Food | A Daisy Garden

Posts Tagged ‘Food’

Apple Pie

Posted in Baking, Cooking, Photography, tagged Baking, Cooking, Food, photography on January 22, 2015| 17 Comments »

Apples were on sale again…

I just had to make a pie.

The filling is just apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter.

It turns into the most delicious sweet and tender filling.

The crust gave me a little trouble this time…

But since I wasn’t going for perfect….

I was ok with it.

The smell of apple pie baking in the oven. . .

You just can’t hardly wait for the pie to be done . . .

. . . So you can take it out and have a piece.

Enjoy the apples while they’re in season!

Daisy

Apple Pie

6-7 apples peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
6 Tb butter

Pie Crust (you can either make your own or use frozen)

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Apple Sauce

Posted in Cooking, tagged Cooking, Food, Food Gifts, photography on September 22, 2014| 33 Comments »

I love apple season.

I buy the bags of apples marked .99 lb

I stick my nose in the bag and smell that
wonderful scent of apples…

I must look funny, but I don’t care.

I feel inspired to bake…
apple pie, turnovers, bread, and . . .

Apple Sauce.

This is my first year making apple sauce.
My friend just happened to mention that she
was making apple sauce, and because she’s such a wonderful cook,
I asked her how she made it.

I always thought it would be a complicated process,
too difficult for someone like me who usually does
the quick & easy recipes.

But I couldn’t believe how easy and simple
the entire process was.

I just washed, cored, and cut the apples into big chunks.
Yes, that’s right… you don’t have to peel them!!!
That alone is what inspired me to try this recipe.

I combined a half cup of brown sugar,
a sprinkling of ground cinnamon (about 1 tsp)
and tossed the apples with this mixture
along with 10 Red Hot candies.

I then added 2 cinnamon sticks,
one tablespoon of vanilla,
and 2-3 star anise
to the big pot (with the one inch of water).

Just before the water began to boil,
I poured in the apples,
and covered the pot.

I waited til the water boiled,
then I turned the temperature down to a very low simmer
and left it on the burner for about 2 hours,
stirring once in a while.

The whole house smelled of cinnamon and apples!

When the apples were of apple sauce consistency
…you might like yours more chunky or less chunky…
I turned the stove off and let them sit until
they weren’t hot any more… just warm.

I had never had warm applesauce…
but I just couldn’t wait to try it!

… so … I did

and it was delicious!!

I was surprised how good it tasted.
I guess I really didn’t expect it to be better
than the store-boought.
But it was!!

This weekend I went back and bought another 2 bags of apples.

Guess what I’m doing today? 🙂

I froze most of the apple sauce I made
so it will stay fresh longer,
and I plan on making some to put in pretty jars
to give away.

Fun to make, good to eat, and great gift idea!

If you like apples,
now is a good time to take advantage of the sales!

Have a blessed week!

Daisy

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Bargain Cookbooks

Posted in Baking, Cooking, Travel, tagged Antiques, Baking, Cooking, Food, Thrift stores, Travel on August 23, 2014| 15 Comments »

Whenever I’m on the road, away from home,
I try to find time to go to local Historic Downtowns…
I love going in and out of little shops,
(although I mostly do window shopping).

My favorite has to be the little antique stores…
I especially enjoy when I get to go with my daughter
because we both love history and we ooh & ahh
over the old stuff, wondering who it belonged to
and what their story was.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed getting are Cookbooks…

I never pay more than $3 for one…

I found these for .10 each at a Library Book Sale.

I’ve been looking for this one for a long time!
Couldn’t believe it was only $2.50.

I took the book jacket off and I like the hardback cover so much more!

I was so excited when I found this one…
I’d been looking for a Rachael Ray cookbook for ages.

These magazine-style ones are usually between .25-$1.00.
I got this one because it had lots of cheesecake recipes…

(My husband loves cheesecake, and I love him, so…)

Next time you’re driving through a small town,
check out the historic downtown…
you might find something that you can take home 🙂

Happy Hunting!

Have a blessed weekend!

