Apple Bread with Browned Butter Glaze and Classic Apple Crisp

With all the beautiful apples I got last week at the farmers market there has been a lot of apple cooking going on in my kitchen. I absolutely love the smell of apples cooking and the warm cinnamon smell that goes along with it, definitely a favorite fall scent!

Last night for dinner we had one of my favorite fall meals, Bratwurst with lots of caramelized onions and potatoes. I thought the perfect dessert to go along with our dinner was a classic apple crisp made with a selection of different apple varieties. Here's how I made it.

Apple Crisp

Peel, core and chop about 8 apples, more or less depending on the size of apples and how much you want to make. Put them into a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. I chose a large casserole dish, you could also use a 9 by 13 baking pan.

I used a variety of apples, Honeycrisp, Crimson Crisp, Spokane Beauty, and my new favorite, Pink Pearl, it is a red fleshed variety and the color is amazing!

When your apples are prepped, mix in 3 tablespoons of flour, half a cup of sugar, and about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Dot the top of the apples with 3 tablespoons of butter cut into small cubes. Set aside while you make the crisp topping.

Mix - 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of oats, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, and 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. 
Melt - 10 tablespoons of butter (1 stick and 2 tablespoons), Mix butter into dry ingredients, and stir until combined and all flour is incorporated into mix.

Crumble the topping over the apples, distributing evenly. Bake at 350 F. for about 40-45 minutes, until topping is golden brown, and apples have cooked through and are bubbly. Cool.

Serve while still slightly warm with a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel syrup or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum!

This morning I made a delicious apple bread with the last of my apples, and topped it with a browned butter glaze, browned butter is a favorite of mine and was perfect in this glaze.

Apple Bread with Browned Butter Glaze

Preheat Oven to 350 F.

Mix together-
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Stir until all ingredients are combined but be careful not to over stir, it is best to do this by hand.

Then fold in to the batter 2 apples that have been peeled, cored, and finely chopped.

Pour batter into a greased standard loaf pan. Bake at 350 F. for 45 minutes to an hour, until bread is risen, golden brown, and a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Then cool.

After apple bread has cooled for about 45 minutes to an hour, it is time to add the glaze.

Browned Butter Glaze

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small sauce pan and over medium high heat carefully stir while butter comes to a golden brown. This process happens rather quickly, the butter will usually begin to foam, keep stirring so it doesn't stick to the bottom, and really watch the color which is hard to see under the foam, remove the butter as soon as it looks golden so it doesn't burn. Again this happens very quickly so be ready to remove it right away. Make sure and stir any browned butter bits from the bottom of pan and set aside to cool for a minute or two.

In a bowl add 1 cup of powdered sugar, add all of the browned butter, add two tablespoons of warm water, stir together. Add more water if the glaze is too thick, one teaspoon at a time. I kept this glaze thicker than I normally do because I didn't want it to all run off, but it was still thick enough to pour over bread.

Let the glaze set up on bread for a few minutes, slice and enjoy.

This bread was wonderful, and the brown butter glaze went perfectly with the bread. This would be a wonderful after school snack or a perfect bread to serve with coffee or tea for breakfast.

This weekend I am hoping to visit the farmer's market again and stock up on more apples, I am definitely hoping to come across more of the Pink Pearl red fleshed apples. What is your favorite apple variety?

You may also be interested in stopping by my 2014 Harvest Hop and Sharing your Fall Themed Posts.

Rustic Apple Cake with Maple Glaze

Today was the first day of school for my son. Every year I like to welcome my children home from their first day of school with a special home baked after-school snack. I think it sets a nice tone for the year to be welcomed home to a nice smelling home and a fresh made treat. I don't bake much during the summer, so I also feel like it's a good way to kick off the baking season.

This year I wanted to make something with apples and cinnamon so I put together an easy Rustic Apple Cake with a delicious maple glaze. The smell of apples and cinnamon baking was wonderful. :)

Rustic Apple Cake with Maple Glaze

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix together in one bowl-
1 1/2 cups peeled and grated apple
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup flour ( I was out of whole wheat but this recipe would be good with half whole wheat and half white flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 slightly rounded teaspoon cinnamon

Mix until combined, batter will be slightly lumpy, don't over mix. Bake in a greased pie pan for 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes before topping with glaze.

