I made A Couple

of new Cupcake recipes in honor of the harvest season.   Even though they are not chocolate, I like them both.  The top ones are peach and the bottom are zucchini.

 

Peach Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

My notes:  Because the muffin tins were almost full, I thought the cupcakes would overflow if I only made the 12 suggested,  So I filled 18 muffin tins.  However, they do not rise much, so I think next time I"ll  fill the cups to the top and make 15. I used 2 very ripe peaches. I would use less orange peel, as I thought it overpowered the peaches.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (If I don't have unsalted butter, I just use regular and add less salt than the recipe calls for)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp grated orange zest (or less)
3/4 cup milk
2 peaches or nectarines, pitted and thinly sliced and cut into thirds

1. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and orange zest, beating well. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of milk, beating until smooth. Fold in peaches or nectarines.
3. Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated over for 23-28 minutes or until golden brown and tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.
Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting HERE

ZUCCHINI CUPCAKES WITH

BROWN SUGAR FROSTING

Makes 24

3 eggs

1 1/3 cups Sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cups shredded zucchini

BROWN SUGAR FROSTING

My notes:  I added more powdered sugar thinking that it would not set up.  I would add a little more than the called for 2 cups, but not much.  It sets up more when it is cool.

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 -1/2 to 2 cups confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, oil, orange juice and extract. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to egg mixture and mix well. Stir in zucchini.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

For frosting, combine the brown sugar, butter and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool to lukewarm.

Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Frost cupcakes.

Skyblue

I am going through my files (again), and came across this picture.

It was taken by the car dealership on September 21, 1988, when we bought the car.  Gary loved this car and named it Skyblue.  It lost a little of its luster after Gary backed into a pole while leaving Merrill Lynch one day, but it served us well.  That is Natalie I'm holding in the picture, and we had it until she was 14.

Skyblue kind of reminded us of the GTO Gary had in high school.  The GTO was the only car we had for the first few years of our marriage.    I never did like the stick shift in either the GTO or Skyblue, so it was a pretty bumpy ride when I was driving.   Of course that is the only reason I have ever driven in an erratic fashion :)  After all, I've never gotten a speeding ticket in my whole life.  In fact, I've never gotten any kind of ticket.  (The few accidents I had in high school were always someone else's fault, of course.)  And I've never run into a pole.  And I've also never run into a house, like Natalie did when she had only had her license for 2 weeks.  But that is another story worthy of it's own blog entry.

On Sunday

Gary, Natalie, and I sat out in the back yard after dinner.

The plan was to work on better questions for the Book of Mormon table topics game.  After a not very productive hour, we finally decided that the questions just need to be simpler.  While we were looking at the original Table Topics game, one of the intriguing questions was,

"Would you rather meet your

great great grandparents

or your great great grandchildren?"

A very interesting question.  I really didn't have to think about it much.  I already know something about my great great grandparents.  I already know something about the times they lived in.  I would love to have a visual view and more insight into their lives.  I would love to talk with them about their joys and struggles.   But I also know that when I die, I will get to meet them face to face and and do just that.

But the great great grandchildren?  Well, I know nothing about them (obviously).  Actually, I may have met them in the preexistence.  But if I did, I don't remember it.  So, these things considered, my answer to the question would be that I would like to meet my great great grandchildren. 

I'm talking about my grandchildren's

grandchildren, here.

I can hardly imagine it. 

What will their lives be like?  

What will the world be like? 

I thought a lot about ancestors and descendants at the Anderson Reunion this summer.  It brought me such joy to see Mom and Dad's descendants (their great grandchildren) playing with and enjoying each other.

(just a few of the many pictures taken at the reunion)

It makes me wonder how much our parents and grandparents, all of whom have passed away, are able to know of what is happening in our lives.  I know that once I'm gone from this earth, I will be catching as many glimpses of what is going on here with my ancestors as is humanly (or should I say heavenly) possible.  I don't know all the details of how it all works.  But I know it works.  So if in some, oh maybe 50 years, my great great grandchildren are wondering about these same questions.  Let me go on record:  

I'm here (or there)

loving you and cheering you on.

If I was unbalanced

before, I'm even more so now. 

I'm not sure if I'm living a dream,

projecting the life I'm living,

or actually in reality. 

If you can't guess, we went to the movie "Inception" today.

I am totally confused.

Crockpot Crusade #2

I'm having so much fun with this challenge.It is making meal planning fun for me.  I find that I'm simplifying many of the recipes I'm trying, either because of preference or necessity (like I don't have the ingredients).  So the recipes I'm posting are the way I made them so I can remember what I did next time I make them.  I'm finding some recipes that I will definitely make again, others I definitely won't, and some that are a maybe.  These are the recipes (and pictures) of the ones I will make again.

Gone-All-Day Casserole

1 cup uncooked wild rice ; rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cans ; (4 ounces each) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
1 large onion ; chopped
1 garlic clove ; minced
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 beef bouillon cubes
2 -1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
2 pounds boneless round steak ; cut into 1-inch cubes
3 cups water

Place ingredients in order listed in a 3-qt. slow cooker (do not stir). Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until rice is tender. Stir before serving.   Serves 10-12   (From Taste of Home)

I left the mushrooms and meat out, so Natalie could enjoy it,

but with the meat it would be a complete meal.

Despite their somewhat glum expressions for

the picture, they really did like this dish.

