Vanilla-Glazed Apple Cookies...Hello, Autumn!

Finally! An autumn recipe that contains not one iota of pumpkin!

This recipe comes from a 1965 Good Housekeeping Cookbook. I have another one that I use frequently from the same era (that I stole from my mom) that starts out by saying, "The way to a man's heart" is by cooking a great meal. I'll let you ponder that while I eat these Vanilla-Glazed Fresh Apple Cookies 

Start with 1/2 cup shortening (remember, kids, the book is from 1965). 

Add in 1 1/3 cups brown sugar and 1 egg. 

Cream those together.

In a separate bowl, sift 2 cups flour, 1 t baking soda, 1/2 salt, 1 t cinnamon,
1/4 t fresh nutmeg, and 1 t ginger (original recipe calls for cloves instead of ginger, but I intensely dislike cloves, so ginger it is).

With mixer running on low, pour in half the flour mixture, 1 cup finely chopped apples (peelings left on, if desired. I leave it on- it's easier that way), 1/4 milk or apple juice, then remaining flour mixture. It should resemble something similar to this:

Drop them by scooper-fulls onto a greased baking sheet 

and bake at 375* for 11-14 minutes, or until done. 

 Remove to wire rack to cool. 

I put mine on the rack with a cookie sheet under them

to catch the crumbs and the overflow of the glaze.

Mix up a quick vanilla glaze of 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 T soft butter, 1/4 t vanilla, 

and 2 1/2 T light cream.

These are actually just as good the next day, if they make it that long, as they are the first day. They store really well as long as you layer them on wax paper.

The kids love these and I have been able to tweak the recipe enough to make them gluten-free (I just use my own gluten-free flour mixture). They can even be dairy free, just use apple juice in the dough and again in the glaze recipe. 

I hope you are able to make up a batch of these soon. You won't be disappointed!

They are so delicious you won't even miss the pumpkin~

Live.Simple.

Rerunning an oldie but a goodie from earlier this year. But with Christmas season coming up, I thought it might be a good idea to refresh everyone's memories!

 Live.Simple.

My new motto. My new viewpoint. My new everything.

It's also the name of a new adventure I'm taking: homemade soap making. The idea behind it is quite, ahem, simple. Simple ingredients. Simple scents. Simple clean. Simple to use. Simple to love.

My friend, Char of LiveLifeLoveOils, and I went to The Prairie Peddler last year to walk around in the bright October sun and take in the sights, sounds, and smells of autumn. While there, we  discovered that we shared the same desire to learn to make soap. REAL soap. LYE soap. Saponified soap. SOAP soap. Your grandmother's soap. HER grandmother's soap. The soap of generations and generations before us. I think you get the idea. 

For those of you who have never been to The Prairie Peddler, it is a festival held in a grouping of permanent, rustic structures built into the woods of the area near Mohican State Park in Ohio. The atmosphere with the brilliance of autumn's color plus the smell of woodsmoke from the vendors cooking fruit cobblers in Dutch ovens over campfires plus the dirt paths and stick built wooden cabins is truly absorbing. It almost feels as though you are walking through an 1800's village. Almost.

Our interest was piqued at a particular cabin. In this cabin, we learned that the owner of the company offered soap making classes. So, we each took a flyer with us. The seed had been planted. The following Tuesday, I called and signed us up. 7 classes. One night a week. 40 miles one way. It.was.awesome.

By the time we finished with our classes, we were certified as Apprentice Soap Makers in the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild. We each only need a few more hours of training before we are certified as Master Soap Makers! <--that is so cool to me!

We not only learned how to make soap, but how to make soap. The chemistry behind it. The method to the madness shall we say. We were each instructed to create our own recipe. What did we want our soap to do? Oddly enough, it doesn't simply clean. I learned that true soap has characteristics: lather, scent, feel, bubbles, moisture on the skin. Beyond that, there is always the next level of clearing up skin issues such as psoriasis, eczema, acne. We're not at that level yet. But we'll get there.

Once you decide what you want your soap to do and how you want it to act, you create the recipe based on your knowledge of the ingredients. Let me tell you, there was tension that night at class: Would it work? Would it not work? Would we blow the place up? I'm kidding. Our teacher was confident it would work.

We learned that good quality ingredients produce good quality products. We learned that mistakes can be fun. We learned that we wanted to learn more. But what we really learned was that we loved doing it, our skin had never, ever felt better, and that we were extremely happy to share with our family and friends a non-toxic, natural, healthier way to clean the largest organ of your body. 

So, it is my pleasure, honor, and joy to introduce to you Live.Simple.

I've finally created an Etsy Shop from which I can sell it- take a look!

I hope you will learn to love Live.Simple. as much as I do.

Fading Summer

So, it's be a very long time since I last posted. Spring warmed into summer, which stayed warm. And then got HOT. And dry. But alas, summer is slowly losing it's grip to fall. The mornings are getting cool. The shadows are lengthening. The cicadas are being replaced by crickets as daylight comes later in the morning. The spiders are building their webs in the grass and on the tall weeds.


I am looking forward to the first tinges of gold to touch the leaves of the trees. Next week, we start our homeschooling year. The kids are both dreading it and looking forward to it- all at the same time. There have been some really great deals at the stores for school supplies. Stocking up hasn't broken the bank this year!

In the meantime, here's a recipe that I made up for super-easy biscuits that are great when they are split in half, smeared with butter, and covered with fresh, homemade sausage gravy! But don't take my word for it!



Easy Biscuits- makes 8 or so (easy to double)

1 cup flour (either whole wheat, AP, or combo of both)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 T shortening or lard
3/4 c milk (or a little less if using AP flour)
1 beaten egg in a bowl. 


Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture. Stir in milk. Use a light hand. Too much stirring can make tough biscuits.

Turn out onto a lightly floured board. Knead for 15-20 seconds- just to finish bringing it all together.

Pat into rectangle. Either use a mason jar to cut out into circles or slice into eight squares.

Put on ungreased baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle a little kosher salt on top. Bake at 450* for 10-12 minutes, or until golden.




Enjoy!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

I always hesitate to use the phrase, "Just like mom used to make" or "Just like Grandma used to make". I don't know about you, but my grandmas just weren't those types of women. They were special alright, but not in the traditional apron-over-the-best-dress kind of way.

I almost would classify this as, "Just like grandma would have made if she had a cast iron pan and wood stove".

I happen to have both. And as I type, the fragrance of warm, buttery, brown sugar-y, goodness fills the air. This recipe is from a 1920's cookbook. There is no known exact date as to when this cake came to be. Some say it originated from a recipe that was then-titled, Pineapple Glace"...but it's hard to say!

Here it is, in all it's glory!

6 T butter
1 C packed brown sugar
7 slices canned pineapple
Maraschino cherries and pecan halves
1/4 C shortening (I use lard...don't hate me. But it's from my own pig, so it's okay.)
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 C milk
1 t vanilla

In a cast iron skillet, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and simmer until the sugar melts. Remove from heat and add the pineapple slices, arranged. Place cherries and pecans in the center of each slice. Set aside.

Heat oven to 350*. (Or, if you have a wood stove, crank up the heat until you can place your hand in the oven for only 3 seconds before it feels like your skin will burn off.)

Blend shortening (or lard) and granulated sugar until thoroughly mixed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully combined. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to shortening mixture, alternating with milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Stir in the vanilla.

Pour batter over the pineapple in the skillet and bake for 35-45 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate once it's cooled for 15 minutes or so. Top with whipped cream (homemade, if you can) and serve.

Heaven on a plate!