Monday, September 29, 2008

Toffee Candy Apples


It's fall, and that means using those wonderful Washington apples in creatively delicious ways. This one was light and yummy!

The recipe is from Cooking Light Magazine (Aug '99).

8 Granny Smith apples (we used Golden Delicious)

1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup corn syrup or molasses

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp white vinegar

1. Wash and dry apples; remove stems and insert wooden sticks into the stem end. Line a baking sheet with foil.

2. Combine sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan. I like to put the sugar in the middle of the pan and pour the water around the edges. Then I don't touch it--no stirring at at. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook without stirring until it reaches 280 degrees.

3. Remove from heat. Quickly dip apples in sugar and allow excess to drip off. Place on the foil and let cool for a few minutes. Yum! These crack more like toffee than caramel.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

CIQ Raffle Quilt


Camano Country is the name of the CIQ 2009 Raffle Quilt. We are selling tickets through April 2009. The applique is to die for and the quilting is custom finished by me! You can tell it is Queen sized as we had to pin up the bottom border because our tent was only 6.5 feet tall. The show will be at the Stanwood Middle School next year during spring break. Hope you can make it!

Busy Saturdays




Last Saturday was so busy, it took till Tuesday to recover. The Primary kids had a pre-Sacrament meeting practice beginning at 9am and Frazier had band practice at 9am. That would have been fine if we didn't run out of gas 100 ft out of the driveway. Paul came and saved us and we were off. I was supposed to set up our tent for the Quilt show raffle quilt at the Harvest Jubilee by 8:45am, and you can guess that didn't happen till 9:30am. It was pouring down rain so we worked fast. Later in the day we rode the little train. Frazier enjoyed the warmth of the local library. Calvin performed on the outdoor stage, but I was playing for him on the electric keyboard so I don't have a photo. After the 2pm performance we goofed off at the thrift store until we needed to pack up the tent and go home. We all got home at 5pm and collapsed. Wouldn't you know, this Saturday is beautifully sunny at 70 degrees.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Reliving My Childhood


While visiting my parents in Temecula, they mentioned a new Bob's Big Boy had opened downtown. Mom and Dad were so nice to take us there for lunch and it was wonderful! I couldn't believe that the boys actually were full when we left. Here is Papa and me in my favorite spot.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Make a Blackberry Pie!

Today we drove to our favorite blackberry bramble and picked all we wanted. And Marnie scowered the property for a few more. They are running about 2 weeks late here, along with tulips, strawberries, peaches, and blueberries. So tonight we made a delicious pie. Here is the time-tested recipe. You can always tell we cut into the pie too soon, but we like it hot!
Blackberry pie
4-5 cups fresh blackberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

Combine 4-5 cups berries with the sugar and flour. Make sure you combine well until you see no white sugar or flour. Brush the bottom of the pie shell with egg wash. Spoon the mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Cut a few tablespoons of butter on top, and cover with the top crust. Seal and crimp the edges. Brush the top crust with egg wash, and sprinkle with as much as 1/4 cup sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the temp to 375 degrees F, and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes. (Put a rack underneath if you worry about dripping.)

Enjoy! Try to make your teeth the purplest!

Goin' to the Country...


Jackson, Marnie, and I canned peaches on Wednesday. Of course, it was difficult to keep from eating them, and we ended up with 11 quarts out of 45 pounds. We did make a couple of pies and cobblers, but most of them disappeared out of hand.

Katie Settles in at BYU

She's a Coed! Katie is all settled into her dorm at Heritage Halls and enjoying 5 roommates (and 1 bathroom). Combining honors government and writing with organ and voice class can only mean: She's going to be busy.

With her half of the room set up, Katie gets right to the work of finding her financial aid. It did take about a week to work out the kinks, but she made it happen. I only hope her room still looks this nice!

She needed a quilt, of course. Be Attitudes was the perfect pattern for a college coed. Good Luck!



Friday, September 12, 2008

Back to School

It's time for the kids to head off to school. That means 5 children in 4 different schools. With Katie away at BYU, we have a little more room for the spiral bound notebooks and bottles of glue. Marnie moved into the boys' room and we had a bonfire of all Katie's notes from the last 5 years.

Howard is working on his music while at school. He will be auditioning soon for the school play. It looks like Midsummer Night's Dream. He's also participating in some auditions for an 80s band. He sure knows a lot of vocals, so he may be singing. Yesterday he played the drums for the first time, and now wants to meet up with his Uncle Tad and learn to jam.

Today is Marnie's field trip into the corn mazes of Snohomish. It is a perfect fall day and being a little height-challenged will be fun for her!