocolate into one portion. In a well-greased 10-in. fluted tube pan, sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans(you can skip this, which I did). Spoon chocolate batter over pecans; top with pumpkin batter. Sprinkle with remaining pecans(or skip this).
5) Bake at 325° for 65-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.
Yield: 12 servings.

In a few days I will post the recipe for Cinnamon Apple Walnut Cheesecake.

Dog Tag?

Well, not really because no one actually tagged us. I saw this over at The Fraker Farm and have decided that I would tag my girls. They each will tell you a few things about themselves.

First up is Samantha because she's got seniority.

Please answer the following questions:
1) What breed are you?
Golden Retriever

2) How old are you?
Just turned 4 last Friday(10/17). So if you haven't sent me my birthday gift, please do so right now, it's not too late

3) What is your full name?
Samantha Jane

4) Do you have any nicknames?
Moose, Moosey, Samsam

5) Where do you usually sleep?
My blankie but I much prefer mommy and daddy's bed

6) What is your favorite thing to do?
Fetching, Swimming, Eating, Sleeping, Playing with my little sis 7) What is something unusual/interesing about you?
Digging for rocks from the lake, as seen here: 8) Who is your best friend?
Mommy, daddy & June

9) Did you go to obedience school? If so were you "TOP DOG" or did you flunk out?
I didn't have to go to school. I am already smart, plus mommy thought me a lot at home. She's a good teacher (Thanks Sam! Love mom.)

10) Can you do any tricks?
I can I can! I can sit, stay, lay down, stay with a treat on my nose and catch it, crawl and open the sliding screen door! I would like to learn how to open the fridge and get my own food but mom won't teach me that.

Thank you Samanthan for answering the questions.

And now June's turn: Please answer the following questions:
1) What breed are you?
Golden Retriever & Huskie mix

2) How old are you?
I will be 3 in November, right on Thanksgiving day. Please plan ahead in sending me my birthday gifts! :)

3) What is your full name?
Junebug

4) Do you have any nicknames?
Woofy, Princess

5) Where do you usually sleep?
Most of the time on mommy and daddy's bed but I also like to share the blankie with Sam

6) What is your favorite thing to do?
Eating, Sleeping on the bed, Playing with my sister, Making snow angels, Eating & playing in the snow 7) What is something unusual/interesing about you?
I like to howl like a wolf

8) Who is your best friend?
Mommy, daddy & June

9) Did you go to obedience school? If so were you "TOP DOG" or did you flunk out?
I did not but mommy & daddy taught me very well, they said I am a very smart girl!

10) Can you do any tricks?
Yes I can! I know how to sit, stay, lay down, speak and make snow angels. How many dogs have you met that know how to make snow angel?

And that conclude our little interview with Samantha and June. They had requested to pass the tag on to a few friends:

Travis and Riley from Purple is a State of Mind
Marcel & Wylie from Velvet Lava
Callie from Achorn Farm
Dustin, Logan & Remington from Razor Family Farms

Please don't feel obligated. It would be really fun to get to know other dogs or cats or goats...etc

Something Fun

I saw this over at Achorn Farm last week and I thought it's kinda fun to do. The object is to answer all the questions with only one word. You are welcome to play along.

Here goes:
1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? working
3. hair color? black
4. Your mother? far
5. Your father? kind
6. Your favorite thing? dogs
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your dream/goal? happiness
9. The room you're in? accounting
10. Your hobby? baking
11. Your fear? sickness
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? boring
15. One of your wish-list items? Alaska
16. Where you grew up? Malaysia
17. The last thing you did? ate
18. What are you wearing? heels
19. Your TV? off
20.Your pet? two
21. Your Computer? old
22. Your mood? sleepy
23. Missing Someone? siblings
24. Your car? outside
25. Something you're not wearing? skirt
26. Favorite Store? Walmart
27. Your summer? over
28. Love someone? many
29. Your favorite color? purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? always
31. Last time you cried? unsure

Garden Review - Part 2

Continuing my garden review(hope I'm not boring you with this):




11) Broccoli

• Planted broccoli for the first time, from seeds!
• Will definitely do that again next year

12) Bok Choy (Chinese Vegetable) - picture on right

• I grew up eating bok choy but this is my first time planting them
• Started from seeds, very easy to grow

13) Mibuna (Japanese Vegetable) - picture on right below bok choy

• Planted these for the first time, from seeds
• Had never tasted them before until now
• Strong taste, good in salad or stir-fry

14) Carrots

• Bought a pack of seeds and followed the instructions on back but did not germinate. Bad seeds maybe?

