For The Love of Apples

My post the other day was about apple picking and not having any success. Well I wanted more apples because I had made this yummy apple crisp and wanted so bad to make some more. I still haven't gotten any apples so this post about the apple crisp is the next best thing. I have two different recipes for apple crisp that I like to use. One is from the New Good Housekeeping Cookbook and one from my mom in my own recipe book. I used the recipe from the Good Housekeeping Cookbook. I will post both recipes and let's see which one you prefer.

The New Good Housekeeping

6 medium apples
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup old fashioned or quick cooking oats
6 tablespoons butter (3/4 stick softened)

Peel, core, and slice apples. Place apples in a glass baking dish.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium size bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, oats, and butter. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over apple slices. Bake 45 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm or refrigerate to serve cold later.


Apple Crisp
My Mom's

6 apples
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 butter

Butter an 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking dish or a 6 cup casserole dish. Peel, core and slice apples. Combine sugar, cinnamon and mix with apples. Turn into prepared baking dish.
For the topping, combine together sugar, flour, salt and butter. Mix together and top apples with crumbly mixture. Bake at 375 degrees or until apples are tender and topping is nicely browned.

I served our apple crisp with lowfat vanilla ice cream. Very delicious indeed!

A Birthday And No Apples

Yesterday was my husband Randy's 34th birthday. We spent the day just having a lazy day, well except for when we decided to go apple picking. That didn't turn out quite like we would have hoped. We wanted to pick some apples so I could make apple crisp, we only found one tree and were able to pick about four apples and that was it. We went driving around to see if we could find more apple trees but no such luck. I guess instead of driving around to find some apple trees we could have just picked the apples from our tree out back in our yard. But, that would have been a problem too, the apples on our tree out back didn't turn out very well and are very small. Even though we didn't have any success in the apple picking department we did have a great day. Randy had a wonderful birthday and had the cake of his choice, which is an ice cream cake. I was given the idea from my sister that I should have made an ice cream cake instead of buying one from the store. I am going to keep that in mind and when the occasion arises I will make one.

Back From Vacation Sooner Than Expected

Randy and I came back from vacation sooner than we hoped, I woke up on Sunday morning not feeling very good at all. I knew traveling on to Maine would not be a good idea so we ended up coming home. I am feeling much better after having gotten some much needed rest and relaxtion. Even though Randy and I didn't end up going to Maine, we enjoyed the time we spent in Vermont.

The Beginning of Our Vacation

We set off for our vacation at almost one this afternoon. The weather was perfect for driving and there was not a lot of traffic. This was my first time every going to Vermont but for Randy he has been a few times. Randy and I took a few pictures along the way.

I had to take this picture real quick, as we were driving in the car past this sign. Ahh.... we have made it into Vermont. I was taking in all the sights just like a tourist should.

We stopped at a pull off that was on one of the bridges to take some pictures. Here is Randy with Lake Champlain behind him. On either side of the bridge was water for as far as you could see.

I am all smiles as I sit waiting for Randy to take my picture. That is quite the view.

This sign is right beside where we were sitting on the rocks. Very interesting historial information about the lake and the islands.

Another shot of Lake Champlain.

It's Time For Vacation

That is what Randy and I are saying to ourselves today as we prepare to leave for our vacation. We will be leaving later this afternoon and be heading to Burlington, Vermont to spend the night there. Then on Sunday we will be off to Augusta, Maine for five days. I plan on taking my laptop so I will keep everyone updated on the adventures we are having during our trip.

Dinner Made Easy and Tasty

If you want a quick, delicious and easy meal to make then you should try this. I am so glad that I did. I was given a coupon for this by my friend Shelby and picked up a box a couple weeks ago when I had went shopping. Thanks Shelby!
Pick yourself up a box of the Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken and Pasta and give it try.

Some of My Favorites

Since it has been awhile since I have cooked or baked anything, I thought I would post about some of my favorite recipes that I enjoyed making.

Summer Berry Parfait

Quick, Easy Mac and Cheese

Chewy Granola Bites

Apple Fritters