So, in case anyone was waiting for the rest of the haircut memory…here goes!
Remember my girlfriend saying that I could one day laugh at her? Well, if your wondering, I did have the occasion to take her up on the offer to enjoy a laugh, at her expense. Probably about 3 or 4 years after the Horse Hair Tragedy of 95, I got an unforgettable call...
My girlfriend declared, “I am calling you first because I said I would, and you get the first chance to laugh before anyone else does.”
Let me back up just a tad…
From the time of his birth, my girlfriend’s son began receiving Beanie Baby Bear memorabilia from his grandmother, as well as, other friends and family. His baby room was covered wall to wall with adorable beanie bears, all perfectly encased, in those little plexiglass cases. Everyone knows that for a collectible, its value is in its preservation… especially the tags attached to the item, from its beginnings.
Well, with the confusing logic that’s usually employed by children, my friend’s son took it upon himself to take the tags off of all his beanie bears. He did this, not being concerned at all with the monetary importance of the tag being intact.
After getting all of his bears off of the shelves and out of their cases, he proceeded to get out his preschool scissors and cut off not only all of the tags, but any ear or foot attached to said tag.
I cannot remember exactly how many bears were maimed that day, but I do know it was a lot!
To this day we laugh about this memory, along with many other crazy things our babies put us through
One morning, while standing in my kitchen and talking on the phone with my girlfriend, I just knew something wasn’t right! I kept glancing out the window suspiciously towards the sound of singing.
There was my five-year-old, happily playing on her swing set in the back yard.
Something wasn’t right with the scene I observed, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
You see, it’s usually the absence of noise that signals childhood mischief, but I could see her clearly and she was simply swinging. Wait a minute… that’s it!
I could see her but not clearly because of the distance between us. I asked my girlfriend to hold on a second, momentarily placing the phone on the counter. Leaning out the back door, I called for my daughter to come into the house. Hopping off of the swing, she happily made her way toward the back door, where I stood waiting.
As she drew near, my eyes became riveted to her forehead, where her bangs had once been. My baby gave herself a reverse mohawk! I saw what looked like a small monk! She had somehow sheared off all of the hair on her forehead!
In mortified shock I grabbed the phone up and cried to my friend, “You have to come over and look at my baby girl’s hair”!
Hanging up the phone, I attempted to calmly ask my child what happened… note that I said attempted. She looked concerned at my anger and said, pointedly, “My hair was in my eyes, so I got out your sewing scissors and cut it off.“
I was in tears by the time my girlfriend walked in and I turned to her for comfort in my hour of need. All I got from her was a long round of hysterical laughter. Point in fact, she laughed for a good bit, to my dismay.
“How can you laugh” I cried… “It’s not funny!”
As she tried to contain her laughter (not very well, I might add), my friend said, “I know this seems awful, but her hair will grow back. Look, kids do things like this. I’m sorry for laughing, but I can’t help it! Its hilarious, really it is! I’m sure you will look back on this and laugh, someday. In fact, you can laugh at anything my kids do to me when it happens. I will even call you first.”
After my girlfriend left, I had to hunt down all the evidence to be found. Underneath my own bed, I retrieved my scissors… along with a massive pile of hair! There was a lot more contributions of hair than I had anticipated, which was rather alarming! My thoughts momentarily raced to my other children, but then quickly moved on to one or more of the family pets in the house.
When I asked whose hair I’d found, she confidently took me to her toy pony, sittling in the corner of our family room. The poor jumpy horse had received an army style crew cut, and was never the same after that, the poor thing.
Of course, my girlfriend was right! I did look back and laugh.
And if you are wondering, I did have the occasion to take her up on that offer. Several years later, I did get my chance to laugh at her child’s silly antics.
When I opened my eyes this morning, I found Tilly staring back at me, from across the pillow. She held something that looked like a letter, and I couldn’t see who it was from, but the look on her face was answer enough. Young Henry had written to Tilly, that much was quite clear!