Maple Glaze

mix together- 1 cup powdered sugar, 3/4 teaspoon Mapleine (artificial maple flavor) , warm water 1 tablespoon at a time until you have added enough water to make glaze a smooth consistency that will drizzle nicely over cake. Let glaze set up for ten minutes or so before serving.

The whole family enjoyed our after-school snack.

We are all really looking forward to a new school year and all of the fun activities that go along with a new school year.

I am looking forward to baking more apple treats over the next couple of months, and am looking forward to the first of the honeycrisp apples, my favorite!

I hope everyone is enjoying the first week of September- What are your back to school traditions?

You might also enjoy my recipe for Rustic Cinnamon Molasses Coffee Cake .

Marmalade Raisin Tea Bread

January is nearly half way through, and I have been keeping very busy with various organization projects around the house.   It seams as if every drawer, cupboard, nook and cranny needs attention, so I am getting a jump start on spring cleaning by making my way through our home getting each space back in order.

The weather has been cold and wet, and is often gray, thankfully the sun pops out every now and again, which is so energizing.  With the weather being cold lately, the birds have been very present at the bird feeders, I love watching them flit and hop around the backyard, they keep me (and my dogs) entertained.

Last week I felt a little baking was in order.  I love experimenting with quick breads, they are easy to whip up and perfect for an afternoon snack.  I was inspired by an old recipe in a Celtic cookbook I have, to try an orange marmalade tea bread.  I was experimenting with the recipe as I didn't have all of the original ingredients, my first attempt produced a far too dense loaf, so I decided to try one more time, tweaked the recipe a little more, and the second batch turned out moist and delicious. Here is my recipe for Marmalade Raisin Tea Bread.

Marmalade Raisin Tea Bread

Ingredients:

1 black tea bag
1 cup water
1 cup raisins (I used half regular and half golden raisins)
4 rounded tablespoons of orange marmalade
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon

In a saucepan bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and brew tea bag in water for a little over a minute until a nice black tea has been brewed.  Remove tea bag.  Bring tea back to a low boil and add one cup of raisins.  Remove from heat and let the raisins sit in the hot tea water for ten minutes to plump up, and cool down.  After ten minutes stir in 1 cup of brown sugar, then four rounded tablespoons of marmalade.  Stir until combined, then set aside.  In a mixing bowl add four cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon,  stir to incorporate, then add sugar and raisin tea mixture, and one egg, milk and oil.  Mix until wet and dry ingredients have been mixed and all flour has been incorporated into the dough, but careful to not over mix, quick breads turn out better when not overly worked. Transfer dough into two well greased loaf pans, and bake at 350 F. for about an hour.

Remove bread from over and let it cool on a cooling rack.   After about ten minutes make the glaze.

Marmalade Glaze

Heat 1/8 cup water to low boil (I put mine in the microwave for 20 seconds), add 3 rounded tablespoons of marmalade, stir until mixed, and jam has melted into the water to form a thinner mixture. Then add to a bowl with one cup of powdered sugar mix (use more if needed) until glaze is smooth.  Drizzle over bread.  Let bread cool, then slice it up and serve for afternoon tea or coffee or for an after school snack, it is also good toasted with a little butter for breakfast.

I would suggest using a good brand of orange marmalade, by my second batch of glaze I had used up my good jar of marmalade and had to use and off brand that I had left in the fridge that had a lot less orange peel, so the orange flavor wasn't as strong, if you run into this situation, you could also add some orange zest to punch up the orange flavor.

I am looking forward to a nice productive week, we have started to get a few snow flurries and the weather has gotten chilly.  A big pot of classic chicken soup is on the stove, the sniffles have started to invade our home, and I am hoping to keep them at bay!

Hope everyone is having a nice Monday.  I have been squeezing in fairy tale crafting between my organizing chores and hope to have the next post up soon. :)

52 Weeks of Fairy Tales #34 - Noodle and Welsh Honey Cakes

I was excited to find a new fairy tale book last week with many fairy tales that I had never heard.  The book is called The Fish Bride and Other Gypsy Tales retold by Jean Russell Larson.  These tales were collected by the writer who heard them as a child in the 1930's, in Iowa where Gypsies were camped near the town she lived in during the great depression, as well as stories collected from a family friend in Wales.  The book is full of many wonderful stories and fairy tales, I hope to share a few as part of this fairy tale series.

