Apple Butter

This is apple butter and strawberries on oatmeal pancakes.

In the true spirit of fall, we have procured a bunch of apples. It all started on Monday. I had the day off and was making cookies when John called Kevin. That started the ball rolling, and before we knew it we were driving to pick 2 large apple boxes of apples from Farmer Bob's apple trees. Bob and Karen are super friendly and they also happen to grow really tasty food. We are so grateful that they have shared some of that food with us.

Being a picky eater, I would never touch apple butter as a kid. But the past 10 years have been eye opening, and I am currently reaching out to various food groups. Some foods aren't my favorite, but I try to eat a lot of things just because they are healthy. If I tell myself that nutrient dense food is tasty will it become true? It is working to some degree because I have been craving lentil soup lately. Maybe that means I am growing up.

Nah......

First, we washed and quartered the apples. Apparently the skin contains a lot of flavor and the core has a lot of pectin, so it is best to cook it all together and then get the skin and seeds out later. Then we put about 1 inch of water and a splash of apple cider vinegar in the biggest pot we own and added apples until they were about 1 inch above the top of the pot (they cook down so you will be able to put the lid on completely in a few minutes). We cooked them on medium high for 1-2 hours, until they were super soft.

We bought a food mill at Fleet Farm just for this momentous occasion. You turn and turn and turn, and the peels and seeds stay on top while apple mush is squeezed out the bottom. Then I fluttered my eyelashes at Kevin. He thought something was in my eye. Finally, he agreed to take a turn. When he started turning it went a lot faster. At least it seemed that way to me.

The first batch was made with a potato ricer instead of a food mill. It didn't go well.

1-2 teaspoons of apple pie spice went in now and we stirred it all together in the crock pot. You can also add sugar, but we didn't bother. I am trying to train my mouth to like flavors besides sweet.

Prop up the lid with kabob sticks so that the steam can escape.

The crock pot took over from there. 12 hours later it had reduced by about half. It gets really dark and caramelized, but doesn't burn. Well, the sides are burned but the stuff in the bottom is perfect.

Apple Butter

1 crock pot full of apple sauce (about 2 pots of quartered apples cooked and strained)

1-2 teaspoons of apple pie spice (or more)

2-4 cups of sugar (optional - this amount sounds crazy-high to me)

Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake

I am so done making desserts for a while. The first step for me is to remove the "sweets" blogs from the list that I follow and sign up for a few healthy ones instead. But this coffee cake is extraordinarily yummy, so it is totally worth the break in etiquette.

The first time I really paid attention to coffee cake was during seminary. Connie made this awesome coffee cake and I recently asked her for the recipe only to realize with horror that it was a combination of nothing but sugar and Crisco. So I found this recipe instead.

For some reason I have been on a pumpkin streak. Last year in November I really stocked up on canned pumpkin. I wanted to make sure I could find it during the year, and I was positive that I would eat pies and smoothies and all kinds of fantastic creations all year. Not so much. This month is the first time I have delved into pumpkin since last Thanksgiving.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake By Libby’s Pumpkin
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 3/4 cup (16 ounce can) solid pack pumpkin
1 slightly beaten egg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Streusel (recipe below)

Cream butter, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla in mixing bowl. Add 3 eggs, beating well. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with sour cream.

Combine pumpkin, beaten egg, 1/3 cup sugar and pie spice. Spoon half of batter into 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish, spread to corners. Sprinkle half of the Streusel over batter. Spread pumpkin mixture over Streusel. Carefully spread remaining batter over pumpkin mixture. Spread remaining Streusel over top. Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean.

Streusel
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats or quick oats or chopped nuts
Combine brown sugar, butter and cinnamon until blended. Stir in oats. Take one big bite just to make sure it is OK.

Triple Ginger Cookies

The day finally arrived that I have been waiting for for several months. Ever since the cool days of spring burned into the heat of summer I have been dreaming of a whole houseful of tiny ginger cookies. Now that it is cool enough to bake again, it is time to break out the oven mitts.

Thank goodness I started the cookies as soon as I got home from lunch with a friend - otherwise my plans would have been ousted in favor of fixing apples and cabbage.

This is my favorite photo. The flour is on top, the crystallized ginger on the bottom left, and the fresh ginger in the measuring spoon. There is also powdered ginger which has already been mixed into the flour. There. Is. A. Lot. Of. Ginger. In. These. Puppies.

And they are oh so chewy and gingery. Yum. Double Yum. I almost went into sugar shock from just three tiny cookies. They are pure, unadulterated sugar.

Love at first sniff. Since it is my birthday, Kevin didn't even complain too much about the intensity of the ginger smell. He's such a great hubby.