But, why the long stare fest? What was in the note? At first, I honestly thought Tilly looked more frightened than happy. For a moment, I feared something unpleasant may have occurred. Only after taking the letter she offered me, did I come to understand her conflicted emotions…
The words of the letter were few, but very heartfelt, as young Henry wrote down his words of love for our young Tilly.
My Tilly I love you I hope you love me Meet me at our spot by the river, if you can I want to ask you something.
Henry
No wonder Tilly has such a strange look on her face… She is truly in love. The rush of emotions, fear of the unknown, and excitement for what’s to come, all bouncing around inside… yep! I’ve seen it before, and even though I’m seeing the backside of my fifties, I too, remember the butterflies, giddy laughter, and rush of emotions at every smile or touch… yeah, I remember them like it was yesterday.
So, it has now become my joy and honor to walk this journey with our young Tilly. Whatever she needs, we’ll be there to help and guide her along the way… that’s what family does.
Once Tilly saw how excited I was, her face relaxed into a more dreamy and confused state. She just kept twirling into things, as she wandered about looking for what to wear. I picked out several of her favorite dresses, in an effort to speed things up a little. For the next hour and a half I watched Tilly get dressed in one outfit, leave for the river, and then return to change into a different dress…
Finally, she made up her mind…
I do really love that sweater she’s wearing. Young Henry’s mother made it for Tilly while we were out to sea, presenting it to her upon their first visit, once we’d returned to the Barnyard. Tilly absolutely loves that sweater, as I think it bears a great deal of love, woven throughout the garment.
So anyways, I watched from the front porch as Tilly scampered across the grass, and down the path toward the river… I stayed there to watch til long after she’d disappeared into the trees. I could only guess as to what would come………………….
…she’s late…
… maybe she won’t come…
I think she loves me…
… what if I’m wrong, and she says no?
Well, God told me to ask her, and I did read that verse saying, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart”. I think it was Psalm 37:4…
Here, she comes…
I can do this, I can do this…
Ok…
Ahhhemmm…
Miss Tilly…
I love you with all of my heart. In fact, I’ve loved you from the moment we met. I offer you all that I have in this world. Please say that you’ll be my wife…
……… give em their moment…………………………….
(10 minutes later)
I am getting married… I am getting married! He asked… he really, really asked me to marry him…
…………………………………………………………………………………………
… she said yes… she actually said yes, God…
What am I standing here waiting for… I gotta go tell mamma! We’ve got things to do…
…………………………………………………………………………………………
… What am I doing dancing around in the woods? I can’t wait to get back to the barn and tell Ma.. Mee… oh for heavens sake, I’m callin her my Mamma cause it suits her, and she’s always been there for me…
… and I’m gonna need her now, more than ever! I hope she knows what we’re supposed to do. I don’t know the first thing about getting married…
Undoubtedly, most everyone has a mental list that they’ve probably carried with them since childhood, filled with possible adventures, achievements, hopes, and dreams. But, as most of us discover over time, that mental list morphs into three… would you, could you, or should you!
Take for instance, surfing… surfing, or any water sport, for that matter, could have been something worth trying, but not only has it now turned into a question of whether or not I should, but also aligns with the reality of would I even want to try it?
The answer, in this case would be that while I could have tried a number of open water sports, I wouldn’t have… are you crazy? There’s sharks swimming out in those waters, so I’ll stay on the boat, if you please! Not only that, but at this point in my journey, there’s no way that I should try it… not without breaking something!
I shall now try to write a new list of things that I could, would, and should try for the first time. It’s not nearly as easy as you might think. For example, there’s Karaoke, which is something I always thought I wanted to try. It is something that I can say I would try, and even go as far as to say that there’s no reason why I shouldn’t try it, but the trouble now is that I’m not sure I could! Perhaps what I should try for is the confidence needed to get up in front of people. Will I ever find the courage? Probably not, lol!