Today I would like to share a simple and fun fairy tale called Noodle.  A "Noodle" is actually a common character in fairy tales, the stories are often referred to as noodle head  stories, about a simple minded character who tends to blunder through the story, sometimes he learns a lesson or comes into good luck.  I shared a story of this type awhile back called Foolish Jack a favorite fairy tale of mine growing up.

Noodle

There once was a Gypsy boy named Noodle, and he was very foolish.  One day his mother dressed him up in a fine coat and shiny new boots, and sent Noodle into town to sell honey cakes.

Unfortunately Noodle was not a good salesman, and at the end of the day he left town with all of his honey cakes and headed home.  He made his way through a dark forest, and on his way heard the sound of someone in distress.  He soon found an old man sitting by a tree sobbing in the moonlight.  Noodle asked him what was wrong, and the man told him that he lost his purse full of rubles.  The man begged Noodle to help him find his coins.

Noodle, although foolish, was a bit suspicious, and asked the man for proof before he agreed to help.  The man told Noodle that he could tell him that he had exactly 27 rubles in his purse.  That was enough proof for Noodle, so him and the old man began to search for the old man's purse.  

Not long after they had begun to search, the old man suggested that Noodle should set down his bag of honey cakes so that he could use two hands to search the ground.  Noodle agreed, and set his bag of honey cakes by a tree.  They both went on searching.

A little more time had passed and the old man suggested that they both take off their shoes so that they would not harm his purse of rubles if they stepped on them in the dark.  So Noodle agreed, and the old man took off his tattered old shoes, and Noodle took off his shiny new boots and set them down next to the old man's shoes, and they both continued searching.

After looking further, the old man suggested that they remove their coats so that they could move more freely.  Noodle agreed, the old man removed his old worn out jacket, and Noodle removed his fine coat, and placed it on the ground beside the old man's coat.  

They walked further, and then the old man stopped and seemed to be considering their search.  He told Noodle to go on looking further, and that he would go back and retrace their steps just in case they missed something.  Noodle thought that sounded wise, and continued on searching up ahead. 

Of course, you can imagine what happened next. The old man did retrace their steps, putting on Noodle's fine coat, shiny boots, and taking the bag of honey cakes.  Then the old man went on his way smiling.  

Noodle returned home, poorer but a little wiser.

~

I thought this was an interesting little tale, poor Noodle, I suppose the lesson is be careful who you trust, I would love to hear your thoughts on the moral of this story.

Today, instead of a craft, I decided to bake up the honey cakes from the story.  I looked up many recipes for different types of honey cakes, and settled on the traditional Welsh Honey Cakes, since many of these tales were collected in Wales.  After looking up many recipes, I found that most contained the same ingredients.  Here is the recipe.

Welsh Honey Cakes 

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter (softened of partly melted)

1 egg separated 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

a little milk

Sugar in the Raw

Mix honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and egg yolk until well combined,  then mix in flour and baking soda, and mix until combined adding a little milk as required to mix it all together.  It ends up looking pretty much like a somewhat thick muffin batter.  Then whisk egg white until it reaches a stiff froth, then gently fold into batter.  Bake in a well greased muffin pan, filling the muffin cups half full, before baking sprinkle the tops of each muffin with Sugar in the Raw or course sugar.  

The recipe called for baking at 425 F. which sounded quite high to me, the other recipes were in Celsius, so I started the cakes baking at 425 F. which was too hot, my non stick pan browned the bottoms too quickly, and so I lowered the temp to 350 F. to finish the cakes.  In the future I would probably go with 375 F. to 400 F. and check them often.  They took roughly 15 minutes to bake, but at the lower temp might take longer.  Although these little honey cakes turned out a little dark, they tasted delicious, you could definitely taste the honey, they would be great with coffee or tea.

Welsh Honey Cakes, also known as Tiessennau Mel, seem to be a very traditional recipe.  One variation I saw was to not fold in the whisked egg white, but rather to bake the muffin first, then top it with the meringue and sugar and bake until the meringue is browned, I chose not to make that version, because it didn't seem like a cake that Noodle would have been able to put in a sack to sell, it would be interesting to try another time though.  

