Autumn Harvest

I really wanted to go apple picking this fall. Unfortunately the apple picking turned out to be picking them at the store. What was important was being able to enjoy the ripe fruit of the season. The other motive was to use the fruit that was in season to make baby food. I had made some baby food for my oldest, but didnt think in advance to use what is in season to cut down on cost. Somone had suggested to a friend to make applesauce in a crockpot. Really!! You can do that? (I am an avid collector of recipe's - it's a terrible addiction.) So I searched through the recipes I had avaliable to me. The one thing I had aquired when hubby and I got married was a crockpot cookbook that he NEVER used. There it was - the recipe sitting before me like a golden ticket.

Applesauce

10 medium Winesap or Golden Delicious, cooking apples
 (I used Golden Delicious)
1/2 c. water
3/4 c sugar
cinnamon - optional

Core, peel and thinly slice apples. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours. Stir until well blended.

I had used the cinnamon when I had made it. The apple sauce tasted like an apple pie minus the crust. Ohhh...it was wonderful!! Before freezing I had sent it through a small food mill.
My second batch I had used apple juice that didn't have sugar added in place of the water. I did this because I have been picky about giving my girls sugar at too young of an age. Once they were cooked I had added a couple of tablespoons to it. 

The crockpot applesauce inspired me to make homemade pumpkin puree. When we had picked up apples, I had also picked up a 'Pumpkin Pie' Pumpkin. There were directions on how to bake it in the oven, but after making the apple sauce I thought why not try the crockpot again.

I cleaned off the exterior of the pumpkin cut the stem off and cleaned out the seeds.

 Then cut it into wedges so it would fit into the crockpot. Added about 1 cup of water for steaming and cooked it until it was fork tender.
Once it was cooked I allowed it to cool, then processed with the baby foodmill. The puree was then spooned into an ice cube tray for easy portions and frozen. Once the cubes of puree are frozen they go into a freezer bag marked Pumpkin and dated.

I have been so busy with an assortment of projects! Here is a sneak peak... 

Piece of Cake!!

Its my stepson's birthday. My original thought was to make a cookie. You know, the big cookie in the pizza pan. I had planned it in my mind until I had done a little blog surfing. I love doing that!! So I took a sharp right and made a cake. Not just any other cake, but this....

So I will start from the beginning. Some basic cake chat. My mom has been making cakes since I was knee high to a grasshopper so I have learned a few things along the way. Never did aquire her artistic abilities, hence the above cake. She has done some pretty great cakes. This was made using a box mix. Dont tell anyone! Shhhh!! The directions can be a bit misleading. First it says to beat the batter for 2 minutes. Take a little more time and add a little more love to it by beating the batter for an additional few minutes. I promise .... this is the one time where beating more is good! Be sure to prepare your pans for the batter. The box mix I had said you could either use vegetable spray or grease and flour.

**Notice the paper towel behind the pan? That will go around the exterior of the pan prior to going into the oven.

 Well....here is the outcome...

The cake on the left the pan was preped using vegetable spray. Notice out it fell apart! Never again will I go that route. The one on the right the pan was prepped using the conventional method of greasing the pan and flouring. If you are using a box mix, use some of the dry mix instead of the flour to avoid white powder look. It works.

Prior to putting the pan (with cake mixture in prepared pan) pull out a bunch of paper towels.

Get them wet - well some where between damp and wet. This gets folded and wrapped around your cake pan. See how it looks like it has been folded? It was. Wrap it around the exterior of your cake pan prior to being put into the oven. This will ensure that your cake will bake evenly. Your cake wont turn out with a huge dome looking like the dome at Notre Dame.

See ... no dome! The one on the left is a perfect example. That was right out of the pan. I only make cakes like - uhhhhh a couple times a year if that. If you are like me and cant cut a straight line here is a tip that may help you in the event you do get a dome. I placed the frozen cake back into the pan and trimmed it so it was flat. Frozen?? Keeping reading and you will see why.

Bake cake according to the directions in regards to oven tempature and time. Once the cake is done baking, it goes directly into the freezer. Yes! Freezer!! Why? You will have the most moist cake and people will be asking you how you made the cake. It works. Honestly does. A bonus to this freezer technique is that you can make your cake a few days or week in advance.

While my cakes were thawing I made frosting. I always buy the store stuff. I buy two different flavors, mix them together and add flavoring. I had a friend practically beg me to tell her my recipe. This recipe I had come across while blog hopping. I tweeked it a bit to make it my own though.

Once your frosting is ready begin putting it on the cake. MMMmmmm - oh that taste good. Love some frosting! Oh you know when I said my mom made cakes when I was a kid? She made her own frosting. I would always go out to the kitchen with my finger prepped to get some of it. One time I did. It wasnt pretty. part of her frosting recipe was using Crisco. I primed my finger, dipped it in there, stuck it in the my mouth .... EWWWW! It wasnt frosting at all. It was the grease. Boy was I disappointed. I think I was suppose to learn something.

So now your cake is all frosted and should look something like this...

I did add a crumb coat to it earlier. Crumb coat is a thin coat of icing on the cake to seal the crumbs from the final coat of icing. Here though, I dont care how messy the final coat is. Notice my gear? Kit kats and reece's ready to apply. Here we gooooo..

Hmmm...see a problem? One of the cakes turned out too high from baking. Tsk tsk. I see an opportunity.

I stacked the reeces peices over the kit kats to make it appear that there is a TON gazillion of them.

Oh give me a break! I ran out of kit kats? Really? I had gotten to king size bars for this and thought it would be enough. By the way, this is a 6" cake if you need referrence. So another trip to the drug store and we got two regular size bars of kit kats for me to finish this bad boy off.

 Here is the final version .. mmmmm that frosting is soooo

And I added an "E" on top for the birthday boy's name. See it? Mmmmm...

Thank you to Texas Monkey for the idea. Check out their link for more ideas like this http://texasmonkey.blogspot.com/

Now, go eat your cake!

Time Out

In a few months my oldest will be 2. Yes, thats right, TWO! She has already been displaying her two-isms. They sometimes start first thing in the morning. There is a spot by one of the doors that is designated just for her. At that spot she has been sitting on a doormat/rug that doesnt get used. That is being replaced by a stool! Her older brother (my stepson) had this for sometime and it was just collecting dust. What better way to put it to use than to have it as a 'Time Out' seat.
Before...

Sorry the flag is upside down. I dont mean to be disrepectful, but was not thinking about it when I took it. I think that there is something more wrong about stepping on it though.

I had begun to paint it black at first because I wasn't quite sure what colors I was going to use. The black didn't cover very well, but I still used it. Once I had gone to the store and gotten colors and white I had painted over the black. The effect turned out to be quite nice. I sanded it down a bit because there is crackle paint over it that was beginning to flake. I thought it would probably be best to get rid of some of that before going over it with new paint.

After....

Cute huh?! Erin over at Lemon Tree Creations had redone a sign. She explains how here, http://lemontreecreations.blogspot.com/2010/03/1-welcome-sign.html 

Thanks for the idea Erin! It worked out wonderfully for me.

 The dots were done using a new unused eraser on the end of a pencil. I used some sandpaper to age it a little. Hubby suggested that I age it a bit where the little butt would sit.

Love how it turned out. I hope my little G hopes using it as much as I like to look at it.