I’ve always been an avid reader, but I’ve read more books this year than ever before.  All thanks to the Kindle that I got for Christmas last year.  I’ve read about 90 books so far this year, most of those fiction, and most of those Free Kindle downloads.  Let me share a few of my recent favorites with you…

The Daughters of Boston and Winds of Change Series by Julie Lessman: I started with A Hope Undaunted, which was a Free Kindle download at the time, then quickly went back to read all of the other books in this amazing series.  Each book in this series is about 500 pages long, and while this is Christian fiction, there is lots of romance and more than a few passionate kisses shared between characters.  In each of these books we get to know the O’Connor family of Boston: the remarkable marriage of parents Patrick and Marcy, and their 6 children-Faith, Charity, Lizzie, Katie, Sean, and Steven.

Since I normally like to read things chronologically, I would advise starting with the first book, A Passion Most Pure: Faith, the oldest sister (and polio survivor) is love with Collin McGuire, and has been since they were little.  Collin, however, is courting Faith’s younger sister Charity, the beauty of the family.  A war rages between the sisters at home while the Great War looms overseas.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett: If you haven’t already read this one, then you should.  I read this book last year, but with all of the hype surrounding the movie (which I haven’t seen yet), I decided to go back and read it again.  This book is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s and explores the interactions between the elite white women of the city and their black maids.  Skeeter, a recent college grad, decides to write a book about what it is like to be a maid in Jackson and enlists the help of Aibileen and Minny (among others).  This is one of those books that will make you laugh, cry, and never ever want it to end.

A Daughter’s Inheritance (Broadmoor Legacy, Book 1), by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller: After the death of both of her parents, Fanny was raised by her grandparents spending summers on their private estate on Thousand Islands with the rest of her well-to-do extended family, including her cousins Amanda and Sophie.  Fanny, Amanda and Sophie are as close as any sisters (maybe closer).  Then Fanny’s grandfather dies, leaving her at the mercy of her not-so honest uncle, who is determined not only to take her inheritance, but also to keep her away from her one true love.  Will she be able to regain what is rightfully hers?  This is the first book of a trilogy, and to get the complete story of Fanny, Amanda, and Sophie, check out all three books.

Sixteen Brides, by Stephanie Grace Whitson: Sixteen Civil War widows are enticed to move to Nebraska with promises of free “prime homesteads” when in reality they are being marketed as potential brides for the men of Plum Grove.  Once the women arrive and are faced with the reality of their situation, they stick together to make a new life for themselves.  I loved the determination and grit of these women, though I will admit it took me a while to keep all of the characters straight.  I only wish this book had been longer!

Ransome’s Honor, by Kaye Dacus: This is the first book in the Ransome Trilogy.  12 years after young William Ransome chose a life in the Royal Navy over a life with his true love Julia, the two are reunited.  Julia is now 29 years old and has been running her family’s sugar plantation in Jamaica after the death of her mother.  Julia’s money grubbing cousin is pursuing Julia for her fortune, and to avoid marrying him, she proposes a “business marriage” to William.  William readily agrees, hoping the marriage will develop into something more, still regretting the decision he made 12 years earlier.  You’ll certainly want to read the other 2 books in this series (which contain even more action on the high seas!).

Well, that should be enough good reads to keep you busy for a while!  Have you read any good books lately?

My mom used to make these delicious little treats for me when I was younger, and I absolutely LOVE them.  I recently made them for The Littlest Apple, and he loves them too!  From my super picky eater, that’s saying something!  These sweet treats are super easy to throw together, and since there is no baking or cooking involved, this is a great opportunity to let your kids help out.  The Littlest Apple helps me smash the graham crackers (I think that’s his favorite part!) , measure the ingredients, stir them together, and roll the snacks in the graham cracker crumbs.   If you’re dealing with peanut allergies, I imagine you could substitute almond butter or other nut butters.

Quick Energy Snacks

from cooks.com

Ingredients:

• 3-4 graham crackers
• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1 c. crunchy peanut butter
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 c. instant non-fat dry milk  (Picky Apple note: When I don’t have powdered milk on hand, I just leave it out!)
• 3 tbsp. water

Crush crackers in a zip-top bag. Mix remaining ingredients thoroughly in bowl. Shape teaspoonfuls of the mixture into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls in the graham crackers. Arrange the coated balls on ungreased cookie sheet or plate and refrigerate 20 minutes or until firm.

The Littlest Apple has been begging to do another science experiment (and refusing all of my attempts to do arts and crafts), so today we made slime!  We’ve done a similar experiment in the past, but this time I actually remembered to take photos to share with you.  There are lots of different “recipes” for slime, but we used this one from Science Bob.  This slime was lots of ooey gooey fun, and it kept The Littlest Apple busy for longer than I expected!  This would be a neat activity or party favor for a Halloween party.