The story of Noodle reminded me of the times my grandma tells of when she used to bake cinnamon rolls and bread to sell to earn extra money when her children were young (she is a wonderful baker), she would send my uncles out to sell her rolls in the neighborhood, thankfully they were not like Noodle.  :)

~

I have had a busy week, my washing machine broke mid-wash, so our machine sat there not moving with a tub full of soapy water and clothes.  It was quite a process to wring out the clothing, the whole family got in on the action. We rung out the clothing, then brought them to the bathtub, which I filled with warm water to rinse the clothes out.  Of course the load of laundry had my daughter's green team club shirts in them that were needed the next morning for a presentation she was doing, so we had to get them rinsed so they could be dried by morning.  After rinsing the clothing as best as we were able, we rung all of them out and transferred them back to the laundry closet to be dried.  Quite a job!  We were all working away at it and really appreciating modern washing machines, you would get very strong washing clothing by hand!

Today, hubby and I siphoned out the water from the washing machine, which was also an interesting task, I had no idea how much water was used for each load!  Luckily I have a very handy husband, who loves fixing things, he took the machine apart, and we were hoping it would be an inexpensive part.  Turned out that a very tiny sock had been sucked into the hose and was blocking the draining mechanism.  Gary was able to pull them out with pliers, put the machine back together, and I was very happy to have my machine up and running.  

I am looking forward to the first day of fall this weekend, the weather is still very hot around here, and hardly a rain drop in sight, but the nights are cooler, and getting darker earlier, there was a beautiful crescent moon in the sky tonight.  I hope everyone is having a nice week!

Spicy Blueberry Chicken and Blueberry Lemon Muffins

The wonderful thing about late July and early August are all of the meals you can prepare with fresh garden produce as the inspiration.  Our blueberry bushes have been producing very well this year.  We have a few different varieties that all fruit at different times, which I love because it spreads the season out for us a bit.

Today we picked another big bowl of blueberries, I also picked some fresh rosemary for our sauce, and a pretty little bachelor button flower for my window.

I am really enjoying this mix of bachelor buttons this year, so many different colors, this magenta flower is a beautiful color.

I love saving different glass bottles for flowers, I used a Coke bottle to hold this bachelor button.

So today I was in the mood to try some new recipes with our blueberries, I have been tossing around the idea of a savory blueberry recipe, and decided to make a spicy blueberry sauce to dress up our boneless skinless chicken tenderloins.  Last year I made a cherry balsamic reduction to top steaks, and we all loved it,   so I thought I would try a spicy blueberry twist of that recipe.

Spicy Blueberry Chicken over Couscous

Bake up about 10 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins, the sauce was enough for 5 portions of two good size chicken tenderloins each, you could also do 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts instead. I bake my tenderloins in the oven at 400 F, in a pan with about a cup or so of water added and cover with foil, so they stay moist, bake until cooked thoroughly.  While they are baking you can prepare the sauce as well as the rest of the meal.

Spicy Blueberry Sauce:

1 shallot peeled and chopped
2-3 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
1/3 -1/2 cup of sugar (depending on how tart your blueberries are)
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary  or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried Basil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cayenne Red Pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup apple juice or water
2 cups blueberries

Melt butter in a saucepan and saute shallot until translucent, then add the rest of the ingredients and stir until combined.  Cook over medium to low heat stirring very frequently, since this is a sugar based sauce it can burn very quickly, adjust temperature if needed.  Simmer until blueberries have cooked through and started to break down a bit and incorporate into the sauce.  You will want to adjust the spices to your liking, I probably added in a bit more of the cayenne and red pepper flakes so it would be nice and spicy, but not too hot.  When you get the seasoning to your liking, cook sauce until it has a nice consistency, like a thick syrup, add a little more water or apple juice if sauce gets too thick.  Keep it on low and keep stirring frequently while your chicken finishes cooking and the couscous is being prepared.

I used Near East brand couscous, you can find it right by the rice, and flavored boxed rices.  It cooks up very easily in the time it takes to boil water and then five minutes.   I really enjoyed this brand of couscous, and I will be trying the other flavors as well.  This is the basic couscous not pearl couscous.  Below is an Amazon link to the kind of couscous I used.  It was a nice change from rice, and went really nicely with this meal.  Serve the chicken on top of couscous topped with spicy blueberry sauce.

I steamed some fresh from the garden zucchini on the side, drizzled with melted butter.  I was so excited to finally harvest our first yellow squash of the year, I love the bright yellow color.  The whole meal was a hit with the family, and everyone thought the spicy blueberry sauce was delicious over the chicken.

