Friday, October 22, 2010

Caramel Apple Bread Pudding

My very favorite Foodie site that I visit the most is Our Best Bites. They have this recipe that posted today that I have all the ingredients for and I'm totally going to make this over the weekend for my family. Check out OBB for the yummiest recipes and I'm not talking about weird ingredients and appliances you don't have, easy simple recipes.

Caramel Apple Bread Pudding


It starts with a loaf of French bread (let it sit out for a few days if you can), eggs, apples...

as well as heavy cream, milk, and spices, which are equally important but also a part of the great photograph disappearing act of 2010.

You'll want to slice the bread
and then cube iot into 1" cubes (or even a little smaller)

If you can leave them out for a few hours so they get nice and dry, that's great. If not, just place them on a baking sheet and bake them at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until they're dry but not toasted.

While the bread is toasting, peel and chop your apples. If you want cool apple spirals (and to make your life infinitely easier), try one of these Apple Peeler Corers. I don't think I'd ever make anything with apples in it without one of them...



Toss the apples and the bread cubes together in a large bowl and then place them in a greased 9x13 dish. In the same large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients except the butter and pour the mixture over the bread and apples.


You want to let this stand for awhile so the egg/milk mixture gets soaked into the bread. Ideally, you could cover it and refrigerate it overnight, but if that's not possible, you can let it stand for 15 minutes-1 hour.

When the bread has soaked in most of the egg mixture, place the pan in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the center is set and the apples are tender.



Allow to stand for 5 minutes and then cut into pieces and serve warm. What you really want to do is drizzle some (okay, lots of) Buttermilk Syrup (this is where the "caramel" of the "Caramel Apple Bread Pudding" comes in) over the warm piece of bread pudding.


Like that.
If you're feeling especially rebellious, you could add some vanilla ice cream, too. So evil, right? Right.



Caramel Apple Bread Pudding
Recipe adapted by Our Best Bites from C&H Sugar

5-6 c. stale French bread cubes (about 1/2 of a standard loaf cut into 1" cubes)
3 c. apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
2 tsp. pumpkin or apple pie seasoning
1 Tbsp. butter, chopped

*If possible, cut the bread into cubes and leave it out for several hours or overnight. If not, place the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the bread cubes are dried out but not toasted.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease or spray a 9x13" baking dish with shortening or non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, toss together the bread cubes and the apple pieces. Transfer to the baking dish. In the same large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients except for the butter. When combined, continue to whisk while pouring over the bread/apple mixture (just to make sure the spices are evenly distributed). Gently combine the bread and egg mixture, making sure each piece of bread is soaking in part of the egg and milk mixture. Allow to stand for at least 15 minutes (longer, if you can; you could even do this the night before, cover it tightly, and then bake it in the morning).

When the egg/milk mixture has mostly soaked into the bread, dab the butter over the bread and place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the center is set but not dry or burned.

Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Cut into pieces and serve with warm Buttermilk Syrup (and vanilla ice cream if you really want to walk on the wild side.)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Infant Bath Chair

This might be the best invention next to the wheel. Is anyone else with me when I say "I HATE the plastic tubs for infants" I can not get my kids out of that soon enough. This Bath Chair is the best thing when your baby cant sit up yet but they can hold their heads up and all that. It's always a circus act trying to hold a baby up out of water while trying to use a washcloth and soap to wash all their tiny parts and get them thoroughly clean. I'm not sure if people know that these chairs are available. I couldn't find them in Target or Walmart so I bought mine through Amazon. I happened to have a 10% off any baby item so I got it for like $19.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Dead & Breakfast

I purposely drive the long way out of my neighborhood so I can drive by a certain house that always is decked out in the latest holiday decor. I not talking gaudy "decked out" where it's like a car accident that you just can't turn away from I'm talking "How can I achieve the quality of holiday decor like them" It's the right proportion of decorations for there home, plus they have a B-U-TIFUL yard!

Here are the pictures, enjoy and maybe you can find some good ideas for you to do too! There is so much detail that I'm not sure if you can make out in these pictures. If you happen to live close by it's a MUST to drive by and see, also, I haven't seen it at night but know that things light up and I bet it's pretty spectacular at night too.