What You’ll Need:

• Elmer’s glue (most kinds of white craft glue will work)
• 2 disposable cups
• Food coloring (you pick the color)
• Water
• Borax Powder (available at most large grocery stores near the laundry detergent)
• A plastic spoon (for stirring)
• A tablespoon (for measuring)

What to Do:

1. Fill one small cup with water and add a spoonful of the Borax powder and stir it up. Then set it aside.
2. Fill the other small cup with about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of the glue.
3. Add three tablespoons (20 ml) of water to the glue and stir.
4. Add a few drops of the food coloring and stir it up until mixed.
5. Now the fun part…Add one tablespoons of the Borax solution you made earlier and stir well. Watch the slime form!
6. After the slime forms let it sit for about 30 seconds and then pull it off the spoon and play with it!

Playing and stretching out the slime after it has dried out some. It’s spongy and rubbery in texture.  Not drippy, messy slime by the point…

Now that I’ve overcome my fear of cooking whole chickens (and since they’ve been on sale lately at my grocery store), I’m on a roll!  First there was Perfect Roast Chicken, then Crockpot Whole Chicken, and now Ultimate Roast Chicken.  This recipe caught my eye because of the use of bacon and sherry.  Both of those things can only mean a delicious and juicy chicken, right?  That was my thinking, anyway, and I was absolutely correct!
This recipe also includes directions for gravy.  The Picky Apple is NOT a gravy person so I didn’t bother with it, but with drippings that include bacon fat, sherry, and all of those other wonderful flavors, I imagine the gravy would be amazing!  (I’m definitely going to make the gravy next time.)
PS.  Hold on to your chicken carcass (ew, hate that phrase)….I’m going to share my method for making homemade chicken stock sometime soon!

Ultimate Roast Chicken

from Tyler Florence at foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

• 1 (5 1/2 pound) chicken
• 1/2 bunch each fresh oregano, thyme, and parsley
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter, softened
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 orange, halved
• 1/2 head garlic
• 1 medium white onion, halved, plus 1 onion
• 6 strips smoked bacon
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• Serving suggestion: roast potatoes, watercress and gravy

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Rinse the chicken with cool water, inside and out. Pat it dry with paper towels. Divide the herbs, keeping 1/2 of them whole. Finely chop the other half. In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the chopped herbs, until combined. Rub the herbed butter under the skin, as well as all over the outside of the chicken. Season the bird all over with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the orange, garlic, 1 onion, and the remaining herbs. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine to help hold its shape. Place the chicken, breast-side up, in a roasting pan. Put the remaining onion into the pan, which will help color and flavor the sauce. Lay the strips of bacon across the breast of the chicken and roast for 25 minutes.

Remove the bacon and baste the chicken with the drippings and cook for another 25 minutes to brown the skin. The chicken is done when an instant-read thermometer reads 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (the legs of the chicken should wiggle easily from the sockets too.) Remove the chicken to a platter and let stand for 10 minutes, so the juices settle back into the meat before carving.

Meanwhile, remove the softened onion from the roasting pan. Tilt the pan so the drippings collect in 1 corner, skimming off as much fat as possible, and leaving the drippings. Place the roasting pan on top of the stove over medium heat and take a wooden spoon to scrape up the flavor from the bottom of the pan. Stir the flour into the drippings to make a roux-like paste. Pour in the chicken broth in stages; continue to stir to dissolve the flour evenly to prevent lumps. Stir in the sherry and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, carve the chicken tableside and squeeze the oranges from the cavity over the meat.

Last week, The Littlest Apple found a stack of disposable plastic cups leftover from my small group meeting and started lining them up and stacking them.  I never even thought to give him plastic cups to play with, but as soon as I saw his interest in the cups, I immediately pounced on the opportunity to make this a “learning” activity.

tongue out helps him focus, apparently…

Here are all the ways we played with the plastic cups:

• We stacked them top to bottom as high as we could
• We lined them up
• We sorted them by color (there were red and blue cups)
• We made patterns
• We stacked them pyramid style (both big and little pyramids)
• We watched some videos online of kids speed stacking cups, and then timed ourselves to see how fast we could stack them up and take them down
• We tossed a plastic golf ball into the cups
• We smashed and crashed them and knocked them down (not my favorite part, but The Littlest Apple certainly liked this!)

The first time we played with them for about an hour and a half (and much of that was The Littlest Apple playing all by himself, something he rarely does).  An HOUR AND A HALF!!

Plastic cups.

Who knew?!

What strange things around the house keep your kids entertained?

