Bavarian Apple Torte!

“I love fall! Fall is exciting.
It’s apples and cider.
It’s an airborne spider.
It’s pumpkins in bins.
It’s burrs on dog’s chins.
It’s wind blowing leaves.
It’s chilly red knees.
It’s nuts on the ground.
It’s a crisp dry sound.
It’s green leaves turning
And the smell of them burning.
It’s clouds in the sky.
It’s fall. That’s why…
I love fall.”
-   Author Unknown

 ***record screeching***  “Wind blowing leaves and chilly red knees?”  Hmmm…I don’t know about where you are, but where I am, it was NINETY SEVEN degrees this weekend!!!  The first day of fall was supposed to be the 22nd of September!  Man oh MAN!  I live in Virginia and spent the weekend (September 25th) apple picking and going to the state fair, and it was HOT AS HECK!!!

There is no questioning that fall is my season.  As the wind picks up and the temperatures die down, I eagerly look forward to roasting marshmallows by the fire, drinking spiced apple cider, and anything related to pumpkins!!!  To kick the fall season off I decided to take the kiddos to Carter Mountain Apple Orchard in Charlottesville, VA.  Though it wasn’t my first time apple picking, it was my first time at this orchard in particular and I was SO glad I chose it!  Literally around the corner from Monticello, CMAO had a great hayride, clean bathrooms, and a super cutestore to buy all sorts of wonderful fall and harvest related goodies like apple cider donuts and preserves of all types.  Perched on the top of a small mountain in Charlottesville, they had breath-taking views of the area around and a great selection of orchards where you can pick your own apples. 

To be honest, the price really wasn’t all that fantastic.  They were charging $1.19 a pound to pick their apples.  I can get them for that price at my grocery store, or less when they are on sale.  Of course, you don’t go apple picking just for the apples!  You go for the experience of it all!  Despite the million degree weather, Little D, Little K and myself had a great time.  D LOVED using the pole to pick the apples off of the branches and K just wanted her bag filled with apples!!!  Lunch at the orchard was fantastic too (though also a bit pricey I felt…I would bring my own lunch next time).  We had hamburgers and hot dogs that were on amazing buns and sat out on the picnic benches overlooking the valley below.  After picking the apples and eating lunch, we went into the Carter Mountain Orchard Wine Shop and I was able to taste all the wines on the list for only $2 (finally a deal!  I want to say there were 10 or 12 wines and you were able to try all of them for the $2, though I stuck with the whites mostly).  I love testing local Virginia wines and chose a Rapidian Peach and Prince Michel Harmony, both local to the area, to purchase and bring home. 

Though I will continue my search for more good apple orchards, this one definitely will remain at the top of the list and I would be more than willing to make the two and a half hour drive to go back again…especially when the temperature drops another 25 degrees!!!

So what’s the point of me sharing all of this???  It leads to my most recent cooking in the kitchen, of course!  I could not resist going very long before making a baked good with my newly picked apples in it!  Instead of the basic apple pies and apple crisps, I decided to step outside of the box a little and made a Bavarian Apple Torte. It is very much like a cheesecake, but with the apples baked into it.  The whole house smells absolutely phenomenal and it was a terrific choice!  I don’t know how entirely authentic it is…it seemed WAY to easy to be authentic!  In fact, I mixed it up while talking on the phone with my mother and didn’t mess it up once!  So, be daring this fall and try something different…you won’t be sorry!

***I would HIGHLY recommend following these cheesecake directions when baking this torte, and cheesecakes of course.  It was incredibly useful and answers a lot of the questions we have when dealing with this difficult delectable!

Tags: apples, Baking, fall, Marissa, orchard, pick your own, torte

Chicken Pot Pie – Pretending autumn weather is here!

Ingredients

2 pie crusts (1 box – remember, I do NOT “roll”)

2 chicken breasts, seasoned with salt & pepper, cooked (I bake them for 20-25 minutes at 350°) and cubed

1 can condensed cream of potato soup (I like the Campbell’s brand)

1 package (10 oz.) frozen vegetables (see “Options” below)

½ cup onion, finely chopped

1/3 cup milk

½ tsp. poultry seasoning

Directions

Place one crust in lightly greased pie plate.

 Note:  Those directions on the box that say “do not microwave to defrost” … they mean it!! Had a sticky mess because I tried to take a shortcut.  I ended up rolling each crust into a ball, adding some flour and rolling it out (I repeat, I do NOT “roll”).

