Happy 4th Anniversary To Us- in Orlando!

We woke up at 4:00 AM in beautiful Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Why that early?
 Lyndie chauffeured us to the airport to catch our 5:55 AM check-in and boarding on Southwest Airlines to Midway Airport in Chicago.
Then on to Orlando, Florida, for a week.

Yes!  I am sixty something, something and have never stepped foot in sunny Florida.

I put Florida on my bucket list after I got here.  

Can I cross it off or does that count?

Early morning sunrise from the sky.

We flew through many clouds the closer we got to our destination.

I was reminded of the Peanuts cartoon by Charles Schultz...

Lucy Van Pelt: Aren't the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton. 

 I could just lie here all day and watch them drift by.  

If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud's formations.  

What do you see, Linus?

Linus Van Pelt: Well, those clouds up there look to me

 like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean.

[points up]

Linus Van Pelt:  That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Ekins,

 the famous painter and sculptor.  And that group of clouds over there...

[points]

Linus Van Pelt: ... gives me the impression of the Stoning of Stephen. 

 I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side.

Lucy Van Pelt:  Uh huh.  That's very good.  What do you see in the clouds,

 Charlie Brown?

Charlie Brown: Well... I was going to say a duckie and a horsie, but I changed my mind.

I was looking for Mickey Mouse.

Doug says he sees puppies.

The pilot did show us Disney World and Epcot Center from the sky.  

He said Epcot looked like a big Golf ball.

I think I got it in my photo.

There is a golf ball in there somewhere.

Our first meal was seafood at Joe's Crab Shack.
The food was really good.  

We tried their BBQ Dry Rub Shrimp. Spicy, yes!
 It was the best shrimp I have tasted.  

And as part of the appetizer, we ordered Crispy Loaded Crab Fries.  

You do have to get crab at Joe's!

Here is a recipe I found on Pinterest from Everyday Southwest.

BBQ Spice Rub

BBQ Dry Spice Rub

This is the complete recipe for Grilled Shrimp Taco with BBQ Spice rub from Everyday Southwest.

These look similar to those we had at Joe's.

We thought we were going to miss the rain today.
I text messages back home when we arrived

that it was sunny and a balmy 86 degrees here.

Well, we just finished our lunch and walked outside to an ominous looking sky.

And by the time we drove our car back across the street to our resort,

 it was raining.  

The shower only lasted about 15 minutes, and it was sunny again.

Westgate Blue Tree Resort.

Nestled on 23 tropically landscaped acres, this resort lies just 3 miles from 

Walt Disney World,

5 miles from Sea World Orlando,

and 7 miles from Universal Orlando.

This is the pool area outside our room.

This resort has four pools, all heated but one.

And hot tubs to go with the pools.

A little Florida flora.

And more sunshine.

Today Florida is one big sauna...pretty humid.

Our view from the patio.

A beautiful end to the beginning of a new adventure!

Tomorrow is Venice Beach to look for shark's teeth 

and get some sun and sand and surf!

According to Trip Advisor, Venice, Florida, is the shark tooth capital of the world

 and is known for its spectacular shoreline.

Celebrating Our Anniversary- Pink Champagne Cake

Here we are celebrating our 4th Anniversary!

For the occasion I made a cake, not just any cake.

It was a 

Pink Champagne Cake.

It was a great way to break out the bubbly.

 Just look!

Pink Champagne Cake with  Stam Fine European Chocolate.

Betty Crocker Pink Champagne Cake

Cake 

1 box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ white cake mix 

1 1/4 cups champagne, room temperature 

1/3 cup vegetable oil 

3 egg whites 

4 or 5 drops red food color 

Champagne Frosting 

1/2 cup butter, softened 

4 cups powdered sugar 

1/4 cup champagne, room temperature 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

4 or 5 drops red food color 

Directions 

Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Spray bottoms of pans with vegetable spray.

I used small ramekins to make individual layer cakes.  It made four two-layer cakes.

In large bowl, stir together cake mix and 1 -1/4 cups champagne. Add oil, egg whites and food color; beat with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes. Pour into pans. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until done. Cool 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour. 

In medium bowl, beat frosting ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. On serving plate, place 1 cake layer, rounded side down. Frost top of cake layer. Top with second layer, rounded side up. Frost side and top of cake. 

I used a tub of vanilla frosting and tinted it a very light pink.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/pink-champagne-layer-cake/3a7dae01-8411-4482-8c58-141c55b3c506?p=1

Let them eat cake...

Marie Antoinette

Combine ingredients in large mixing bowl.

       

 The champagne will make the bubbles when added to the cake mix.

 Mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.

 Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until cake is done.

I sliced off the top of the cake to make a flatter top to layer the cake.

I used a tub of prepared frosting and tinted it a very pale pink.

 The first layer is placed rounded side down,

and the second layer is rounded side up.

 Frost the top and the sides of the cake.

The butterfly is a Dark Chocolate Coconut Chocolate

from Stam Chocolaterie.

Each chocolate shape has its own filling.

Chocolaterie Stam

is a modern chocolaterie steeped in old-world, Dutch traditions. Since 1913, the family has been proudly handcrafting exceptional white, milk and dark chocolate bonbons and other indulgent confections for Europe and the U.S.

For  view of Stam's go to:

http://www.stamchocolate.com/inside-stam/index.aspx

 This cake is topped with a Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate from Stam.