15) Radishes

• Planted only 1 row, will plant more next year

16) Cantaloupe & Watermelon

• I started these from seeds and transplanted the seedlings but none of them made it. Wonder what I did wrong. Perhaps I did not "harden" the seedlings to the outdoor climate

17) Sunflowers

• Started these from seeds, planted 2 kinds: Evening Sun & Moulin Rouge(pollenless)
• Saved seeds for next year
• Note for next year: Plant sunflowers with cucumbers. The cucumbes will climb up the sunflowers

18) Strawberries

• Purchased 3 types from Four Season Nursery
• Robinson - June bearing
• Quinault - Everbearing
• Ozark - Everbearing
• I can't wait for next season for my own fresh strawberries and of course strawberry jam!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Garden Review - Part 1

Growing season is officially over for me. I picked all the butternut squash, jalapenos, peppers and basil last Wednesday when we had frost warning(which we did get frost for 2 nights). Tomatoes and all the others were all picked a few weeks before last week.

Overall I think this has been a good year for me. A few months back I honestly didn't think the tomatoes would do well this year due to all the rain we had in mid July and early August. It rained almost every other day for a few weeks. My tomato plants looked like they were dying(which you can see from the picture above). But to my surprise the tomato plants kept producing more and more tomatoes.

I started a garden journal this year and here's what I had written down:
1) Tomatoes

• Planted a total of 22 plants, 6 varieties
• Started from seeds 1 variety: Better Boy Hybrid
• Purchased these varieties from the nursery: Beefsteak, Supersonic, Sweet 100, Roma & Grape
• This is my first year starting out with seeds and I did pretty good. Will definitely do it again next season with more varieties

2) Bell Peppers

• Planted 6 plants, all started from seeds
• Not at all thrilled with the peppers, did not get many
• This is my second year with bell peppers and again it didn't do very well, I may not try it again next year

3) Jalapeno Peppers

• Planted 6 plants, all from seeds
• Just like the bell peppers, I am dissapointed at the amount of peppers I got
• The plants are big and healthy looking, just not many peppers. What is up?
• I will however try the jalapenos again next year as this is my first year with jalapenos

4) Cucumbers

• Planted 4 seedlings I started but only 1 survived, this one did not yield many cukes
• Purchased 4 more to replace the dead ones and these did very well
• Will try some pickling cukes next year

5) Butternut Squash

• Purchased 1 plant from the nursery, this was not in my "original" plan but I had some room in the garden and decided to try it for the first time
• Only harvested 3 squashes
• Saved the seeds to try again next year

6) Onions

• First time planting onions
• Planted about 24 bulbs: Yellow onions
• Harvested all 24 but the size is quite small. Not what I had expected. The biggest one was only around 3" in diameter

7) Basil

• Started from seeds and planted 4 basil plants
• Great harvest!

8) Parsley

• Purchsed 1 container from the nursery but it was pretty big so I divided it into 4 to transplant
• All 4 did great and they are still growing

9) Green Beans

• Only planted 6 seeds
• Did not get many
• I will probably skip beans next season

10) Peas

• Planted 2 rows(twice) but those darn bunnies ate them all!!!

...to be continue

Caramel Apple Bites

The only magazine I subscribe to is Taste of Home and they also have a wonderful website that I enjoy visiting.

While browsing for recipes today, I saw this yummy looking picture of Caramel Apple Bites. I just had to share with you. This is a fun recipe to make with kids because they can help with rolling the dough into balls or dipping the cookies into caramel and nuts or even putting the toothpicks on the cookies!

So if you are looking for something fun to do with your child or children, perhaps you could give this recipe a try.




