Proud of My Pie Maker

Three weeks ago our boys began attending a local church youth group.  Two weeks ago, our middle son came home from group enthusiastically sharing about an upcoming Pie-off (bake-off).  The event was a parents' open house and pie contest, a meet and greet and have some good eats type of gathering.

Our little brown-eyed boy was so excited!  He began brainstorming the best pies to make.  I promised to set aside a day to help him bake.  AND, perhaps being a chip off the old block, he wanted to make not one, but two pies.  I also think he calculated his odds of winning a category in the pie contest would be increased with more entries.  Smart little dude!

Book Study: Out of the Dust Week 3

Week 3- Spring 1934 and Summer 1934

Last week we introduced an art project, self-portraits.  In our hour long class, many students were only able to make it through the drawing of the face, so we  will continue working on this project this week at the end of class.

Review assigned Out of the Dust Study Guide pages from Progeny Press.  

This was a really tough week for readers.  Learning of the devastating accident Billie Jo's family experienced created a heaviness for the class.  I had one student tell me while her mom was reading, she began to cry.  Crying is a good thing.  As readers we're grieving along with the character.  In a sense, we've come to know and have grown attached to Billie Jo.  We've gotten a sense of the hardships she experienced with her family in Oklahoma during the 1930's.  It was difficult to read of yet another difficult time for this young girl.

Through reading a chapter like this the door is opened for discussion on dealing with unexpected accidents, death, and grief.  As an additional activity, students may research the grieving process more thoroughly.  This discussion also invites readers to examine the way the different characters handled the situation:  Billie Jo, her dad, the ladies who came to help.

Because of the heaviness of this week, I decided to make something that would lighten the mood a bit before students left the class.

Billie Jo talks of apples just about every week.  This week we learned of her mother's apple trees failing due to the harsh dust storms and weather.  Since it is apple season, I made Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze  (recipe following) and gave each student a copy of the recipe.  

The Bible verses from this week covered everything from speaking words of encouragement to a Biblical view on conservationism and environmentalism.  They are as follows:

Bible Verses for Out of the Dust Spring and Summer 1934

Proverbs 11:9

 ⁹ With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors,
   but through knowledge the righteous escape.


Proverbs 12:25
 ²⁵ Anxiety weighs down the heart,
   but a kind word cheers it up.


Proverbs 16:24
 ²⁴ Gracious words are a honeycomb,
   sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.


Proverbs 17:9
 ⁹ Whoever would foster love covers over an offense,
   but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.


Proverbs 17:22
 ²² A cheerful heart is good medicine,
   but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.


Genesis 1:28-30 

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
    ²⁹ Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Psalm 8:6-8

⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
   you put everything under their^[a] feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
   and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
   and the fish in the sea,
   all that swim the paths of the seas.

Leviticus 25:1-7

The Sabbath Year

 ¹ The LORD said to Moses at Mount Sinai, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. ³ For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. ⁴ But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. ⁵ Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. ⁶ Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, ⁷ as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

Leviticus 26:34

³⁴ Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.


2 Chronicles 36:21

²¹ The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.

Matthew 18:21-22

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

 ²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

 ²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[a]


Mark 11:25

²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Colossians 3:13
¹³


Matthew 7:1-4
¹ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
   ³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?


Ecclesiastes 9:11
 ¹¹ I have seen something else under the sun:
   The race is not to the swift
   or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
   or wealth to the brilliant
   or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.


Luke 13:1-5

Repent or Perish

 ¹ Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ² Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
Makes 9 X 13 Cake

Apple Cake Ingredients:


3 cups all purpose flour
2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups finely chopped apples
1/2-1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Brown Sugar Glaze:

1 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 9 X 13 rectangular pan  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Stir with a whisk to mix everything together.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light in color and foamy.  Add the oil and vanilla and mix well.

Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir until flour disappears.  Do not over mix.  Add apples and nuts (if using).

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

After removing cake from oven, make glaze.

Brown Sugar Glaze

Combine brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and heavy cream in saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook 3-5 minutes.

Spoon hot glaze over the hot-from-the-oven cake.  Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving.

Cinnamon-Apple Walnut Torte

My mom recently gave us the cookbook, Coffee Cakes- Simple, Sweet and Savory by Lou Seibert Pappas.  It is SO filled with YUM I can barely stand it!  We've purchased the ingredients for a few of the fall-ish desserts and coffee cakes, so be prepared to see a lot of apple, cranberry and nut creations.

When I read this recipe describing it as a torte, like an apple pudding cake, I was expecting something quite different than what it turned out to be.  It's more like a sweet, cinnamony apple dessert that would be a great accompaniment to rich vanilla ice cream.  I tried it twice, once beating the eggs lightly until frothy and the second time beating until very frothy.  I liked the first option better and that is the one I'll share.

Lou Seiber Pappas writes,

"this fast, favorite recipe from Schramsberg Winery in Calistoga, California, was featured in my Winemakers' Cookbook published in the Eighties.  Diced apples, walnuts, and dried cranberries, very lightly bound in an egg and sugar batter, make home apple pudding-cake.  Top with a spoonful of Greek yogurt for a morning treat or embellish with ice cream for an easy guest dinner."

We had friends over the other day and I was able to quickly whip this one up for an afternoon treat.  It is fast!