Happy Anniversary, Doug!

Friends- Enjoying Easy Apple Pie!

"True friends are like diamonds – bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style."

 ―Nicole Richie

This blog is short, but heart felt.

Some former fellow workers and close friends of mine made a road trip over here for lunch.

So, I made the dessert, and we dined at a local restaurant.

I had been waiting for an occasion to bake this dessert.

It was the perfect day!

Easy Skillet Apple Pie 
Making an apple pie has never been so easy. Simply toss apples, cinnamon, and brown sugar, and spoon over a refrigerated pie crust in the stoneware casserole dish or the cast-iron skillet. Top with the other crust and bake.
Ingredients

2 pounds Granny Smith apples
2 pounds Braeburn apples
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts
1 egg white
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350º. Peel apples, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Toss apples with cinnamon and 3/4 cup granulated sugar.
2. Melt butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and place 1 piecrust in skillet over brown sugar mixture. Spoon apple mixture over piecrust, and top with remaining piecrust. Whisk egg white until foamy. Brush top of piecrust with egg white; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar. Cut 4 or 5 slits in top for steam to escape.
3. Bake at 350º for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly, shielding with aluminum foil during last 10 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes before serving.

I got my idea from this recipe from Southern Living web sight.
However, I did not use a cast iron skillet, but a stoneware baking dish.  My baking dish happened to be Pampered Chef.

The casserole baked the pie to perfection!

This is a very flavorful apple pie.

It is the perfect dessert to make this fall season.

 Gather the ingredients.

I think it is important to use the two different kinds of apples.

The recipe calls for Braeburn, but I used Gala Apples.

Make sure to use the Granny Smith Apples for tartness.

Green, extremely tart, crisp, juicy and versatile, they’re available year-round. Grannies are a favorite of Washington state pie-bakers. They’re also excellent for snacking and salads. Warm days and cool summer nights ensure crunch and flavor for October harvest.

Origin

Introduction to market: 1868

Place of origin: Australia

Parentage: Believed to be descended from French crabapples cultivated by Australian grandmother Maria Ann Smith.

http://www.bestapples.com/varieties/varieties_granny_smith.aspx

 Peel and slice the apples.

 I added a squeeze of fresh lemon so the apple slices would not turn brown.

 Add the cinnamon and sugar.

 Instead of using a cast iron skillet, I used this stoneware baking dish

and followed the recipe in the same way.

 I cooked the butter and brown sugar in the microwave for 2 minutes.

 The bottom crust is put OVER the melted brown sugar and butter.

I am convinced the secret to this delicious pie is putting the bottom crust over

the melted brown sugar and butter!

Then the apple mixture is scooped over the bottom crust.

 The top pie crust is placed over the apple mixture.

 Beat an egg white until it is foamy.

Brush over the top crust.

 Sprinkle with white sugar.

Cut vents in the top crust for steam to escape.

 Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour 10 minutes.

Cool before serving.

 Colleen, Luci, and Fran sampling the pie.

 A great day with friends.

We have gone different directions since our early days at AHS,

but when we get together, it is like we picked up where we left off .

"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything." ― Muhammad Ali

The end of a great afternoon!

Dane's Birthday- Kid Snacks

Another birthday, another special weekend.

Dane turned 12 this year.
He has many interests including cross country, music ( He plays the guitar),
art, school, spelling bee, church camp and youth activities, and other things as
he discovers what is available.

Cross country

Graham drew him this picture for a birthday present.
Another artist in the family.

This is a picture of the snack idea we used for a blog.

We gathered our own snacks that we had:
cheese crackers, yogurt raisins, dried cranberries,  and animal crackers.
The sky is the limit on what snacks to include.
I thought if you have space in the refrigerator that you could make
bags of cheese and crackers butterflies.

Duncan is working on the antennae for his butterfly.
They are made from pipe cleaners twisted around the wooden clothespins.

We drew butterfly "features" onto the clothespins with magic markers.

A few stickers add some markings to the butterfly.

 What a fun crew.
Dane, Graham, Duncan, and Spencer.

Another great artist in the family, Spencer.
He gave me this drawing to take home and display with my other works of art.
Thanks, Spencer!

We read the book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".
Of course, we had to have some chocolate chip cookies for the story.

It is story time with Grandpa Doug.

Ceci is starting her cooking career at a young age.

This is the tomato pie Evie made for Doug from the bounty of her tomato plants.
It was a good year.
I didn't get the recipe, but I found one at
Simply Recipes!

Read more: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tomato_pie/#ixzz3mKSIZ1Ic

Here are the Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie shell (see pie crust recipe for homemade version) 

1/2 cup chopped yellow or red onion 

3-4 tomatoes, cut in half horizontally, squeezed to remove excess juice, roughly chopped, to yield approximately 3 cups chopped tomatoes 

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/4 cup sliced basil (about 8 large leaves)* 

2 cups grated cheese (combination of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, or Gruyere or Mozarella) 

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of Frank's Hot Sauce (or Tabasco) 

Freshly ground black pepper

*To slice basil, chiffonade them by stacking the leaves on top of each other, roll them up like a cigar, starting at one end slice the "cigar" crosswise in thin slices.

Follow the directions at the link above.

This was a very special treat for Doug!

Grandparents and kids!

Fun!

This is Dane's very special birthday gift from Mom & Dad!

Practice, Practice, Practice!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!