 Not pretty, but functional!

 Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

Fill bottom crust with meat and vegetable mixture. Top with remaining crust, seal crusts together and place a few slits in the top for steam to escape.

Bake at 375° for 45-50 minutes, covering pie crust edges until last 15 minutes of baking time. Serves six.

So, it is not exactly symmetrical, but it was tasty!  This tastes great the next day as lunch “leftovers” and also freezes well.

 Options:

• Replace chicken breasts with 1 can (12.5 oz.) drained tuna
• Replace chicken breasts with leftover turkey or roast beef (delete the poultry seasoning if you use roast beef, and substitute a bit of garlic powder or seasoned salt)
• Instead of a box of frozen vegetables:
  • Use an assortment of frozen/fresh vegetables
    • I had peas and beans in the freezer, borrowed some frozen corn from the neighbors (Thanks, C & TH – I owe you) and grated some fresh carrots
  • Use fresh vegetables of your choice (e.g., zucchini, carrots, bell pepper, etc.)
  • Keep a container in your freezer to save those spoonfuls of leftover vegetables — you can keep adding over a couple of months … no more throwing away just a couple of “bites” – time to make a pot pie when you’ve got a container full of vegetables

So, light a harvest-scented candle, turn down the A/C and make some comfort food!

Tags: Chicken, Cooking, Debbie

“Junk in the Trunk” Military Care Package

Time for another care package for my hubs!  He received his third one today, titled “Junk in the Trunk!” 

For those of  you don’t know, saying that ship life out to sea is like the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray every day, would be an understatement.  Our men and women deploy for 5 to 7 months, sometimes longer, and are restricted to the ship and only the ship the entire time.  If they are lucky, the ship will pull into port in some exotic place like Dubai or somewhere in Italy, and they will have the opportunity for a breif interlude from their perpetual Groundhog Day.  Unfortunately, this break only lasts two to five days and it is back out to sea again for another month or two! 

It took me a little while to learn and understand that while on the ship, they do not have weekends.  They do not work from 9 – 5.  They work 18 plus hours a day to keep this floating piece of sovereign US territory running twenty four hours a day.  Depending on the type of watch my husband has, he may get a good 6 hours of sleep in a row, or he may live for weeks where his sleep is split up into 2 hour naps whenever he gets a chance.  Going “outside” is a rarity seeing as how the outside is on the top of a flight deck (on the aircraft carrier at least) and flight operations prohibit you from taking nice strolls around too often.  I heard one person describe it as a floating prison, and it is truly probably the closest a free person can be to living in one…a prison that is!

This can maybe help to explain a little as to why I am so intent on sending him things as often as I can.  Any little piece of home or something to break up the monotony can really be a wonderful thing for any sailor out to sea.  For this care package I went with that idea and purchased a whole bunch of “different” things, hence the “Junk in the Trunk.”  A whole lotta junk that will definitely add the pounds to your trunk!  Thank goodness for Trader Joes!  If you are ever looking for something different or unusual, this is a GREAT grocery store to go to and they have incredibly reasonable prices! 

A few of the things I put in there:

• Cliff Energy Bars (they carry EVERY flavor!)
• Sweet Potato Chips
• Snappea Crisps
• Dried fruit of all kinds
• Plantation Chips
• Banana Chips
• and more!

He sent me an email today saying it arrived and how SUPER excited he was to receive it!!!  Apparently the rest of the office was too, so that is even better!  It may not be much, but a little something goes a long way to keeping your husband happy out to sea!

Tags: Marissa, Military Care Package, Snacks

Kid’s Behavior Chart

Do any of you have the back-to-school blues?  I don’t, but boy does my little girl!!!  My daughter started Kindergarten last week and let’s just say it is taking her a little bit of adjusting to get used to life in school.  Last year, little K stayed at home with me – we did “preschool” together in the morning after her big bro left for school, lunch time around 11:30 and then nap time.  Nap time lasted three hours.  Yes, my daughter slept for THREE hours every day (okay, usually).  By the time nap was over, big brother was home from school.  She would sit and color while he did homework and off they were outside to play with our gang of neighborhood kids. 

