Apple Dumplings Like Oma Used to Make

I love experimenting with new recipes, and I love it even more when they turn out well! My sister sent me a recipe the other day for apple dumplings and it sounded weird enough I had to try! I tweaked it just a little and it turned out delicious! Not only is it easy, but it requires ingredients that most of us have on hand. My whole family loved it, I hope you try it and love it too!

(PS. While it's perfect for fall, it would be beautiful and delicious during the holidays as well. Adding some sugared cranberries would make the sauce a lovely pink color, and served with some vanilla ice cream, it would be an easy alternative to homemade pie.)


EASY Apple Dumplings:

2 large Granny Smith Apples peeled and cut into 8 wedges
2 packages of refrigerator crescent rolls
1 C butter
1 1/2 C white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 C Sprite

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in the baking dish.
3. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cook until it's completely incorporated all of the butter. Pour over the apple dumplings. 
4. Pour Sprite over the dumplings.
5. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes uncovered in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.
6. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes so the sauce can thicken up and serve with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

Holland, MI 2011

We had such a WONDERFUL vacation a couple of weeks ago in Holland, Michigan. We rented a lovely house on Lake Michigan with Scott's family and enjoyed spending tons of time together on the beach. Lake Michigan is such a sweet summer vacation spot for so many reasons. 1. Crystal clear water, 2. No salt, 3. Great weather (no scorching hot temperatures), 4. Absolutely beautiful, 5. Gorgeous beach houses, 6. Picturesque coastal towns to explore, 7. Clean, sandy beaches, 8. No tide, 9. No jellyfish, seaweed or sharks 10. Manageable waves, 11. Fresh berries and fruit, 12. Bike trails, etc..... In a nutshell, it's a great vacation destination and we highly recommend visiting!  Here are some of my favorite photos:

The girls were thrilled that Uncle Gary brought his tents. We've been promising a camp out for a while and this was the perfect night for it! 

BEAUTIFUL!

One stormy night I was able to catch a lightening strike on the water. I was pretty impressed with myself.

 Scott's uncles are incredibly generous, one giving us a tour and ride on his incredible yacht and another letting us zip around on his wave runner all afternoon! Super super nice.

 My brother-in-law made the bean bag toss game and it was a huge hit. The cottage we rented has a big back yard so we were able to play lots of games... and by "we" I mean the kids and other adults who are actually fun.

 Our home away from home. Not bad!

Aaaaaah.... this is where I spent most of the week and have no regrets. Zero.

Cousins, Cousins, there were never more amazing Cousins...!

Frozen custard is the perfect end to a perfect week and Culvers is simply the best... It's better than all the rest. So if you haven't had it, you are missing out because it's dreamy delicious! Such friendly service as well.        







(All the photos were taken with my Canon s95 point and shoot. Thanks to Sarah, my cousin-in-law for the excellent recommendation. It is most perfect!)

Mini Mode

Ha!, I have finally figured out the much anticipated (only by me) mini mode on my camera. Here is a sample, with no editing or fine tuning, because I don't know how to do any of that yet and don't have the time to figure it out! I am, however, addicted, so whenever I finish my homemaking duties for the day, hash out the YW stuff that's stressing me out, take the kids to the pool, etc... I'll crack open the instructions and learn, learn, learn! Look at me all learning.

Deviled Eggs... Perfect 4th of July Picnic Appetizer

When it comes to bringing an appetizer to a party, I know I can never go wrong with deviled eggs. The last time I brought a double batch of them to a party (48 servings!), people started rushing me…but not to say “Hi,” give hugs and kisses, etc. Instead it was more like a stampede with exclamations of “Oh my gosh, you made deviled eggs!” People were grabbing the little puppies straight off the platter—it was clean 15 minutes later." By Jessie Price, Deputy Food Editor for EatingWell Magazine


My Deviled Egg Recipe:


Eggs
Miracle Whip
Salt
Pepper
chili powder
paprika
chives


Boil eggs for 8 minutes and then let them sit with a lid on for a while. Then pour cold water over them after cracking and soak until they're cool. This makes peeling a cinch! Then peel and cut them in half, reserving the yolks in a bowl. Add Miracle Whip to the yolks and whip until it is super creamy. Salt, pepper and a dash of chili powder to taste. Fill the egg white halves with the yolk mixture and garnish with paprika and chives. It's a really pretty recipe. People enjoy eating pretty food I think, but not if tastes like garbage! It's all about the balance.

Independence Day

Happy Birthday USA!!! I've had a harder time lately feeling patriotic, not because I don't love my country, I guess I've just allowed myself to become discouraged. Growing up, I was blessed to live all over the world and it gave me some perspective. I've now been back in the US for almost 10 years (the longest I've ever lived here in one stretch) and I suppose I've become jaded as well.