Before you start thinking that I’m just a coward, and am too scared to try new stuff, let me remind you of what I have tried…
Modeling, College degree, dog breeder, bird breeder, the entire field of equine husbandry, and horsemanship (dressage, vaulting, breeding, and showing), Mother, Bible Seminary, global travel (England and Ireland), camping, hiking, driving in a semi with my husband for 3 years, painting, pottery, ceramics, crocheting, sewing, becoming a blogger, publishing a book, and soon to be a Grandmother of 8 + my Godson, Peapod!
So, as you can see, I have always had a list, along with every other human being. Who knows how many more years I have left on this beautiful planet, but I don’t ever want my list to stop growing, not ever! I’m fairly certain that I’ve caught God writing on it, though He is rather sneaky about it… He absolutely loves to give me gifts and surprise me with things. I’m not gonna give that up, are you crazy? Don’t ever give up on your list, because that’s where God gives you purpose, my friends.
Don’t forget to try these new cookies for the first time…
I’ve had sort of a rough week when it comes to food, so I want to give a disclaimer, here. **All testing and results may vary, as I’m not certain if my skills, my stomach, or my taster were behaving properly!**
My baking adventures started out seemingly normal. I gathered up all my ingredients, recipes, and cooking tools…
And, yes, you heard me correctly when I said recipes, plural, meaning more than one…
You see, I found this recipe for a delicious looking Pumpkin bread, but then also saw a recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting. Unfortunately, I can’t have dairy. So, I had this notion that maybe Tofu might work as a comparable substitute for the cream cheese.
There’s a huge number of frosting recipes available using Tofu as a substitute for the cheese, so the assumption was made that it should be a success… right!?
Wrong!!!! I’ve never smelled something this vile in all my days, aside from Salmon, Slime, or that Vietnamese fish sauce stuff. Now, I don’t know if it’s just me, what with my health issues, or if it was truly that rank! I didn’t have the heart, nor the stomach to ask my husband to sacrifice his taste buds… so I tossed it! It smelled like a combination of playdough and that Paper Mache glue we used in elementary school.
I went ahead with the Pumpkin bread idea, opting for a simple maple glaze of my own creation. I’ve shared the bread recipe I chose, below…
Classic Pumpkin Bread
Homemade Pumpkin Bread is a favorite Fall recipe that’s loaded with warming spices and packed with tons of pumpkin flavor. It will make your house smell so good that you’ll forget you just bought a pumpkin spice candle! This delicious pumpkin bread recipe is super moist and both gluten-free & dairy-free.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
Beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl or stand mixer on medium speed.
Add the pumpkin, then slowly add oil and water. Beating well after each addition.
Add the flour mixture and beat on low until well combined.
Pour the batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly.
Bake for 1 hour or until the center comes out clean with a toothpick.
Let the loaves cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes and then turn onto a rack to cool completely.
Did you know that those plastic Ice-cream tubs work great for mixing bowls? Use it if you got it… that’s what I say!
Anyway, I followed the recipe verbatim (exactly as was written), except that I used Olive Oil. Well, I did also switch out the two bread pans for a single 12 inch spring form. (Some of the best places to find specialty cookware is Goodwill, believe it or not!)
It did have to be baked for 80 minutes, in contrast to the 60 minutes for two bread tins that the recipe reflects…
Voila!
Now, I must confess that I used my husband as my taste tester this week… don’t blame me, blame the Tofu! You guys, I couldn’t get that smell out of my head, or out of the apartment for the entire day. It was awful!
To be fair to vegans around the globe, I think that I may have an aversion to Tofu, along with the Salmon that I mentioned earlier. Memory has a funny way of messing with you, sometimes. And, many people use Tofu in a number of ways, swearing by it! So, if you would, kindly go easy on the Tofu community. Let’s just call this one Operator Error, and move on.