I love the cute picket fence on the inside of their yard, spooky garland hanging on it with great wreaths and candelabras.
Can you say a skeleton is gorgeous, well I think this one is. She is decked out in glitter and feathers, what could be better.








when I stopped by to talk to the man that lives here he said that everything is homemade except the skeletons. What outstanding people.

Picture Shelves

I have wanted to do this for years. I've seen them in magazines and websites galore. I happened upon this blog and saw that she showed how to do it by myself. I didn't need to ask my super busy husband to help me. So now I'm motivated. Watch out for a post showing my finished project, hopefully it gets started and finished!

from http://theperfectlyimperfectlife.blogspot.com


DSC_3207

DSC_3208

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Meridian Magazine

The craziest thing happened to me today. I was preparing for a class I am suppose to teach tomorrow at church. I googled the word "meridian" to find the meaning of it according to the dictionary. The very first thing that came up was this link:

http://www.meridianmagazine.com/

It's a website for an LDS magazine that I have never heard of. I clicked on it and poked around and actually found some stuff to help me out with my class tomorrow. I was amazed that this source was there and I have never heard of it. For those of you it may apply to, Enjoy!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Little People Nativity

I could not be more excited! I received my Little People Nativity today! I saw this cute thing last year on all the bargain sites but passed it up and I totally regretted it. So the second I saw it this year I jumped at the opportunity. I bought mine at the Family Christian Store It's originally $39.99. But I had a code so it made it $20.08 plus only .99 cent shipping. So only $21.07 All together.

Just today I saw someone advertise it again in an email:
Fisher Price Little People Nativity
Item: 1253401
reg. $39.99
sale $29.97
+ 2.99 shipping
*$25.47 shipped after code (+ tax, if applicable)
Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus share the stable with their Touch 'n Feel animal friends. Place the angel atop the stable to activate the star and hear the holiday favorite "Away in a Manger" play. Also includes stable, donkey, camel, sheep, cow and much more. (3 AA batteries required)
Code:
Additional 25% off entire order 122501301

2.99 shipping, unless spend $40, then FREE shipping. No code required.

So a tiny bit more expensive but still worth it if you ask me. So glad I got this when I did!
Also, because you cant tell from the picture, you press down on the angel and it plays "Away In A Manger." So Cute!

Halloween Bark

I saw this recipe on the Curvy Carrot Can't wait to make it!

Chocolate Halloween Bark

Has anyone else seen this in the October 2010 issue of Bon Appetit? As I was flipping through the magazine and I saw this, I sat up straight and immediately planned when I would be making this. It looked amazing. All my favorite candy…on top of chocolate. What could be better?

I whipped up an extra large batch of this to take to a dinner party and to send off to some friends out of town. I bought some cute little jars from my local craft store, pretty ribbon, and soon enough, I had a great gift. Let alone that I saved some for myself…and, admittedly, I cannot stop eating it. It’s like a candy bar on steroids.

I couldn’t wait to post this. It’s too good to pass up.

Chocolate Halloween Bark

Servings: Approximately 30 2-inch pieces

Ingredients

1 pound bittersweet chocolate chips

3 2.1-ounce Butterfinger candy bars, cut into irregular 1-inch pieces

3 1.4-ounce Skor or Heath toffee candy bars, cut into irregular 3/4-inch pieces

8 0.55-ounce peanut butter cups, each cut into 8 wedges

1/4 cup honey-roasted peanuts****I used butter toffee coated peanuts from my local grocery store instead (excellent decision, in my opinion :) )

3 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped

Reese’s Pieces

Yellow and orange peanut M&M’s

Instructions

1. Line baking sheet with foil.

2. Stir chocolate chips in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted and warm (not hot) to touch.

3. Pour chocolate onto foil; spread to 1/4-inch thickness (about 12×10-inch rectangle).

4. Sprinkle with Butterfinger candy, toffee, peanut butter cups, and nuts, making sure all pieces touch melted chocolate to adhere

5. Put white chocolate in heavy small saucepan. Stir constantly over very low heat until chocolate is melted and warm (not hot) to touch. Remove from heat.

6. Dip spoon into chocolate; wave from side to side over bark, creating zigzag lines.

7. Scatter Reese’s Pieces and M&M’s over, making sure candy touches melted chocolate.

8. Chill bark until firm, 30 minutes. Slide foil with candy onto work surface; peel off foil. Cut bark into irregular pieces.

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