Chunky Apple Cider Cake

Hello again!  I recently went apple picking with my mom, brother, and grandma.  We had a few adventures, but ended up with a large box of big, beautiful apples.  I'll tell you some of the adventures, but you all have to promise to not laugh too hard, ok?  

The first adventure was actually more comical, but scared us all a little at first.  My grandma and little brother were walking ahead to see if there were any apple trees that would be easier to pick from.  All the sudden, my mother and I heard my grandma say, "Woah!" We looked up to see my grandma tumble to the ground!  We rushed over and were relieved to see her laughing and trying clumsily to get up.  I asked what happened and she said that she had slipped on the apples that had been falling from the tree!  It was very funny to see her laughing so hard, and we all joined in shortly after.  I will save the other story for after today's recipe, so you will just have to be a little patient.

Chunky Apple Cider Cake

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup apple cider

3 cups sliced or diced apples

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions

Heat oven to 350*.  Grease an 8 by 8 baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, combine first six ingredients. In a small bowl, combine remaining spices, flour, and powder. Add dry ingredients to apple mixture, stirring just until combined.   The batter will be thick.  Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish. (At this point I topped my cake with additional apple slices and a sprinkling of raw sugar).

Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I hope you all enjoy this scrumptious cake as much as I did!   Lastly, I didn't forget about the other story I promised you!  My little brother had had just about enough of the day.  He was getting grouchy and upset, because he couldn't reach to many apples.  As he jumped to get an apple, he missed, and grabbed the leaves.  He accidentally ripped off the leaves instead.  When he decided he would have one more go, the tree decided to take revenge.  When the little guy gathered himself for one more mighty leap, the tree dropped an apple on him.  The poor little man had been looking up.  Vengefully, the tree pegged him right in the face.  Come to think of it, he never did get the apple he wanted.  I hope you all enjoyed these stories! 

Hot Fudge Cake Ice Cream Topping

How can you resist a recipe whose title contains the words fudge, cake, and ice cream?!  I was actually trying to make a variation of cake pops, but this turned out to be a very tasty mistake. This rich chocolate concoction is great heated up for ice cream topping, and tastes just like it sounds - like a warm piece of fudge cake a la mode.  You can't find any ice cream in the freezer?  Grab a big spoon and enjoy a scoop straight out of the fridge!  

Hot Fudge Cake Ice Cream Topping

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 Tbs. butter

2 1/2 cups chocolate cake crumbs

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1/8 cup milk

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Melt chips and butter in a double boiler over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture is smooth.  Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, combine cake crumbs and sugar.  Gently stir milk and vanilla into melted chocolate.  Add chocolate mixture to cake mixture and combine thoroughly.  Store topping in a covered container in the refrigerator.

To use, simply heat up some mixture in the microwave as you would hot fudge topping and pour over ice cream.  It is a little thick, so I usually end up topping my fudge with ice cream   ;)  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

Hello, everyone! This is Nutmeg here, with a recipe that I think you will all enjoy. My dad loves these cookies, and they are very fast and easy to make! If you are trying to figure out a quick recipe for last minute company, or on a day when you don't want to heat the oven up, these are perfect!  I hope you enjoy them! Happy Eating! :)  

                Peanut Butter Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

                                  2 cups sugar
                                  3 tablespoons cocoa powder
                                  1/2 cup butter
                                  1/2 cup milk
                                  3 cups oats
                                  1/2 cup peanut butter
                                  1 tsp. vanilla extract

Put the sugar, cocoa powder, butter, and milk in medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it boil for one minute, then remove it from the heat and add the oats, peanut butter, and vanilla. Mix it well.
Quickly drop dough by spoonfuls onto a sheet of waxed paper, and let it cool. Yummy! :) 

Note from Nutmeg: Make sure you bring the mixture to a boil SLOWLY, or it will not set properly! 

                               ~Nutmeg

Farmer's Biscuit

Hi!  Today's article comes with a little background.  This recipe was given to me by my aunt, passed down to her from her family.  The story begins when her family came over on the Mayflower.  They were not nobles, or anything so extravagant, but farmers.  As time continued, and they could hire farmhands, the women needed a good hearty breakfast  to feed the hired help.  Biscuits were simple, and could go with nearly everything, but they needed a hearty biscuit, something to stick in your insides and last you till dinner time.  This biscuit recipe is just that.  It is dense, and very filling.  The biscuit recipe also needed to be easy to remember.  All you need to know for this recipe is how to count.

Farmer's Biscuits

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup lard, butter, or shortening (or as they remembered it, about the size of a hen's egg)

just enough milk (about 1/4 cup, and somehow this translates to "5")

knead 6 times

Directions

Heat the oven to 400*

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined.

Add lard, butter, or shortening.  Using your hands, pinch together until completely combined.  Flour should have a sandy texture.

Slowly add milk, making sure dough does not get sticky, but stays slightly flaky, just sticking together.