So, what has she been doing for the last week in Kindergarten?  Work.  Listening.  Sitting still.  Doing homework…etc.  All of this is a full day of school.  She gets on the bus at 8:30 and off at 3:30 (at the earliest).  Then, of course there is 30 minutes of homework.  She is also involved in things like music lessons and dance, which both require more time away from the house during the week as well as practice.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think all of these things are vital and I am routing them on 100%.  My daughter, however, not so much!!!!  Her behavior has not improved (as I had hoped being in school with other kids would help her with) but it has instead declined…steadily…with no sign of letting up.

There are many things we are doing and working on at home to fix this problem.  Yesterday, the Monday of her second week, was amazingly good due to some new methods I am putting into place from back in my teaching days.  Though it would take a million years to explain all of those, I did want to share one thing with you…our new BEHAVIOR CHART!  I know, this is not some crazy exciting new idea, but why reinvent the wheel???

I took a full size piece of white poster board and marked lines off both vertically and horizontally, leaving room for a title at the top and categories on the side.  I created this grid using approximately 1 inch of space vertically and a little more horizontally.  In the category spot on the left, I wrote the following things that my child(ren) need to work on:

• Wake Up Time (teeth, etc)
• School Behavior
• Homework
• Music Practice
• Dinner
• Bed Time (shower, teeth, etc)
• Listening and Following Directions
• Using Manners and Speaking Properly
• Playing with Friends/Siblings

Each time the kids do something properly, they will get to place a sticker in the respectful box.  If inproper, write an X.  The smiles will add up to treats and priviledges.  The X’s will add up to loss of the same!  I made a little pocket under the chart (which is at the kids’ eye level) to keep the stickers in.  Both the chart and the sticker folder were attached using Scotch’s Clear Mounting Squares…my favorite thing to use to hang stuff on the wall!

I am hoping this pain in the butt (the chart, not my daughter) will be well worth the effort.  Drawing the lines was a little bit of a bother.  Not to mention, it is no Monet!  If the chart works as well as I hope, I will probably redo it with nicer letters, using permanent marker, on a dry erase board.  Then, instead of stickers, use moving magnets or something else clever and fun for the kids to do.

 ***Update – the first day was a big eye opener for all three of us.  My son earned WAY more X’s than I thought he would.  It is a little different when I am specifically holding them both accountable to the same rules all the time.  My daughter earned as many X’s as I thought she would…A LOT.  Neither one of them did so great in the sticker category.  It was certainly time consuming, and I had to keep tabs while we were out of the house, but WELL worth the time and effort.  It was incredible being able to show my daughter at the end of the day how she had been behaving.  Tomorrow is another day….

Tailgate Party Food – Jill’s Hamburger Dip

It is a tailgate party without football!

In honor of football season (we take our football very seriously here in the South!), Kathy, the owner of  Needle Delights, declared that “tailgating” would be the theme of this September’s All Night Stitch.  While the party activities were atypical – not a television or football game in sight, just a lot of cross-stitch and needlepoint going on! – even the most hard core football fan would have been comfortable with the menu:  all of the fixings for make-it-yourself sub sandwiches, pasta salad, hot wings, and lots of chips and dips (I think I even saw a few carrots and celery sticks), along with plenty of desserts to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth.  

My contribution was Jill’s Hamburger Dip. I originally got this recipe from my dear friend, Jill, when she had a group of wives and kids to her home for some kind of party when all of the husbands were on deployment. We were living on base in California so it has to be before 1991. Since then it has been one of my favorites (who needs chips, just give me a big spoon!), and I often bring it to casual get togethers/potlucks. Especially during the fall and winter I try to keep these ingredients on hand — you never know when there will be a last minute get together to watch your team crush their opponents (or not!). I have heard this hot dip called many things, including Dog Food (thanks, for that one, Sherry!).  I guess it does look a bit like gourmet dog food, but I will always think of it as Jill’s Hamburger Dip, and have sweet thoughts of Jill and fun memory-making times every time I make it!

 Here are the basics:

 Ingredients:

 2 lbs. ground beef, browned & drained (I also rinse mine with hot water)

1 large box (16 oz.), Velveeta, cut into chunks (I tried to use a cheap substitute once and it just wasn’t the same!)

1 large jar of chunky salsa (your choice:  mild – hot)

Directions:

 Mix all ingredients. Either microwave until cheese is melted and serve in a bowl on a warming plate, or place all ingredients in a crockpot on high until the cheese is melted and then turn down to low or warm. Keep the dip warm up until and during serving because as it cools it will quickly thicken (then you’ll need a grout trowel instead of a spoon or a chip).  Makes:  A lot!