Most of you have probably heard of Pinterest by now, right?  Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can organize and share all of the beautiful, inspiring, funny, and awesome things you find on the web.  You can create boards for various projects, organize recipes, and organize ideas for different categories (like Kids Art, Baking, Things That Make Me Laugh, etc).  You can also browse other people’s boards for even more inspiration.

I’ve known about Pinterest for a while, but just as I did with Facebook, I resisted it for the longest time.  One more time- sucker I didn’t need.  But then last week, I begged a friend for an invite, and now I’m hooked!

Not only have I found lots of great new ideas, but I LOVE having all of my ideas saved in an orderly and visually appealing way.  It took me a little while to get the hang of pinning things, but now that I have, there’s no stopping me!  I’m even going back through all of my old Google Bookmarks (and i have TONS) and transferring them to Pinterest for easy searching.

Here are a few of my boards, if you’re interested:

You can follow me on Pinterest HERE.  (And hopefully I’ll have a new little blog button for that soon!)  If you’d like a Pinterest invitation, just let me know and I’ll send you one.  (You can also request an invite directly from Pinterest, but I had trouble with that.)

For my birthday this year, I wanted something a little different that the traditional birthday cake.  And since I couldn’t make up my mind, I made TWO desserts.  The first dessert was Ooey Gooey Butter Cake (I haven’t shared my own recipe, but I’m sure you’ve seen variations of it).  The second dessert: these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies.  These combine fudgy brownies with one of my favorite things ever- cookie dough!  To me, eating the cookie dough is the best part of making cookies.  Who’s with me?!  So this dessert was the perfect birthday treat.  The cookie dough here is egg free, so no worries about eating raw egg!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

from recipegirl.com

Brownie Ingredients:

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Cookie Dough (Egg Free!) Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup semisweet chips + 1 teaspoon shortening for drizzle, optional

Prepare the brownies: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick spray. In a medium glass bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave in short bursts of 30 seconds; stir after each burst and remove from microwave when melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in melted chocolate. Blend in flour and mix just until combined (don’t over-mix). Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake 25 to 35 minutes. Watch closely and remove from oven when toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Prepare the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to combine butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Mix in milk and vanilla. Mix in flour just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread cookie dough over the cooled brownies. Refrigerate until the dough is quite firm. It’s okay to speed up the process and place it in the freezer too. The firmer the dough, the easier it will be to cut into neat squares. Use a sharp knife to cut the brownies. You may need to wipe the knife off with a paper towel in between cuts since the fudgy brownies and cookie dough will tend to stick to the knife a bit. These brownies are best to serve placed inside cupcake papers and served with a fork.

If you’d like to add chocolate drizzle on top, melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of shortening in the microwave; stir until smooth. Scoop the melted chocolate into a zip baggie and snip off the corner. Squeeze the bag to drizzle the chocolate on top of each brownie. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips on top, if desired.

Now that The Littlest Apple is back in preschool, I’ve got a bit of time to do some crafting and projects around the house.  Here are the house projects at the top of my To Do List (I’ll save the crafts for another post!)….

Finish painting the downstairs: Yup, it’s still not done.  My birthday present this year (at the end of July) was hiring someone to do this for me.  He’s also going to stain our banister.  Yeehaw!  Hoping to have this completed by mid October at the latest.

Playscape construction: Remember how I mentioned that playscape The Littlest Apple got for his birthday?  Construction is underway….

but we’ve still got a long way to go.

one of the many piles of boards taking over our garage

This monster is 12 feet tall and about 27 feet long (and just barely meets our HOA guidelines for size).  My only role in this project is to entertain The Littlest Apple while The Picky Apple (and whoever else he can recruit) gets to work.  This is the main project happening on weekends and evenings around here at the moment.

Toy organization, decluttering and relocation: the current playroom will soon be Slingshot’s nursery.  So ALL (or at least most) of the toys need to be sorted and relocated.  The Littlest Apple’s Room isn’t huge, but he has ample storage space under his bed and there is room for the Expedit unit (either the one we already own, picture below-from a few years ago) or a new one.  I’m not even going to show you a picture of the current playroom.  It’s a disaster!  We’ll also need some type of organization for The Littlest Apple’s growing collection of dress up clothes and accessories.  Perhaps his very own Dress Up Storage Bin or something similar built in to his closet.

