APPLESAUCE

When my husband and I went to Parkville's Days two weekends ago, we bought a bushel of apples for $5.00. They were #2s and recommended for making applesauce. I remember the fun my students had in Springdale, AR when I taught second grade and we made applesauce in the Crock Pot to celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day. The classroom smelled so good with the scent of cooking apples and cinnamon and the kids loved the applesauce.

I didn't have the kids to help me this time but it wasn't too hard using my apple corer. I didn't peel the apples since there are so many nutrients in the peeling. I just used the apple corer and put the chunk (the apples were small) in my slow cookers with a little water (1/4 to 1/2 cup) and cooked them most of the day.

I started out with the temperature on High and then when I left for the afternoon, I just turned the temperature down to Low and left them cooking. That is what is so great. I guess you could burn them (?) but you would have to cook them a really long, long time. Cooking 7 or 8 hours won't.

I didn't add any sugar or cinnamon this time. If I want to eat any of the applesauce, I can add some stevia or sugar and cinnamon if I wish. I had three different slow cookers cooking (a bushel of apples is a lot). One of them I put the apples in the blender and "chopped" them after they were done. I ended up making applesauce for a baby. I measured 1/2 cup servings and froze it in a sandwich bag inside a gallon freezer bag. When I make something that calls for applesauce, I will take a bag out and let it thaw and then use it. With the other two pots I just used my masher and made a chunky applesauce. 

Here are some pictures of my day.

A bushel of apples

Love my apple corer!

One slow cooker full

All done

Chopped in the blender (mainly to chop the peeling)

Using my trusty masher (sorry the picture is blurred)

Chunky applesauce

BANANA BARS

I shared Friend Dorothy's Rhubarb Dream Dessert a few days ago. The other dessert she had "just-in-case" were some Banana Bars. She wanted to make sure everyone had something to "just-in-case" anyone didn't like rhubarb. Most of us took a little of each.

I didn't ask her where she had gotten the recipe. This one was written on a card and it looked like she had made them many times. The bars were a delicious combination with the sweet rhubarb dessert. She had already cut them into sections and removed them from the jelly roll pan.

BANANA BARS

1/2         cup butter
1-1/2      cup sugar
2            eggs
3/4        cup sour cream or buttermilk (Dorothy said she adds enough milk to 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to make 3/4 cup...even though the recipe sour cream, I think it means sour milk)
2           ripe bananas, mashed
2           teaspoons vanilla
scant 2 cups flour
1/2        teaspoon salt
1            teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan.

Cream the butter and sugar.

Add the eggs and sour milk.

Add the bananas and vanilla.

Add the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Pour into a jelly roll pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Frost with a powdered sugar frosting.

CHURN DASH QUILT PATTERN

The Churn Dash is my very favorite. I'm not sure what it is about it that I like so much because I really like a lot of different ones. But every time I see something made with the Churn Dash, I fall in love again.

I guess that is why it is so surprising that I don't have anything using it. In fact I had never made it until I started my new shower curtain. I decided I wanted a new shower curtain. I've lived with my Turning Twenty (another quilt pattern) shower curtain for a couple of years and am ready for a change. Since I didn't feel like I really needed another quilt, I decided I should make a new shower curtain using the Churn Dash pattern and then I could enjoy seeing it every day.

It is taking a while to make it, but I thought I would share with you how easy it is to make the block. In fact, when I read up on the block, I discovered it became popular back in the 1800s because it was so easy. I bet it was also because it doesn't take much material to make the block. Pioneers often made quilts from material they had (old shirts and clothes, etc).

Here is a picture of one of the blocks (minus the sashing - a border around the block)

My shower is curtain is going to be made with 36 of these blocks. I have 6 different colors - red, blue, green, yellow, pink, purple that I will be using. I have 3 different prints in each of those colors and will be making 2 blocks from each print - giving me 36 blocks. All of the blocks will have a white tonal background - a different tonal print for each different color.

If you look closely at the block you will see it is made with nine  squares ( we call that a Nine Patch) The difference is only the center square is one piece - one square. The other 8 are either half -square triangles or half-square rectangles.

The half-square rectangles are so easy to make. You can sew two strips together (my squares are 2" wide and 3-1/2" long) that measure 2" wide and 14" long. After you press them open, you just cut the strip into 3-1/2" pieces. The finished "square" is 3-1/2" x 3-1/2". 

The half-square triangles are a little bit more work, but also easy. You cut 2 squares from each print - the white and the red - 3-7/8" x 3-7/8" and then cutting them across diagonally, sew one white and one red triangle together.

Since I was making two blocks from each print, I actually cut a strip 4" wide across the wof (width of the fabric). Then from that strip, I cut the 4 squares for the half-square triangles  (remember I am making two blocks) and then cut the remainder in half to make two long strips 2" x 14".  I saved the remaining 12" for another project. Here is a picture from the green print I am using. You can see the little piece I trimmed off the 4" strip when I cut the squares.

