Thursday, September 29, 2011

Apple Cake

Fall is here and one thing that reminds me of Fall is apples.  I was able to pick a few apples when we were up at the lake about a month ago, but most of them weren't quite ready.  Then when Parker and I were in Helena a few weeks ago, him and my mom picked quite a few for us.  This year, I made an Apple Cake, that I thought was delicious    And guess where I found the recipe?  Pinterest of course!  I love that site, you can find anything on there!







Fresh Apple Cake w/ Brown Sugar Glaze adapted from Southern Cakes
Uploaded by Monica H at www.lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com

Apple Cake:
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples
  • 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
Brown Sugar Glaze:
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 Tablespoon heavy cream
For the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch pan (round or square) and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.Stir with a whisk to mix everything together.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs with a hand mixer til light in color and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well.

Stir in the flour mixture with a spoon and continue stirring the batter til the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts (if using) and stir to mix them into the batter.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Place the hot cake on a wire cake. While it's still hot, prepare the glaze.

For the glaze: Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes.

Spoon the hot glaze over the still hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.


I wish I would have had some vanilla ice cream to go with it.  It would have been even better.  I shared the recipe with my mom a couple weeks ago and she has already made it three times!

I also made a few jars of applesauce and an apple pie with my apples this year.  Take a look at my apple post from last year.



Happy Champagne Thursday!

Cheers!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Summer Recap


Since today is the last day of Summer, I thought I would do a quick recap of what we have been up to.  The pictures begin at the beginning of July (since that's when it finally started to warm up around here) and end just a couple days ago at the golf course.


Fourth of July Weekend
Red, White & Blue
(Not planned at all)

Camping in Lincoln, MT

Baby Ducks

Parker and Aunt Rosemary
Chris, Me, Meghan & Marcus

Dad, Suzanna, Dad, Parker & Mom

Meghan, Marcus, Mom, Dad, Suzanna, Chris, Parker, Me
Water Park
One of our afternoons at the Water Park
Lake Pend Oreille
Visiting friends in Sandpoint, ID
Lake Pend Oreille

Parker Fishing
One of his new favorite things
Seattle
Chris and I had the opportunity to go to Seattle for a long weekend, in August.  It was nice to get away for the weekend and catch up with old friends.
Pikes Place

Sarah and I enjoying the roof top deck at the Hard Rock Cafe

Chris and I at the Hard Rock Cafe

The Blue Angels were in town for Sea Fair.  We got to enjoy a show, from our friends backyard.


The Fair
Parker and Thatcher had so much fun at the Fair and rode every ride that they could.




Enjoying a treat before heading home

Misc.
Grandpa Time

Our good friend Angie came to visit from NYC

View of a nearby fire, from our house

Rock On
Suzanna and Parks at Downtown Tonight, listening to some music

Dinner at Downtown Tonight

Buddies
Thatcher, Parker & Liam
Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa in Helena 
This is how most pictures turn out, when I try to get a picture with my boy.  But, he'll happily pose with other family members.

Happy with Grandma...

...and Grandpa

Family Fun Day at Farm in the Dell
Helena, MT 
Mini Golfing

Parker and his green pumpkin being weighed

Feeding a goat

Fun around Missoula
Enjoying some popcorn on a movie date with mom, to see The Lion King

Brunch at Tamarack

Tire Swing


Golfing with Dad

I hope everyone enjoyed their summer.  I know, we did!  Now on to a great Fall.

Happy Champagne Thursday!

Cheers!


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Mirror to Chalkboard

After seeing so many great ideas on Pinterest, I had been wanting to make a chalkboard, to take Parker's and baby boy #2's "First Day of School" pictures with, to document the year in school.  When I was at a garage sale a few weeks ago, I found an old mirror, that I thought would work perfectly.  Plus, it was only a $1, can't beat that!

After I brought it home, I sanded the frame (it was a little dinged up) and cleaned up the mirror.  Then, I sprayed two coats of Krylon's Chalkboard Spray Paint.  I didn't worry about covering up the frame, while I sprayed the chalkboard paint, since I knew I would be painting it.  After letting the paint dry for 24 hours, I taped up the edges of the mirror chalkboard and painted the frame with a few coats of some red craft paint.  Then, I removed the tape and let the red paint dry and ended up with a fun new chalkboard.  I had all the supplies, except the mirror, so the whole project only cost $1!  Gotta love cheap projects!



Old Mirror


Chalkboard Spray Paint

Chalkboard

Parker's First Day of Preschool Picture
Happy Champagne Thursday!

Cheers!


Sunday, September 11, 2011

Happy Grandparents Day!

Here is the card I made, to send to Parker and Baby Boy #2's Grandparents and Great-Grandma, for Grandparents Day.


The link from last year's Grandparents Day post.

Happy Grandparents Day!

Cheers!


We Will Never Forget

Thursday, September 8, 2011

First Day of Preschool


Parker had his first official day of Preschool on Tuesday, so I figured I better start the traditional first day of school pictures.  He's been going to preschool since the beginning of June, so it wasn't completely new, but there were a few changes that he wasn't quite sure about.  His class was beginning the day in a new room and he wasn't too excited about it, but after his friend Emma showed up, he was fine and ready to play.  This kid isn't big on changes and likes routine.  This scares me a little, especially because there is a big change arriving in a couple months.

We only got two pictures with the chalkboard, because he threw the chalkboard down in the wet grass.  There wasn't time to re-write it, had to get to school.



Thanks to my obsession with Pinterest, I've found some great "First Day of School" ideas.

Picture from Pinterest found here





Here's to a great school year!

Happy Champagne Thursday!

Cheers!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Baby Update

On Wednesday, I met with the high risk OB Doc and had another ultrasound.  (Update from last weeks post) Everything looked great and I even got to see the little guy in 4D.  I think he's pretty cute, if I do say so myself.  The doctor explained how exactly they determine if the baby might be anemic through an ultrasound.  If someone is anemic, their blood is thinner, causing it to flow faster.  There is a blood vessel in the brain they can look at and measure how quickly the blood is flowing.  There is a direct correlation between this measurement and anemia.  The faster the blood is flowing, the more likely you are to be anemic.  Luckily this little guy was in the normal range.  

The doctor wants to do another ultrasound in two weeks and if everything looks good then, we can most likely stop the ultrasounds then.  He said the chances of anything going wrong are very small, especially if you have been infected with Fifths Disease after 20 weeks, which I was.  

Cute little guy


Brain

Profile

Approximately 3lbs 2oz


Cheers!