Cinnamon-Apple Walnut Torte
Makes one 9-inch torte

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (divided, 1 teaspoon for apple mixture, 1 teaspoon for topping)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (divided, reserve 1/3 cup for topping)
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced (I sliced ours)
1/2 cup dried cranberries or golden raisins
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Greek yogurt, vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt, or whipped cream for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heavily butter a 9-inch pie pan.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs until frothy with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer and beat in the brown sugar and vanilla until light.  In a medium bowl, stir the flour salt, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon together to blend.  Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture.

Reserve 1/3 cup of the nuts for the topping.  Mix the remaining nuts (2/3 cup), the apples, and cranberries or golden raisins into the batter.  Spread evenly in the prepared pan.  In a small bowl, mix the granulated sugar, the remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and the reserved nuts together and scatter evenly over the batter.

Ready for the oven

This aroma of this dessert will fill your home with cozy fall wonder.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cake is set and golden brown.  Let cool slightly.  Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges.  Top with yogurt, ice cream, frozen yogurt or whipped cream, if desired.

Serve with ice cream.  Yum!

Apple Cake w/ Brown Sugar Glaze

September 26th is a day for celebration.  It happens to be Johnny Appleseed's (a.k.a. John Chapman) birthday!  We always love a reason to celebrate and what else would Johnny want for his birthday but an Apple Cake?

I found a GREAT recipe for a scrumptious apple cake at http://www.lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/  Just a couple glances at this website and you'll definitely be drooling uncontrollably.

In addition to it being Johnny's happy day, we're also baking this cake to compliment some of the book studies we're currently doing, namely Out of the Dust and Ox Cart Man.

Without further ado...

Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
Makes 9 X 13 Cake

Apple Cake Ingredients:


3 cups all purpose flour
2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups finely chopped apples
1/2-1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Brown Sugar Glaze:

1 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 9 X 13 rectangular pan  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Stir with a whisk to mix everything together.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light in color and foamy.  Add the oil and vanilla and mix well.

Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir until flour disappears.  Do not over mix.  Add apples and nuts (if using).

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

After removing cake from oven, make glaze.

Cake fresh from the oven.  Time to make the glaze

Ready for Glaze

See those apples?

Brown Sugar Glaze

Combine brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and heavy cream in saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook 3-5 minutes.

Glaze bubbling

Spoon hot glaze over the hot-from-the-oven cake.  Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving.

So incredibly moist and yummy!

A Fall Beauty!  Enjoy!

State Study: New York State Apple Muffins

This spring I stumbled upon a homeschool state study unit on About.com.  It is a 25-week study of the 50 United States.  If you sign up, each lesson is emailed to you with worksheets, links, recipes and supplemental study information.

One of our children has a knack for geography.  He memorized all the states on his own and was looking to learn more.  He began his memorization at GeoSpy and was able to quickly identify the locations and names of all the states.

These are a couple of his favorite books.  He shares all sorts of important information with us from these books.

When homeschooling, if one of your kids has in interest in something...run with it!  When doing a unit study on something they love, kids will accomplish reading, history, geography, science, hone their computer skills, improve vocabulary, writing, English, and grammar.  In addition, you can find supplemental activities to further their learning experience.  Some examples would be baking, field trips, educational videos, art projects, etc.

With all homeschooling material I come across, I evaluate what will work for our family and add additional activities or glean applicable resources.  The About.com study provides worksheets including word searches, crossword puzzles, vocabulary, coloring pages, writing forms, information about state symbols and fun activities unique to each state.  Some homeschoolers are anti-worksheet.  In that case, you can do the questions and research as a group/family.  One idea would be to take the worksheet with names, historical information, and locations to the library and have your kids find books on the topic.  Because our kids have limited computer time, they love to look up (Google search) the questions and find the answers.  (Note: when they are on the computer, I am present.  We talk a lot about computer safety).  Also, I grew up doing word searches with my grandma.  I love them!  I think a lot of kids like them too.  It's good brain exercise.

About.com recommends completing two states per week.  We are flexible.  If it takes us a week to complete one state, it's not the end of the world.  Enjoy your time together with your kids and make learning fun, not stressful.  They'll have enough deadlines and stress when they're grown.  Enjoy this time!

We're finishing up New York this week.  We learned the "official" muffin of New York State is the Apple Muffin.  It's a June Gloom kind of day here, so it's a perfect day for baking Apple Muffins.

The Official New York State Apple Muffin

Makes 24 muffins
Ingredients:

Topping:

1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon peel (lemon zest or grated lemon peel)
2 tablespoons melted butter

Place above ingredients in a bowl, stir.  Set aside.

This is a great recipe for three kids!  Each one had something to work on: topping, dry ingredients, wet ingredients.

Topping.  See the lemon zest? 

  

This is a lemon zester.  I didn't know I was missing anything in life until I got one.  It's great!

It is very easy to use.  Much better than grating my fingers!

Muffins:

Dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.

Dry ingredients

Wet ingredients:

2 cups apples, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix apples and next 6 ingredients in large bowl.  Gradually add dry ingredients to apple mixture.  Stir until just combined.  Do no over mix.  Line muffin tin with liners.  Portion the batter into the muffin tin.  Sprinkle topping on each.

These are great apples.  It was hard for the kids not to eat them before they made it into the muffins.

We chopped in the Cuisinart, but you could do by had or with other chopper.

Wet ingredients

Adding dry ingredients to wet ingredients

Look at these cute muffin cups

Topping is sprinkled on top of each muffin.

Ready for the oven

 Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Fresh out of the oven.  Let cool a bit before taking them out of the tin.

A great cloudy day afternoon treat.  Enjoy!