Knead six times.

Flour countertop, and turn dough out onto the floured surface.  Pat out into an about 1 1/2 round, making sure it is all even.  Cut out into desired size.  (note: When you put all the dough back together when you run out of room to cut out anymore, do NOT roll back together.  Push together from the sides.)

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top edges start to brown, and the bottoms are golden.

These biscuits really were very hearty, and filling!  It is easily understood why my aunt's kin were so fond of the recipe! 

Mysterious Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Hiya everyone!  You are probably wondering why on earth these muffins are mysterious.  Well, I'll tell you.  There is zucchini  in them.  Quit giving me the hairy eyeball!  You really can't tell it's there!  I am guessing you still don't believe me.  Why don't you try it before you knock it!

 Mysterious Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

3 cups peeled,shredded,and drained zucchini

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

2 lemons, zested and juiced

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1 cup sugar

2 packets stevia

2 teaspoons poppy seeds

pinch salt

dash nutmeg

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder 

sliced almonds

additional sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*

Mix together all ingredients except for almonds and additional sugar.

Spoon  batter into muffin tins and sprinkle almonds and additional  sugar on top. 

Bake  for 20- 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Yumm!  Lemon poppy seed is my favorite!  If anyone has a favorite recipe, you should comment and leave it for us!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Hey everyone! Autumn is very close, and I thought I'd share this really yummy recipe for the perfect autumn cookie! :) I took these to youth group and there were none left, so they must have been good! :) I hope you enjoy it! Happy Eating! :) 

                            Pumpkin Spice Cookies

                          Cookies:              
                                 1 1/2 cups flour 
                                 1 tsp. baking soda
                                 1 tsp. baking powder
                                 1 tsp. cinnamon
                                 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
                                 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
                                 1/4 tsp. salt
                                 1 1/2 cups sugar
                                 1/2 cup butter, softened
                                 1 cup pumpkin
                                 1 egg
                                 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
                          
                         Glaze: 
                                 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
                                 3 tablespoons milk
                                 1 tablespoon melted butter
                                 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350*.
Combine the first seven ingredients in a medium bowl. 
Beat the sugar and butter together until well combined, then add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla. 
Mix well, then gradually beat in the dry ingredients, and mix it well. 
Place by tablespoon on greased baking  sheets and bake for 15-17 minutes. Cool completely before putting the glaze on. 
For the glaze, mix all of the ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over the cookies and enjoy! :) 

Note from Nutmeg: In order to make the glaze look "prettier" I put it in a small plastic sandwich bag and cut a little hole in the corner, then piped it on that way. It makes less of a mess. :)        

                               ~Nutmeg

Kid Friendly Tatertot Casserole

Who likes tater tots?  I think that every kid loves tater tots (including me!).  What is it about them?  Anyway, I should get back on topic!  Today's recipe is a casserole, tater tot casserole to be precise.  It is very good, and  is a simple after school dinner.

 

Tater Tot Casserole

1/8 cup flour

1/8 cup milk

1/4  cup chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 lbs. ground beef

1 cup sour cream (low fat is okay)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 32 oz. package frozen tater tots

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.

Cook ground beef. Season with salt and pepper to taste, while browning.

After the meat has finished cooking, take the meat out, and make a rue with the beef grease, milk, flour, and chicken broth.

Spread ground beef in the prepared baking dish. Whisk together cream sauce and sour cream. Spread over ground beef in an even layer.

Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the soup layer.

Top with tater tots.

Bake 30 minutes.

See, wasn't that easy?  My family loved it, and I hope yours does too!  Even my mom ate it, and she isn't supposed to!

Zebra Cake

Hello everybody!  This past week I was asked to make a cake friend's little sister's birthday.  I decided to do something completely un-traditional.  I was going to put  zebra stripes on the outside AND inside of the cake!  I am going to give you a link to the blog I found the recipe on, but I will also give you the recipe for the chocolate mousse I used to fill in between the cakes.  It is amazing!

Cake: http://www.mycakeschool.com/blog/how-to-make-a-cake-with-zebra-stripes-on-the-inside/

The mousse was everybody's favorite!  

Chocolate Mousse

2 cups chocolate chips

1/3 cup boiling water

3 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Directions

Place chocolate chips in a food processor, and grind 1 to 2 minutes until almost finely ground-but not too fine.  Continue processing while adding boiling water to melt chocolate until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

In a metal bowl, whip whipping cream and powdered sugar until stiff.  Fold about one third of whipping cream briskly into melted chocolate.  Then fold remaining whipping cream, in dollops, gently into chocolate.  Chill 1 to 3 hours or overnight.

This was a hit with the little girl who I made it for.  She loved the unexpected stripes on the inside!  It was delicious!  Oh, I almost forgot, did you see the zebra stripes on the outside?  It is zebra sugar paper.  It can be found at Hobby Lobby.

