Creative Dilemma and a Solution

For those of us who so-oo need to create, perhaps you can relate to my dilemma. I have been busy in the kitchen for days making apple butter, apple pies, videoing the process and generally having a giant mess in my kitchen (which is also my office space).  It has been fun and the resulting products have been enjoyed by my family but to tell you the truth I was sick to death of the sticky floors, counters and canning paraphernalia setting about. I was so-oo due for no mess!


A few years back I discovered another wonderful creative outlet but this creative outlet made a mess in a very confined area, my hard drive on my computer. I found the Digital World! In case you are just discovering the world of digital scrapbooking or haven't yet discoverd it ...here is the “condensed” version :) Digi scrapping is basically the same thing as paper scrapping...only you create your layouts on your computer using software. The software varies...from the simple to the super complex...and from the inexpensive to the very expensive.Today is a digital day, yea...no cleanup mess!!

So what have I been up to?? Ok...I'm getting to that :)


I have been offering bags of apples to my friends and since my friend Greta requested my Apple Butter recipe I wanted to make it "pretty" for her. Before I show the recipe card off though I owe a "Thank You" to Shabby Princess for the great designs from their digital collection called  "HOLIDAY RECIPE COLLECTION". 

So my secret Apple Butter recipe is out...If you decide to vary the recipe in any way you may discover what makes this recipe so special.

Happy Cooking~Happy Eating~Happy Creating!

Autumn, Sundays and Family Dinner

Carol's Apple Pie

Carol's Apple Pie, a peek inside...


When we first moved to Utah my sister Colli lived just around the corner from us. We started a tradition then of getting together for dinner. My sister Kathi also lives in Utah and although she lives the other side of the Oquirrh Mountains from me we also try to get together as often as possible. For my sister Kathi it is most often for celebrations. Several years ago Colli moved out of state so for today's dinner it was myself, nephew Mikeal and my husband for dinner.




Mike has recently begun a love affair with meatloaf. A few months ago I taught him how to make it and since then he likes to have it at least every other week. I planned to make it for dinner today after we took a drive up to through the canyon.




I look forward to taking time away to enjoy the Fall Leaves, it is my favorite season and a favorite way to enjoy the day. The days here in Utah are a bit crisp but sunny and the air smells simply wonderful...pines, oak, maples all mixed together with wet leaves.




Oreo, Tom and I drove up toward the Timpanogas and headed on a road past Tibble Reservoir. Before long it turned into a gravel road. We drove until the road narrowed. The mountains in the distance have snow capping them, the air is a bit colder. We hop out of the truck and begin our hike up the side of the mountain. Oreo keeps speeding ahead on the trail, he enjoys being in lead. I've snapped a few hundred photos today along with some video footage of the area. I hope to scrapbook some of thes pictures later, I'm sure we'll have a few good pictures! I sure love days like this.




We had a wonderful surprise when we got back to the house, Mike had just finished making meatloaf for us! I had planned to make my homemade apple pie tonight too so we had quite a dinner...Yum.

A Chill is in the Air {Autumn Delight}

Every year as Fall approaches thoughts turn to some of my favorite things.

The Smell of Wet Leaves

Harvest Festivals

Crisp Sweet Apples

Pumpkin Pie, Cookies, Cheesecake, Stew, Muffins, oh my!

Falling Leaves

Corn Mazes

Candy Corn

Canning

I could hardly wait for the apples to be at the just ripe state...

I'm thinking Apple Butter, Apple Pie, Apple-y Oatmeal, Caramel Apples and more.

Thinking about all those wonderful Fall Favorite Recipes reminded me of a simple but guilty pleasure I have taken up over the past few months...have you discovered  Pinterest? I've been collecting all sorts of great ideas, take a look! I've started a board with lots of fun Apple Delights, there is a board for Food With Taste and of course a Make It board!

Yesterday I made my first Apple Butter of the season. My technique involved slicing apples, filling my crockpot, cooking them til tender and finally adding the sugar and spices. Heres what it looked like after it had cooked down to that tender applely butter state.

Can you smell the spice in the air??? M-mm

In my area of the world there is a chill in the air, in fact we are as I write getting our very first snow! Oh my goodness now mind is racing thinking of my apple trees...hurry, hurry, hurry I'm thinking. I don't want to lose my apples to freezing temperatures :( So today I am starting my second batch of crockpot apple butter, with some adjustments to my recipe. I'm EXCITED!!

Speaking of Apples did you hear the news? An amazing individual, Steve Jobs has passed on yesterday October 5th, 2011. He was blessed with what seems like an abundance of creativity with vision and focus thrown into the mix, from our Creator.

Hear what he had to say about living. 

May your life be filled with the joy of living!

Delights in Life

We are so very blessed, we love our precious family! This week has been a great time with our youngest son Nathan and family hanging out mostly doing ordinary things with a few extra special times thrown in.
It is so amazing to see through the eyes of a child...simple delights like picking apples from a tree in your yard then watching our grandson at age 1 1/2 enjoy the crisp yumminess of that apple.
It is incredible how little legs handle stairs when the steps are as high as thier little knee :) He never tires of the challenge of those stairs or finding a way up, over or through...such determination!

We spent an evening watching the sun set at the beach, moments snuggling my grandchildren, pretending, making brownies, walks and playground fun. There has been discussions about future life plans, dinners together and lively discussions peppered in here and there. 

