Apple Cake and Bundling Up

Like my little baby doggie dress?   Some animals don't like being dressed up, Sophie is not one of them.  I think she feels naked without clothes on.

 Meet Joe, he's my neighbor. 

And his sweetie wife, Laura.  Sophie stayed with them while I was at Pokagon.  We all went out for pizza at Pizza Hut last night.  

This morning I got up nice and early, knowing that a trip to Wal-mart lies in the horizon.  Since my fridge was nearly bare, except for a few yogurts hidden in the back corner, I had to get creative with breakfast. 

So, I made smoothies. Tossed in yogurt and any bits of edible fruit left in the crisper, which happened to be a mere handful of grapes.  Then I raided the freezer, which I had a baggie of extra ripe banana pieces, strawberries, and blueberries.  The smoothie needed a liquid and luckily there was just enough cranberry juice on hand to use up.  I'm not really a smoothie fan, but it was a pretty good breakfast on the go.

After surviving Wal-mart, (it was very busy due to the impending snow storm), I baked a cake.  I know cakes are not the best thing for someone trying to get fit, but we are expecting company and girls gotta have cake.  Besides, this one is chucked full of apples, so at least it's somewhat healthy, right?. 

 I'll post the recipe at the end.  This cake is extremely moist and quite easy to make.  The hardest part was cutting up all the apples.  They do not have to be peeled even though I peeled mine.

This is how the batter looks:

Here's my side kick/photographer:

I used a bundt cake pan.  It will cook up fine in a 13 X 9 pan too.  

Taadaaaa!!

Let's talk about bundling up seeings as how the temps are expected to drop.  Sophie is in her parka and boots, ready to go sledding. 

Normally, if I'm going to play in the snow, I get into my snowsuit, put snow gloves on, a hat, and I'm good to go.  However, my snowsuit and gloves are soaking wet at the moment.  The following is how I bundle up without my usual snowsuit.  Start off with good socks; think warm and thick.

Next, double up by adding a second layer of pants.  Two pairs of sweat pants work out fairly well.

Good boots are a must.  If you don't have boots that are waterproof, then playing in the snow isn't for you.  Cold toes are no fun.  Also, make sure to tuck the first layer of pants inside your boots and the second layer over your boots, to help keep the snow out. 

As for the top layers, a couple sweatshirt layers work out nicely in a pinch.  Since my snow gloves are soaked, I doubled up by using a cheap pair of knit gloves under fleece mittens.  Either of those by themselves are not going to keep my fingers warm for the long, but the combo of both does a good job. 

A hat and scarf and I'm all set.  If the temps are in or below the single digits, staying inside might be a good idea.  Otherwise, if you must go out, adding an additional under layer in the form of nylons and/or long-johns is a good plan.  Also, make sure every bit of skin is well covered as frostbite can set in as quickly as 10 minutes or less if the wind chill is severe.

I know it looks as if the kids are sledding in the middle of the night, but it's really only about 6pm.  The temp is 20 some degrees.   Mic is being introduced to belly whopping.

I wasn't going to include this next pic since it's blurry, but Gladys wanted me to show proof that she was at the bottom of the pile.  We all have had a ball with this floaty that we rescued from Giest Reservoir over the summer. 

Besides going down the hill and seeing who all can remain on the floaty, another popular thing we do is race.  We each pick our sled and riding style and see who goes the farthest and/or gets there the fastest. 

Apple Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup no sugar added applesauce
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 Granny Smith apples (or other baking apple), cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (3 cups total)
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously spray a Bundt pan with nonstick spray then set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat butter, vegetable oil, sugar, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla until well combined.
3. Stir in flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well combined, then fold in apples.
4. Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then run a knife along the inner rim and invert cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. Garnish cooled cake with powdered sugar.

Learning to Ice Skate & Crochet

Hi There Folks! 

 

My little sweetie, Gladys, is learning how to crochet.  Her first project is a pink scarf for Sophie.

She is doing awesome so far.  I'm happy to pass down one of my favorite hobbies.

Another of my favorite hobbies is ice skating.   I hiked out to the frozen Troll Tunnel with Glenn and the kiddies for some skating.  Yes, ya'all heard that right, Glenn went with.  Hehe  Oh, the Troll part is almost as amazing. 

It was a bright and sunny day, but bitter cold out.  The Troll Tunnel is about a half mile walk one way. 

Gladys was excited to try out her new pair of skates that she got for Christmas.

We didn't see any trolls the entire time, but we were being spied on.  Do you see the deer?

The tunnel ice was nice and solid for the most part.  The good thing about skating here is if the ice does crack, no one is going to actually drowned, as it's only a frozen mud puddle.

Troy kept watch for the Trolls.  He was rather concerned about them.

Gladys really got the hang of ice skating.

She did fall a time or two, but all in all, she did very well for a beginner.

By the time we were ready to hike back, she was starting to build up some speed.

You go Gladdie Girl!!

Tobogganing at Pokagon

Happy New Year!

I headed north to Angola, Indiana the other day to play at Pokagon State Park with the kids.  As we left Pendleton that morning, there was just a small trace of snow.

We stopped just outside Angola and had lunch at Wendy's.

 

We've been going out to eat more than usual lately.  Luckily, Wendy's has really good salads, which is what I ate.

As we approached the entrance of the park, I was surrounded by a winter wonderland.

 I headed straight for the toboggan run; happy to see the line was short.  
 

We had to wait for our number on the ticket to be called for a toboggan.  And by the time that happened, the line grew.




In the meantime, Jean and I posed for a pic.

 We waited in the warming house.  Troy was already having second thoughts. 

 Gladys was talking a little smack and being brave.

 Then our number was called and we were ready.

Ummm, okay, I was looking forward to the thrill, but I had a few butterflies flying around in my belly too.

You see, as you climb up the stairs with your toboggan, you see the people fly past you and hear them screaming at the top of their lungs. 

 It does tend to give a scary impression to us first-timers.

Plus, once you get a look at this contraption that shoots your sled out, it can be rather intimidating.  Not to mention, you're like, 5 stories up.

 So, being scared is understandable.

But we all got on the toboggan and conquered those fears.  Our top speed was 35 mph, which may not seem like much, but it felt like we were really flying.  It was thrilling, to say the least.

 We stayed at the Pottawatomie Inn located inside Pokagon State Park.

I know it's not really clear from the pictures, but it snowed the entire time.  This was the view from our room:

After thawing out (The high was 17 degrees that day.) in the hot tub & sauna, we went for a swim in the indoor pool and then out to supper at the Inn's dining hall.

 Most of the sitting areas around the Inn had fireplaces to warm up too.

 When we weren't warming our tushes, we were freezing em off on the toboggan run.

The kids and I all had several layers of clothing on.  Most of the time we were nothing but eyeballs-- even those got cold and full on snow, so I wound up wearing my sunglasses most of the time.  Despite the cold weather, it was great fun!  A new year, and OH BOY, what a way to kick it off.  

On the way home, the highway was down to one lane due to the blowing snow.  It started to get better once we got south of Fort Wayne.  I was surprised to see how much snowfall Pendleton got.

 I stopped with this gangly crew at Cracker Barrel on the way home for supper. 

We were all starving.  After all, it's no easy task lugging around a big ole toboggan and hiking it up all those stairs time after time; it's a real work-out.  I ate chicken n dumplings, carrots, apples and cottage cheese; good food that totally hit the spot.

 I hope Ya'all had a wonderful New Year's too.

Keep Warm!