Categories
Food

Jean’s Fresh Apple Cake

My aunt’s MIL, Jean Owens, is a professional caterer. Somehow, I don’t have a copy of her cookbook, At Your Request, but I borrowed my Nana’s to share this recipe. I’ve loved this cake when my mom’s made it before, & we decided it would be perfect for our family for this weekend as we’re gathering to celebrate another shower for my brother. I had a bunch of fresh NC apples I’d picked up from my work’s farmer’s market, so I volunteered to bake.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 c vegetable oil
2 c sugar
3 eggs
3 c peeled & chopped apples
1 tsp vanilla
3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c light raisins {omitted & subbed in 3/4 c craisins}
1 c chopped pecans or walnuts

Glaze:
1/2 c butter
1 c light brown sugar
1/4 c evaporated milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
In large mixing bowl, combine oil, sugar, eggs, apples & vanilla. Beat well by hand {do not use electric mixer}. In separate bowl, stir together flour, salt & baking soda.  Add the flour mixture to the apple mixer & stir together. Fold in raisins & nuts.

Pour into greased & floured pan. Bake at 325 for 25 minutes for layer pan or 1 hour for bundt pan {I used bundt}. Verify doneness with the clear fork test.

To make glaze:
{I baked the cake Thurs night & we made glaze Friday night in Richmond because I didn’t have the evap milk. Thanks mom!} Combine butter, sugar & evaporated milk in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook 3 mins to thicken. Add vanilla, cool & spread on cake.

Jean likes Granny Smith apples for this cake. I used local NC Fugi & it still turned out delicious.

Categories
Trying To Conceive

That Green Monster

That green monster called Jealousy has been rearing it’s evil head pretty frequently for me. I hate it. But I’m going to let it all out here to share exactly how I’m feeling. {I tend to feel better after a good vent, don’t you?!}

Three babies were recently born who’s moms conceived after we started trying. Actually they found out when we started going to the RE in February. So happy for my friends, & yet disappointed & jealous for us.

I find myself looking at cute pregnant women & thinking “why her & not me?”. We’re surrounded by them & more than a handful of babies in our NCSU season ticket seats. I will be drinking at those home games.

I get jealous walking past maternity/baby stores & hate I can’t go in there yet {for myself}.

My first thought when I hear someone’s pregnant is typically a cuss word {take your pick which one} then very quickly followed by sincere happiness & congrats to them. I hate that it’s not immediately the happy. I do find that if they’ve been trying “a while” or have been through IF, I’m immediately excited. But I know it should just be immediately excited no matter what they’ve experienced.

I dreamed {nightmared?!} Tuesday night that 3 good IRL friends {I’m looking at you B, K & C} brought HPTs to my house & all announced they were pregnant at once. They weren’t even TTC & bam all three at once. I was so jealous/mad/horrified. I woke up freaked out.

I have had two friends say to me recently that they’ve been “afraid” or “hate to tell me” now about their own or other women we know’s pregnancy. I hate that. I hate that I come with an infertility warning label now.

I’m jealous of women who aren’t thinking constantly about TTC, who either thoughtlessly get knocked up or it happens with little thought/effort. After my doctor dilated my cervix Tuesday {so painful I cried} to prepare for an IUI, we learned we’d been benched from meds & the procedure for this cycle due to another cyst. I still find myself watching for CM or thinking about fertile days.

A friend recently said she went through these same feelings while they were dealing with IF & prayer helped her get through it. I purchased a Christian infertility book recently to see if that would help. I plan to take it with me on my upcoming trips to see if it helps center & calm me & that Jealousy monster. What other tips for keeping jealousy at bay can you offer?

This is yet another Infertile Friday post. Feel free to link up if you have an Infertile post of your own. Or leave a comment to share the love.

Categories
Everything Else Reading

BlogHer Book Club: Slow Love

When I received the email from BlogHer Book Club about Dominique Browning’s new novel, Slow Love, I jumped on the chance to read & review it. Slow Love arrived on my door step just in time to be the perfect weekend beach read.

My typical reading style is rushed. I skip letters, words, & skim through paragraphs. I always have. Slow Love reminded me to slow down. To enjoy the moments, the “the”s & even, as she said, the letter “t”.

The memoir begins as Dominique’s life is taking drastic twists: losing her beloved career, lifestyle, & home. She’s also oscillating & reminiscing on her love affair with Stroller.

I’m still thinking about the muffins chapter. Y’all know I love muffins {& husband adores blueberry ones}. I’d love to slow down life enough to try making all the ones in my cook books.

As a lover of books & reading, I was right there with her {in my pajamas too} about how hard it is to get rid of your literary loves. Like Dominique, “When I read, everything makes sense. Sometimes the world in a book seems more real than the world in which I live”. I was nodding along with those lines; so much so that I {the never-mark-in-a-book girl} turned down the page to remember those sentences.

If you’ve had the chance to read Slow Love or want to learn more, jump over to BlogHer’s Slow Love discussion where you can also get to know Dominique.

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Categories
Everything Else

Shop At Home Twitter Party

ShopAtHome.com is kicking off their National Coupon Month celebration with a Twitter party tonight!

Hang out on twitter from 7-8p MT {9p EST} & follow along with the #shopSAH hashtag. The host will be @ShopAtHome with @Carole_Baker & @VIB_ShopAtHome as cohosts. I’ll be there too as we chat about coupons & they give out prizes. You must have registered at ShopAtHome.com to be eligible to win the goodies which include FIVE $100 Sephora gift cards. Tweet y’all tonight!

Also, WILD deal alert, if you’re thinking of giving magazines as holiday gifts this year, this deal from magazines.com will be a hit for you & your bank account with up to 56% cash back on magazines. Another WILD deal that is great for the holiday & party hostesses is 60% off a white divided server {$19.99 after coupon code:SHOPHM10 & cash back}.

Categories
Food

Blackened Grouper

Our standard OIB dinner is fresh veggies & grouper straight off the boat slathered with blackened seasonings & baked. As we were discussing dinner Sunday afternoon, Dad challenged us to branch out a little. Thanks to Google, I found this pan seared foodnetwork.com recipe which served as our inspiration. It was close to 5p when we left the beach so we decided to for-go making our own salsa & instead grabbed the fresh Lowes Food peach/mango salsa.

Since I found the recipe, suddenly I was in charge of cooking the fish! I slathered each side in blackening seasoning & two at a time, threw them onto Nana’s cast iron skillet which was heated with 2 tbsp of EVOO. After 2 minutes, I’d flip then place finished pieces in a just warm oven while I cooked the other fillets.

We served Nana’s fried okra, butter beans, corn, homemade Lexington-style slaw & the fish buffet style. Here’s my plate. The fish was seriously one of the best ever.

The rest of the weekend was spent grubbing on my banana pudding, reading, watching football & catching as much sun as possible. Hope your labor day was as delicious as mine!