This is the basic recipe. Some options:

• Substitute sausage for the hamburger
• Substitute Rotel tomatoes for the salsa
• Add chopped onion, green pepper, tomatoes, etc.

 Not sure how appetizing this looks (guess it does look a bit like dog food!), but it is yummy! Serve with tortilla strips, Doritos, or corn chips.

And, I’ll leave you with this thought, GO GATORS!!

Tags: Cooking, cross-stitch, Debbie, Tailgate Party

Homemade Birthday Treat Bags

To continue with a post about my daughter’s birthday, I wanted to share with you the treat bags I sewed.  This was not a project I had intended on completing for the party.  I did not want to buy the cheap little plastic bags to put the treats in for the guests, but I also thought I would be able to find something cute to put them in!  While I was searching for inspiration, I found some wonderful small canvas bags online that had drawstrings to pull them closed.  Alas, I was doing this mere days before the party and would not have enough time to order them.  I went to every craft/fabric/grocery store in my area and they did not have anything close to what I was now bound and determined to have for the party!  So, I did what any other Martha Stewart mom would do and decided to make them myself!

I have tons of leftover fabric from previous projects/projects I never finished.  Since it was a princess party I went with pink fabric for the girls and green fabric for the boys.  Initially, I was going to throw the things together, sew them really quick up the side and tie a ribbon around them.  After speaking with my super sewing mom, I was talked out of that!  She convinced me of how easy it would be to take a few quick extra steps to make the bags look cute and better put together.

First, rip the fabric into elongated rectangles, about 10 inches by 16 or 18 inches.  Fold in the edges of the two elongated sides, approximately 1/4 inch, and iron (this is to create a clean edge).  Fold the rectangles in half along the short sides, with the right, or front sides, facing each other.  Iron along fold.  Fold down the top of each side so there is approximately a 1.5 inch “cuff” at the top of each side. 

*to save time to not have to feed a drawstring through later, I tied the knot in my cording and tucked it under the flap on one side.  Leaving a 1/4 inch edge, sew across one side of the cuff.  Flip the bag around and repeat on the other side, tucking the cord under the flap and sewing across.  Make sure you are not yet sewing the two sides of the bag together!!!  OR you can just sew across each cuff and feed the cord or ribbon through later.

Last – holding the folded piece of fabric together, sew up each long edges to close the bag, stopping just at the seam on the cuff.  Turn bag inside out and have some fun! 

This, of course, still does not produce an amazingly well made bag, but the kids loved them, the adults thought they were great, and it only took me watching the entire movie of Moulin Rouge to finish 24 bags from start to end!  Thanks for the help mom!!!

Tags: birthday, Craft, Homemade, party, recycle, Repurpose, Sew, Treat Bags

My Rag Tag Bag

I have a love for tote bags.  A passion, really.  Possibly an obsession. I also have a strong love for ribbon.  Here’s what we get when they collide.

I cut off pieces of ribbon about three inches long.  I used all varieties of ribbon, gross grain, sheer, satin, wide, narrow, even some ric-rac.  Don’t worry about the ribbons matching colors; just cut lots of pieces.

Next you make your tags.  I personally found this to be the easiest way: fold the ribbons in half and sew the raw edges together.  Once you finish with one, go ahead and put the next one in line.  You’ll eventually have a long line of ribbon tags.

Next you sew your “banner-o-ribbons” to your bag (or whatever you’re decorating).  The key to this step is making sure you sew it on straight. I speak from experience on this one.  You can just sew it on and try to keep an eye on it, but it’s a good idea to mark your sewing line to help keep you on track.

Also, don’t forget to leave a space for your closure (if your bag has one) and make sure you turn out the inside pocket. (This totally reminds me of Professor Snape ordering, “Turn OUT your POCKETS!”)

I was feeling a little frisky (or tacky) so I decided to put ribbon on my velcro flap to add a little oompf.

The end result…a funky ribbon bag. You can definitely color coordinate your ribbons, but if not, that’s okay!  Who says everything has to be all match-y?

So…for my first post, I have a raggy, taggy, baggy.  Enjoy!