All that I did here as a substitute for the frosting, was to make a simple drizzle with 1/8 cup Maple Syrup (any brand will do), 1 cup powdered sugar, and 2 tsp of lemon juice.
My husband gave it 2 thumbs up, and if he likes it gluten-free, you will too!
As for me, maybe it was the Tofu, or quite possibly the Barium sludge I had to swallow the day before, but I don’t know if pumpkin and I can ever be friends again, seriously!
Next week should be far better, as I’m going to tackle a gluten-free, dairy-free, cinnamon roll, or sweet buns, if you like. I’ve never worked with yeast in gluten-free baking, so it’ll be a bit of a learning curve.
Hey, if you’re game, I am! Why, a young King David slew Goliath, with not but a stone and sling, so I am confident that I can challenge a loaf of bread, with not but Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour!
Gluten-free bread baking, here I come. Wish me luck…
As most of you already know, I’ve a new granddaughter arriving in late November. Can you believe that she’s almost here? As my mind, my heart, and my soul are wrapped all around this little bundle of blessings, I can’t help but want to include her in this part of my life, so that you might be a part of our journey.
With this in mind, I’ve been toying with differing ideas in regards to creating an Avatar just for my little Sugar Plum! As far as a real baby name, her mamma says they’re torn between Maize Anne, or Laney Grace, but they won’t make their pick until after she arrives. So, for now we stick with her nickname… that’s the Sugar Plum part.
Now, beings that I love making an Avatar that truly reflects the personality behind the image, I’ve been working toward some ideas that I think might be really adorable.
Ok, so my daughter and her husband are the equivalent of urban homesteaders. Within the humble space of a typical city dwelling family, they’ve a passel of chickens that lay the most wonderful eggs, and a glorious garden, overflowing with delicious fresh produce. My son-in-law loves to garden, as well as, raising chickens… and both of them work full-time! Honestly, I don’t know how they do it… but, I sure couldn’t be prouder!
Lets look at what we have to work with for our adorable Avatar? They’ve a boatload of pets, including four dogs, and two cats. The picture above is one of a baby with features of a kitten, but let me show you some of the other initial images Norbert (My AI) offered…
If I want to make a new creature with the features of animals and humans combined, Norbert throws a fit. Honestly, I think ai programs can easily mimic something already created, but when you ask it to come up with something new and unusual… they fall flat! Well, at least they do for this writer, because I don’t want the Norbert to lead my ideas. I am the content creator, the one who sees, imagines, and writes out what she sees. All I desire the image program to do, is to follow my descriptions. I don’t want someone else’s stock photo. I want an image of what I imagine… not Norbert!
Before I move further into the creation process, I must ask your opinions on several possible directions to follow, here.
The biggest decision to make before proceeding, is to either accept or reject the idea of using a human feature, at all! I don’t think I’ll be able to successfully add more than one animal feature to the image, without it greatly distorting the avatar’s features. Rather than an image with three differing species types, I end up with something warped and mutilated, with extra appendages and glaring flaws.
I did really enjoy the baby combo with kitten ears.
But, then again, I really like the tiny white kitten, even if it’s not photorealistic.
See my dilemma?
I have the same problems with most of my creature avatars. The program really tries to keep them all animated and plastic, unless I get lucky. There have been those images that really hit perfect on the first run, but most often not, when it comes to mixing image types. Hey, I never said I was an expert at this stuff. Personally, I just want to write… but, it is what it is!
Oh well, it’s not like I have to be in any hurry, right?!
Slow and steady wins the race, as they say, so I’ll just keep working at it, for now. If you would, could you simply leave an answer in the comment section, as to whether we should continue with the baby idea, or one of the others?
If you really want to go hog wild, you can help me create our virtual Sugar Plum. You can do that by giving additional creative ideas, and/or suggestions. Then we can really make something special!
