Recipes to share and a holiday card

Today I thought I would share some easy fall recipes with you all. I don't know about you but I am craving some yummy fall comfort food......especially anything with apples in it!

Earlier today I made some Apple Crisp but I changed up the recipe a bit.....just wanted to expirament with the crispy topping ! I used steel cut oats instead of rolled oats....basically because that's all I had on hand......and I wanted to try to add some chopped pecans to it as well as I really love nuts.

The topping turned out great- a bit crispier than usual which made my mouth very happy! If you don't have steel cut oats on hand no worry.....just use regular rolled oats. I chopped the pecans in my food processor and added it right to the topping mix. Here is the recipe!

Apple Crisp

4-5 medium apples
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup flour (unbleached)
1/2 cup rolled or steel cut oats
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup softened butter

Heat oven to 375 degrees, peel, slice and arrange apples in an 8x8 lightly greased pan. Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl and cut the butter into the dry ingredients to form soft small clumps. Sprinkle this mixture over the apples and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown on top and apples are tender. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whip cream....whatever you prefer! YUMMM :)
Serves 6-8.....or less if you are really hungry- ha ha!


Next up is a sweet Halloween treat recipe that my son brought home from school. I have yet to actually make it but plan on doing so as soon as I get all the ingredients. Are ya ready for the name of it?

Bat Poop- eeeeek!

What a gross name (kids will LOVE that)!  I promise it is really good and no actual bat poop is in the  ingredients! It sounds very simple and quick and older kids can even help you with it.

Here it is!

Bat Poop

1-  12 ounce package of chocolate chips
1- 12 ounce package of butterscotch chips
1 cup cashew nuts (chopped or broken into small pieces)
1 cup banana chips
1 large can/bag of chow mein noodles

Dump the chocolate and butterscotch chips into a microwave safe dish. Microwave for 1 minute- stir it up- microwave for 1 more minute or until melted. Stir again.  Make sure you use oven mitts as it will be hot! Break up the banana chips while the chips are melting in the microwave. Remove the melted chips using your oven mitts and dump in the banana chips, cashews, and chow mein noodles. Stir again. Drops clumps of the bat poop onto a cookie sheet (I would use wax paper here). Place the cookie sheet into the fridge until the bat poop is firm. Then lets those kids eat em up- I bet they will get a kick out of telling their friends they ate bat poop- ha ha!!

Sounds like great recipe for a spooky Halloween party :)


I did happen to make a card a few days ago......my first Christmas card of the season- wohoo! I played along with this months Hero Arts challenge to make a holiday card using non-traditional stamps.Some snowflakes, a pine tree stamp, and the cute snowman....and then of course a holiday sentiment!





I stamped the snowflakes using distress ink and white pigment ink and the trees got embossed with polysparkle embossing powder. They really shine in the right light- too bad it doesn't show up in the picture. Just a simple little winter scene for someone I know who isn't into the religious aspect of Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Inky Hugs........................Anne 

Apple Recipes

Today I am using up some more of those delicious apples from the orchard and I thought I would share some yummy apple recipes. I'm baking an apple cinnamon crumb cake and just made homemade apple- cranberry sauce too.....my son just loves the apple sauce and begged me to make more.

I hosted a recipe swap last fall using apples as the main ingredient and I thought I would share some of the wonderful recipes I recieved. If you've still got apples from a trip to the orchard or just love any kind of recipe using apples here are a few for you to look over. I took a picture of the cute 6x6 recipe cards- just click on the photo of each one to see the recipe and get the directions.

                                                                      Fall Apple Bread

Apple and Butternut Squash Soup

Apple Upside-down Pie

Anne's Homemade Applesauce

4 medium apples- cut into 8 equal pieces each

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup brown or white sugar (I use organic sugar)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 fresh cranberries (optional)

Directions: Heat apples (cranberries too) and water to boiling, reduce heat and simmer uncovered....stirring occassionally to break up the apples until tender- usually about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the sugar and cinnamon- heat to boiling and stir for 1 minute. I always grab my potatoe masher and mash them further with this. Let it cool  for 30 minutes and serve warm (very yummy this way)  or let it cool completely and store in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Today I cheated and am using a "box" version of the crumb cake.

 I do this kind of cheating quite a bit as I'm a very busy person and not everything can be completely homemade- ha ha!  It's made by Krusteaz.....and I simply cut up about 1 cup of chopped apple and added that to the mix. I also substitute cold coffee for the water in the mix- then it's a bit more like coffee cake too!

Hope you can try one of these delicious apple recipes- let me know if you do!

My crumbcake is just about done- can't wait to dig into this after dinner tonight- yummmm! The house smells heavenly right now too.......am I making you hungry?

Inky Hugs, Anne

Foodie talk today!

Hi all!

Well fall is upon us here in Wisconsin and it's that time of year when my body is starting to crave all those yummy comfort foods. Think pumpkin pie, chili, split pea & ham soup- homebaked bread.......you know what I mean- right? Real food that fills you up and keeps you going. No more grilled anything or a cold salad......I want rib-sticking- can't eat any more- kind of  food!

This last week I have been dying to make some delicious pumpkin cheesecake and have been to 3 different grocery stores in search of canned pumpkin and guess what.............there is NO canned pumpkin anywhere in Wisconsin or Minnesota!! What the heck?  Come on people- you are killing me here......all I need is one little can of pumpkin for one small cheesecake!

I finally talked to a fella at my local grocery store to see what the heck is up with  the pumpkin situation and he explained that there has been a massive shortage due to last years crops being ruined.......so guess what- NO pumpkin cheesecake for me- RATS!! I'm entirely too lazy to actually go get a real pumpkin- carve it up- and then cook the insides just for one cheesecake (waaaaay to much work!) I did a bit of web surfing and found out that Libby's is actually shipping out canned pumpkin this week- many stores will be recieving shipments soon. Wohooo!!

Here is the recipe for that yummy pumpkin cheesecake- and it's super easy and quick to make! Hopefully I can get my hands on a can of that heavenly stuff soon and whip one of these up before I die!

Fluffy Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie
12 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin
1 graham cracker crust

In large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese till fluffy. Add the sugar and spice, beat again. Add eggs, one at a time just until combined, add pumpkin and mix some more (gently). Pour into crust and bake at 350 for 30 -35 minutes! Cool for 1 hour- then refrigerate for 3 hours!   EASY and soooo YUMMY!

I've been quite into making my own pickled cucumbers recently too. My mom brought me a jar about a month ago and I nearly ate the whole thing in 2 days! (what a pig huh?) They were so good and they are super easy to make. No actual canning needs to get done (lazy again....ha ha) I just make them in the fridge using a clean old pickle/peanut butter jar and it takes about 1 week for them to soak and be perfect!

I use about 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water, pickling salt, fresh dill weed, a clove or 2 of garlic, fresh cracked black pepper, a pinch of celery salt, and some sliced up white onions. I just slice up the cucumbers about 1/8" thick, cut them in half or quarters and let them soak in the brine. I try to remember to shake up the jar when I poke my head in the fridge.....but that doesn't always happen. I just prepared another batch this morning as my hubby and I devoured the last batch in a mere 3 days. I'm also going to try to do green beans this way too. My dear old mom brought me a jar of those as well- oooh they were heavenly!

Hope you enjoy my ramblings about food today.....and if you happen to see any canned pumpkin in Wisconsin please let me know- I'll drive as fast as I can to go get some!! ha ha :)

I just got a subscription to this awesome magazine as well- so many great healthy recipes in there.

Anne