Ingredients:
Filling:
1/3 cup chopped unpeeled apple
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Dough:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
Topping:
1 package (14 ounces) caramels
2/3 cup evaporated milk
Green toothpicks
1 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions:
1) In a small saucepan, combine filling ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened; set aside to cool.
2) In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add egg, vanilla and salt; beat well. Add flour; mix well. Shape dough into 1-in. balls. Flatten and place 1/4 teaspoon filling in center of each. Fold dough over filling and reshape into balls. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.
3) In a saucepan over low heat, cook caramels are melted. Insert a toothpick into each cookie and dip into caramel until completely coated. Dip bottoms into nuts. Place on wire racks to set.
Yield: about 3 dozen.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dutch Apple Pie

Raise your hand if you like Dutch Apple Pie or Apple Crisp....(raising my hand up high and saying me me me at the same time)

My co-worker went apple picking with her family 2 weeks ago and got a little carried away with it. "Oh this one looks good, lets pick it" "Oh that one looks good too, pick that too" "And that one" "This is a nice one, I'll pick it"...they ended up with 70 lbs of apples!!! Needless to say by the end of last week, the whole family was getting a little tired of eating apples. I had offered to buy some from her but she insisted on giving them to me free of charge. Thanks Renee!

I made the apple pie fillings from the previous post and canned them but still ended up with enough apples to make an apple crisp. Below is my all time favorite Dutch Apple Pie/Apple Crisp recipe.

Ingredients:
1 9" pie crust(homemade or store bought) if making the pie, no crust if making apple crisp


For the filling
6-7 medium apples (I like to use a mixture of Honey Crisp, Jonagold & Golden Delicious)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, I like mine cinnamony, so I always use 3/4 tsp.
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into little pieces


For the streusel
1-3/4 cups old fashioned oat
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
1/2 stick melted butter


Instructions:
1) Peel, core and slice the apples to 1/4" thick. I found out with that thickness, the filling is not mushy or too crunchy. Place apple slices in a big bowl.
2) Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon & nutmeg into the apple slices. Toss to coat. Let the apples sit in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to coat.
3) While the apple slices and cinnamon sugar mixture are "marinating" in the fridge, mix together all the ingredients for streusel.
4) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5) Pour the apple mixture into the pie crust or a 9" round baking dish. Dot with butter pieces. Sprinkle streusel on top of apples. I like to pat them down as I sprinkle.
6) Bake 30 minutes for apple crisp, 45 minutes for pie. Place a sheet of alunimun foil in the bottom rack of the oven to "catch" the spillage. If not you'll have to spend some time cleaning your oven at a later time.
7) Remove from oven and let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving(unless you like burning your mouth or your guess' mouths).

The verdict:
The girls approved and gave this apple crisp an A+. Hubby and I ate 1/2 of it last night.

Autumn

Did I tell you that Autumn is my favorite time of the year? Yes it is. I love the cooler weather, fall foliage and fresh apples.

One of my plans this weekend is to make and can Apple Pie Filling. I have never made this before and have found a recipe from Freshpreserving.com. So I think I'll give that a try and I would also like to share it with you.

Apple Pie Filling
Makes about 7 (16 oz) pints

Ingredients:
12 cups sliced peeled cored apples, treated to prevent browning* and drained (about 12 medium)
Water
2-3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup ClearJel® (cooking starch used for preserving)
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2-1/2 cups unsweetened apple juice
1-1/4 cups cold water
1/2 cup lemon juice
7 (16 oz) pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:
1.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.
2.) BLANCH apple slices, working with 6 cups at a time, in a large pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm in a covered bowl.
3.) COMBINE sugar, ClearJel®, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large stainless steel saucepan. Stir in apple juice and cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, and cook until misture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice, return to a boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Drain apple slices and immediately fold into hot mixture. Before processing, heat, stirring, until apples are heated through.
4.) LADLE hot pie filling into hot jars leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
5.) PROCESS jars in a boiling water canner for 25 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

*To treat apple slices to prevent browning, apply Ball® Fruit-Fresh® Produce Protector according to the manufacturer\'s instructions or submerge cut apples in a mixture of 1/4 cup lemon juice and 4 cups water.