I realize that I’ve said this before but WP really should try harder with some of these prompts! I mean, come on…. why can’t they give us a little more direction, than simply saying “artist”? How can I even break my list down into reasonably smaller lists, in order to pick my favorite in that category? See my problem? The struggle is real, my friends!
I have so many lists of my favorite things, I could rival Julie Andrews from the Sound of Music! She was able to sing her favorites into one beautiful song… just one! Are you kidding me?!
Why just last night, I watched the most amazing videos of this young woman who can make complete reenactments of differing scenes from CGI movies, like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and similar movies. She was so bright, I thought. Her husband was too!
In the same evening, I also watched music videos from past episodes of The Voice… such talented voices, oh my goodness!
I once toured the Bellagio Hotel, down in Vegas. Their entire lobby ceiling was covered with Chihuly Glass. Good lord, that man’s talented!
There’s nothing I enjoy more, than touring different art museums, historical sites, and the like, just to view the differing talents gifted for our enjoyment, and pleasure.
The definition of artist is as follows, according to Google…
An artist is a person who creates art, using skill and imagination in mediums like painting, sculpture, music, or writing. The term also applies to skilled performers, such as actors and musicians, and more broadly to anyone who is exceptionally skilled or expert in a particular area, like a “scam artist”.
Key aspects of the definition:
Creation of Art: The core definition involves producing works of art that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria.
Skilled Performer: The term can refer to public performers in the performing arts, like a trapeze artist or a jazz artist.
Exceptional Skill: It describes someone who is very good at something, demonstrating exceptional skill, such as a “strikeout artist” or a “scam artist”.
Subjectivity: What constitutes art and who can be called an artist is often a subjective matter, with definitions ranging from professional endeavors to passionate hobbies.
Broad Application: The word can apply to a wide range of artistic disciplines, including visual arts (painting, sculpture, photography), performing arts (music, dance, acting), and other creative fields like storytelling.
Why did I go to all the trouble of sharing the entire page of information, you might be asking yourselves? Well, to be honest, I got super excited when I saw the last part of the definition… the part about Broad Application… you guys, we’re all in here! We’re all artists, and I have Google for my proof! See? There at the very end, it says “storytelling”. That’s us!
I spend hours each day, visiting all of your different sites, reading your art, and appreciating the gift God has bestowed on so many of you! You guys are absolutely Supercalafragelisticexpialidotious!
Have you ever asked Google for a list of words that sound like other words? Well, I did!
Affect and effect, Lose and loose, Assure/ensure/insure, Lie and lay
Their vs. There vs. They’re, Accept and except, Advice and advise
Then and than, All together and altogether, Desert vs. Dessert, Flaunt vs flout
Further and farther, It’s/its, To and “too”, Breath/breathe, Capitol vs capital
Stationary and stationery, Who vs. Whom
Honestly, where did they come up with all these different words, anyway?
Now, I know that being an ant and all, I’m supposed to be super smart. But, just like people, it takes me a good bit of time, patience, and a lot of work to read and write.
If I’m to become a famous journalist one day, it won’t be easy… but so worth it! Meemaw says that nothing worth having is ever easy, and the hard work makes for a strong character. Though I don’t really understand why I need big muscles just to read and write, I’ll take her word for it. I mean, she’s been writing for a good bit. And she CAN sail a big pirate ship, all by her onesies… well, almost all by herself. The point is, I think she’s fairly smart so I’ll take her at her word.
Out of all the research I’ve done this morning, guess what word got me? I’ll let you in on a secret… it’s not any of those words I just listed… no no. Let me show you what the answer was to my question to Google about words that sounded like other words…
Words that can be confused with other words, known as confusables or commonly confused words, include homophones (sound alike, different meaning, e.g., “there,” “their,” “they’re”) and words that are similar in spelling or meaning (e.g., “affect” vs. “effect”). Examples include “to/too/two,” “accept/except,” “principal/principle,” “lose/loose,” and “than/then”
Out of the entire answer from Google’s AI, while I was planning on discovering the difference between all those words I showed you, I found myself knocked off the highway by the word confusables!