Of course with all these blueberries around we also had to have a blueberry muffins, I keep seeing blueberry and lemon paired up, which sounds delicious to me, so I decided to make a Blueberry Lemon Sour Cream Muffin with Crumble topping for dessert.  Here's my recipe.

Blueberry Lemon Sour Cream Muffins

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Muffin-

2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups sugar
1 stick melted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk (maybe a tablespoon or two more if batter is too thick)
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups blueberries

Crumble topping-

6 Tablespoons melted butter
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For muffin batter mix all ingredients except blueberries in a bowl adding the lemon juice last, stir by hand until combined thoroughly but not over mixed, then fold in blueberries.  Fill greased muffin pan 3/4 full.  Recipe makes slightly more than a dozen, I baked the excess in a mini Pyrex baking dish, but you could probably make another 3 muffins in another pan.  Then mix together crumble topping ingredients until well combined, then generously top each muffin with crumble mix and lightly press it on, the whole muffin top should be covered in crumble topping just like in the picture below.

Bake at 375 F. for about 25 minutes until browned and cooked through.

These blueberry lemon muffins were delicious and made a nice treat, I loved the touch of lemon with the blueberries.

We are getting ready to enjoy a nice weekend, the weather is supposed to be extra hot, the garden will need looking after, and I am hoping to start some of my fall seeds as well.  Hope everyone stays cool and safe in all this heat. :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins & Tasha Tudor Giveaway

Less than two weeks 'til Halloween, and I have finally finished decorating. I love to decorate for Halloween with slightly whimsical primitive folk decor. I love the rich oranges and antique black. This year my decor is pretty similar to last years, however, I have moved some things around a bit, and added a few new decorations. I love to have everything decorated for my annual Halloween Appetizer buffet open house- here is my post from Halloween 2010. Now for a tour of some of my decor from this year.

I always have out candy dishes with candy corn autumn mix- this candy dish sits next to my little Halloween tree and Halloween Count Ratula's.

I love tucking decorations onto my bookshelves, and I love my happy little green faced witch, she looks like something Norman Bridwell would have drawn. I was also lucky to get a Yankee Candle Boney Bunch "Bonesy" tea light holder- we all thought this little Halloween dog was cute.

I love my white pumpkin, and like it next to these decorations- I would love to grow white pumpkins sometime.

This year I moved more of my decorations to the mantle, and added a few more floral picks, I think floral picks are handy because they are easy to tuck in here and there and they are very inexpensive.

I found these painted wooden decorations at Walmart quite some time ago for only a dollar each- I haven't put them up in awhile, because I didn't want to put nail holes anywhere, but now that I found the tiny 3M Command hooks, I can hang them on my door and remove them without leaving a mark. I go through a lot of these little hooks during the holidays.

Here is my little whimsical haunted house along with my little primitive skeleton doll, I am not super big on scary skulls and things, but I thought this little guy was cute.

So that's a tour of some of my current decorations, I am hoping to add a few more things just before Halloween, I got some wonderful Martha Stewart Crow & Mice Cutouts on clearance the other day, and I am considering putting those out for our Halloween buffet.

Today, since I was in a festive mood, I decided to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins for a yummy fall after school treat. (Had to tuck in a few of my new little mushroom and pumpkin floral picks for the picture, I was so happy when I found some with little mushrooms!)

Here's my recipe:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

2 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup oil

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 cup chocolate chips

First combine all dry ingredients including spices and mix together until combined, then add the oil, pumpkin, milk and egg and stir until combined- batter will be slightly lumpy, then fold in 1 cup chocolate chips. Grease or spray muffin pan with non stick spray. Fill with batter 3/4 full. Bake at 350 F. for 15-18 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Serve warm with a little butter- these are delicious and make a wonderful afternoon snack!

Now for a special Halloween Giveaway!

I would like to share about one of my favorite Autumn Children's Books- Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor. I have enjoyed Tasha Tudor Books and art work for many years, I loved learning about Tasha Tudor's old fashioned country living, and am inspired by her way of life.

Pumpkin Moonshine is one of her classic Children's stories- The story is about Sylvie Ann, a little girl who would like to find a big pumpkin to carve into a "Pumpkin Moonshine" or in other words a Jack-O-Lantern. She goes out to the field and finds a big pumpkin, which is so big she must roll it home, the big pumpkin rolls away from her and goes bounding through the farm, and she must chase this pumpkin all the way home. The illustrations are darling, and the story is very sweet. This story was written by Tudor for her niece who was visiting her from England, as a Christmas gift- what a memorable gift this must have made!

