Apple Pie Filling in a Jar

An Affair From the Heart - Apple Pie Filling in a Jar

This year our friends, Don and Gerry had a great apple crop.

They are so sweet to share with us!

Usually when I put away apples, I just freeze them,
this year I wanted to try something different.

I wanted to can them!

So I found a recipe on allrecipes.com, and adapted it to my liking.


I started learning to can last year, when my friend, Betsy and I canned spaghetti sauce.
I then tried my hand at a berry jam and peach ginger preserves.

scrumptious!

We have eaten this over ice cream
(kids said it's like apple pie without crust!!) ...

...and over pancakes!

Don said he would just eat them out of the jar with a spoon!

Apple Pie Filling in a Jar

4 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup corn starch
21/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
10 cups water
2 Tablespoons Lemon juice
7 quarts peeled and slices apples

(I made mine in pint jars)

Sterilize all of your jars and lids in a canning pot, in boiling water for about 1 minute.  Put on a towel to dry and cool.  Transfer seals to a small saucepan of boiling water until ready to use.

In a large sauce pan, combine sugar, spices and water, bring to boil and simmer until it becomes thick and bubbly.  Stir frequently so it doesn't stick.  Remove from heat. Add lemon juice.

Peel and slice apples and pack into jars.

Pour syrup mixture over apples, and tap jars on the counter to let syrup fall to the bottom.  Fill jars almost to the top.

Make sure to wipe the rims of the jars with a damp cloth to remove any residue.

Place seals from boiling water on top and secure rings, don't tighten all of the way.

Place in a canning pot of boiling water, leaving space in between jars, submerged in water,  and water bath for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and tighten the rings of the lids, turn upside down to cool on the counter, so jars seal.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

My niece had her bachelorette party last night.

She looked gorgeous,  as always.

It's hard for me to believe that she is getting married.

Spoken in the words of an "aging woman"....

"Seems like just yesterday...." she was playing with Barney, 

and skinning her knees.  

She has grown up into a positively gorgeous woman, inside and out.

I couldn't be more proud of her, or more blessed to have her not only as my niece, but one of my closest friends.

Leah and Austin

I was asked to make cupcakes for her dinner party last night.  Her color is red, so red velvet was a no-brainer.

I planned to make cream cheese frosting, until one of my 

sleepless lay-awake-and-count-things-to-do-nights.

I thought, white chocolate cream cheese would be good with red velvet.

I typed it into google and a Kraft recipe popped up right away.

It sounded just like what I had in mind, so I went for it!

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1 - 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

6 squares fine white chocolate, melted

1/2 stick butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

In your mixer, Cream together butter and cream cheese.  Add vanilla.

Add melted chocolate, beat.

Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until creamy and smooth.

B.L.A.T. Chicken Chop Salad (Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado & Tomato)

Baby, it's a SCORCHER outside!!

Someday this winter when we are freezing our cabooses off, we will miss this, but today? 

Well, today, I could use a little cold front!

It's hard to heat up the kitchen, when it's 100+ outside to cook, 

and grilling? 

I don't want to stand out there for very long!

Heck, grill your chicken on the patio table! ;)

Speaking of which, did you hear about the lady that baked cookies in her car!!??

CRAZY!!

(Link to article)

We eat a lot of salad anyway, but in the summer... we really eat a lot of salad!!

So glad my kiddos eat EVERYTHING!!

One of my other favorite things in the summer, are BLT's.

My kids were getting to the point where they were saying, "BLT's again??"

So, like a good mother, I tricked them!!

B.L.A.T. Chicken Chop Salad

BLT's in a bowl! ;)

Not only is it super yummy, it's very pretty!

Don't you think?

You can pretty much add anything you want, once you get the basics of the BLT part in there, it's just going to be an amped up BLT!!

B.L.A.T. Chicken Chop Salad

1 1/2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped

1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

1 pound of bacon, cooked (we use turkey bacon) sliced or crumbled

5 hard boiled eggs, chopped

2-3 medium tomatoes, (or to taste) chopped

1 avocado, sliced

1 1/2-2 pounds grilled chicken breast, sliced

Note: I cheated on the chicken and didn't even grill my own, too hot!! I used the frozen grilled strips, heated them in my skillet and put them on the salad last, when we were ready to eat.  They were still a little warm.