Bookshelves for The Littlest Apple’s room– I’ve had this project on my To Do List forever!  The Littlest Apple’s book collection is out of control, and I’d really like a new way to display his books so he can find his favorites more easily.  This will also free up some additional storage space where his old book shelf used to be.

from Raising Olives

Slingshot’s Nursery– Once we get all the toys moved out of the current playroom, it’ll be time to get Slingshot’s nursery ready!  We’re using the same bedding, crib (pictured below), changing table, and rocker, from The Littlest Apple’s old nursery, but in a new room (The Littlest Apple’s bed can’t be moved from his room without taking the frame off the door, so it’s staying put!).  I need to decide how I want to paint the walls this time around.  I LOVED the simple stripes in The Littlest Apple’s nursery, but we may do something different this time around.  Subtle horizontal stripes?  Wainscotting?  One solid color?  Not sure yet, but the clock’s ticking!

Today was The Littlest Apple’s third day of preschool and he’s home sick.  Already.  And if I’m being completely honest, I was disappointed because today was the first meeting of the mom’s group at my church.  The group I’ve been looking forward to all summer long, and I didn’t get to go.  I’m hoping we can get back on track tomorrow…we’ve got more firsts on the calendar tomorrow that I don’t want to miss: my first bible study meeting for the fall and The Littlest Apple’s first soccer practice (ever).

Today would be the perfect day for a big steaming bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup or a cheesy chicken casserole.  Something comforting.  And this roast chicken would be a great to use in a dish like that.  I’m a big fan of roasting my own chicken instead of buying rotisserie at the store.  In the past, I’ve usually cooked my whole chickens in the oven.  Roasting chicken in the oven gets the skin nice and crispy, but sometimes I overcooked my chicken and it was too dry.  And you have to rub butter under the skin and stuff the chicken, which can be a pain.

But did you know that you can also roast a whole chicken in the crockpot?  This method is super easy, and yields chicken that is falling-off-the-bone tender and extra juicy.  The skin won’t get crispy this way, nor will it win any photo contests, but you’ll get some delicious chicken with the ease of your crockpot.  The recipe couldn’t be simpler….put some chopped onion in your crockpot, plop the chicken on top, sprinkle with spices.**  That’s it! No extra liquid needed.  (You’ll be amazed at how much liquid is created as the onion and chicken cook!)  No rubbing butter under the chicken skin (which I know grosses some of you out).  This recipe is virtually foolproof (assuming you remember to turn on your crockpot)!

** A note about the spices: The recipe below includes a homemade spice mixture, but this would also work with practically any seasoning mix: fajita seasoning, grill seasoning, italian seasoning or any other spice mixture you can purchase.

Ready to cook!

Crockpot Whole Chicken

adapted from food.com

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 large roasting chicken (Picky Apple note: mine was about 3.5 pounds)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• Other optional add ins: lemon juice, garlic, potatoes, carrots and other veggies

In a small bowl, combine the spices.  Clean the chicken and remove the giblets.  Put chopped onion in bottom of crockpot.  Add the chicken.  Sprinkle the spices on top of the chicken.  (Picky Apple note:  I don’t always use all of the spice, depending on the size of the chicken.  If you’ve got some leftover, save it for next time!) Throw in potatoes and veggies, if using.  Cook on low for 4-8 hours, depending on your crockpot.  (Mine takes 5-6 hours)

**Edited 9/16/11: Many food safety sites recommend cooking raw chicken on high for the first hour in the crockpot to bring the crockpot up to a “safe” temperature.  Then you can switch it back down to low for the remainder of the cook time.  I’ve done it both ways and my chicken has been fine (but then again my crockpot is particularly hot).  Just wanted to give you a heads up.  Safe cooking everyone!

BOY!!

The Picky Apple and I were hoping for another boy, so we’re thrilled!  The Littlest Apple is excited to have a baby brother!

The Littlest Apple has decided that his baby brother should be named Slingshot, and he’s been telling everyone the baby’s new “name”-doctors, teachers, friends, grandparents, strangers at the grocery store.  What a great nickname, right?!  I’m not sure where he got it from, but we love it.  So much catchier than “the baby” or “baby brother.”  Since we will keep the baby’s name a secret from everyone (even family!) until he’s born, Slingshot he shall be called for now.

I’m now just over 20 weeks, and everything is going great.  Slingshot is measuring right on track and so am I.  I am relieved that this pregnancy has been drama free (so far).  It’s truly a breath of fresh air.

I just made the switch to some maternity clothes.  None of my maternity clothes from my pregnancy with The Littlest Apple were working for me (wrong season, worn out, my tastes have changed), so I’ve been carefully picking out some new stuff.  I’ll share more on that in another post.  Let’s just say I have a love/hate relationship with maternity clothes.

This won’t turn in to a pregnancy or baby blog, but I may do the occasional baby or pregnancy post along with my usual recipes, crafts, etc.  (For instance, some maternity style ideas, info on the new baby’s nursery, stroller suggestions, etc).

PS.  How many of my astute readers noticed that I updated the sidebar of my blog with the gender reveal (in my profile, along with a new photo) 4 days before I wrote this post?