Cinnamon Apples

Ever since I was a little girl, my Nana would make her cinnamon apples for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not only were they good on their own, they did a fantastic job of chasing away the taste of squash, which we hated but always had to eat at least one bite of it. (And no, despite claims to the contrary, I never learned to like it.) As a child it was a true treat to eat these cinnamony little treats, and when my Nana died my mother took over making them. Fast forward five years and we move several states away, so if my kids (who love them as much as I do) wanted to be able to eat them for the holidays we don't make it back north, I would have to be the one to make them. Truth be told they are really easy, albeit a little time consuming, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you!

Nana's Cinnamon Apples

1c. cinnamon imperial candies

2 1/3 c. boiling water

8 apples, halved or quartered and peeled

1/3 c. sugar

Begin by pouring the candies into a saucepan.

Next pour your boiling water over the candies. Turn the heat on (medium-high) and stir to complete the melting process.

Begin to poach your peeled apples in the liquid. My mom and Nana always did halves, I do quarters. It's easier to cut them that way! Cook in small portions at a time until the apple begins to get fork tender and the red color darkens. You don't want to be able to make applesauce with these, they should hold their shape.

Remove each batch as they are done and place in a heat resistant dish.

I don't have a picture of this, but after all your apples are done add 1/3 c. sugar to the remaining liquid and cook, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the apples and refrigerate. At least overnight, the longer they sit the better the flavor!

And bon appétit! Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at the Southern Stitcher!

A Quick Catchup!

Hey all! I'm back from a wonderful vacation with all the women in my family and ready to start back up in the blogging world! My mom, Mistress, and I all just spent the last week on a girls week in Los Angeles to visit my aunt. We had tea parties, went shopping, and visited Disneyland and California Adventure together, and I so enjoyed having some girl time. I used to visit my aunt all the time, but haven't been out there in over 14 years. I figured it was about time for a visit, so we planned to go and take Mistress for her first plane ride to the west coast. First off, she was SO good! Seriously, a three year old who wasn't phased by jet lag other than to take uncharacteristic naps regularly and was pleasant and well behaved was a wonderful way to spend a vacation!

In other exciting news, the Southern Stitcher household has added a new member to our family.

Introducing...LUCY!

She's a two year old schnoodle we adopted and brought into our family and all the kids are enthralled with her. She's a very patient pooch and has made herself at home in the house. Never having had a pet before I'm adjusting a little more slowly, but she is a good dog and we are happy to have her. I'm beginning the process of decorating "Lucy's room," (aka the laundry room) and will have to post pictures of the transformation as soon as I get it all done. I've been wanting to make it more user friendly for a while now and getting her was the kick (cough*excuse*cough) I needed. After all, she needs to feel at home! Look for the Lucy/laundry room transformation in the near future, and I have a ton of projects lined up for the holiday season. Stay tuned!

Halloween Continued!

All our company is gone (for six days until we get some more) and Halloween decorations are coming down rapidly. I managed to get all the costumes done on time, although I won't deny that I finished the Professor's costume at about 2:00 in the afternoon and was braiding a Rapunzel wig during Tumbling class at 3:30. Nonetheless I got it all done and I had three very cute little trick-or-treaters on Monday night!

Here's my little Clone Trooper! Specifically, Captain Rex. They do not make patterns for a clone trooper, so I bought him the helmet at TJ Maxx for $15 and spent $6 on white fleece to make the suit. I used a pattern for an astronaut and a sharpie marker to make the lines on the front. Then I used scraps of black and blue fleece to make the collar and belt, pulled a pair of black gloves out of the closet, and added his black shoes and a Star Wars gun from the dress up box. Did I mention that this costume was $70 online? The Professor said I got it just right and he LOVED it! He's worn it for general dress up three more times since Halloween! BTW, he's quite the poser. I have about eight different trooper poses!

And Buggy! I didn't make his costume, we found it at a yard sale for $10. I would have made one for him, but why look a gift horse in the mouth? He loved it just as much and I would have spent much more if I had made it myself. Plus, Darth Vader is not something I was looking forward to attempting. It seemed more challenging than the storm trooper...

Everything worked out just right, and we had a great time trick or treating. Now I'm looking forward to trying some new projects for Christmas!

Halloween Preview

And now, after HOURS upon HOURS of work, I would like to present to you a finished Rapunzel costume! Mistress is thrilled with it, and even though there were times that I had wished that I had gone into the Disney Store and plunked down my credit card, I am happy with the end result and Mistress is very excited to wear a special costume. Here are a few things that I learned along the way...

1. I now know why my mother cursed every time she had to sew on satin when I was a kid. That stuff is SLIPPERY!

2. You do not make a princess dress to save money or time. You make a princess dress because your daughter will love that Mommy took the time to do something special for her. Seriously, I probably would have saved about $10 to go to the Disney Store and buy a finished dress.

