Fun with friends

Settlers of Catan - you can plan online here - I'm going to so maybe I can win next time! :-)

~Easy Swedish Apple Pie~

Even though the saying goes "easy as pie" I don't always find pie an easy dessert to make! The pastry preparation is fiddly, and then I never seem to roll out the dough wide enough for my pie plate, and I have a horrible time crimping the edges (I usually use a fork - unglamorous, but it gets the job done!).

Well, here's a recipe that doesn't involve any fiddly-ness! I found it on Allrecipes.com, and I've made it several times (and referenced it once on my blog before!)

I made it for dessert tonight since we had company. It is easy - and quick too! I made mine in about 10 or 15 minutes!

Something cute:
The couple we had over has three small children. As we were eating dinner, the oldest finished the food on his plate. His mom asked, "What would you like more of?"

His answer? "Pie."

We hadn't had the pie yet, but he was really looking forward to it! :-)

Need a quick fallish dessert? I suggest Easy Swedish Apple Pie! Add a scoop of ice cream and you're all set! I'd share a picture, but there is no pie left to take a picture of!

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup melted butter
1 egg

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Toss apples with 1 tablespoon of sugar, and pour them into a pie plate. Thoroughly mix together 1 cup of sugar with the flour, cinnamon, butter, and egg. Spread this evenly over the top of the pie. Bake in preheated oven until the apples have cooked and the topping is golden brown, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Happy October!

Wow, it is hard to believe it is already October! This year has gone by so fast!

Since we have lived in Michigan, I have noted that almost every year, as soon as the calendar says "October" the weather takes notice and gets quite nippy. This year, the weather change happened a few days before the calendar change. It is cool enough outside that we've needed to turn our furnace on already.

Time for soup, chili, curling up with a good book and hot chocolate, and cozy socks!

Visitor on my front porch

~Treadmill Homemaking~

My husband and I were talking on the way home from church last Sunday, and I was comparing my housework to being on a treadmill rather than running down the street and actually making progress. I'm sure many of you can relate!

Right now I have a very busy little girl. The Baby is not content to lie back and let the world go by. No, she must explore! And do! and see! All that she possibly can! It is such a joy to look at the world through her eyes, and to watch her learn new skills. But it is also exhausting, and greatly limits my homemaking efforts.

I am not complaining, not in the least! I'll happily keep on my treadmill--at least the dishes get done before midnight (usually) and there are clean clothes in our closet (usually). Anyone out there have some super-mommy pills I can pop? Maybe something along that line would help me, so that when The Baby finally goes down for a nap I can get something done instead of slump into a chair! =P

Please give me your best tips for getting things done around the house with a little one!

A very wet day

~Monday's Daybook: September 28~

Outside My Window...the leaves on my neighbor's trees are turning a beautiful orange.

I am thinking...what to have for company this Friday.

I am thankful for...The Baby!

From the kitchen..."Artisan bread in 5 minutes" dough is in my fridge. I'll be baking up a loaf later today. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

I am creating...an afghan for my sister's wedding present.

I am going...grocery shopping.

I am reading...The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket.

I am hoping...to get my house straightened up today.

One of my favorite things...my new Winnie the Pooh mug.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...attend ladies' Bible study, company on Friday.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

The afghan I'm crocheting for my sister's wedding. I'm pleased with my progress.

For more Daybook entries, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Hot chocolate in my new mug

I broke one of my Pooh mugs *sobs* so this new mug is a replacement, not an addition, to my Pooh mug collection (three so far).

~Sunday~

Psalm 118:24

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Apple on a tree

~A very fallish corner~

Here's a little sneak peak at my fall decorating:


This little guy stood in my dining room last year, but this year I am keeping him off the floor so I don't have to rescue him from The Baby. :-)

I've gotten my living room decorated and I'm anxious to show pictures, but it started an avalanche of cleaning. Since our living area is so open, I can't just snap pictures with a mess in the background. Well, I could, but who wants to see that? Well, actually, maybe you do want to see my mess, but I do not want you to see it. ;-) So until I get my home-sweet-homey mess picked up, this picture will have to suffice. :-)

Test project

A hotpad for myself; project ideas swirrling through my head for future gifts!

~Sunday Dinner~

Freedom from Want

Quite a few months ago, Kevin and I were talking to someone after church, and she said that she needed to get home, and that she was going to heat leftovers for dinner. She then mentioned that they do this every Sunday. I thought that was a fantastic idea, and have started doing that for us!

I usually save Friday's supper leftovers for Sunday's dinner (the noon meal). When I'm planning my menu, I plan something that will make good leftovers, and plan to make enough for two meals.

This has worked so well for us! We live about 40 minutes from our church, so by the time we get home after church, we are hungry! I have tried to do nice meals on Sundays (such as a roast) but even when it cooks in the crockpot, and is done when we get home, there is still a lot of preparation to do in order for it to be ready to get onto the table - you have to take the roast out and slice or shred it, separate out the potatoes and carrots, and make gravy. With leftovers, you pull them out of the fridge, heat them and you're ready to eat.

