Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars - Cookies for the Lazyman

One of the down sides of being the Baker Babe is that people expect you to bring home baked goods to events, work, play dates, etc. And since I never like to disappoint, I usually end up whipping something up at the last minute. My regular readers know I haven't been baking as much lately due to both being busy and lazy, so I I had to come up with something that was quick yet good. I have had the ingredients on hand to make Oatmeal Scotties, but haven't felt like spending a whole night waiting for the batches of small cookies baking. The solution are these Oatmeal Butterscotch bars. Same great taste, half the time. Enjoy!

Warm Pumpkin Pudding Cake - Using up the Gourmet Goods

As many people know I am what you call a thrifty person (or some of you may call me just cheap). One of the things that really bothers me is throwing away good food that can be eaten. So once in a while I scan my pantry to find hidden treasures that I can use to bake. This time I fond two jars of maple pumpkin butter. Given out as freebies at a charity food event I went to last spring, I knew I had to put them to work. I have been enjoying it on toast and biscuits, but two jars is a lot to use up so I am also planning to make Warm Pumpkin Pudding Cake with it. If anyone else finds themselves with odd jars of speciality treats that they don't know how to use, the Stonewall Kitchen Website is filled with recipes. They make it easy to look up the recipes by the product you have. So when "Aunt Mildred" gets you Apple Jalapeno Jelly or Lemon curd this year as your holiday gift give this site a try. Enjoy!

Apple Cake - Something new for the pile of fruit staring at me

The past few weeks of my full time job have been CRAZY leaving me with more hours of night work and less time to bake and blog. Tonight was looking the same, until my work computer decided to give me the "blue screen of death" this morning and my hard drive crashed. Luckily, I do back up to a server so most of my work was saved (so I am not drowning my sorrows in beer and I am sober enough tonight to type). It also leaves me a night of no work, and all baking! Yippee! Tonight the pile of my apple picking adventures are staring at me from the counter, so I am obligated to use them up. I have done apple crisp and apple pie before, so here is something slightly new - Apple Cake. Enjoy!

Apple Cake
4-6 med apples, peeled and diced
2 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 lb melted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 T. lemon juice
3 cups flour

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 T. water

Pour 2 cups sugar over apples Add beaten eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix well by hand. Add margarine and 2 T. lemon juice. Add flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Add nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes in a 9x13 pan.Mix topping ingredients together and spread on top of hot cake and return for oven for 3 minutes longer.

Apple Cider Donuts - A Fall Tradition

Some things just taste better made by others. For me that is Chinese Food and Apple Cider Donuts. There is nothing like getting them straight from the orchard with a class of fresh pressed apple cider. After my New England tour of Apple orchards (I have made 4 trips in the last month) I think I can safely say I know who makes the best donuts. But of course I am not sharing because then everyone will be there. My favorite kind are the ones dusted in cinnamon sugar. So if you can't get out this year, here is a recipe to try it at home. Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers - Dressing up the veggies in style

People that know me know that I am not a big vegetable eater. I didn't really grow up eating vegetables (yes, I am blaming this on my parents) and I especially think that the smell of cheesy brussel sprouts cooked in the microwave turned me off for life. But now that I am a "grown up" and trying to force feed my own son, I am always looking for ways to try to eat my 5 a day (Who am I kidding - I would be happy with one vegetable a day). Since the grocery store had red peppers on sale last week I decided to give stuffed peppers a try. I found so many different versions out there, but decided to do this simple Italian version. The end result was good, both my husband and I enjoyed them. I still need to work on my son. But at least now I won't be embarrassed when we go to the grocery store and he points to a vegetable asking "What is that, Mommy?" Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cups - Hot Breakfast Even on a Weekday

Thank you Guest Blogger!

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day. I occasionally eat breakfast for supper. One of my struggles is to eat a breakfast that is going to get me through to lunch (cereal usually doesn’t cut it for me). This recipe I call Oatmeal Cups. The official name is Oat & Nut Pudding, and can be found at Wegmans.com, a site I highly recommend. The oats provide whole grains, the nuts add good fats, and the yogurt supplies some protein. The recipe makes 4 servings. I recommend making these up on Sunday night. Then all you have to do each morning is pop one in the microwave. The recipe is versatile in that you can substitute whatever fruits and nuts are your favorites. I often use chopped apples and raisins or almonds and raspberries. And I always use more yogurt than the recipe calls for.