Here is a picture I took of a later block cutting the squares in half to make the half-square triangles. (If you want to see more detailed instructions with pictures of making half-square triangles, check out my post on the Friendship Star.)

I had to cut the center square (3-1/2" square) from the white.

Press the seams away from the white tonal.

Then arrange the squares in the pattern.

Sew the squares together in rows.

Press the seams away from the white here also. By doing this he seams will "nest" together nicely when you sew the rows together to make the block.

Here is what it looks like on the back. You can see how the seams were all pressed.

I can't wait until I get all 36 blocks made and then add the sashing. The sashing is really going to make the quilt top pretty.

RHUBARB DREAM DESSERT

I love when my friends and I meet at Friend Dorothy's house because she always makes a delicious dessert. I don't think she has ever made anything that wasn't from a "tried-and-true" recipe that she has had a number of years. Those are the best kind. She didn't remember how long she had had the recipe. I told her it had been a while because on the back of the recipe was a grocery store ad and I couldn't remember the prices ever being as low as they were. 

I asked her if she had used fresh or frozen rhubarb and she admitted using frozen because she didn't have any fresh. (FYI - Dorothy says if you want rhubarb to come back year and year, cut the rhubarb off the plant, don't pull it off. Good to know!)

RHUBARB DREAM DESSERT

CRUST:
1         cup sifted flour
5        tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2     cup butter or margarine

TOPPING:
2        beaten eggs
1-1/2  cups sugar
1/4     cup flour
3/4    teaspoon salt
2        cups finely chopped rhubarb

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the ingredients for the crust and press the mixture into an ungreased 7-1/2 x 11 x 1-1/2 inch pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Mix the eggs with the sugar, flour, and salt that you have sifted together in a bowl with the rhubarb.

Spoon the topping mixture over the crust and bake for 35 minutes.

Serve warm with whipped or plain cream. (Janice especially liked it with a cup of coffee.)

WILLIAMSBURG'S SWEET POTATO MUFFINS

When we went to Williamsburg a few years ago, we enjoyed sweet potato corn muffins in a restaurant. I came home and experimented and came up with a recipe jiffy sweet potato cornbread that my husband and I really like. Earlier this month when the Mexican Train group met, I picked up a cookbook in Friend Pat's house called Celebration A Taste of Arkansas, an Official Book of the Arkansas Sesquicentennial. I saw several recipes that looked interesting and wanted to try. One of them was this recipe for Williamsburg's Sweet Potato Muffins. (I don't think there is a Williamsburg, AR and really think they are talking about Williamsburg, VA.)

Either way, I made these muffins to eat with a big bowl of Texas Bean Soup and they were fantastic. I will definitely be making these again, but as I say below, I think I will make them regular size and not the mini muffins.

WILLIAMSBURG'S SWEET POTATO MUFFINS

2/3     cup mashed sweet potatoes, pureed
4         tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
1/2      cup sugar (I used stevia)
1          egg
3/4     cup flour
2         teaspoons baking powder
1/2      teaspoon salt
1/2      teaspoon cinnamon
1/4      teaspoon nutmeg
1/2      cup milk
4         tablespoons chopped pecans
4         tablespoons chopped raisins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 24 cup mini muffin tin or 12 - 18 regular size with cooking spray.

Cream the butter and sugar together. ( I softened the butter about 30 seconds in the microwave and just beat the two together with a wooden spoon.)

Add the egg and sweet potatoes.

Sift together the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixture alternately with the milk beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Do not overmix.

Fold in the nuts and raisins.

Spoon into the muffin tins. ( I used my small scoop that holds 1 tablespoon of water to fill my mini muffin tin. Since I didn't have much batter left, I went back and added a little bit more to the 24 cups. Next time I think I will make them regular size and fill the cups up. I could have easily had more batter in the cups.)

Bake for about 15 minutes for mini muffins. If you are making regular size muffins, bake about 25 minutes checking a little bit before that to see if they are done.

SOUL-SATISFYING OATMEAL WAFFLES

Jeanne Stickell of Tucson, AZ should have included the word "Hearty" in the title, too, because these Soul-Satisfying Oatmeal Waffles certainly are. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to eat the whole thing. 

I made them for "supper" as I often do. I think I would be able to skip lunch if I actually made them for breakfast. Feel free to use any flavor of instant oatmeal packets for a different taste. I used two different ones because I didn't have 2 alike.

Jeanne suggested substituting 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin for 1/2 cup of the milk when the temperature drops and the leaves start turning beautiful colors and pumpkin just seems to be ingredient of the day. I certainly will give it a try.