An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

Two years ago we were very fortunate to have a customer who had a pear tree in her yard and we had a chance to pick all the pears we wanted from the tree as she only picked a few for herself. The pears that we picked, most of them were canned to be enjoyed at a later time and they were simply delicious! Dear Dottie had since then sold her house and moved out of town.
A few months ago we finally finished the last jar of the canned spice pear.

Well, it's apple picking season in upstate New York and I got thinking "why not try canning some apples?" So, that's what I did last weekend. I didn't pick my own apples, I bought 3 lbs of apples from our local apple orchard(just down the street from me, how convenient!).

The recipe I used came from Pick Your Own. This is a site I love visiting. I have learned a lot about canning and freezing from here. She has step-by-step detail instructions and pictures. If you have never done any canning and preserving before and would like to learn how, this is the site to go to.

I used a light syrup solution for these apples. You can get a list of how much sugar and water to use according to your taste(light, med. heavy syrups or with fruit juice and so on) from here. Because I only had 3 lbs of apples, I had leftover syrup that I just poured out.

1) Peel and core the apples. Slice the apples to 1/4" - 1/2" thick. If you have a corer/slicer, it would make your job easier.
2) Blanch the sliced apples for about 5 minutes. Drain the apples.
3) Make the syrup.
4) Fill the jars with hot apples and hot syrup, leaving 1/2" headspace. Wipe off the reams, place lids on jars and process in hot water bath for 20 minutes.

I'm planning to buy some more apples and this time I'll try to can some apple pie filling.

Oh Where Oh Where...

Oh where oh where has that little rock gone?

Oh where oh where can it be?

Been Busy

I must really apologize for the lack of posting lately. I normally do my posting at lunch time at work. But due to the departure of a co-worker, I have taken on more responsibilities until her replacement is more familiar with the job. Of course it doesn't help when I took a week off for my vacation. Hopefully in a month or so I'll be able to get back on track.

I still have more photos from camp to post. So perhaps I will post a few once a week.

I will leave you with some photos of June

More Photos

There are plenty of things that campers can do while camping at Fish Creek Pond Campground, biking, hiking, boating, kayaking, canoeing, fishing and so on. We normally choose to do nothing other than taking walks with the dogs on the trail or watching the dogs play in the lake. We do occationally like to go canoeing.

There are different ponds and lakes that campers can canoe to. Some routes might require a little walking and carrying the canoe.

This year was my first time canoeing to different ponds. We canoed right from our site on Fish Creek Pond through Fish Creek to Copperas Pond and then from there headed to Little Square Pond. Below is a map of the route we took.

On the way into Copperas Pond we saw a loon. He wasn't very happy that we entered his territory. I took a few pictures of this little guy.

While we were at Copperas Pond, we also saw a Blue Heron. I tried to take a picture of him but it's not very clear. He tried to fly away.

After Copperas Pond, we canoed to Little Square Pond. I must say, it is really beautiful and peaceful. Here's a picture of Little Square Pond.














Here's a picture of little fish swimming by my feet.

Dine and Wine Camping Style

Camping food doesn't have to be boring or ordinary. Cooking on an open campfire is fun, although I'm not usually the one "in charge" of cooking on open fire. Hubby is the expert in that. I just prepare the food and he takes care of the cooking part.

So for this trip here's what we had, not in any particular order(I didn't take any pictures of our food):

1) Lunch: Turkey or Roastbeef sandwiches - Ciabatta bread(no, I didn't make these, I bought them from a bakery), sliced turkey or roastbeef, swiss cheese, mesclun mix, onion and tomato

2) Breakfast: French Toast(using leftover ciabatta bread) & bacon

3) Breakfast: Bacon, egg and cheese on toasted bagels

4) Lunch: Hamburgers & Hotdogs

5) Dinner: Grilled steak with homefries and corn on the cob

6) Dinner: Pizza, camping style (I brought a frozen pizza dough with us, by the time we used it, it was dethawed. I used a baking pan(took the aluminium one from the toaster oven), put the toppings on the dough, cover the pan with foil and "baked" on campfire)

7) Lunch: Hot sausages

8) Brunch: Hot sausage patties with cheese on Ciabatta bread or bagel

9) Dinner: Ribs and corn on the cob

10) Dessert: Banana with chocolate chips

11) Snack: Popcorn

And there you have it.