Tags: bag, rag, ribbon, Sewing, tag, tote

Little Princess Birthday Cake

Finally the time has rolled around this year that not only did I get to make another fun cake, but it was for my very own little girl!  Little K turned 5 this year and was DYING to have a big party with all of her friends.  Her birthday is in the middle of the summer and everyone was on vacation at one time or another, so we decided to wait and celebrate right before school started.  We are so blessed with the amazing friends we have who pitched in to help set up, celebrate, and clean up!  Especially with my hubby gone!  The party was princess themed and it was the perfect opportunity for me to get to doll up a cake.  There were over 40 people at the party when you include the kids and the parents (I told you we are blessed!) so I went big with a 3 tiered cake. 

I covered the cake in pink rolled marshmallow fondanton two layers (both chocolate) and white in the middle (yellow cake).  The stars and stripes cut outs and the balls along the bottom were also fondant.  The “bling” around the bottom of the top two layers is rock candy.  I searched everywhere until I remembered the best place to buy something like rock candy is Cracker Barrel!  I also put some “bling” in the middle of each star on the cake.  Last but not least, the crown.  I tried to make a fondant crown and it was actually quite cute!  Unfortunately, as soon as I tried to move it from the wax paper I had it drying on, it broke :(.  This was definitely a foreseeable problem, so I had a back up plan and simply placed a tiara on top of the cake.  It probably ended up looking a lot cuter!!

So, there you go!  A cute little princess cake.  I was very please with the results, and apparently everone else was too because it was almost gone!  Okay, so I might have been cutting the pieces a little big, but not that big. 

Oh, and thank you to all of the friends who stayed behind and helped me jump my car after my battery was dead!  You’re the best!

Happy Birthday Baby!!!

Tags: birthday, cake, Marissa, marshmallow fondant, party, princess

“Bear Necessities” Military Care Package

You know, for a Stay At Home Mom, I sure do very little staying at home these days!  I feel like an eternity has gone by since I have posted.  In that time I have done tons of crafting, cooking, and creating.  Those posts will come soon enough, but first I wanted to share my most recent military care package for my amazing husband who is deployed on a ship for several months.

The theme of this package was the “Bear” Necessities.  As you can see in the photo, I sent him many of the things that we use on a daily basis.  Mostly toiletry items and mostly items my husband A) would never buy for himself but he always steals mine, B) he forgot or did not have room to pack as he was leaving to go on cruise or C) he requested after his first couple of weeks out to sea for longer than a work up cycle.

Some of the items: cracked skin lotion, pepto bismol, tide-to-go sticks, baby wipes, dental floss, a new loufa, band aids, batteries, a magnetic notepad (everything on the ship is metal so it can go anywhere), hooks with removable sticky stuff (again, everything is metal so you can’t exactly put a nail in the wall), mouthwash, nail clippers, q-tips, air freshener, a pumice stone, and a few other things.

To do a really cute job of tying this box together with the “Bear” Necessities theme, we also included a bear.  But this was no ordinary bear… 

The kids and I spent a day doing all sorts of stuff Daddy would love doing with us.  We went to the splashpad, ate lunch out, had italian ices for dessert, etc.  We also went into Build-A-Bear Workshop and made him his very own special bear.  The kids got to pick out the body of the bear from several different choices, stuff the bear using the giant filling machine (the workers even let my kids “feed” the machine more fluff because it was empty) and put a fabric heart inside the bear that the workers told them to make a wish on.  To top it off, we did spend a little extra money on one of the recordable sound boxes you can put in the animals.  They have premade noises, such as a roar, but they also have one that you put your own message on.  We went into the back of the store where it was quiet and all three of us said at the same time “We love you Dad!!!”  After you are sure you want to save your recording, the worker moves a switch on the box for you so it doesn’t re-record anymore.  It was so wonderful because I also was able to make special memories with the kids that I will always be able to cherish myself. 

So, now whenever Daddy is lonely, all he has to do is press the paw of his bear and he will hear our three voices yelling how much we love him!

Tags: Bear Necessities, gift, Military Care Package, Navy, necessities, toiletries

Stitch-A-Long: Month 8

ALMOST caught up, but not quite … Month 8 finished in the first week of Month 9! It sure helped having a 3-day weekend without any looming work or class deadlines (and the fact that this word-of-the-month only had FOUR letters!).

And I leave you with this thought, one of my favorite quotes, about caring: 

“You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”  ~John Wooden

Tags: cross-stitch, Debbie, Stitch-A-Long