SOUL-SATISFYING OATMEAL WAFFLES

1          cup all-purpose flour
1/2      cup whole wheat flour
2         packets instant oatmeal (I used on maple & brown sugar and one cinnamon & spice)
1          tablespoon baking powder
1          teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4      teaspoon salt
1-1/2   cup milk
2         eggs
1/3      cup butter, melted
1/2      cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

In a large bowl, mix the the flours, instant oatmeal packets, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt with a whisk.

In another bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, & butter.

Stir the mixture into the dry ingredients just until moistened.

Fold in pecans.

Bake in hot waffle iron.

Serve with butter and powdered sugar.

MRS. YODER'S CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

This is another recipe I found at Kevin's Amish 365.com. He features Mrs. Yoder and her recipes often. While he didn't have a picture of her brownies, he did show a picture of her handwritten recipe card. 

I love saving recipe cards that my mother wrote. Makes we feel a little closer to her when I see them. Since I started this blog, I have quit writing recipes on cards. Hopefully my granddaughters will feel close to me when they "read" them on my blog. Times change.

I will give you Mrs. Yoder's recipe and show my changes in parenthesis. For a number of years, I have had difficulty making desserts mainly the way they were written with lots of sugar. I have read several times that most recipes can have the sugar amounts reduced without ruining the taste of the dessert. To help out I often times use either stevia or a purchased blend of sugar and stevia. BUT I have just passed by many recipes because I couldn't use 2 cups of sugar in them. I want to live as long as I can and repeatedly we hear on television and read that the large amount of sugar that people are taking in daily, is hurting their health.

My husband and I liked my version. (Personally the icing could have been a little sweeter and if I had not used special dark chocolate chips but semi-sweet, it would have been even with my reduced sugar. My husband loved them just like I made them.) You would never know the brownies have zucchini in them....they are so good.

MRS. YODER'S CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

2        cups flour
1         teaspoon salt
1/2     cup cocoa
2        teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2  cups sugar (I used 3/4 cup blend - sugar and stevia)
2        cups grated zucchini
1-1/2  teaspoons baking soda
1/2     cup oil
1/2     cup chopped walnuts, (optional)

Topping:
3/4     cup sugar (I used 1/3 cup sugar/stevia blend which meant I reduced the sugar to 2/3 cup)
3        tablespoons milk
3        tablespoons butter
1/2     cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (I used a glass baking dish so reduced the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.)

Grease a 9 x 13 - inch cake pan. (When I saw the amount of "batter" I had, I decided to use my 8 x 11 - inch dish. Personally I think the brownies would have been too thin had I used the larger pan. I also used my homemade Pan Grease.)

Mix the ingredients for the brownies until well-blended (may be thick) Mrs. Yoder wasn't kidding. I started using a wooden spoon and ended up using my hand to mix the ingredients together. In all this, I forgot to add the nuts. I just sprinkled them all over the top and then pressed them down into the thick batter with my hands.)

Pour into pan. (Sorry Mrs. Yoder, there was no way I could pour my batter....you said it might be thick. It pressed nicely into the pan though.)

Then I added the nuts since I had forgotten them earlier.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. (Even in my smaller pan and with the lower temperature, the brownies were done in 30 minutes.)

About half way through baking, start the topping:

In a saucepan, add the sugar, milk, and butter (topping) to boil over medium low heat. Boil 30 seconds.

Add the chips and remove the pan from the heat. Stir the chips until they melt and

the mixture is smooth.

Pour the topping over the brownies as soon as they come out of the oven.

Cool on wire rack.

Best if you wait to cut when the topping has time to "set up".








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SCANDINAVIAN ALMOND CAKE

I know I have at least one friend from our Farkle group who is waiting for this post. Why? Because the last words out of Friend Sue's mouth when we all left were, "You'll have the recipe on your blog, won't you?" I've kept her waiting a week so I can't make her wait any longer.

Friend Barb served us this Scandinavian Almond Cake for dessert and everyone couldn't quit oohing and aahing. It was fantastic.

SCANDINAVIAN ALMOND CAKE

1-1/4       cups sugar
1             egg
1-1/2      teaspoons pure almond extract
2/3        cup milk
1-1/4      cups flour
1/2         teaspoon baking powder
1             stick melted margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray pan with cooking spray.

Beat well the sugar, egg, almond extract, and milk.

Add the flour and baking powder.

Add the butter.

Mix well.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 40 - 50 minutes. Edges must be golden brown.

Cool in pan on wire rack before removing. Cake will break if you remove it too soon.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Slice and serve with fresh fruit and a little whipped cream.

This is what the pan looks like that Barb used. In fact the recipe came with the pan.







I don't have the special pans she used to make it, so will be trying it in a different pan. I have a loaf pan that I got at an estate sale that is long and slender like this that I will try first. If you decide to try it before I do, please let me know how it turned out.