Daisy

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Corn Casserole

Posted in Baking, Cooking, tagged Baking, Cooking, Food on April 15, 2014| 20 Comments »

This is a good, old-fashioned recipe…

My family loves it, and I wanted to share it with you.

If you don’t already have a good corn casserole recipe, try this one… You won’t be disappointed.

Here are the simple ingredients.

You can add a small can of jalapenos or green chilies if you want some heat in it.
Some recipes also call for grated cheddar cheese (I tried it, but even though I love cheese, I prefer this recipe).

Ingredients:

1 c sour cream
1 14 oz can corn, drained
1 14 oz can creamed corn
1/2 c butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix first 7 ingredients.
Pour into buttered 9″ square pan
(I use a slightly larger rectangle ceramic country dish)
Bake 1 hour.
Serve with heated maple syrup, if desired.
Enjoy! 🙂
Daisy

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Amish Restaurant

Posted in Cooking, Gifts, Quilting, Travel, tagged Cooking, florida, Food, quilts, restaurants, Travel on January 18, 2014| 12 Comments »

If you’re ever in Sarasota, FL . . .

I highly recommend you plan to stop at this restaurant.

I chose the buffet,
Just because I can try all the different
choices.
Everything is homemade,
and you can taste it!!

They also have a beautiful gift shop upstairs with all kinds of items you will just love to look at!
Quilts, one-of-a-kind little things,
And a whole section just for
Vera Bradley items…

This one was my personal favorite,
But I was good and put it back.

The day we were there they had all their Christmas items on clearance…

The displays were so beautiful!
I bought some vintage ornaments that ended up being only $2!!

They also have a “Country Store” section in the front with lots of goodies to take home, like homemade cookies, jams, apple butter, rolls, and so on.

Have I made you hungry??
I am!!

Have a good weekend everybody!!
Daisy

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Daytona Beach, FL

Posted in Photography, Travel, tagged Beach, Food, Ocean, photography, Travel on October 9, 2013| 9 Comments »

One of the blessings of our job/ministry is that we get/have to travel.
Sometimes we are so tired, we just want to go back home,
but other times we want to stay for a few more days…

The weather was interesting with a bit of everything… sun, clouds, storm, serene.

I took this photo (above) from a balcony, looking to my left…

This one (above) was a second later, looking to my right. Neither photo was edited in any way. They are straight from my phone.

We had lunch at a great place called Aunt Catfish. The food was so good!

They have what they call their Fixin’s Bar, which is a hot bar included with the meal…
cornbread, slaw, baked beans, stewed apples,
and my favorite: cheese grits!
YUM

I ordered the catfish plate. It was delicious.

It came with their sweet potato fries and an amazing sauce which had pineapple in it. That alone was worth going there.

The catfish was great…

But my FAVORiTE part, by far was their cinnamon roll!
Wow. It just melts in your mouth!
I wish this was a health food…
I’d buy a dozen!

I’m not sure when we’ll be back, but it was wonderful to be there…
I can still hear the sound of the waves.

Happy travels everyone 🙂
Love to you all, Daisy

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28th Anniversary!

Posted in Baking, Photography, tagged Baking, Cooking, Food, photography on July 9, 2012| 5 Comments »

Last week, for our anniversary, my husband took me to Cheesecake Factory. If you have never been to this restaurant, you should definitely make plans to go. They have great food, but of course their specialty is cheesecake. They offer more than 30 flavors of cheesecake. Yes, 30!

eeny meeny miny moe

As you walk into this beautiful place… right there on display, are just some of their fabulous cheesecakes. As you wait for your table you can see and decide which one you will have for dessert. (Notice I didn’t say “if” you have one, but which one you will have)

Oh my.

Decisions, decisions…

Gasp!

I don’t know if I can do this… choose just one??

This is torture.

Triple Cho-co-late? Uh, oh.

My husband, who’s better at making decisions than I am, chose the “white chocolate caramel macadamia nut cheesecake.” The menu describes it like this: White Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Swirled with Macadamia Nuts and Caramel on a Blond Brownie Crust. ” Because we had a full meal (which was also delicious!) we thought it best to share one slice of cheesecake. We knew it would be substantial. And it was.