Favorite Apple Crisp Recipe

I know there have been many versions of Apple Crisp floating around blogland and we have a favorite too. In fact I have a little story about mine. Years ago, when my oldest boys were little, I came across an Apple Crisp recipe that we all really loved. I made it alot, but as time went on and more children came along, somehow the recipe was misplaced. Well actually, I'd forgotten what cookbook it was in! I looked for it, and along the way, I made many versions of Apple Crisp trying to see if they were the one. They were all good, but still not the same as the original we'd come to love.

A few months ago, as apple season was coming upon us, I was thinking about it again, and just like that, I remembered where it was. After all those years! Silly me. It wasn't in an actual cookbook, but in a book called "Eat Well for $50 A Week" by Rhonda Barfield (okay, this book was written in 93, I know that it would be harder to do that now). It taught how to be more frugal in your grocery purchases and included recipes at the end of the book. I found my copy, and although the book was falling apart, there was the Apple Crisp recipe I remembered. It's a very simple recipe, but oh, so delicious!
If you don't have one of these, you really need to get one. I picked mine up at a yard sale.
It makes doing this so much easier. You can peel and core ten apples in a minute or two.You'll also need quite a few of these, the recipe calls for 5 lbs. I use about 9 or 10.

APPLE CRISP

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel and dice:
5 lbs. apples

Grease a large cake pan. Place apples in pan and sprinkle with:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Set aside. In a bowl, combine:
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup melted margarine

Mix well, until crumbly. Spoon over apples. Bake for 35 minutes, or until apples are tender and bubbly. Serve hot or cold, with whipped topping or ice cream.


This is the apples with the sugar/cinnamon mixture on them. I think this is why we like this recipe so much!This is the final result... and it's also pictured at the top of the post with ice cream, delicious! Enjoy.
Blessings,
Marcia

Celebrate Thanksgiving

I know it's a little early for a Thanksgiving post, but I wanted to share a unit study curriculum for homeschoolers or anyone else who might want to teach their children or grandchildren a little more about the history of Thanksgiving. It is probably best suited for 8 to 12 year old children, but I'm also learning some new things from it.

The descriptions says that it's 15 lessons (about 30 minutes each) in which students discover information about Thanksgiving. Think Pilgrims, Native Americans, turkey and pumpkin pie, going to Grandma's house, and most importantly, giving thanks to God for His blessings. Some of the things it explores are history, geography, Bible study, art, poetry, and grammar. It includes craft instructions and a Thanksgiving scrapbook.

With only 15 lessons, there's still time to order it and complete it before Thanksgiving. It's fun and my kids are really enjoying it, so I thought I'd share it with all of you. It's written by Charlene Notgrass. I ordered mine from The Boyers. If you're interested, you can order it from either site.

From time to time, I'll try to share things I'm using or things that have worked for us.

Enjoy :-)
Blessings,
Marcia

What's Growing Here?

I want to thank everyone for all the kind comments I've received on my new blog. You've all been wonderful and made me feel so welcome. I feel humbled and blessed to be meeting you, and I look forward to getting to know you all better. Thanks again.


I live in the desert and that means we don't have lots of Fall color around here, especially compared to many of you. We're in the high desert, so that means we do get some winter snow (sometimes) and we have a beautiful view of local mountains. It's also a balmy 75 degrees right now, although our nights have cooled down. I thought I'd share a few photos of some of the things growing around my house (besides kids).




A couple of pumpkins from my garden,





















A little rose bush,





And a few more flowers.
Blessings,
Marcia

Carrot Cake

I had my first garden this summer and it turned out better than I thought it would. I've grown tomatoes and peppers for a few years, but this year my husband and son put in a garden area in our backyard. Our soil is hard, so we had to add alot to it, and I wanted to grow carrots, so we had to dig deep and amend that part more than the rest. Well, it worked; I actually got quite a few carrots. So yesterday I was thinking I might make carrot cake with some of my carrots, and I started looking for recipes.

I'm not an originator of recipes. I don't create my own. So I collect cookbooks. I'll decide what I want to make, check out recipes for it in multiple cookbooks, figure out which ingredients I have, which I don't like, and choose the recipe that seems to fit us best. If it works, and most of us like it, then it becomes a keeper (unless I forget which cookbook I found it in...but that's another story).

Anyway, I found a carrot cake recipe in a little cookbook I use often. The lady who wrote this is the homeschooling mother of 14, and she has some wonderful (and not too complicated) recipes in this book. Everything I've made from it has been loved by my family, an important factor for all. Her name is Marilyn Boyer and her family also produces some wonderful homeschooling books and materials. They have a blog and website called The Learning Parent. You can access it here thelearningparent.blogspot.com



Here's the recipe. I omitted the nuts because I have a couple of kids that can't eat them, and it still turned out wonderful. Thanks Marilyn!



















Enjoy!
Blessings,
Marcia

My First Post

My first blog post. I'm entering new territory because I've been someone who's visited blogs, but never tried to write my own. I love the ones I visit though, and the wonderful people I've met through those blogs. I'm not a writer, so I've wondered what I'd think of to write. You've all inspired me though, and I'm going to try. I'll make mistakes, and it's a little scary, but I'm going venture into the world of blogging. I'll probably be posting about family, homeschooling, recipes, faith and crafts. That's my life in a nutshell.

I'm married to a wonderful man. He works hard and loves his family. He worked two jobs for much of our marriage, just so I could be home with our kids. He hasn't had to do that for several years, but he did it willingly for many years and I'm thankful for it.

Our kids range in age from 9 to 21. Our two older sons are seniors in college and live on campus, but they're only about a 45 minute drive away, so they come home almost every weekend (laundry and home cooking are important, I guess). I'm homeschooling the other 4, two in high school and two in grade school. It keeps us busy.

We went on a field trip last week with our homeschool group and we visited the local firehouse, so I'll share a photo of the twins there.



Shooting the fire hose...




















New hats and a nice fireman...

I hope this post works, but I know I'll be learning this for awhile, so any tips would be appreciated.
Blessings,
Marcia