So while it's not "Thankful Thursday", I just want to take a moment to say how thankful I am to be an American with all of the freedoms my family and I are able to enjoy everyday. I'm thankful for our Founding Fathers, I'm thankful for the efforts and sacrifice of our early settlers and pioneers! When I think about all of things that have fallen into place to make way for the past miraculous 235 years, I'm humbled and determined not to take things for granted!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

The Smiths Project

So this lovely gal Janice Whaley came up with a wonderfully strange and crazy scheme to remake every Smiths song a cappella within one year. Here is "You Just Haven't Earned it Yet Baby", one of my FAVORITE Smiths songs and you know what... I love it. I love the Smiths, I love Morrissey and now I love Janice Whaley! Brilliant.

You have to check out her other covers. "Vicar in a Tutu" is great! etc... it's incredible that every voice is hers, complete with beatboxing! Did I say how much I love this?

www.thesmithsproject.blogspot.com/

"The music contains no instruments- everything you hear was made using only my voice and basic effects/editing techniques. I use pitch-shift to drop my voice down for bass lines, but otherwise there is no pitch correction involved. Each song contains anywhere between 30-50 layers of vocals and take as many hours to complete over several months. I worked on many songs at once as inspiration struck and time allowed.

The goal was to complete the entire catalog of original Smiths songs by the end of 2010. It was one of the most challenging experiences of my life and I am thrilled to say that I completed my goal- ahead of schedule! This would have been a daunting project just for the music alone, but I was also fitting the music time in around parenting, working, commuting, etc. It was a true labor of love to give up every ounce of free time for a year but it was the best thing I've ever done. Thank you for visiting my personal tribute to The Smiths and for cheering me on."


IS IT REALLY SO STRANGE?????

Happy Father's Day!

In this small town, only one man dared to defy the ban on dancing and jorts.n dan

Just in Time for Summer Fun

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of soda. It gives me a stomach ache and makes my teeth feel fuzzy. Sometimes however, water gets old, especially at a picnic or party (milk is probably inappropriate too). You want something a little more indulgent and creative.

Mason jar glasses are nothing new, but this I've never seen before! Why, I don't know, because it's so so simple!!! Serving homemade juice or lemonade in a closed jar on ice. Smart and cute. Not that I have parties anymore.

But, why didn't I think of this? I've got so much to learn. Thanks to Lori from, "Be Different Act Normal". She and Martha, collectively, are the source of 99% of my inspiration!

www.bedifferentactnormal.com/2011/06/serving-drinks-in-mason-jars.html

PS. Completely off topic... Kroger has a sale going on their Blue Bell ice cream. Three half gallons for ten dollars. I was out with my kids today, tempted to stop for ice cream. $2.25 a scoop!!! What a rip! Anyway, I figured for 12 dollars, I could get 3 half gallons of whatever flavor they like and a package of 12 really yummy waffle cones. They each got two scoops tonight for less than a dollar, plus a ton of leftover ice cream and cones for another hot day. Bam!!!!

PPS. Also, for $79.95 you can buy a super nice Cuisinart ice cream maker from Williams-Sanoma. Right now, if you order one, you get a 20 dollar gift card as well. SWEET! This isn't cheap, but then you can make your own ice cream and skip all of the nasty preservatives in store bought and use your own fruit or vegetables... whatever. I read about corn and avocado ice cream. It sounds yummy!

I've Been Everywhere Man

Here are a few photos from the last month.... 7 states in two weekends, plus visiting family, wisdom tooth extraction, school hunting, and a couple recitals. Here are some of my favorite photos.

1. My bored teen at a Memorial Day Parade.

2. St. Louis arch.

3. Brother's-in-law chatting at the above mentioned parade.

4. Grace being graceful as "Lise's friend/villager".

5. House looking cleaner thanks to cool setting on my new camera. I can't figure out how I did it but it's awesome. Look how shiny everything is!!!

6. Beautiful Episcopalian church at St. Johns.

7 & 8. Kids admiring a statue and then getting eaten by gnats.

9. The best marching middle school piccolo player EVER!!!

10. Sophia being sweet.

11. A pretty little river in Virginia.

12. Sophia and her flowers. This was her first recital and she was lovely!

13. A nice building at SVU.

14. A SMILE!!!!

15. Little chickens.

16. Walking.

17 & 18. Fun at Grandma's pool.

Funniest Dad EVER

I just read about this guy and had to share! This most hilarious dad from American Fork, Utah, dressed up in a different costume every day of his 15 year old son's sophomore year to wave goodbye as the morning school bus rolled away.

Since the fall, Dale has waved at his son in 180 different outlandish costumes. The second day of school he wore a football helmet and jersey, and in the months that followed he opened the front door dressed as a blushing bride, a superhero, a Star Trek fan, Michael Jackson, and a giant chicken. One day he even lugged an old toilet bowl onto the street and sat on it reading a newspaper, stopping to wave as the bus rolled by.

Here is a link to his blog where his wife documented every costume change:

www.waveatthebus.blogspot.com/

So so so so funny!!!