Chocolate Covered Banana Smoothie

Hello, everyone! :) This is a really good recipe for a delicious smoothie. It is really refreshing for a hot summer day. Happy Eating! :)

 

                   Chocolate Covered Banana Smoothie

                          2 bananas
                          1 scoop of chocolate ice cream
                          dash of vanilla
                          1/4-1/3 cup milk
                          small handful of chocolate chips

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend it until it reaches the consistency you want it. Oh, so yummy! :) 

                          ~Nutmeg
    

Venison Beef Chili

Hey out there!  How many of you enjoy chili?  I do.  Chili is a wonderfully warm meal on chilly (haha, sorry, bad joke!) days.  It was a bit cooler a few days ago, so I decided to try my hand at it.  It was wonderful!  I hope you all enjoy!

Venison Beef Chili

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. ground venison

2 cups dried kidney beans

6 T chili powder

1 1/3 cup water

1 T salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup minced, dried onion

dash oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

12 oz. can of tomato paste

15.25 oz can sweet corn

Directions

Cook beans to package instructions.

Brown meat.

Mix together all ingredients.

This chili is SO easy!  If you have any suggestions for better chili we would be very appreciative!

Cornbread With Extra Corn

 Hello again!  I know that Nutmeg already posted a  cornbread recipe, but this is more of a corn casserole.  I really enjoy this recipe, and hope you do too!

 Cornbread Casserole

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 can un -drained kernel corn

1 can cream style corn

1 cup sour cream

1 stick butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

Directions

Heat oven to 350*.

Mix together all ingredients and pour into an un -greased 9 by 13 pan.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Enjoy!

I LOVE this casserole!  It seems a little too dry to be casserole , but too wet to be bread so I decided to stick with casserole.  Tell us what you think!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

I made these brownies for my brother and his girlfriend when they went to college, and I was actually very pleased with the results! They are really simple, (especially since they use a brownie mix) and very tasty. I hope you like them! Happy Eating! :) 

                    Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

         Brownie Layer:
                             1 milk chocolate brownie mix
                           
Follow the instructions on the brownie mix to make a 9x13 pan, and let them cool. Meanwhile, prepare the icing.

        Peanut Butter Icing:
                            1/2 cup softened butter
                            1 cup creamy peanut butter
                            2 cups powdered sugar
                            3-4 tablespoons of milk
                           splash of vanilla
                            
In a mixer, whip the butter and peanut butter together until smooth, and well blended. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, then slowly add the milk until the consistency you want is reached. Add in the vanilla, and beat for 3 minutes on medium speed. Spread onto the cooled brownies. 
Melt 1/2-3/4 of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Cut a small hole in the corner of a Ziploc sandwich bag, and pour the chocolate in. Gently squeeze it over the brownies to drizzle it. Put it into the refrigerator and allow the chocolate to harden. Cut into squares and enjoy! :) 

~Nutmeg

Crazy Cream Cheese Biscuits

Who likes biscuits?  I am completely positive that I do.  Especially biscuits that contain a whole block of cream cheese! When I was younger, I would always choose biscuits and gravy as my birthday breakfast.  One year my mom did not have time to make them fresh.  She went to our pantry and grabbed a box mix.  Unfortunately, she did not happen to look at the expiration date.  When they came out of the oven they flat, hard and  made me want to cry.  She apologized profusely, and promptly made a quick batch of fresh ones.  Ever since, I have looked for delicious biscuit recipes from scratch.  Here is one of my favorites (she has a pretty good recipe as well, but these are richer)! 

Cream Cheese Biscuits

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup all-purpose flour

 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder.

Directions

Pulse together the cream cheese, 2/3 cup of butter, and 1 cup of the flour two or three times in a food processor fitted with the knife or dough blade.

Turn the dough out onto waxed paper and divide into two rounds. Wrap in waxed paper, plastic wrap, or a resealable plastic bag, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Lightly sprinkle a board or other clean surface using flour. Sprinkle the top lightly with flour. With floured hands and a floured rolling pin, roll out one portion of the dough at a time to approximately 1/2 inch thick. For each biscuit, dip a 1- to 1 1/4-inch biscuit cutter into the reserved flour and cut out the biscuits, starting at the outside edge and cutting very close together, being careful not to twist the cutter.

Using a metal spatula if necessary, move the biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet, placing the biscuits 1 inch apart. 

Bake the biscuits on the top rack of the oven for a total of 10 to 12 minutes until light golden brown. After 6 minutes, rotate the pan in the oven so that the front of the pan is now turned to the back, and check to see if the bottoms are browning too quickly. If so, slide another baking pan underneath to add insulation and slow browning. Continue baking another 4 to 6 minutes until the biscuits are light golden brown. 

A warning I must give you is that this recipe makes extremely small biscuits.  They are bite sized.  It doesn't make very many either so I suggest you double the recipe.  No matter their size they are still delicious.