Applesauce Bread - sounds so good!

I received this recipe from a friend, Carolyn Carson, who got it from Cathy Greek. I am going to make it today - yessiree, today! I'll let you know how it turned out.

This is so simple to make and smelled so delicious as it baked!
You probably have all the ingredients already ~ Check it out!

Ingredients
1/2 cup of softened butter
1 large egg
1 1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t kosher salt
1 1/2 cups of applesauce
1 t of pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, first blend together the butter, egg, & sugar.
Then add the flour, baking soda, spices, & salt.
After it starts to from a crumbly dough, pour in the applesauce and mix together.

I used two small loaf pans, pouring mixture evenly into both.
I sprayed my pans with cooking spray first or you could use parchment paper, depending on the dish you choose to bake them in.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

How To Make Ganache - Haven't you always wanted to know how?

I love cakes that have Ganache icing on them. It just tastes so good! OK - I just love cakes! Although I am a mature woman (will not tell her age unless pressed for it), I have always been apprehensive about making Ganache icing. 

Well guess what! I found a recipe that looks so easy on Little Delights Cakes Blog . Now this does looks easy and I plan to try it. I wonder if you could use peanut butter chips - what do you think?

 

Here is my favorite ganache recipe:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 TBL unsalted butter
 
Place the chocolate chips in a bowl then warm 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 2 tbl butter until you start to see little bubbles on the edges but not to a full boil. You can do this on the stove or in the microwave in increments of 45 seconds, stirring in between. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate chips and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then stir until the chocolate is completely melted, at this point you can add some vanilla to taste if you like.
If you want your cake to keep its glossy look make sure it is the temperature it will stay until served before you pour the ganache over the cake. (Ie: If you need to keep your cake refrigerated make sure the cake is cold when you pour the chocolate on it.)

Loaded Baked Potato Salad - You will love it!

We go camping a lot with family and friends. Each family contributes food to be shared among the group that we go with. I try to bring something new or different but most importantly, taste great. So a few weeks ago when we went camping at a campground Mountain Creek Campground in Gardners, PA just outside of Gettysburg, PA. Anyway, I was looking through my recipes and Pinterest for that "great" recipe - and I found the Loaded Baked Potato Salad. It was easy to make and everyone just loved it!

I actually got the recipe off of Pinterest and then went to the website, This is My Key West Blog. I did make a small change. I substituted bacon bits in place of the bacon. Here is a picture of the salad and the recipe. Hope you like it!

 

Fully Loaded Baked Potato Salad

8 medium Russet Potatoes

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 package of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 small onion, chopped

Chives, to taste

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Wash and cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Cover with water and boil until fork tender, about 20-25 minutes. Do not overcook!

2. Drain and cool the potatoes. I put them in a separate bowl and once they cooled enough I put them in the fridge to cool all the way. This gave them an excellent texture and prevented the dairy ingredients from getting hot or the cheese from melting. If you are serving this salad hot then you don’t need to cool the potatoes, just skip step 2!

3. Mix the mayo and sour cream together in a bowl. Add to the potatoes, then add the onions, chives, and cheese. Salt and pepper to taste – I use a pepper grinder and a sea salt grinder for EVERYTHING so I never know exactly how much of either I put in. I think the taste is far superior to just using regular table salt and pepper.

4. Top with extra shredded cheese and bacon and serve! I think next time I will add chives and we may try serving this warm once as well.

“Through the Spectrum” – Spiral Crochet Scarf Pattern – FREE!

This is such a pretty crocheted scarf!! I love the colors! And the pattern is free. I just thought this would be a great Christmas gift and looks very easy to do. This pattern was from Expression Fiber Arts site.

 

Here are the instructions:

Yarn: Expression Fiber Arts Spectrum Wool, 1 skein, in Peacock Dewdrop. 
Hook: Size H
Pattern:  Ch 222.
Row 1: Sk 5, (dc, ch 2, dc) in next st. *Sk 2 ch, (dc, ch 2, dc) in next st. Repeat from * across. Turn.
Row 2: Ch 3. *(dc, ch2, dc, ch2, dc) in next ch2 sp. Repeat from * across. Turn.
Row 3: Repeat Row 2.