I'll give you an example of last Sunday. On Friday we had grilled chicken, pilaf, and corn on the cob. On Sunday I cut the corn off the cob and steamed it for a minute or two to heat it. I put the rice in my skillet, cut the chicken in bite-size pieces and put it on top of the rice. I added a little water so the rice wouldn't stick, and then put the lid on the skillet and heated over medium for a few mintues. All this was ready in just minutes.

This is the easiest and fastest thing we've ever done for Sunday's dinner (besides fast food on the way home from church!). It cuts about an hour of my time out of the kitchen and still provides us with a nice, homemade dinner on Sundays.

What do you do on Sundays? I'd love to hear your ideas and menus!

~Blueberry Picking, and general rambling~

I wrote this last August, but I'm not quite sure why I never published it...

Last night we went to a U-pick blueberry farm. It was raining softly, but that didn't hamper us. The blueberries were abundant on the bushes, there was a stand of trees in the near distance with birds providing beautiful melodies for us, and the air was *so fresh*. It was just beautiful!

I had never picked blueberries before, so I had no idea what to expect. It was fun to see the blueberry plants. I was reflecting on how far removed we are from our food. We go to the grocery store and buy it. Most food in the grocery store is prepared for us in some form. Until this week, I've never even thought of what a blueberry plant might even look like!

That's not to say that I've never picked anything. I've picked lots of fruit! I've picked apples, apricots, peaches, tangerines, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, blackberries, raspberries, figs, cherries, strawberries, and grapes (to name a few), and gathered walnuts and almonds, and picked (and grown) many different types of vegetables as well!

I think it is very important for children to grow up knowing where their food comes from, and enjoying the great outdoors! I'm glad that I had that privelege while growing up though sometimes I didn't exactly think of it as a privelege, because it can be hard work! But looking back, it is a great privelege, and one that I want to provide for our daughter!

Image: just one of many blueberry bushes at the blueberry farm.

Unexpected

Tortoise? Turtle? Whatever this guy is, I saw him on my walk this afternoon!

~Cold-brewed Iced Coffee~

Last fall, I bookmarked these instructions for making cold-brewed iced coffee. I was going to try it sometime this summer, and it just never happened.

So recently, I thought I'd try it. It worked. If you're a coffee lover, you'd probably love it. I enjoy coffee, especially a light or medium roast. However, it was too strong for me this way. I prepared a nice tall cup of iced coffee, then I ended up pouring it into a mug and heating it. It was much better warm.

It is always fun to try new things, especially simple things like this. I now know that I don't care for coffee prepared this way and I can delete my bookmarked link. ;-)

~Happy Fall, Y'all!~

Today is the official first day of fall! Happy fall!

Now that summer is over, and fall is here, I'm excited about what this fall will bring! There are apples to sauce, pumpkins to pick, fall leaves to see, crisp autumn mornings to enjoy, and soup and chili to cook!

Our church had a "tailgate" themed potluck last Sunday, and I took my tried-and-true chili recipe (posted here). Is chili on the menu for most tailgate parties? I had no idea since I've never been to a football game, much less a tailgate party, but at any rate, I thought it sounded good!

To celebrate fall, I am going to pull out my fall decorations and spruce up the living room! I'll be back later on to post a few pictures.

What are some things you and your family are looking forward to this fall?

~Soapnuts~

Have you heard of soapnuts? They are very intriguing to me!

Here is a description from a site that sells soapnuts (there are many sites that sell soapnuts, this site just happened to have a good description):

Maggie’s Soap Nuts™ are the only laundry soap that grows on trees! Truly effective, 100% natural and safe for your most sensitive skin. Soap Nuts™ are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree. They contain saponin, a natural cleaner used for thousands of years to clean clothes, just like the plants used by Native Americans for washing.

Simply put a few Soap Nuts into the included cotton sack and drop it in your laundry. Your clothes come out clean, vibrant, and soft. Replace your laboratory detergents and softeners with the soap made from Nature by Nature. Your clothes, your skin, your family, and your planet will thank you.

I've yet to give them a try, but from all I've read online, they sound like a very healthy, inexpensive alternative to laundry soap. Additionally, you can add your own scent to your wash by using a few drops of pure essential oil.

Several months ago, I combined great sales and coupons to get quite a large amount of laundry soap. I think I still have about 7 or 8 bottles left. Most of it is unscented and dye-free, so I am planning on using the rest of it before I buy my soapnuts. Plus, soapnuts are available on Amazon.com, so I am saving up my Swagbucks money to make my purchase!

Please let me know if you've tried them, and how they work for you!

Image is also from above link.

~Sunday~

Psalm 122:1
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.

Flowers for a friend