What do I enjoy most? The simple moments...everyday moments...just having them with us and being with them.

bookmarks

Bookmarks
http://angsandy.blogspot.com/2010/09/kusudama-flowers.html

Scraps of Life ~ Toward Inspiration and Creativity

I had a most fabulous day gathering inspiration and stirring creativity. The day was spent with my sister at South Towne Expo where the Scrapbook USA event was being held. Although we noticed that the event is not nearly the size it has been in the past that did not hinder us from spending all day and lots of dollars as we took in all the wonderful booths.

Many of our old favorite booths were there like Its Cheaper Than Therapy and they did not dissapoint us...the array of Sizzix dies and folders was truely amazing. 

Purple Cows had some astounding deals on their bundles...of course I had to get all the wonderful blades that wavy cut, perforate and fold.

Tessler Stamps & Stencils were there and demoing as they always do. They had a great little Make & Take project that even two very tired expo attendees could manage. I was delighted with my finished necklace and had a hard time picking out products from thier great assortment.

Are you a Cricut fan? My oh my the company Cri-Kits has some cool stuff you have to see! Embossing on metal, sparkly markers that fit any Cricut and more will get your mind going crazy with ideas.

Unity Stamp Company really knocked our socks off. The stamps they carry are beautifully detailed, fine art. The owners have a wonderful boothside manner and were so helpful at easing the transition of my money to thier till LOL. One of my new purchases... a bird stamp & word Life Is Beautiful.

I couldn't manage to pass The Eyelet Outlet without picking up a package of adorable ladybugs and Blue Moon beads lured me to pick up a few new strands of beads.

Are you still struggling to organize tangles of ribbon? Are your spools spilling out of drawers? You may just NEED one of these cool caddys from RicRac Rollers.

One booth that got me all excited though was Just Me! Music. I know, I know its not even a scrapart booth. Psssst! Let me share a secret, I have a Christmas gift and its only September!!

Pasta and Peaches- A Deliciously Fresh Meal

I love summer and I especially love the wonderful garden fresh foods that are available this time of year. My little garden has been producing basil, parsley, zucchini. I keep hoping the deer will leave my tomato plants alone but they strip the plants daily, sigh.

Thank goodness for Farmers Markets and local growers. Oh... I am so-ooo excited because our local orchard growers just put up the Fresh Peaches sign! It is always a very short season and I didn't want to miss all thier yumminess, I couldn't wait to grab a box of them!

In the past several days I've been whipping up some great recipes using my basil, zuchinni, and the peaches too so I just had to share.

Lots of fresh basil.

 Carol Loves Basil Pesto
Ingredients:
2 cups     Fresh Basil Leaves
1/4 cup     Fresh Parsley
1/2 cup     Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup     Roasted Pine Nuts (or Almonds, Walnuts etc.)
2 ea            Garlic Cloves
1/2 cup     Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp         Salt
1/2 tsp      Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Pesto is defined as any sauce made with herbs ground to a pulp with a mortar and pestle. We will be using the blender or food processor for our pesto...aahhh modern convenience!

Directions:
Put the basil, parsley, parmesan cheese, pine nuts & garlic into your food processor (blender) blending ingredients until smooth. Next, add olive oil slowly while first ingredients are blending slow to medium speed. Add salt and pepper just before turning off processor.

After mixing up this fantastic basic pesto I went in search of something to use it on. I remembered I had just purchased some beautiful Tiger Prawns and also some plum tomatoes. Ok, next a quick peek in the pantry and I found some spiral pasta...fantastic!

TIGER PRAWNS PASTA and PESTO

Ingredients:
1 lb. Tiger Prawns
1/2 lb. Pasta
1/2 cup fresh Pesto
2-3 Plum Tomatoes
Directions:
Prepare pasta according to directions. When tender take off heat, save hot water, remove pasta & set aside. Toss rinsed Tiger Prawns in the hot water and allow to cook.The Tiger Prawns are ready when no longer translucent. Drain saving about 1 cup of the hot cooking water. Remove shells & tails from Tiger Prawns. Heat pesto in skillet, toss in chopped tomatoes, pasta and shrimp. Add 1/4 cup pasta cooking water. Stir well coating pasta with pesto sauce. Serve in bowls with aome parsley or basil leaves to garnish. Serves 4.

I served this dish with a fresh salad of romaine, celery, red bell pepper and tomatoes. The dressing was a simple vinegarette. The pasta was absolutely out of this world! Now what could possibly top a fresh meal like that? Ummm how about a dessert of Fresh Peaches?

Fresh Peach Saute
6 peaches
1/4 cup brown sugar
Directions
Wash & drain peaches. Slice peaches in half. Heat skillet on medium, add peach halves cut side down and sprinkle brown sugar over peaches. Stir and flip peaches heating until brown sugar and juices begin to reduce down. Skins will loosen, push off peaches and continue to stir and flip peaches in the liquid. Allow peaches to cook until tender. Serve peaches & skins warm, topped with brown sugar glaze.

Fresh Peach Pie

10 fresh peaches, pitted and sliced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
Directions:
Mix flour, sugar and butter into crumb stage.
Place one crust in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate. Line the shell with some sliced peaches. Sprinkle some of the butter mixture on top of the peaches, then put more peaches on top of the crumb mixture. Continue layering until both the peaches and crumbs are gone.
Top with lattice strips of pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden. This recipe is really juicy! To combat possible runniness without modifying the recipe, turn the oven OFF when the baking time is complete and let it sit in the cooling oven while continuing to boil off liquid. It won't burn, and it sets the pie very nicely.  Allow pie to cool before slicing.

Did I mention I love summer and all the wonderful garden fresh harvest abundance? M-mmm!