Why did they go to all the trouble to invent all those difficult words with long and confusing definitions, if they planned to one day start moshing words together just for the sake of it? Confusables? I’m confused, so I guess the word does it’s literary job of turning words into confusables. Now I’m not even sure if it’s sunny out or just sunshiny. Do I simply tell you I’m hungry, or am I free to suggest that I’m feeling apetizable… I mean, let’s just throw out all the rules, why don’t we.
Maybe asking Google for help isn’t always the best way to learn…
When it comes to favorite hobbies or pastimes, I’ve led a very full life. Fortunately for me, having children to use as my excuse, I was able to shamelessly buy myself all manner of games, books, craft supplies, and the like… all under the guise of “it’s for my kids!”
As time marched on, however, my kids grew and moved away, so I became a closet crafter, for a good while.
Then, as age crept onto my hobby scene, my fading eyesight and arthritis stole much of my hobbies and pastimes, which included things like photography, gardening, painting, horse wrangling, camping, hiking, and the like. The list really does go on and on.
But, the one hobby that began when I was small… you know… my Easy Bake adventures in baking… some things never change!
With the fall season rushing to fill our senses, and our kitchens, with warm and comforting October favorites.
My favorite flavor’s during October center around apples, caramels, and those delectable crumbly cobbler style muffins and cakes.
I decided to start with the apple’s, as they go so well with fall spices and syrupy drizzles, which are my weakness.
Personally, I believe that an apple can make or break the flavor combinations in certain styles of bakes. While many apples are plenty sweet, tart, and juicy when you eat them raw, things change when you bake with them. If the apple isn’t tart enough to stand up to all the sugary flavor, the apple flavor gets drowned out, if you know what I mean.
So began my mission toward successfully baking a gluten-free apple cake from scratch… no more store bought box mixes! It was time…
First, I needed to find a recipe that I could follow for a flavorful apple cake, and gluten-free. Honestly, I see amazing videos on Facebook all the time, which is where I watched a woman make these jaw-droppingly glorious Apple Crumble Muffins. The down side was that it wasn’t gluten-free, and also made with muffin tins, which I don’t have unless my girlfriend brings hers over when she comes for Sunday Coffee/Tea.
So, I headed back to Pinterest, which is God’s gift to all DIYer’s!
I realized that an apple cake or bread was the better choice for this recipe, as using a muffin recipe can have unpredictable results when converting it to a bake in a cake or bread tin. I decided on a cake recipe, as I want to save the bread one for a pumpkin dessert I’m attempting to bake for you, on a different episode.
While I was forced to make numerous adjustments, which I will share as we go, under no circumstances do I wish to take any credit away from those that came before.
Here’s the original recipe and link, as I’m certain that this recipe will be just as wonderful, if not better than mine. Be sure and check it out…
High Protein Apple Crumble Cake (Gluten-Free!)
Make this Gluten-Free Apple Crumble Cake and fall obsessed in minutes! This high-protein dessert is a dream come true for so many reasons; it’s decadent without being heavy, it’s gluten-free and easy to digest, it’s sweet but not going to spoil your sweet tooth and it’s just downright beautiful! It’s packed with warm spices and the addition of protein powder makes it a nutritious choice, perfect for enjoying any time of day and sure to become a seasonal favourite.
Preheat oven to 350d. Grease and line an 8”pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Add oil, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla to a bowl and whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl add dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Add dry to wet, whisking till you reach a smooth batter. Add chopped apples and fold them in until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with an offset spatula.
Make the crumble topping by adding dry ingredients to a medium sized bowl.
Pour melted butter on top and stir to combine. The crumble should hold together when squeezed.
Scatter the top of the cake evenly with the crumble topping.
Place in preheated oven and bake until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake and the cake is golden brown, 45-50 minutes.
