Apple Crisp Recipe

This time of the year, in the heart of the U.S. Midwest, a visit or two to the apple orchard is always in order.  My grandparents operated a wonderful peach and apple orchard in southern Illinois (Berthold Orchard) so I grew up with strong opinions about varietals.  My favorite apple is the Jonathon and this has never changed.  I use either Jonathons or Granny Smiths for this recipe, because they have the perfect texture and tartness.  I leave the skin on because this is where the good stuff is and I think it adds flavor & a little "al dente" to the dish.  My family likes things a little light on the cinnamon but you can safely double the amount of cinnamon in this recipe if you think you'd like a heavier cinnamon taste.  Jonathons are the perfect eating apple so be sure to pop a slice into your mouth while you're baking.  Drink some orchard apple cider for the full effect.

Homemade Bread Recipe

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at making homemade bread?  I bake all the bread that our family uses, for several reasons.  It's much less expensive to make your own bread, especially if you're buying flour and yeast in bulk.  I buy twenty-five pound bags of bread flour and one-pound bags of active dry yeast.  I keep the yeast in the refrigerator to make it last longer.  The flour gets measured out and put into the freezer, six cups to each freezer bag.  Six cups of flour is exactly what I need to make two standard loaves of bread.  The other reason that I bake all our bread is that the quality is much, much higher than what you can buy in the store.  It tastes better, has a better texture, and gets to be enjoyed when it is fresh from the oven.  Part of this improved quality has to do with the fact that homemade bread doesn't have any preservatives or artificial ingredients.  I use a little honey (instead of sugar) in my recipe because honey acts as a natural preservative.  I also refrigerate some of my bread after slicing it.  Refrigerated bread dries out a little bit but it makes great toast, french toast, and grilled cheese sandwiches.  If you find that your bread is still succumbing to spoilage, you can always refrigerate half the dough and only bake one loaf of bread.  The refrigerated dough will last several days in the refrigerator and it can be used for pizza crust, breadsticks, cinnamon rolls, or just to make another loaf of bread. 

Laundry Soap Recipe

I love discovering ways to save money on everyday products and I also get a lot of satisfaction out of making things using my bare hands.  I have several friends who make their own laundry detergent and I’ve recently joined their ranks.  It only takes me about 90 minutes and $3 worth of ingredients to produce 5 gallons of liquid laundry detergent.  My husband, Scotch, does up all the dirty laundry in our household but this is one way that I can contribute – besides just adding to the pile of dirty clothes!  I also make our automatic dishwashing soap but I’m still tinkering with this recipe.  When it’s perfect, I’ll share it with you, too.  Lately, I've had several friends ask me about the process for making laundry detergent so I thought it would just be more efficient to add this as a post to my blog.