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who loves good, simple country living stories for their children. I would also recommend this books for adults who love the art of Tasha Tudor and fans of books like the Little House series or Avonlea.

You can read more about it at Amazon through my affiliate link below.

Now for the Giveaway!

I am keeping this giveaway simple- I am giving away one new copy of Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor, chosen at random through Random.org from the comment list below. Pumpkin Moonshine Giveaway starts on Thursday, October 20th, 2011 and ends on Thursday, October 27th, 2011 at midnight. Winner will be announced on a blog post Friday, October 28th, 2011. To enter, read official rules below. (Sorry they are so long, I did some reading up on hosting giveaways and am complying to Federal rules on hosting giveaways)

Official Rules:

#1-No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Giveaway open to readers with United States shipping addresses only.

#2- To enter, leave a comment below, one entry per person please. Your entry is your comment, and will be assigned a number based on the order in which it was received. By entering you agree to these official rules.

#3-Winner is chosen by a number generated at random through Random.org. If your prize number matches the number chosen, and you meet giveaway requirements, you win the prize.

#4-Winner must claim prize in 7 days from the day the winner is announced or a new winner will be selected.

#5- Winner may not substitute prize for any other prize or cash, however, if the prize becomes unavailable through reasons beyond my control, April's Homemaking reserves the right to substitute with a prize of equal or greater value.

#6- April's Homemaking reserves the right to cancel, suspend or modify giveaway, if in the opinion of April's Homemaking Blog, any fraud, technical failure, or any other factor affects the integrity of this giveaway.

#7- General Release- By entering this giveaway through this website, you release April's Homemaking Blog & April :) from any liability whatsoever, and waive any and all causes of action, related to any claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the giveaway or delivery, misdelivery or acceptance of any prize (including, without limitation, claims, costs, injuries, losses and damages related to personal injuries, death or damage to or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation or portrayal in a false light, whether intentional or unintentional), whether under a theory of contract, negligence, warranty or other theory.

#8- Winner is responsible for all State, Federal and local taxes associated with receipt of this prize.

Good Luck! This is a wonderful book- for both children and adults! Be sure and come back next Friday to find out who won!

Back to School Zucchini Bread

Today was the first day back to school for my son - who started his freshman year of high school. My daughter will start tomorrow as a Junior. The weather was very appropriate for back to school, and decided to be a nice fall-like day- overcast and all. No, I am by no means ready to say goodbye to our very short summer season, and my tomatoes are definitely not, but it was nice for the house to be cool.

I decided that today would be the day to get started on baking up some of my giant Zucchini, and turning them into some yummy breads and cake. I thought it would be a nice treat for Joseph to come home to the house filled with nice baking smells and a homemade after school snack. So I got to work and baked three loaves of zucchini bread and a yummy chocolate zucchini cake for our dessert this evening.

I love baking zucchini bread- the whole house always smells so good. I thought I would share with you the recipe that I have always used, I am not sure which one of my family members passed this recipe down to me, I just know that it has been on the same recipe card since I was a young homemaker, and probably came from my grandma or mother. This recipe always turns out well. I always make extra for the freezer- when the loaves are cool, pop them into a freezer bag, and into the freezer, it is great to have these on hand, just pull them out of the freezer to thaw when you are ready for another loaf of bread, great time saver.

Zucchini Bread

Preheat Oven to 325 F.

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Beat eggs, then mix in the rest of the ingredients until combined. Pour into 3 greased bread pans. Bake at 325 F. for 45 minutes to and hour.

I Bake these in Pyrex bread pans, and also sometimes a muffin pan or a square 9x9 inch cake pan- just add a little frosting and your bread is now a cake. I used to grate my zucchini by hand, but since I like to make this recipe in bulk, I started last year, using a food processor from my mother-in-law to grate the zucchini, since the zucchini comes out in fairly big pieces, I put the grated zucchini, along with the eggs and oil, in my blender, and blend them all together to break down the zucchini more. This works very well, and saves me a lot of time.