Let the loaf rest in the pan for 15 minutes before removing the springform ring. Carefully transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
While cake is cooling make the glaze. Add glaze ingredients to a small bowl and whisk to combine.
Once cake is cool drizzle the top with the glaze and enjoy!
**Disclaimers** My cooking skills, ingredients, and baking tools are all based on real world baking! Not everyone can afford most of the high end name brands, or the organic labeled ingredients that triple the price simply by saying the words Gluten-free, Dairy-free, and the like. I also don’t think that the craftsmanship of said measuring cups and spoons, pans, trays, and/or cooling racks need be a deal breaker. I once watched a video of a guy making an entire burger on a clothing iron, and I would have eaten it! Rule for today is… sometimes ghetto get’s the same result! It depends on how hungry you are for somethin sweet, I guess.
Now, back to the bake…
So, with recipe on board, I set about my task of mastering the Apple.
I chose SugarBee for our apples, though you may have your own personal favorites.
As you may have noticed, there was far more sugar sweetening in the recipe, than apples, in my opinion, so I did some changing in regards to that drizzly sugar syrup topping. I also didn’t have any safe protein powder to add, as many use wheat and I don’t have the one she recommends. If any of you do this recipe and use the protein powder, please let me know how it turns out. I may go back later and try doing it with said powder added, just to see.
What I decided to do was add an extra quarter cup of my gluten-free flour to offset the moisture. I also did a radical change to the crumble topping, so watch for it, as we go. Alright, let’s do this!
First things first… we need to prep. A clean baking environment, breeds success…
I absolutely do pray that God gives me success, when baking. I need all the help I can get!
Apples peeled and diced. Half were set aside to be mixed into the cake…
The other half were turned into an apple compote, with quarter cup sugar, quarter cup brown sugar and quarter cup plant-based butter. I used Country Crock…
I didn’t make any other changes to the cake recipe, aside from the protein powder. I used Oat Milk in mine, but she says that you can use any plant based milk. I took the apples that were set aside, tossed them in some of the cake mixture, and then mixed them into the cake mix.
After lightly spraying my 9 inch cake pan with Olive Oil spray, I poured the cake mixture into my pan.
Here is where I went off the reservation… and a miracle happened!
I took all of the apple compote, liquid and all, and poured it on the top of my cake mixture. Looks reckless, doesn’t it? I didn’t stop there, though…
I filled that bad boy all the way to the rim of the pan with the crumble mixture, minus the pecans (I didn’t have any) from the recipe above. I was so worried that it would overflow before the sugar had a chance to caramelize and soak into the crumble mixture that I put a dish under it to catch the spills.
I realized early on that 350 for 45 – 50 minutes wasn’t going to get it done for this monstrosity, so I baked this apple crumble bomb at 380 for a whapping hour and 15 minutes… I know, right?! What was I thinking?
I think sometimes God loves to show favor on His children in some of the smallest, and most unexpected ways… that’s part of why I love God so!
Don’t ask me how, but I watched a miracle unfold, right before my oven eyes…
The only way that I can describe this would be to suggest one combine the most deliciously moist and flavorful apple cake/pie they’ve ever had, with the chewiest and gooiest apple oatmeal cookie known to mankind!
It was so heavy that I had to use two plastic plates from the Dollar Tree just to flip it over and out of the cake pan…
The apples didn’t sink to the bottom, nor was the cake stodgy or too bready, even after placing that pie filling on top, before baking.
I know the lighting is terrible, but I hope you get the idea… light and fluffy, with a caramelly crunchy topping.
I wouldn’t dream of taking credit for this amazing recipe, nor do I wish to forget the video from Facebook that gave me the idea for the compote, so please be sure to visit this site, as well. You never know, perhaps you’ll want to make them, too. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1226523166181722
I would have to say that this experiment in gluten-free baking was quite literally, The Bomb! Mee-maws Apple Bomb, that is…
Journey With Me! 