Macaroni-Burger Bake

Older Son got in a cooking mood the other night, and came up with this:



This is actually leftovers from then, it's good a couple of days later as well! He browned hamburger, cooked elbow macaroni, then put them together with some spaghetti sauce. Divided that into two pie dishes. THEN, topped each dish with four slices of bread that had garlic (I assume), mozzarella slices, and some parmesan on top. Then baked it all. In the plate above, I have a helping, and I broke a slice of bread apart to heat up better in the microwave. He can make this again anytime!

Apple Pie

For the longest time, I have tried and tried to find a good apple pie recipe that I could make successfully, and it would taste good. Let's just say that two-crust pies aren't my forte. I have trouble getting that top crust to behave and bake just like I'd like. Also, I usually lack room to roll out dough.

Or the apples don't get done.

Or the taste is "ok," but not great.

For quite awhile now, I've used a "pat-in-pan" recipe for pie crust, and LOVE it. So when I found "Crumb Topped Apple Pie" in an old issue of "Taste of Home" magazine, I had to try it. It used the most basic of ingredients, and didn't require a top crust.

Simple ingredients, and fresh apples, yielded THIS:



Then, I cut a piece and added ice cream:



OH WOW, I HAVE FOUND MY APPLE PIE RECIPE. So good!

Colorful Chore

Washing dishes is one of my least favorite chores, but some homemade, colorful dishcloths do help it go better. :)

Super Nachos

I love it when Older Son gets food ideas! He whipped these up one day recently when we were all at home. He just layered stuff on a pizza pan. I think he did chips and cheese heated up first to kind of heat that up, then maybe more chips (?), and the other stuff. We obliterated almost the whole pan, and the dab that was left, I cleaned up later for a snack. This "super nacho platter" included chips, cheese, bean dip, cheese dip, hamburger seasoned with onions and spices, and sweet-hot jalapenos. WE WILL BE MAKING THESE AGAIN. Will probably add some salsa next time. They can be adjusted for any ingredients you want to have on them. I was also thinking of olives, tomatoes, and sour cream. :)

Cherry and Chocolate

Older Son had an idea - bake a cherry cordial inside a chocolate cupcake. So this we did. Then frosted them with cherry frosting and some pretty sprinkles on top. VERY SWEET!!! But a good experiment, and I'd say they turned out good, just VERY, VERY SWEET. :)

Cold Laundry

I remember hearing stories of "freeze-dried" laundry from my mom and grandma, back in the "old days." Amazing that laundry does get basically dry even in the cold, just need to thaw-warm it up a little after you bring it in.

Cowgirl Coffee

I don't drink coffee all the time, but I do enjoy it every now and then. I've had a little coffeemaker, and enjoyed it. But ... the other day I made a purchase. I got an 8-cup blue "granite ware" coffeepot from the camping section at wallyworld. It's a percolator. It works on the stovetop or even over a campfire. Today, I made coffee in it. It SMELLED GOOD percolating. I could make it as strong as I wanted. Somehow, I felt like it even tasted better. So the "coffeemaker" may go to the thrift store. This was well-worth the investment. *siiiip....*