Prepare ingredients as directed above. Layer Like this:

chicken

avocado

egg 

tomatoes

bacon

lettuce

___________(bowl)___________

Serve with your dressing of choice.  We used ranch.  

Enjoy!!

"Hamburger" Cupcakes

hamburger cupcakes - by Tonja

I have been friends with Tonja, well, since I took her job in 1991.

Sounds terrible doesn't it?

Well, it didn't really play out quite like that.

I went to work for a bridal salon, taking a full-time job as a bridal consultant.

It was funny, because all I kept hearing about was the girl that had my job before I did.

"Tonja, Tonja, Tonja!!"

(insert Jan Brady whine here)

Funny thing was, every time she talked to the girls who worked there, or she stopped in, they were always talking about me.

We got to know each other a while later, and lost our jealousy...

She and I were both pregnant with our first babies, and we both had boys!

We were both stay at home moms, and we would talk on the phone all day.

Now you might think I am exaggerating, but it really was ALL DAY.

Like, charge one cordless phone while you talked, and when they beeped, 

time to switch off again.

We used to meet at the mall with the boys in the strollers, for "something to do."

(for the record I think 1995 was the last time I was bored)

Well, Tonja has always been a baker.  

I was the cooker, but she was always making cookies or something.  

My favorite cookies of hers I shared with you at Christmas:

Grandma Davis' Sugar Cookies

adorable!!

Last night she sent me a picture of these adorable cupcakes that she made for her daughter's softball party.

I shared the picture with all of you on facebook, and everyone wanted to know how to do it!

I asked her if she could send more photos, so I could blog about it, and she obliged me!

She is so darn talented!!

Tonja's Hamburger Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix (or your own recipe)

Chocolate frosting

White frosting, tinted red, green and yellow

White sprinkles

Make cake mix according to box instructions.  Line cupcake pans with liners.

Fill the cupcake liners 1/3 of the way full.

You want them to bake just to the edge of the liner, not "muffin top" over.

When cupcakes are almost done baking and still moist on top, add the sprinkles.

Continue baking until done.

Remove the cakes from the liners and cut them in half.

Pipe chocolate frosting on the bottom layer of the cupcake to make the burger.

Drizzle the red, yellow and green frosting towards the edges to resemble the condiments.

Put the tops on....

and you have hamburger cupcakes!!

Tonja and I have known each other for 21 years.

Time has gone on, our lives have changed, but when we get to see one another, we always have a great time!

Like this past weekend!

She and I attended the Def Leppard and Poison concert at our ball field, TD Ameritrade Park.

You may have heard of it?  It's where the College World Series is held every year?

This is a picture of us from last Saturday night!

me and Tonja at the concert

Can you believe, we were already sitting in the 9th row.  We had good seats.  

Then right after Poison was done playing, the security guard came and invited us to sit in the front row!!

It was SO COOL!!

Doing a cupcake cheers to you, my good friend!!

Thanks for sharing your masterpieces with us!!

<3

Refrigerator Pickles

My Mother-in-law makes these every summer.

They are SO YUMMY!!

Last year was the first year I tried canning, I did tomatoes, mostly, and also made a peach ginger jelly.

Canning can be time consuming,  but the rewards are so.... well....

REWARDING!!

If you have ever planted cucumbers, and been successful, you know that typically they are 

quite the bumper crop!

Most people are like "seriously, what am I going to do with all of these?!?!"

These pickles couldn't be easier to make.

serve them on a cracker as an appetizer

or just eat 'em out of the bowl like us!

refrigerator cucumbers

Refrigerator Pickles

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 cup white vinegar

1 teaspoon canning salt

onion, optional

cucumbers,  about 5 or 6 large. (the ones pictured made half of the recipe)

Put a large pot of water to boil on the stove.

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, water and salt over low heat until sugar is dissolved.

Add vinegar.

Take off heat and cool.

When water in big pot is boiling, drop whole cucumbers in.  

Boil for 5 minutes.

Remove from water, cool a bit, peel and slice.

Slice onion thin, (optional) to taste.

Place cucumbers in plastic containers, layer with onion.

Pour cooled sugar/vinegar mixture over the cucumbers to cover.

Place in your refrigerator, can be eaten in a couple of hours, and will keep for a couple of months!

You can also freeze them, take them out this winter when the snow is blowing!!

