10/31/12

Apple Chips

When we first visited Aly and her crew in Colorado for Halloween she introduced me to honey crisp apples- and it only took a minute for me to become obsessed.  Now I can not wait for fall to eat as many as I can get my hands on.  They just melt in your mouth!  Ahhhhh.  Love em.  Then, last week Julie said that she made apple chips at her house and we had to copy her immediately.
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And they were amazing.
 All we did was add cinnamon, so they are so healthy (Jeff Barstad approved).
They are really easy, but they do take about two hours.
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First we cut them up into super skinny slices.
Then had a little helper pour copious amounts of cinnamon on them. (I recommend maybe using less than we did...)
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Then we put them in the oven without overlapping (mine overlapped a little and it was ok) at 235 degrees, for an hour, and then flipped them and put them in for another hour.
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They were so good!
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While we were waiting we cut up apples and dipped them in carmel.
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Hope everyone has a great halloween!!!

10/30/12

saltine toffee crackers

Kristen and I made these all the time in Lubbock. They are so good! I try not to make them unless I am giving them away because I will just eat myself sick.

You will need:
2 sticks of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
2 cups of chocolate chips (I always use milk chocolate)
saltine crackers

Cover a cookie sheet with foil. (don't skip this part, foil is very important) Line the whole sheet with saltine crackers.
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In a saucepan, melt 1 cup of butter (2 sticks) and 1 cup of brown sugar. I let the butter melt first on medium high heat and then add the brown sugar. Stir them together. When it begins to boil, STOP stirring and let it boil for 3 minutes. Then pour over the crackers. Put in oven for 5 minutes at 400.
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Once they come out of oven, sprinkle 2 cups of chocolate chips on top and let set for a few minutes. They will start to melt and you can spread them all over the crackers.
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I then put the whole cookie sheet in the freezer for about 20 minutes and let everything harden. Once it is set, just break it up into pieces and enjoy! I like to keep mine in the freezer.
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I bagged some up for Ella and McKenna to give their teachers for a little Halloween treat.
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Happy Halloween Eve!

Puzzle for Mamaw

My Mamaw used to have her own store called Jauntia's Junk. She was a regular at any garage sale and would have an eye for anything that could be refinished, fixing whatever she found with amazing results. She sold these things in her store along with any other random thing you could think of. My favorite part, and still a great memory growing up, was the candy bar at her store. It was huge and had every type of candy you could ever imagine. Behind the bar she even had a popcorn, cotton candy, hot dog, nacho and snow cone machine. It was the place to be and everyone loved being there. She would take each customers picture with her polaroid camera and hang their picture on the wall. The walls of her store were quickly covered by her beloved customers. 
About 12 years ago, my Mamaw had a stroke. She lost feeling in her right side, her ability to walk and speak. It was heartbreaking. She had to close down her store. She is a very strong willed person and has come such a long way. She can only say a few words ("oh dear" is her signature phrase) and is in a wheelchair but still lives life to the fullest. Before her stroke she was always creating something. Whether it be a new outfit, halloween costume for a grandkid, a hand painted bench or redoing some furniture. She was always doing something so fun and amazing. After her stroke she wasn't able to do any of those things anymore and I just can't imagine what that would be like. Crafting and creating is my outlet, it's my thing. I don't read books, follow politics, watch the news, or anything else intellectual. (I even had to google how to spell that word). If I lost my ability to craft, I don't know what I would do. I would hope that I could be half the woman my Mamaw is and just make the best of what was in front of me. 
Years ago she began to do puzzles. She has full movement in her left side so she found that puzzles were easy and enjoyable for her. I wish I knew how many she has actually put together. I would guess hundreds. She doesn't do the easy puzzles either, its the 1000 piece puzzles with lots of intricate details. So many tiny pieces and she slowly but surely puts them all together. She then has my mom seal it, frame it, and then she gives them to someone. It has become her ministry. Each puzzle is always for someone, never for herself. If the cleaning lady comments on a puzzle she is working on, she will have my mom give the finished puzzle to her. Ella and McKenna have a huge Alice and Wonderland and Candy puzzle that she made for them. 
Mamaw has been pretty sick lately and her stubborn strong willed heart won't let anyone do anything about it. She is ready to go "home" and has been telling us that for years now. She doesn't want to do anything to prolong her stay here on this earth. It is so sad to hear but I understand.
Hospice was called in last week to help her be more comfortable. No one has really been able to say a time line or anything since we can't find out too many details to her health because she doesn't want any test to be run. Some days are better than others for her. We drove in town on Saturday to visit with her a bit and the girls wanted to show off their Wonder Woman halloween costumes.

Cousin Kyler was a werewolf and it terrified sweet McKenna. 
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The girls made MaMaw a giant card on poster board and we then turned it into a puzzle for her. 
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It was probably her easiest puzzle yet but probably her first and only 3D one too:)
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We love you so much Mamaw!

10/28/12

Trunk or Treat

Our church had a Trunk or Treat tonight and each small group was in charge of decorating their own trunk. 
Our group did Candy Land as the theme. It was perfect since I had so much stuff left over from Ella's 1st Birthday Party. I love any occasion where I get to bust out those giant lollipops again.
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I bought a 9x12 canvas drop cloth for 21 dollars at Home Depot and turned it into a life size Candy Land board game.
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 I first laid out brown grocery sacks as my template and traced the pathway with chalk. I then went over the chalk lines with white paint and then began painting away...
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We used cardboard to make the candy striped awning,
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added the word START to Bob's fashion show arrow,
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painted a Candy Land sign on foam board,
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and made everyone matching candy land shirts using an iron on transfer sheet. I just pulled the image from google and added the trunk or treat part.
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We did a Candy Walk game for all the kids and it seemed to be a hit! Everyone lined up at the starting point. Once the music started, everyone walked the walkway. Whatever color you were standing on when the music stopped is the color bucket you picked your candy from.
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We had each bucket represent a different character from Candy Land.
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It was such a fun night and the kids had a blast!
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My camera battery died the second everything started so thank you so much sweet friends for sending me some pics!
Happy Trunk or Treat!
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