Triple Ginger Cookies

1/2+ cup large-grain sugar (i.e. turbinado)

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoons baking soda

4 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
2/3 cup fine grain natural cane sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 large egg, well beaten
1 cup crystallized ginger, then finely minced
1 t lemon or orange zest

Preheat the oven to 350F degree. Line a couple baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper or a Silpat mat, place the large-grain sugar in a small bowl, and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, and salt.

Heat the butter in a skillet until it is just barely melted. Stir in the molasses, natural cane sugar, and fresh ginger. The mixture should be warm, but not hot at this point, if it is hot to touch let it cool a bit. Whisk in the egg. Now pour this over the flour mixture, add the crystallized ginger (make sure it isn't too clumpy), and lemon zest. Stir until just combined.

Use a small cookie scoop, then tear that ball in half. Roll it into a ball and then into the turbinado sugar. Place dough a few inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until cookies puff up, darken a bit, get fragrant and crack.

Safety First

Lucas was the first. No one else had accomplished such a feat. He felt like he deserved an award. What did he pioneer, you ask?

He was the first employee to have an accident at the new building. While pushing hardware into a frame, his hand slipped, and the metal corner of the frame tore the heel of his palm deep enough to require 4 stitches.

While he was at urgent care, Eric and Chris glanced at his cube. Given the new information of his being prone to attract accidents under normally safe conditions, there were far too many sharp corners in his cube to be considered safe. Something had to be done and they were the men for the job. After commandeered several roles of bubble wrap they went to work putting it on every corner they could find. While desperately peering into his cabinet, they decided it was just too dangerous in there, so they taped the door shut.

A week later Susie tripped in the parking lot and sprained her ankle. What have you brought upon us, Lucas?

The McGillicuddy Mystery Has Been Solved!

Grandad Neves drove us around the hills when we were kids. He would always stop and check up on Mrs. McGillicuddy. Strangely, we would go in to say 'hi' and find all the cupboards bare, and Mrs. McGillicuddy was no where in sight. She must have gone to the grocery store.

Last weekend we went to a party and I saw this:

Ah-hah! Now I know where Mrs. McGillicuddy went! Dr. McGillicuddy, her husband, was busy drinking away the grocery money at the bar and she was trying to retrieve him.

Good luck, Mrs. McGillicuddy, good luck.

When the Black Beans Attack

Saturday was a great day to cook some black beans. They had been soaking all night, so when I got up I put them into the pot, took Harper outside, and sat down to check my email.

Two hours later I came upstairs to find a boiled over mess.

It is hard to see, but there were purple streaks staining the counter, streaks of yellow and blue all over the stove (how did those colors separate??) and black liquid running down the oven and pooled on the floor.

Gingerbread Cake

Ginger. Ha a more delicious word ever been invented?

Shockingly, Kevin does not like ginger. I found this out the hard way. We were walking around Minnehaha Falls, and we stopped in the snack shop for ice cream. Harper was with us, and we couldn't all go inside, so I went in alone.

Inside the gift shop I was confronted with an issue. Kevin wanted cookies and cream, and one of the other ice cream flavors was ginger. Great. We had the flavors figured out. Two cups with one scoop each was $1 more than two scoops in the same cup. What is a cheapskate to do?

I got both scoops in the same cup. Ginger was on the top and the flavor infiltrated the cookies and cream. Kevin was very, very cranky because he couldn't eat his cookies and cream, and he didn't want to go back inside and get another cup. Ahhh... It took several months, but we finally moved past the ginger escapade.

In spite of all the trouble it has caused, ginger will always hold a special place with my taste buds. This cake was dense, rich, and completely satisfying of my craving.

Gingerbread Cake

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C butter, softened

1 egg

1 C molasses (I used half black strap, half regular)

2 1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1 t ground ginger (I used 1/2 t ground ginger and 1 t grated fresh ginger)

1/2 t ground cloves

1/2 t salt

1 C hot water

Grease a 9 inch square pan. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees, until a knife inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.

The Stunning Sunset.

I was held captive as the breath taking colors of the sunset glittered and glimmered, vibrant and alive, then slowly faded to smokey and alluring and finally disappeared into the calm night. As the scene unfolded, I was washed over with the realization that I am OK. My life today is better than it was a year ago. I am more peaceful. I finally have a sense of my self-worth.

What does this sunset represent? The closing of a chapter in my life? The chance to see the betrayal that gave me a back-handed slap fade into the glorious moment where I am now wholly submerged? Does the past dishonesty affect my ability to enjoy this exact moment? Absolutely not. In fact, I feel more awe as a witness to this amazing scene than I have in my entire life.This sunset is not unique. Color splashes the horizon twice every day.

This sunset is unique. This is the very first sunset that has ever spoken to my soul. This is the first time I have realized that even though life is nothing like I hoped it would be, it is a thousand times better than I could have dreamt.

(Photo by Kevin in Wyoming)