Mmmmmm.... Sweets!

Well, guess what I did last night. I made my very first ever Apple Pie. I used a "just add water" pie crust mix and a bunch of August Whites (or Yellow Transparents as Jason calls them) that he picked from the huge apple tree in his dad's back yard. What to call them is actually a bit of a bone of contention between us. *lol* You know that our marriage has to be just horrible if that's normally our worst fight. *grin*

Anyway, I threw it all together with a mound of sliced apples, a cup of sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg (more than a sprinkle, actually... a fair amount), then after baking for half an hour at 400 I took it out and spread some melted butter on top, then sprinkled it with sugar and put the pie back in for another half an hour. Mmmmmm.... Yummy.

The mini-pie I made for Olivia didn't turn out quite as well. It looks great in the picture, but the bottom crust wasn't quite cooked. I found several recipes that called from anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 minutes cooking. I left it in for 35, but apparently it's not quite enough. I plan on trying to make a few more either later tonight or tomorrow. I told Olivia she could help me make some mini apple pies tomorrow if she was good.

This is what I was sitting down with when I was about to start my post this evening. Jason also got a huge bunch of blueberries at his dad's place and decided to make blueberry muffins today. They are amazing muffins. In case you're interested the recipe can be found here. Definitely worth it.

I still haven't been doing much of anything for stitching lately. I've been spending much of my extra time reading. I've been ordering in some of the Anita Blake - Vampire Hunter books (by Laurell K Hamilton) at my local library. I've only got 4 books left in the series so I guess I'll be reading a bit more for the next while. I get two books in at a time since I'm a fast reader (I usually read both books in 2-3 days) so I usually end up waiting for quite a while for the next ones to come in.

Anyway, I should take off. Big Brother just started and I don't want to miss anything! God, I'm such an addict!

Strawberry Cake... Yum!

Well, Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. (I won't disclose her age, though it's much younger than many of you out there are probably thinking, considering she's got a 28 year old daughter.)

Anyway, we're having her and Rickey (her bf) over for supper. Nothing fancy, just Homemade Pizza. But I'm also making her birthday cake. I make a (from scratch) Strawberry cake that is just to die for!!!

So I stopped at the store and picked up some fresh strawberries on the way home from her house this morning. I've got one baggie full of frozen berries from last summer which works fine considering they need to be mashed anyway. I just make sure to drain off the excess juice that comes with thawing them. But I like to have fresh berries to decorate the cake with.

If anyone is interested, I thought I'd post the recipe here for all to enjoy:

Fresh Strawberry Cake

1/2 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup mashed strawberries
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup icing sugar
250ml Nutri whip

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13" baking pan. (I use 2-8" round cake pans instead.)

In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter and the white sugar. Add the eggs and beat for 1 min. Stir in vanilla and salt then add flour.

In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream and the baking soda till the soda is dissolved. Add small bowl to the large bowl and beat well. Stir in mashed berries.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 or until top springs back when lightly touched. Let cake cool then completely.

ICING: whip nutri whip per package directions until peaks form, then add icing sugar and whip another minute or so.

TIP: I also mash and use any extra strawberries I have and mix them in with the Nutriwhip Icing. It gives a MUCH stronger strawberry flavour. I only tried this the last time I made it, but I absolutely loved it!! If you decide not to do that, you can add a drop or two of red food colouring to my icing to give a pretty pink colour. I also slice fresh strawberries in 1/2,1/4 and 1/8 and decorate the cake with them, makes it look and taste delicious.

YUMMY, YUMMY, Enjoy!

(I'll try and remember to take a pic of it once I've made it and I'll post the pic here as well)