Quick

Oh my!  I do not know where to start!  So much has happened since I last posted!  I started my job as a research/administrative assistant for an anesthesiology research group at UNC almost two months ago.  I have had my ups and my downs at work but hopefully things will get better as I get used to them.  The downside to working, and being married to a Medicine resident, is that I have had no time to blog!  Instead, my time has been taken up with working, riding the bus to and from work, watering our lawn for two hours every night, cleaning the house, laundry, cooking, and working on work at home. My new busyness combined with Scott working 90 some hours each week has caused some “growing pains” in our marriage.  Thankfully, through these pains, we have grown and matured together, adjusted to our new schedules, and not so ironically, our relationship, in the end, was strengthened through the trial and we now love and appreciate each other more than ever.  I am so grateful for that.

Since we have been so busy, there was a week where I “cooked” frozen pizza for dinner three out of five nights!  I know, shocking!  I hope I have not disappointed any illusions you may have had of me.  If it makes a difference, that week was also the first time I ever cooked a frozen pizza for dinner period.  However, during that hectic time I discovered two recipes that take minimal effort, but are rewardingly delicious!  Even better, I did not have to make either of them.  Scott made an apple bake and some coworkers of mine made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  Now, if you know anything about Scott’s complete lack of cooking ability, you know that if he can make it, then it must be easy and I am not just telling you it is.  The other recipe, the pumpkin muffins, only have three ingredients!

First, let’s cover the pumpkin muffins.  They are dense, even heavy, moist, tender muffins that have a copious amount of chocolate chips.  To make them, you simply take one box of spice cake mix, once 15oz. can of pumpkin puree, and one bag of chocolate chips.  Stir all together so the cake mix is incorporated and moistened, and bake at 350F for about twenty minutes.  That is it!  No lie, no eggs, no butter, no oil.  Simple and delish.  I will caution though that these are best eaten within a day of making them, as they will dry out faster than normal muffins because there is no oil or butter.

Now on to the Apple Harvest Bake. 

This was tasty, moist, stored well for several days, made you feel peaceful, warm and cozy, and it often induced smiles while eating it, which, I believe is a necessary criteria for food to be called “comfort food.”  I found the recipe on Midwest Living’s website as they had a feature of 26 apple desserts and breads that were all very tempting.  I chose this apple bake because of how moist it looked in the picture and because it would not take me half a day to make it. 

In the end, Scott ended up making it while I made supper one night.  He did not measure anything correctly.  No fluffing of flour, no leveling off the baking powder, I do not think anything he put in there was exact.  Still, the recipe pulled through, and we were treated to a wonderful, warm apple cake with a melting cinnamon-butter.  It was ooey-gooey goodness!  I hope you enjoy these two simple recipes, especially as our lives get busier with the upcoming holidays! 

Apple Harvest Bake

• Cinnamon Butter (recipe follows)
• 1  cup  packed brown sugar
• 3/4  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2  teaspoons  baking powder
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 2    slightly beaten eggs
• 1-1/2  teaspoons  vanilla
• 2  cups  peeled and chopped tart cooking apples
• 3/4  cup  chopped walnuts

Prepare Cinnamon Butter; chill.

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9-inch pie plate. In mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  

Add eggs and vanilla; stir till well mixed. Add apples and nuts; stir till well combined. Spoon into pie plate.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or till browned and top feels firm. Serve warm with Cinnamon Butter on top. Makes 8 servings.

Cinnamon Butter: In small mixing bowl, beat 1/4 cup butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat till combined. Cover; chill till firm. Makes 1/2 cup.