Baked Apple Oatmeal

I was cruising around on Pinterest and saw a picture of a baked oatmeal and it looked really good but I didn't have most of the ingredients that the recipe called for so I decided to make my own recipe up.  The boys gave the results two thumbs up!

2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of salt
3/4 cup of pecan pieces
2 apples, peeled, diced
2 cups of milk (I used almond milk)
1 egg
1 tbsp of vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix the oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, half the nuts and half the apples together in a bowl. Grease an 8 x 11 dish and add that mixture to the pan.  Sprinkle the rest of the nuts and apples on top.

In the bowl you just emptied mix up the milk, eggs and vanilla.  Gently pour that mixture over the oatmeal mixture.  Jiggle the pan to make sure it is evenly dispersed.

Sprinkle another tablespoon or so of brown sugar over top if you want a nice crunch.

Bake in the oven.  I don't know how long I baked this for because I lost track but I think it was about 45 minutes.  I will warm it up in the oven in the morning and serve it with breakfast but really it could be a nice dessert.  With a little whipped cream or whipped coconut milk on top it would be lovely.

Nick is 8!!!!!

Here is the Star Wars cake that I made for Nick's birthday.  He and his friends thought it was pretty cool.  I have to agree. 

It was a vanilla cake with buttercream icing.  The yellow icing was made with a few shakes of tumeric added to the basic icing.  As the icing sits it gets more and more yellow.  This picture doesn't really do it justice.

Homemade Marshmallows!!!!!

Holy cow I can't believe I haven't done a post on how to make marshmallows!!  I took pictures when I was making them this summer and I guess I never got around to blogging about it (tornado kind of distracted me I guess).  So here you go....

You will need a candy thermometer and a stand mixer.

Ingredients:
powdered sugar for dusting
2 tablespoons gelatin (equals 2 envelopes)
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup hot water
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Line an 8 x 11.5  pan with foil, butter it and then dust it with powdered sugar. Set aside.  (This is important because the marshmallow will never come out of the pan if it is not prepped properly.)

2. In a mixing bowl, soak gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water. Set aside.

3. Combine granulated sugar and 1 cup of hot water in a large heavy saucepan.

4. Cook and stir over medium heat until dissolved. Bring to soft ball stage (236 -238 degrees).

5.  Slowly add to the gelatin and start mixing.  Mix on high speed until it doubles in size and the bowl is no longer hot.  It is going to take awhile and there is no set length of time.  I have had it take 20 minutes.

6. Add the vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.

7. Pour into the prepared pan.

8. Allow it to stand until it is stiff enough to hold its own shape.  I like to wait a few hours at least.

9. Cut in 1 1/2 inch pieces and roll in powdered sugar.  Don't over crowd them when you store them.  You want the outsides to develop a crusty texture it.

10.  If I want mini marshmallows I prep cookie sheets and pipe the marshmallows in long strips. 

I then cut them up and toss in icing sugar.

Other ideas:

I have piped the marshmallows out into snowman shapes and used melted chocolate to add the eyes, mouth & buttons.

I have also tinted them pink with raspberry juice and then cut them out with a heart cookie cutter.

Instead of vanilla you could use peppermint extract or lemon extract.

If you want to roast them over the campfire double the amount of gelatin.  That will make them firmer and then they won't fall off of the stick when they roast.

I make my marshmallows square because it is easier but if you want round ones you can use a cookie cutter and use the scraps as mini marshmallows.

Don't make these on a really humid day.  It just won't work.

Looking back on 2011

What a year it was!  It started off slow.  We moved into Goderich in November of 2010 so this time last year we were just settling in.  January, February and March were spent redecorating and organizing the house and just loving living in town.  It was great not to have to worry about what the weather was going to be like.  Living in town means that even if there were roads closed in the country we could still walk to the library or go visit friends.
Spring brought the construction of Rob's workshop in the backyard. 

Before

During

Almost done, needs a few finishing touches.

The start of the summer meant lots of:

swimming

beautiful sunsets

and fun times camping (I guess from Nick's face even dishes are fun when you are camping).

In August the boys went to spend a week at Nana & Papa's in Guelph while Rob and I went on a vacation by ourselves.  Rob and I were off to Mackinac Island, Michigan.  We spent Sunday August 21st getting to our destination.  In total we were on the road 12 hours (including our horrible ferry ride to the island).  We checked into our hotel, I had a brief nap (because I was so sea sick from the ferry ride) and we decided that we would go for supper.  Before we left I thought I had better email Dad and let everyone know that we made it to our destination safely.  I opened up the computer and on the front page of Yahoo it said "SW Ontario Town Destoyed by Storm," I clicked on it and it was Goderich that was destroyed. 

A tornado had ripped through Goderich around 4:00pm.  It had come off of Lake Huron, went right through the centre of town and out the other side.  One person died.  After numerous attempts to contact people in Goderich we finally found out our house was okay but many friends had lost their homes.

We wanted to turn around and head straight home again but the last ferry for the day had already left.  On Monday morning we found out that the police weren't letting people into town even if you lived there so there was no sense going home then.  We stayed and tried to see some of the island. 

No motorized vehicles are allowed on the island.  You travel by foot, bike or horse.

Mackinac Bridge - from shore line to shore line it is 8 km (5 miles) long.

We headed home on Tuesday morning.  We stopped in Flint Michigan for lunch and felt an earthquake while we were there!  We spent the rest of our holiday helping friends and neighbours clean up.  It was hot, tiring and overwhelming but we couldn't continue on our holiday while there was so much going on at home. 

Later that week we got great news though...Daco and Jen had a beautiful baby boy!

Nana & Jack Carlo Zoethout

September came and the boys went back to school, Jake in Grade 5 French and Nick in Grade 2 French.  Rob spent a lot of weekends helping friends repair their houses and yards from the tornado damage.  The Courthouse was damaged in the tornado so my office was relocated to the Auburn Patrol Yard.  (Yes, I know, ironic.)  We stayed there until mid December, luckily the weather held out and it was a nice drive all but one day.

The tornado has left a lasting effect on all of us.  Everyone is on edge when the winds get high, tornados have worked their way into the kids play and it will be years until the downtown will be normal again.  A lot of businesses have relocated but not all and we are missing them.  Some days it is really depressing to drive around and see all of the buildings that are just shells waiting to come down.  Other days you drive around and see all of the new construction going on and everything feels good.  How you view the town just depends on the day I guess.



All in all it was a relatively good year for our family and we look forward to a great 2012!

Ninja's in the Kitchen - Bits & Bites

Nick loves Ninja's and their weapons and outfits.  It is not unusual to see him fully decked out as a Ninja. 

This particular day he wasn't dressed up as one but was practicing his weapon skills.  I asked Nick if he wanted to help me make Bits and Bites and he thought that was a great idea. 

He went and washed up and came back and wondered "Where do Ninja's put there weapons when they cook?"  Um, I am not sure... 

He ended up putting his Ninja knives in his waisteband of his pants.  That way if we were attacked while making our snack he would be able to quickly defend us.  Good thing he is around, I feel very safe.

The boys have always helped me make Bits & Bites.  It is a very kid friendly recipe.

Bits & Bites
3 cups Cheerios
3 cups Shreddies
2 cups pretzels
1 cup mixed nuts
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp celery salt
2 tbsp worcestersauce

Have your Ninja accomplice measure and pour all the cereal and nuts into a roasting pan and mix them all up.  Mix the melted butter and spices and worcestersauce and then pour over the cereal mixture and toss it all together to coat it all.  Bake it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 - 40 minutes stirring it every 10 minutes.  Enjoy!