Let It Burn

Approximately 3 lb. apples ( I actually just filled the crockpot, which might've been closer to 10lbs or more) peeled, cored, and sliced. You can also just quarter them if you'd like. My Pampered Chef peeler/corer/slicer does it all for me :) 3 cups sugar 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. nutmeg 1/2 tsp. allspice 1/2 tsp. cloves Dash of salt Peel, core, and slice apples (sweet or tart, doesn't matter!). Break them in pieces with your hands and place the apples in a slow cooker.  In a medium bowl, mix the sugar and other seasonings. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix around a bit as you can. Heat on low for about 12 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness. If apple butter has too much liquid, cook on high until thickened (uncovered). Stir often as butter thickens to prevent scorching. Store in refrigerator for u...

What you'll need: oven safe bowl, 4 8" cake pans, 3 cake mixes, lots of icing, icing tips and bags, food coloring, spatula and a Barbie :) I decided to make Eliana a Barbie Cake and have been planning and trying to figure out the best way to do it. I watched a few YouTube videos on it and read some random stuff blogged about it. There was one piece of info I couldn't seem to find anywhere and that is " how long are Barbie's legs ?" Assume here that you don't have a Barbie in your possession yet, as I did not. So here's the answer and it's worth $$$...... 7 1/4 inches ! After reading and researching I decided to bake 2 8" round cakes (takes one box) and one box of mix in an oven safe bowl (for the shape of the skirt). After baking them I realized they wouldn't be quite tall enough so I made another 2 8" rounds. As far as the oven safe bowl, I found it at TJ Maxx a couple years ago for $7, but Pampered Chef also sells them. It al...

My blog has been sleepy lately and that's because life has been anything but! A few weeks ago Craig and Jacob went on a Royal Rangers (like a Christ centered Boy Scouts) father-son campout. They had a huge amount of fun but also unfortunately had a too close encounter with a hornet's nest. Craig was stung about a dozen times and Jacob 3 or 4 times. When they came home on a Sunday they both entered the house with their left eye nearly swollen shut. No kidding. I thought, "what the????? And why didn't Craig mention they both got punched!" Craig said they woke up Sunday morning both looking like that and feeling much worse than they did on Saturday when the stings actually happened. Weird. Things progressively got worse for Craig. He looked worse and worse and the bee stings, all over his body and head, continued to swell, redden, and get more itchy. It was terrible! Jake's also wasn't improving much although we'd been icing the stings and giving plenty...