Random Photo of the Week, 2

Another random animal photo.


Observations:

1. Obviously, Griffin,the German Shorthair, is just being nice to Cat (yes, his name is Cat). Perhaps Cat was having a bad day.

2. Cat is loving this extra attention. Although I don’t think he could get away if he wanted to.

3. That blanket was probably crocheted in 1990. Thanks Grandma, Griffin loves it.

What to do tonight ? Make Apple Dumplings of Course....

I like to experiment. With recipes. I will try just about anything I have at least half the ingredients for. Tonight I had a bag of apples sitting on my counter....meant to bait a porcupine, but that is another story for another time. If you ever have a snoring porcupine take up residence under your hunting shack, just email me, I've already done the research for you.

Anyway...Tonight I made Apple Dumplings from a random recipe I found. It required the peeling and coring of 6 medium apples,

Then I made a basic pastry crust, wrapped the apples, and put them in a too big pan. Note: if you are going to attempt to recreate these, you must must must must must use an 9x9 pan. Not a 9x13. The smaller pan will keep the juice juicy. Or something.

Don't be scared of the pastry dough either...it was very easy. Some good parchment paper will help as well. This was the finished product after 35 minutes in the oven at 400*. In the future, I will cover these for the first 20 minutes. Also, I will cook them in a smaller pan to enable the juice to remain juicy. Juicy enough or not, they were awesome and even better with ice cream.

Here is the recipe, complete with my after cooking experience modifications.

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk

Cut together in a mixing bowl until it forms a soft ball. Place 1/2 the ball on a large square of parchment paper, roll out flat, cut each half of the dough into three equal sized squares. 

Peel and core 6 medium apples. Wrap in dough, pinch dough together at the top. Place apples in 9x9 pan. Preheat oven to 450*.

Topping:
3/4 cup honey
3 TBSP butter
1 TBSP shortening
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar

Mix all ingredients in a glass bowl. Melt in microwave, stir well. Pour over top of apples. Cover apple pan in tinfoil, do not seal edges of foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover. Bake remaining 15 minutes. Devour.


Linked with : A Bowl Full of Lemons,

Griffin is 5...

Our baby is 5. Let's take a quick trip down memory lane.

We purchased Griffin in the Spring of 2007. Doug had wanted a German Shorthair pup forever and ever. I had only ever had labs. Doug won, because of how unbelieveably freakin' cute pictures of German Shorthair puppies were. We did some research, decided that Shorthairs were family friendly, trainable, and smart, and called a few numbers. Then we waited. Waited. and Waited. Until he was finally seven and a half weeks old, at which point, we drove three hours and picked him up. And proceeded to fall in love.

He was so adorable.

Just look at that face.

                                                                       And that bottom.

                                                      He was just so clumsy and adorable.

                                                                                 
                                                              Then he started to get bigger...

                                                                       And just as cute.

                                                          Then he GREW....

And she grew : )

And now he is just our 5 year old old old man. Who likes to nap. Alot.

Now this post makes me want another German Shorthair. He was just so cute. Happy Birth-month Griffin!

My Clothes Have Never Been Washed in Tide.

I apologize for the complete randomness of this post. I just watched a Tide commercial and it got me thinking. My clothes have never been washed in Tide. Ever.
Growing up, I was the oldest of four girls. My dad was a teacher and my mom worked odd jobs at random shifts. We were got by. As we got a little older, my mom got a regular job and things got a little easier for my family. As we got older however, we just got more expensive. When I went to college, I couldn’t afford Tide. I opted to spend my money on other things, things that don’t really belong in this post.

Now that I’m married and it’s just my husband and I, I could probably afford Tide. I could probably afford new furniture. Thanks to my wonderful upbringing, I have never even thought about buying Tide, though I frequently think about buying new furniture. Thank you, parents for instilling in me a stinginess that I will never outgrow. Thank you for teaching me to save money and for the difference between need and want.

I have nothing against people who use Tide. This is not a Tide-bashing post. It is simply an observation. Take it for what it’s worth :) .

Random Photo of the Week

I love this picture. I think I took it last Spring.

Random Photo Observations:

1. Our cat (truly it’s Doug’s cat) really believes in the depths of his soul that he is a dog.

2. Our dogs tolerate our cat because he is legit.

3. This is the scene on our porch any given morning. They wake up, they do their business, they come back and watch the world go by for awhile.

4. This is their best behavior.

5. Our lawn needs (needed) help.

6. I really believe that our cat was the inspiration for the movie Puss N’ Boots. Just ask my sister.

Oh the joy of pets.

Bad Blogger, Good Bread

Bad blogger. Busy blogger is more like it, but whatever. 

No excuses, however, can I just mention how extremely excited I am that I will be done with school in August. Done. Over. Completed. CAN’T. WAIT. 

Anyway, I’ve been busy. That is no excuse, because there are no excuses here. However, I need to get back into a rhythm. A routine, so to speak. I have heard that those exist.

What have I been doing lately. Anyone out there who can remind me? Seriously, the month of January was a whirlwind. Truly. Madly. Deeply. As you can see it ran by so fast that I lost my mind. Not really. I lost a few other things though. A button off of my favorite pea coat, the flashlight that is always by the front door, and my phone charger. Minor compared to my mind, but still. 

So, what to do when you don’t have time to think? Bake. Obviously. Yesterday I made our favorite zucchini bread recipe and it turned out fabulously, as it does every single time. I’m not kidding, it is like impossible to screw this up. I modified this recipe from one I found in my Grandmother's old stash.  This recipe, as with most I make, was fairly basic and fairly easy. I used shredded zucchini that I had frozen last summer.

Here is the recipe:

2 C. sugar                             1 tsp salt                             

1 C. Canola Oil                    1 tsp baking soda

3 eggs                                   ¼ tsp baking powder

2 tsp. vanilla extract              1 tsp cinnamon

3 C. flour                              2 C. shredded zucchini

Optional: Apples, nuts, cranberries, chocolate chips…whatever you want to throw in. 

Pre heat oven to 350*

Beat oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla until blended. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon into sugar mixture until moist. Stir in zucchini and optionals. Transfer batter to two greased bread pans. Bake at 350* for 55 minutes.

I'm linking with these great parties... What's Up Wednesdays, Share the Wealth Wednesdays,Wow Me Wednesday, Show and Share, Crafty Sasse Wednesday, Take A Look Tuesdays, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Ta-Da Tuesdays, Party Time, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, More the Merrier Monday,