Lemonade Cake with Blueberry Filling

One night while I couldn't sleep, I was lying there dreaming up something to make for my Aunt's 50th Birthday celebration.

Do you do this when you can't sleep?? 

Sometimes I forget what my feeble mind came up with, 

thank goodness I didn't forget this one!

Lemonade Cake with Blueberry filling and Lemonade Buttercream

My Mom grew up with three sisters.  She is a twin, and her twin, Janette,  lives here in Omaha.

She has an older sister, Ellen that lives in Washington D.C., and a younger sister, Edie, that lives in Henderson, Nevada.

My Mom's Mom, my grandmother, was such a super lady.  She is missed so much still, even though she hasn't been with us since 1994.

June has always been a busy birthday month for us.

My Mom and her twin were born on June 7th, my birthday is the 9th, my Aunt Edie's birthday is the 19th, my cousin, Heather, (my Aunt Janette's daughter) has a birthday on the 20th, and my grandma's birthday was on the 21st.  

(still with me??)

My Aunt Ellen, is the only one that didn't have a June birthday out of all of us girls!!

She made up for it though and got married on my grandma's birthday on June 21st!

Ironically, June 21st of this year, was her 25th wedding anniversary!

Thank you to her husband, Rick, for sharing her with us!!

My Mom and I always celebrate our birthday on the 8th, right in between our birthdays, and then we try to celebrate with Aunt Janette and Heather for ALL of our birthdays on the 21st to toast my grandma.

This year, my Mom had a great idea, and that was to see if we could get her other sisters here to celebrate with us!!

visiting my grandparents grave

My Aunts, Ellen, Edie, My Mom, Jane and and my Aunt Janette

Later that night we went to the Bone Fish Grille and ate dinner together, 

then back to my Mom's to have cake!

yummy, yummy, buttercream!

the perfect summer cake!

here is a peek at the filling inside

yes, please

Lemonade Cake with Blueberry Filling and 

Lemonade Buttercream

I made the filling the day before, so it would thicken and spread easier.

Filling:

Combine in a saucepan:

1 cup frozen blueberries

1/4 cup water

1 T lemon juice

1T lemon zest

Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Desolve 1 T corn starch in 1 T water, add to blueberries and stir until thick, about 5 minutes.

Place in refrigerator for 24 hours.

Cake:

1  box of white cake mix

3/4 cup frozen concentrate lemonade

1/2 cup water

4 egg whites

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir ingredients together with mixer on low then increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, scraping bowl.

Grease and flour baking pans.

Divide batter evenly between pans, bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pans, then on cooling rack until completely cool.

Frosting:

6  cups of powdered sugar

2 sticks of unsalted butter

3 T lemonade concentrate

pinch of salt yellow food coloring

Beat ingredients until thick.

Add blueberries to bottom layer of cake, some will drip down side, I cleaned it up with a paper towel.

Do a "crumb layer" of frosting on entire cake, place cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes, frost with remaining frosting.  I piped an edge around the bottom and made a decorative "ring" of piped frosting in the center, where I added fresh blueberries to the top.

Place fresh blueberries around the bottom of the cake.

Happy 50th Birthday, Edie!!

Here is a picture, albeit not a very good one, but the only one that I had of us girls on our celebration night!

My Mom, Jane, me, Edie, Ellen, Janette and her daughter, Heather

Depression Cake

Depression Cake?

Yep, that's what I said.

Most of us, myself included, would have thought the name for this cake came from the fact that it is a rich, moist chocolate cake.

What's better for depression than chocolate?

Well, maybe wine... but that's a debate for another time.

Actually, this is called "depression cake" because the recipe is from the time of the Great Depression, when eggs were scarce.

chocolate depression cake

My friend, Julie, made this cake for my husband and I many years ago when she had us over to dinner at her house.

"B.C."

"Before Children"

chocolately cake and whipped cream

She got the recipe from her Grandmother, and told me it was her favorite.

It quickly became one of mine, too.

And everyone else's I have shared it with!

Depression Cake

So, without further adieu, here is the recipe for you!

Depression Cake

2 c sugar

3 c flour

5 Tablespoons of cocoa (not level)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

10 Tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

2 c cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine ingredients and pour into an UNGREASED 9x13 pan.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Top with fresh whipped cream.