I also made a chocolate zucchini cake- I only started making chocolate zucchini cake a couple of years ago when I found a great recipe online. I had had chocolate zucchini cake at a birthday party when I was a child, and loved it, but never got around to getting a recipe. Boy am I glad I found this recipe! Wonderful, moist, chocolaty, and easy to make with inexpensive ingredients. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com - turns out great every time- I serve mine with a simple white frosting. I would highly recommend this recipe to everyone.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/chocolate-zucchini-cake-iii/detail.aspx

The bread was a perfect after school snack, and we are all looking forward to chocolate zucchini cake for dessert.

Brown Sugar Bacon Crumble Muffins

School let out last Thursday, and I have been having a wonderful time hanging out with the kids. My daughter loves watching Cake Boss, and we were looking for something to watch and came across a show called Cupcake Wars. We have enjoyed watching a couple episodes, and I have been inspired by all of the different flavor combinations they come up with for the cupcakes- some sound gross and others interesting like a Maple Bacon Cupcake. I was inspired by the idea of bacon in a sweet muffin, so today I made the family Brown Sugar Bacon Crumble Muffins, and they were delicious! Here is the recipe.

Brown Sugar Bacon Crumble Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Muffin Batter
2 cups Flour
1 T Baking Powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup melted butter
5-6 pieces cooked bacon coarsely chopped

Crumble Topping
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 pieces cooked bacon coarsely chopped

Mix all of the ingredients for the muffin batter in one bowl until combined- do not over beat- I mix mine by hand until everything is well incorporated. Set aside.  I am thinking about adding cinnamon to the batter next time as well.

Mix all ingredients for crumble topping in one bowl until combined.

Spray muffin pan with cooking spray- both the muffin cups and top of pan, as the muffins rise above top of cup.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, then cover top of each muffin with crumble topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400 F. or until knife inserted in the center of muffin comes out clean.

These taste wonderful the bacon and the brown sugar really balance each other out- these would be great for a breakfast or brunch. I will definitely be making these again!!
Linking to:

Gooseberry Patch Fresh-Baked Round Up

Fried Corn Meal Mush

Last week I talked about the pantry staple- rice. This week I want to talk about corn meal. There are so many uses for corn meal, a very useful addition to any pantry. With it you can make corn bread, corn muffins, and corn meal pancakes-my second favorite pancake, my first one being my hubby amazing pancakes. There are wonderful Tamale pies that can be made using cornmeal, it can be used in breading chicken, making polenta, and I'm sure many other wonderful recipes.

My all time favorite Corn Meal recipe is Fried Corn Meal Mush. My mother made us this for special breakfasts, and was one of my favorite treats. It takes a little forethought, because you have to pre-make the mush and chill it in the fridge before frying, but it is well worth the effort. I use the recipe right off the box.

Alber's Fried Corn Meal Mush

3 1/2 c. water, divided
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. corn meal

Combine 2 1/2 c. water and salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Mix cornmeal with remaining water (1 cup) in a small bowl. Add cornmeal mixture slowly to the boiling water, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Be cautious of hot splattering mush- as long as you are stirring it shouldn't bubble up on you too much.

Now at this point you have Corn Meal Mush (which can be eaten like any hot cereal) to turn it into fried corn meal mush, pour into a cooking spray coated 8 x 4 loaf pan. Refrigerate for about an hour or until set (over night works too).



Remove from pan, cut into 1/2 inch slices. I like mine a little thinner as you can see in the picture, I like mine to be crisper, so the thinner slice works better for that- everyone has their preference so I would try both at first.





Fry in a lightly greased skillet over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned on both sides. I like to fry in butter, although watch that the butter doesn't burn if you choose butter, also the thinner pieces that I like are more prone to breaking when flipping, thinner pieces have to be flipped carefully.





I would suggest making a double batch in two loaf pans if you are feeding more than four, or hungry teens- we only made one batch for our family of four, because my children are teens they eat adult size portions, it was just enough, but we could have had more, I will probably make two loaves worth next time.
Serve with syrup. Very yummy!! I hope everyone gives this recipe a try, as well as adds corn meal to the pantry. Have a beautiful weekend!

Rustic Cinnamon Molasses Coffee Cake

Some mornings I love to start out the day with a cup of hot coffee and something sweet. When I was a child, my mother used to whip up the best coffee cakes for breakfast- they were delicious. Coffee cakes are very simple to make- just a few simple ingredients- I don't even get out the electric mixer- just stir it up in one bowl. This morning I was in a coffee cake mood - I decided to make one of my simple favorites. Rustic Cinnamon Molasses Coffee Cake. Now, I call it rustic because, when I make a nice simple recipe like this I imagine old fashioned country livin' women, throughout the past, mixing up a simple cake like this. The whole wheat and molasses give it a hearty old fashioned taste, nothing fancy- just good and real. Here is my recipe.

