SPICE & SOMETHING NICE Recipes ;-)

Today dawned a bit on the nippy side, and it never warmed up despite the sunny patches that showed up now and then; the day needed a little spice.

So I decided I would have chili for Supper tonight. I made Diana’s Chili, an old recipe I clipped from the local newspaper and have been making for decades and posted on Blog: https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-week-worth-of-meals-in-1-hour.html a little over 2 years ago when our life was going smoothly and we had a lifetime together to look forward to. Well, our lifetime together ended 4 months ago, but chili still serves a need …

I finished up the male shoulder covering I started working on Wednesday at Craft Meet for the hospital donation foundation; I have not made anything for males, so Wednesday I got busy on that and finished this prayer shawl shoulder wrap up last night. The pattern is so simple I could have done it in my sleep. Seriously.

Here is the link: https://www.shawlministry.com/instructions.html – I used a size L crochet hook and I did not get fancy with mine; I did not use bulky yarn like the original pattern calls for because I know from what my friend Marla suffered during her cancer bouts that eventually took her life, cancer patients do not like heavy weights on them – their body just hurts too much. So when I got busy on my “man item”, I stuck with worsted Red Heart Super Saver yarn in a variegated blue that fits a man who may shy away from wanting a shoulder wrap yet knows he needs it anyway (kinda save them embarrassment and help them keep their dignity in an undignified situation). I did not use beads, charms, or anything else dangly as those would get in the way. I did, however tie a simple skinny tassel at each end for color; and if they don’t like the tassel … or it gets in the way of easy fluid movements (critically sick people do not have the energy to deal with frustrating things that get in their way) it is easy to remove simply:

And I started on a colorful granny stitch shawl for a female last night and hope to have it finished tonight …

Then I will make another male shoulder covering. I still have enough variegated blue yarn to do that – and it hardly takes any time at all to complete. I think I will just work on adult items this month.

You know, I am craving an apple dessert to go with my chili tonight. I do have some apple pie filling in the freezer that needs to get used – especially now that my Patio Apple Trees are showing new Spring growth; these apple trees are 14 years old and they have survived 2 major moves …

…. and I am hoping for a good apple crop this Fall – the harvest from these trees won’t be huge because my trees are small and set fruit (usually a cluster of 3, which I scale back to 2 for good sized fruits) very close to their center trunks, but the apple crop is sufficient for a couple; or a widow flying solo. So I am making Mother’s Apple Crisp for tonight’s desert (recipe follows), improvising with a bag of the frozen apple pie filling – the making of the Crisp will be super easy peasy tonight ;-)

This picture does not do this dessert justice

Spice and something nice will round my day out just fine :-D

MOTHER’S APPLE CRISP ~Serves 6

¾ c. firmly packed Brown Sugar * ¾ c. all-purpose Flour * ½ c. granulated Sugar * ½ c. old-fashioned Oats * 1 tsp. grnd. Cinnamon * ½ c. (1 stick) Butter, cut into pieces * 6 medium sized Granny Smith Apples (about 2-1/4 pounds), peeled, cored, and sliced into ½-inch thick slices * ¼ c. Orange Juice * 1 TBSP. dark Rum * ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract * ¼ c. chopped Pecans * Vanilla Ice Cream, optional

Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Butter an 8x8x2-inch baking pan.

Combine brown sugar, flour, sugar, oats, and ground cinnamon in a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place sliced apples in another large bowl and sprinkle with half the crumb mixture – toss to combine. Transfer apples to prepared baking pan.

Mix orange juice, rum, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Pour juice mixture over apple mixture.

Add chopped pecans to the remaining crumb mixture and sprinkle over apple mixture.

Bake until juices bubble and topping is dry – about 40 minutes. Serve crisp warm with ice cream if desired.