Oven Adventures

The weather is beginning to change here in Vancouver.  It’s moving from a cold, dreary rain to a lighter, brighter rain.  hahaha.   It’s so nice to finally see the buds on the trees.  I have daffodils in my garden.  The air smells differently. Spring is coming people!!!!  I love Spring for a lot of reasons but honestly it’s about flip flops and flowers.
Click Here to Keep Reading

The rain has finally arrive.  For the last 2 days it has not just been raining, but pouring.  My shoes are soaked, my jackets are soaked, my dog is soaked.  The air is so damp that nothing even dries.  I love rain at night when you are inside curled up under a blanket all cozy and warm.  Then and only then, is when rain is fabulous.
Click to Keep Reading

One of my favorite night time snacks is cut up apple dipped in peanut butter. The first time I saw someone doing this, it was a friend of mine at work.  I walked by her cubical, stopped to talked and was totally grossed out and confused watching her dip her apple in peanut butter.
–keep reading

I am used to be scared of making pie crust.

It freaked me right out.  I didn’t want yucky, chewy bad crust.  I wanted flakey, butter, soft crust.  And that is totally what I got.

Don’t be scared of pie.  This was super easy and soooooo good.
–keep reading

On the weekend my mom and I did our annual shopping trip across the boarder.  Normally we go with Ris and the kids and spend 2 days but this year money is tight so we just went down for the day.  We had a plan, our route was mapped out and we were off.

We were up a 6 am and on the road by 6:30.  No wait at the border we were at Target by Alderwood Mall by 9 am.  We had to make a couple coffee stops along the way obviously.

At Target I got Cinnamon M&M’s and Andes Mints in peppermint crunch, which we don’t have in Canada.  Score!!!

Then we headed to the mall.  Checked out a couple stores but I just could not wait to get to Trader Joe’s.  We rushed through Toys r Us and finally the time had come to go to Trader Joe’s.

It was AMAZING!!!  I was in shock of all the incredibly cool stuff like Cookie Butter (which is so so so good, I could eat the entire jar with a spoon), the salted caramels, cookies, the chocolate!!!!  Some of the prices blew my mind.  For a 2 L of organic milk it was $2.99, in Vancouver $5.49.  Butter $2.99 up here almost twice that.  Apples were $.59 a lb instead of $1.29.  What a difference.

I will be returning to Trader Joe’s probably before Christmas.  So worth it.

Then we did a little more shopping at a different Target. lol

Then we waited at the border for an hour but I brought along my trusty portable dvd player so it wasn’t bad at all.  Finally walked back in the door at 10 pm.

It was a long, long day but so much fun.  It’s always nice to spend a day with my momma and shop til we drop.

Here are some fabulously fall Apple Cider Bars.  You make of course make them any time of year but there is something about apple cider that just screams fall.

VERDICT

These bars and moist and the apple cider mix makes the top super soft and then you get the bite of apple.  They were easy to throw together and great warm or at room temp.  The cider mix really makes these special.  I put the apple just on top but you can totally mix it in.  They stored well so great for lunches.

Recipe – 8×8 pan

1/2 c butter
1 c lightly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs – room temp
1 c all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 med apple chopped
1 individual package of hot apple cider mix

Preheat oven to 350 F and put the oven rack to the middle position.  Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper and set aside.  (You can always just spray with non-stick spray if you don’t have parchment)

In a large bowl set over simmer water add butter.  Stir until melted.  Add in brown sugar and vanilla.  Stir until blended.  Let sit until warmish closer to room temp as opposed to hot.  Stir again and then add the eggs whisking just until blended.

Add in flour and salt.  Stir until combined and no lumps remain.  Try not to over mix.  Pour into prepared pan.

Top with apple and then sprinkle hot apple cider mix over top.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out slightly crumby.

NOTE: If you want to double an 8×8 recipe you can always make it in a 9×13 dish.  A lot of times I half 9×13 recipes and make them in 8×8 pans.

Enjoy!

Here is just random stuff from my week.

Finally got Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.  I have been reading the same book series for over 10 years.  Everytime a new book comes out it’s like having old friends over for tea.  If you have never heard of it check it out here.

Watched my first episode of Dirty Soap.  Pretty people are just as screwed up as regular people.
I did my first guest post, got a nice comment from a blogger I adore and some new fans.  (Hi new fans!!!!)

I totally threw this together on a rainy afternoon this week.  I made one, ate it, tweaked it, made another one, took some pictures and ate it too. lol  RIS doesn’t even know it ever existed.  He is missing out.

VERDICT

It is easy, quick and so, so good.  The cookie stays crunchy and as you’re eating it pieces of cookie fall to the bottom and soak up the buttery juiciness.  Oh my.  The apples retain their shape and a little crunch while becoming sweeter.  mmmmm.  I need to make this again.  I loved the addition of the coconut for a little added texture.  So perfect for a rainy or snowy day and you probably have everything in your pantry which is always a bonus.  You can use a different kind of cookie just make sure it’s hard so it stays crispy and doesn’t sog out on you.

Recipe – 2 ramekins

1 medium apple cut into chunks
2 tbs granulated sugar
3 tbs shredded coconut – either sweetened or unsweetened
1 tsp cinnamon

Topping

4 cinnamon snap cookies – I used Dare brand
2 tbs cold butter cut into pieces
1 tbs packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Place rack in the middle position.

In a medium bowl combined apple and coconut, toss with cinnamon and sugar until all the apple is coated.

Fill each ramekin leaving 1/2 an inch at the top.

Make the crisp by breaking up your cookies into small pieces.  You don’t want crumbs but you don’t want huge chunks either.  With your fingers rub together butter, cookie pieces and brown sugar until well mixed and the butter resembles small pebbles.  Keep cold until ready to go into the oven.

When ready to go into the oven place crisp topping on top of the apples pushing down slightly.

Put in the oven and cook 20-25 minutes.

Grab some ice cream and put it on top if you want, add some nuts, leave out the coconut but make this.  It’s perfect for any day and take like 5 minutes to throw together and it’s just so good.

Oh and it makes your house smell like YUM.

Enjoy!