Rustic Cinnamon Molasses Coffee Cake

1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
2 big twists of the sea salt grinder ( or a pinch or two of regular salt)
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1c. milk
1/4 c. molasses
1 egg beaten
1/3 c. oil
top with sugar in the raw

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a bowl mix up dry ingredients, then to the same bowl add all of the wet ingredients, mix until everything is well incorporated, batter will be slightly lumpy. Pour into a greased (I just use pan spray) round pan - a cake pan or a pie pan will do just fine. Top with a good sprinkling of Sugar in the Raw. Bake at 375 F. Check at 25 minutes- cake will take about half an hour but could be a few minutes more or less - knife in center should comeout clean.

Variations- You could switch the molasses for some fresh blueberries, or dried chopped dates, or chopped apples- what ever sounds good to you. Perfect with tea or coffee. The kids love to have a warmed up piece after school as well.

And a side note about my coffee- I used to spend quite a bit purchasing fancy coffee from the local Starbucks and other coffee shops- I was convinced that all other coffee was undrinkable- I'm from Oregon, what can I say. The amount of money both my husband and I were spending was unacceptable for our frugal budget. Then one evening my mother in law came over for dinner, and brought a coffee maker and some Folgers and made a pot of coffee-it smelled good so I tasted it, and it wasn't bad. Then I remembered as a child this is all anyone would drink- I know, because I was in charge of making endless pots for my mom, and stepdad, and gram, as well as my aunt and uncles who would come visiting throughout the day. It was just fine for them. I have heard wonderful stories of hubby's Great Grandma Florence making coffee by boiling grounds on the stovetop or in the old percolator and using real cream fresh from the farmer. Anyway- Sue, my mother in law, said I could keep the coffee maker as well as the rest of the Folgers, since I liked the coffee -Thanks Sue:) - So now for over a month I have been brewing my own coffee, and it tastes just fine. I like my coffee with a little lowfat milk in it, and to add a litle sweet cream flavor,and for fun, I top it with some whip cream. I have saved a ton of money.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week- we have been having beautiful sunshine- what a wonderful time of year!!

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24 (NIV)

Sarah's Cran-Crumble Muffins

Now that my daughter Sarah is older, I really love working with her in the kitchen to learn different cooking and baking skills. She makes wonderful Snickerdoodles, and has helped whip up various mixes for us many times. So today we thought we would work on homemade muffins. When a homemaker masters a basic quick bread, you can whip up great breads, coffee cakes, and muffins anytime, very quickly, and often without a recipe. I asked her what type of muffin sounded good to her, and she said she wanted to make a crumble topped muffin with cranberries. So we pulled ideas from a few different classic muffin recipes, and came up with- Sarah's Cran-Crumble Muffins. She baked up a batch, and was able to bring them along to share with her grandparents. They are very tasty. Here is the recipe.

Sarah's Cran-Crumble Muffins

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

Crumble Topping (make first, and set aside)

Combine - 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup sugar, 3/4 cup flour, 1Tablespoon of cinnamon. Stir until combined.

In a small saucepan heat just to boiling- 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 cup of cranberries- as soon as it is hot enough remove from heat, and set aside.

In another small bowl combine 1 1/2 cups Kellogg's All-Bran and 1 1/4 cups of milk- let stand for 5 minutes- (we like the basic All-Bran Muffin recipe as well, and incorporate it into a lot of our muffins)

In a large bowl combine 2 eggs, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla, and the soaked cereal and milk mixture- mix until well combined. The add 1 1/4 cups of flour along with 1 Tablespoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the wet mixture, and mix until combined. The add orange juice and cranberry mixture, and mix until combined.

Spray muffin pan with pan spray or line muffin tin with cupcake papers, and fill muffin cups two-thirds full. Then top muffins with a good layer of crumble topping. This mix made a little more than 12 muffin cups full so we baked the rest in a tiny custard dish. Bake at 375 F. for 20-25 minutes.

It was very fun working with Sarah, I think it is so important to pass along these homemaking skills to our daughters. Joseph enjoyed sneaking a few bits of crumble while his sister finished up the muffins. The whole house smells wonderful. Hope everyone can enjoy baking with their children.