Corinthian Table Grapes

These are the aforementioned Corinthian Table Grapes. They are really cute! So teeny tiny. In my unprofessional opinion, they're sweeter, too.

Imagine grape pie with these!

Sanitary Stew

Watch that knife fly! Like in Ratatouille.

No rest for the weary! *wink* The people need to eat. The soup must be made. So the invalid must roll herself out of bed, set aside her Corinthian grapes, and make herself useful. 

Only problem with that... the invalid has germs on her hands. Many germs. Deadly germs. Is she so heartless that she careth not whether others contract this fatal illness? De ningun  modo! She nobly dons a dust mask, pulls on some surgical gloves, and sets out to chop those veggies! 

I chased Anaja down the hall with a carrot.
It was wunderbaar-gut fun. She's so
petrified of germs.

She did, however, hire her sous chefs (aka Bekah and Anaja) to chop some chicken. She braved the celery and dumplings, but the chicken was too much for her vegetarian nerves. 

Now I'm back to watching The Secret Garden on the couch. With my Corinthian Table Grapes.

"Something attempted; something done has earned a night's repose."

Steam Tent

 Betcha can't guess what this is... unless you look at the title!

Since I am tired of this horrid cold, to speed recovery along (maybe in time for my mega-workday tomorrow!)....

... I fashioned myself a steam tent. The hot cup of Echinacea tea goes under the "tent". The steam does its thing. Yay!

Although, it does sort of feel like I'm suffocating. And drowning, thanks to Angela's Special Rinse. *wink* 

Yes. I look lovely in my steam tent.

 If you have not read these, then hurry to your local library and get to it! The Rose Trilogy is probably my favorite Beverly Lewis series yet. I lo-o-oved the ending. (The final book, The Mercy, was published just recently, so you may have to order it if your library doesn't have it. Or just buy it. Send the bill to Hannah.)

The Goodreads review: Lancaster County, with its rolling meadows and secret byways, may seem idyllic, but it is not without its thorns. THE ROSE TRILOGY is the stirring saga of two Amish sisters on the fringes of the church, and the unforeseen discoveries that change their lives.Rose Kauffman, a spirited young woman, has a close friendship with the bishop's foster son. ...[She also] keeps house for an English widower but is startled when he forbids her to ever go upstairs. What is the man hiding?
Rose's older sister, Hen, knows more than she should about falling for the wrong man. Unable to abandon her Amish ways, Hen is soon separated from her very modern husband. Mattie, their young daughter, must visit her father regularly, but Hen demands she wear Amish attire--and speak Pennsylvania Dutch, despite her husband's wishes. Will Hen be able to reestablish her place among the People she abandoned? And will she be able to convince Rose to steer clear of rogue neighbor Nick?

Guinea Pigs... umm...

 

This one's for you, Pickle! 

Note from the Crockpot Lady: 

So here it is. 

2008. The year of the slow cooker.

It's actually the year of the rat. 

I don't have a rat. 

But I do have these little guys:

Daisy and Turtle taking one for the team...

No guinea pigs were harmed in the making of this tasteless attempt at humor.

Brownies in a Mug in the Crockpot in Your Kitchen.

Hmm... do ya know what that is? Quite obviously it's a brownie in a mug!!!

I rediscovered the Crockpot Lady while searching online for inspiration along the lines of supper. Remember last year when every meal I made was in the crockpot? (Including "mud cake"?) Well, this is the lady that inspired me. Yay for crocks!

I tried these last year. Quite basically all you do is prepare a brownie batter from a box and pour it into mugs about halfway up. Then you place the mugs inside a crockpot and let them bake for a few hours. G-e-n-i-u-s!

My mistake: I forgot to make sure all the mugs were firmly settled on the bottom of the slow cooker. (Very important detail!) The result: they were gooey on the bottom and getting rock hard on the top by the time I discovered the problem. ( 7 hours into the cooking! It was 10:00pm. We were waiting for our brownies. And waiting. And waiting. They were finally done around 11:30!)  Moral of this story is... get a bigger crockpot!

Here's the link to Stephanie O'Dea's recipe: Brownies in a Mug

She notes that the mugs will be "TERRIBLY HOT"! I filled a pan up with warm - not cold! - water. I was nervous that the mugs might crack from the change of temperature, but *whew* they didn't. The water helped them cool off way faster than if I'd just let them alone.

Add whipped cream! It's all part of the novelty... and it makes them look - and taste - better.

No, I'm not trying to give anybody a heart attack! I'm all for health foods (I'll post some of those recipes in the near future) but every so often it's fun to be a teeny bit careless when it comes to dessert! If you're really feeling guilty - like we were - then you can save half of your mug for the next day. They tasted just fine cold with fresh whipped cream!

What doesn't taste just fine with fresh whipped cream?

September Has Sprung!

Shortcut to applesauce! When you hear the explosion, it's ready!

I made a batch of gingersnaps the other day. (Interesting side note: since we didn't have electricity, I tried to run the oven through the generator. That was a fail; I nearly blew the kitchen to bits!) Thus begins the change of seasons... 

Tis September 1st. I'm drinking cinnamon tea (with a teensy bit of sugar!) I started school today, too. I plan to buy a few extra apples next market day to make into applesauce... even though I'm the only one who will eat it after it gets cold. I've worn a sweater over the last few days. The little maple trees down the street are starting to turn.

I can't believe it's already fall again. I think it must be my favorite season... but then again, I say that about every season!