I was going to post some more pictures but Blogger is having some internal problems with uploading pictures. Guess you'll just have to wait till the next time.

Our Camping Trip

Wow, what a great week we had! The weather couldn't be better! Not a drop of rain, mostly perfect temp, in the high 70s and in mid/high 50s at night, and sunny!

We left our house Saturday morning by 8:30am and made the 3hr drive up to the Adirondacks. The dogs slept most of the way there. June would stick her head out the window occasionally to get some fresh air.

We spent most of our days doing absolutely nothing at all! The girls had a great time swimming in the lake. June had a blast chasing ducks** in the water and Samantha really enjoyed "diving" and digging out rocks under water!!!

Here are some of the many pictures I took during our trip. I will be posting more pictures in the next few days. Enjoy!

**No ducks were hurt during this process

The girls and I, just chillin' and enjoying the lake

June in action



Samantha digging for rocks


Samantha with a frisbie in her mouth


Mike, watching the girls played


Our camper and Mike's truck


June, going after a duck** and
Samantha was looking for another rock to dig out

Back to Civilization....

Sigh...sigh...sigh....why do we have to come back from camp?

Hi folks, I'm back. Not much time to blog about our camping trip yet. Lots of catching up to do at work and at home(came home to loads and loads of tomatoes!). I promise I will blog about our wonderful trip very soon, with lots of pictures. So please be patient.

I Can Almost Smell It....

It is so close, I can almost smell it...the smell of fresh air, the smell of campfire, the smell of tranquillity...

Is it Saturday yet?

A Simple Woman's Daybook

I have been quite busy lately, I apologize for the lack of posting. Hopefully things will slow down in a month or two and I'll be able to post more regularly.

For today, I have decided to participate in "A Simple Woman's Daybook" from The Simple Woman.

For Today: 8/25/08

Outside my Window...It's very sunny and windy

I am thinking...it would be really nice if I could work outside right now

I am thankful for...my dogs and my husband and the wonderful harvest I've been getting from my garden

From the kitchen...jars of salsa and tomato sauce I made yesterday

I am wearing...black pants and an orange top

I am reading...nothing at the moment

I am hoping...for nice weather this weekend

I am creating...a camping list(of what to bring)

I am hearing...my co-workers talking

Around the house...some laundry needed to be done, carpet needed vacuuming

One of my favorite things...is to go camping

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...grocery shop for camp, pack and go camping this Saturday until next Wednesday, or Thursday or Friday or until we decide to come back

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

11 Days...

11 days to our camping trip at Fish Creek Pond Campground and I can't wait!

We like to make all kinds of food when we go camping: the usual hamburgers and hotdogs, steak, ribs, sausage & pepper and of course BACON!

As for dessert, last year I made a simple apple cake using Giffy yellow cake mix and 1/2 can of apple pie filling. Perhaps this year I will try a Pineapple Upside-Down cake.

Just out of curiosity, do you like camping? What is your must-have camping food? Do you have a favorite dessert at camp fire?

I will end this post with a few pictures from last year's camping trip

Sunflowers

Just wanted to share with you a picture of my sunflowers. This picture was taken at work at my desk. I was able to cut 4 of them from my sunflower plants because these are on the lower part of the plants. The rest are way too high for my reach. My sunflower plants are at least 12 - 14ft tall! I promise to take more pictures of them for you.

I would like to know how to save sunflower seeds for next year's garden. If you have done it before or if you know how to, could you please let me know? I thank you in advance!

>>>Breaking News: This just in, after many hours of back-breaking labor in googling "how to save sunflower seeds", I have came upon a site with very useful information: http://www.southernliving.com/southern/gardens/seasonal_gardens/article/0,28012,1116001,00.html