Crockpot Cashew Chicken

2 lbs boneless ; skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 clove garlic ; minced
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup cashews

Combine flour and pepper in resealable food storage bag. Add chicken. Shake to coat with flour mixture. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken about 2 minutes on each side. Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes in small bowl; pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. Add cashews and stir. Server over rice.  (From 365 Days of Crockpot Cooking)

Crockpot Baked Beans

1 can (12 oz) Pinto beans
1 can (12 oz) Kidney beans
1 can (12 oz) Black beans
2/3 cup Barbecue sauce
2/3 cup Salsa
1/4 cup Brown sugar
2 drops Hot pepper sauce

Instructions:  Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours or 6 hours on low. Also good cold as a dip with tortilla chips (that's how we ate the leftovers during the BYU game)

Crockpot Chunky Applesauce

I used my apple peeler and slicer, which made preparation very easy.  I liked this just as well as a leftover.  It reminded me of home, when Mom would bottle chunky applesauce.  Dad and I would make toast, add butter and honey, and then put applesauce on top.  I thought of them as I did just that for lunch the next day.

8 large tart apples
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Water
1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Combine apples, sugar, water, and cinnamon in a slow cooker. Stir gently. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Serves 6.  (From Taste of Home)

Crockpot Glazed Carrots

1 1/2 lb baby carrots ; whole
1/4 c packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 c water
pinch of salt

Pour all ingredients into your crockpot and stir. Add lid and cook on high for 1 hour. Stir carrots and turn heat to low. Stir carrots once every hour and cook for a total time of 4 hours.  (I just cooked on low for the whole time, and it was fine.)

Crockpot Au Gratin Potatoes

Most recipes call for some type of cream soup, but I just made a white sauce and poured it over it.

6 Potatoes ; peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon Flour
1 tablespoon Butter
1/2 cup Milk
Salt ; to taste

Peel and slice potatoes. Place in crockpot. Make white sauce by melting butter, mixing in flour, and then slowly adding milk. Stir until thickened. Pour over potatoes. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours.

Crockpot Beef  -- so far my favorite method for stew meat and round steak is to sprinkle it with a package of onion soup mix, pour in some water, and cook away.  On high for about 4 hours or low for about 6.

(Gary is a much better sport about allowing me to take pictures

of him eating than I would be)

Cruel and Kind

words, even from strangers, can stay with you for a long time.

I thought of that this morning as I parked my car to go into a Zumba class.  As I turned the car off, I realized that I had not parked the car so it was centered in the stall.  So I pulled it out a little and readjusted it.  It reminded me of something that happened a few years ago when I was at Costco (I could write a book about experiences at Costco--am I going too much?).

As I came out of Costco with my groceries, I noticed that I had not parked my car very straight and that it was making it difficult for the people in the car next to me to load their groceries.  I said, "I'm sorry, I didn't park this very well."  The woman just smiled and said it was fine.  Then I  noticed something on my windshield.  I picked it up and read it when I was in the car.   It said, "Only fat pigs park like this."  I was literally stunned.  I drove away and cried.  It felt very personal, though I know it probably wasn't.  I don't know if the person who wrote it even saw me or just saw the bad parking job.  What it was all about was the anger and hateful feelings of the person who wrote it   But even knowing that, it still hurt to think that there were people around me that could express such hateful words.

I compared that to the kind words of a woman who was in the Zumba class with me today.  The dance moves are so fast, and I'm just barely catching on to something when the instructor moves to another set of complicated steps.  During the class the woman smiled at me and said, "I've been doing this for a month and I'm just barely learning the steps."  We struck up a conversation in between the dances, and her kindness brought tears to my eyes.

Every time I park my beast of a suburban, and I don't do it very well, those hateful words on the note from a stranger still come into my mind.    Just as, from now on when I'm at Zumba and not keeping up very well, I'll remember the kind words of another stranger.

Words do wield great power.  Be it for good or bad.   It is amazing how some little words that are said, sometimes just in passing, can have such an effect on us.   It reminds me think twice about the words I use.

Confessions

of a recipe collector.  I rarely try any of them.  But I LOVE collecting them.  I have piles of recipes I've clipped out.  I have files of recipes I've pasted or written on cards and filed. I've spent hundreds of hours through the years trying to organize them. And through all of that, I still can't find my recipes when I need them.

This is one of the favorite places I keep my recipes.

It is a wall chest with picture collages of the family eating

My biggest dilemma, though, is planning meals ahead and having the ingredients I need.  When It comes time for Gary to be home, I don't know what we're doing for dinner.  As a result, we eat out way too much (I love eating out, but it is hard on the calorie intake and budget).

So, Saturday I told Gary I was going to make an investment that will make it easier for me to actually follow through and make dinner.   I love using crock pots because then dinner is not a last minute thing. But, I don't always like the results of everything mixed together because it can get mushy. So, that is why I made this investment ($69 at Costco).

I'm calling my new quest of using the

triple crock pot at least three times a week,

"The Triple Crock Crusade."

I have to make it official or I wont do it.  But, I've already used it three times. The first time I used it was on Sunday.  I made Cashew Chicken, wild rice, and carrots.  The chicken and carrots worked great, but the rice was a little clumpy.  On Tuesday I made Rosemary Chicken, Baked beans, and berry cobbler.

 We liked the baked beans a lot, and the berry cobbler was OK.  The chicken was very tender, but we didn't care for the flavor. 

So, this is going to be an ongoing experiment.  I just filled them for tonight's dinner with a stew meat mixture (stew meat, onion soup, water), applesauce (sliced apples, 1/2 c.water, 1/2 c. sugar), and au-gratin potatoes (sliced potatoes and a sauce made with 1 T. butter, 1 T. flour, 1/2 c. water).  I'll see how it works and post the recipes that we love.  Those I made today I just kind of made up, so I have no idea how they'll work. 

But, if they are not edible, well, I guess we'll have to go out for dinner!