3. It is not a good idea to wait until the last minute on these things, otherwise you will end up lacing the bodice in the parking lot of the preschool.

4. Three year olds are easily swayed. If, for example, you don't have time to finish the long yellow yarn braid to go with the costume because the stupid pattern company was WAY off on their measurements and the first attempt was a miserable failure, your daughter will happily go off as "post haircut" Rapunzel for her preschool party. Those of you who have seen the movie know what I mean.

5. Every minute of work on the costume was worth it when your daughter walks around proudly proclaiming "My mommy made me this dress!" to anyone who will listen.

Check out the ribbon detail! SEVEN strips of ribbon on each sleeve, and I can't even tell you how many yards of the lace stuff. I do love the way the ribbon turned out though!

This was obviously post preschool party as the wrinkles will attest. When you are lacing the bodice in the parking lot, you do not have time for pictures before school. I see an iron and a little spot cleaning in my future before Halloween night!

Happy Halloween! Check back later to see the other finished costumes!

Where Have I Been?

In my sewing room, spending HOURS on this Rapunzel costume for Mistress. This thing has taken up a ridiculous amount of my time these days, and the time that hasn't been taken up with Rapunzel has been spent on housework and homework, volunteering and a whole mess of mending. I do promise that I will get back to bloggable crafting eventually, I also promise to share the finished Halloween costumes next week, after finishing this one AND a storm trooper. Or it could be a clone trooper, I can't keep them straight. They both wear white helmets. Can I give a shout out to my Buggy who decided to be Darth Vader after we found the costume at a yard sale? He's currently my favorite child...

Sunday Dinner...Kid Style!

I know I know, it's Tuesday. Read my blog long enough and you'll find that I'm not always the most punctual person in the world, and sometimes there are more important things that come up in life, like a picnic at the park on a sunny afternoon with Mistress. But I digress...

DH has been away for the last five days, so I have obtained a whole new level of respect for single parents. I have also been trying out some new kid friendly recipes to keep the Monsters fed around here. Ya'll know that I LOVE Pinterest. Well I decided that I should probably do more than just pin the recipes and crafts, so I'm working my way through my boards. My goal is to try ALL of the recipes I have pinned (while limiting myself to one or two sweets a week so as not to become a very unhealthy individual) and do more cooking and crafting and less pinning. Oh who am I kidding, I'll continue to pin...

First off, Corn Dog Muffins. Rave reviews, the kids loved them, they re-heated well, and when paired with a glass of milk and some fresh grapes made for a fantastic Saturday dinner!

Second, Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers. These had mixed reviews, Mistress tolerated them (although keep in mind that she's not really a meat kiddo...) Buggy wolfed them down, and the Professor methodically picked off all the breading and ate the chicken. From what I have been told the Y chromosome does tend to predisposition the male species to not like coconut, so that may have been my problem. I loved them though, so we'll chalk these into the 'keep' category, although for the boys in the family I may do two breadings and leave the coconut off half of them in the future.

Finally, Apple, Ham, and Cheese Dinner Cups. Mistress, Buggy, and I all LOVED these, they really were tasty and filling. Perfect for a light but satisfying dinner. I struck out with The Professor, he did not appreciate them as well as the others did. I will say though that he ate the entire thing without gagging to get his dessert so they couldn't have been that bad.

All in all, it was a good weekend for new recipes and we survived without Mr Southern Stitcher. I have put him on notice though that tomorrow is "me" time. :)

Cilantro Lime Garlic Chicken Tacos

Recently I've been participating in a local produce co-op service. It's a great way to get a ton of local fruits and veggies for a terrific price, and I'm finding that the items in the bag are nearly always things that we will eat and use, and if not it's a good way to try new things! Anyway, this past week I picked up my bag and got a huge bunch of fresh cilantro, a large baggie of garlic (and it was peeled!) and a half dozen limes. Immediately my mind went to Mexican cuisine, and so I just decided to throw a bunch of stuff together and see what happened. I combined three cloves of garlic, the equivalent of about 2 cups of cilantro leaves, the juice of one lime, and about 1/2 c. of canola oil. (Alas, I was out of olive...) I pureed them all together to make a thin pesto-ish type of stuff.

Poured the entire cup of it over some frozen chicken breasts in my slow cooker and let it cook for about 5 hours on high,

Then shredded it up and added fresh lettuce, tomatoes and onion (also from my produce bag,) a sprinkling of shredded cheddar and a smattering of sour cream in a soft shell taco and made up an amazing fresh dinner that ALL THREE of my kiddos ate with gusto. Looking forward to seeing what I get in my next bag!

(Oh, and with three of the other limes I made these for happy hour on Friday. Very light and refreshing!)