Easy apple cake ♥

 

 

Hello~  

 

I’ve had a recipe for lemon scones that I’ve wanted to post for weeks, but yesterday I made a yummy apple cake that I’m a little obsessed with. I had a few extra apples left over from a pie that I made for my dad (payment for installing a new water heater… I got off cheap :) so I went searching for a quick recipe and I found this one on www.bettercrocker.com. I made it the other night after dinner and could hardly wait to try a piece when it came out of the oven.  This is the kind of cake you eat standing at the counter at 8:30 at night….not that I did that on anything : )  The edges are both chewy & crispy and  It’s so good!

I will share the lemon scone recipe soon, but first this…..   

 

 

Easy Apple Cake ♥
 

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

¼ tsp vanilla

1 ¼ cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cups peeled, chopped apples

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9 inch round baking pan.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Blend in eggs, one at a time.  Stir in (on low speed) vanilla, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in apples. Spoon the batter into pan.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on cooling rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.  

 

 

Enjoy! 

 

♥ 

In other news...

 

I’ve been really bad about posting my daily pictures here, so here is a little recap of my IG photo challenge this week:

 ♥

 

 

Day 11 Indulgence: The mother of all cheesecakes! My favorite dessert from my favorite restaurant! I totally ate it all!

 

 

Day 12 Collections:  Much to my husband’s horror I collect many things like postcards, blue & white dishes, vintage linens, just to name a few.  It’s a sickness I know many of you also suffer from.  My first and most favorite collection is tea cups.  I’ve been adding to my collection of cups for years.  No two are alike.  This is one of my favorites...

 

 

 

Day 13 Gold:  To be honest, I’m not really a gold person.  I used to be and somewhere along the road I switched to silver.  However, some gold holds a special place in my heart.  My mother gave me this watch a few years ago.  It used to be her everyday watch when I was growing up.  It was a gift from Dad one Christmas before I was born.  Whenever I wear it I see my mother’s hand. 

 

 

Here is the engraving on the back.

 

Day 15 Current Favorite: Trader Joe’s Lavender Hand & Body Lotion.  Smells divine! Just another reason to love Trader Joe’s.  

 

Day 16 Lucky: I carry stones in my pocket every day for luck.  Each one special with a different meaning.  Some think its nonsense.  I say go with whatever works for you. 

 

 

 

 

Day 17 Holiday:  Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We are celebrating on Sunday at my parent’s house with a traditional boiled dinner.  I’m bringing the Irish bread. 

 

 

Day 18 Colorful: Another one of John’s creations.  I love his color choices here.  We hung this one in the family room. 

 

I'm so glad the weekend is finally here! Except I heard we may be getting snow on Sunday.....I know! Just as I thought we were in the clear....oh please let it be a joke.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.  I hope you all have a cozy weekend! xo

 

Another round of photos...♥

 Is it just me or is March whizzing by?

 

We've already come in like a lion...let's hope it goes out like a lamb. 

 

Spring fever is in the air and everyone has it.  But first, a little green for St. Patrick's Day  ♥

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few more days of photos for my challenge. 

 

 

 

Day 8 Silly: I asked him to make a silly face.  Instead he gave me his "thinking" face....which I think is pretty silly.

Day 9 Fuzzy: Nothing better than my fuzzy velour polka dot bathrobe. 

The most cozy one I've ever had!

Day 10 Baby Picture: This is my all time favorite, taken in the fall of 2007 when he was just a few months old.  I remember how cute that outfit was!  Seems like only yesterday. 
Stop growing already!
 

 

 

 

I stopped the car to take this photo on my way home from work yesterday.  Sunsets lately have been stunning.  Or maybe it's just because it's staying lighter longer now I'm actually out of work in time to see them.  Either way, I'm glad I didn't miss this ♥

Happy Weekend Friends!
 

I'll be back this weekend with more photos and a yummy recipe that I've been meaning to share. 

 

~ Spring is just around the corner ~

 

 Yes, yes, yes!

 

A few days of photos.... ♥

 

Hi Everyone!

 

 Here are a few photos from the weekend and the ones for my photo challenge....♥

 

 

 

 

Day 4 is Clock: I think I've posted this before but this is the clock that hangs in my bedroom.  I got it a few years ago at The Christmas Tree Shop and paid under $10 for it.  It's so pretty and I'm in love with the ticking sounds...tick, tick, tick.... 

 

 

 

 

Day 5 is Flowers: Ah, flowers! When I took this picture yesterday morning I was sitting on the couch having coffee admiring this lovely African Violet that I have managed not to kill.  It's so nice to have some color in the house.  This time of year is so drab.  These blooms are a promise of Spring~

 

 

 

 

Day 6 is Clouds although I took this photo a day late because there were NO clouds in the sky that day.  Not a one.  I was able to snap this picture of today's wispy clouds this morning on our way out the door. 

 

 

 

 

Day 7 is Outfit of the Day.  It's a shame day 7 wasn't on a better day for me because today was not a cute day.  Monday is my day off which means its my cooking, cleaning, errand running day.  This is my typical Monday outfit (unless I'm home all day in my pj's :). 

 

Not that I'm complaining.  Monday is also my most comfortable day.

 

 I ♥ it!

 

 

 

 

 

In other news.... It snowed Friday.  Just a dusting, but very, very cold here.  At this point I'm so baffled.  Wasn't it only last Monday I was walking on the beach in a light jacket?  Mother Nature is clearly as confused.  I heard we might reach 70 degrees on Wednesday.  Um...Ok.

That's New England weather for you!

 

 

 

 

My little guy has been busy drawing.  Saturday morning he spread out all these pictures on the floor so I could pick out my favorites.  Too many to pick from!

Do you see any familiar faces??? 

 

Yes, that is Charlie Brown on the left. He's one of his favorites to draw.  Darth Vader is next to him.

 I think he's copied probably every cartoon character ever drawn!

 

 

 

 

After that we went to music.  While John was having his drum lesson I took a walk around to kill some time.  Music shops are cool places.  I am always amazed at peoples talents...mostly because I can't carry a tune in a paper bag. Sad but true!

 

 

 

 

Since it's March I made Irish Bread today!!!  I always make my friend Eileen's recipe. It's the best one I've ever had.  I posted the recipe for it last year.  It has a cup of sour cream in it which makes it super moist. You bake it in a 10 inch round baking pan.  I split it and took half to my parent's house this afternoon.  I have a feeling I'll be making another one by week's end. 

 

  

 

 

I decorate all my letters with Susan Branch stickers.  I've had a stockpile of them since the late 90's! 

I very rarely send anything through the mail without one.  Friday was my day to catch up on letter writing. So much better than emails ~

 

 

 

 

Did you all watch the Downton finale last night? It was Ah-mazing!!!!!  I am so sad to see this show end, however I don't think I've even been as satisfied with a series ending EVER than I was with the Downton finale.  It was so well done and I cried tears of joy.  It will take a while to get over this one. I still can't believe it's really over (I know Dad....it's only a show....:).  

 

And that's my week so far.  What have you been up to?

 

 

February catch up & a March photo challenge ♥

 

Hello my friends! I woke up super early today.  It's still dark out, I have a scarf around my neck and a steaming hot cup of coffee beside me. Since I am normally not up this early, I am enjoying the peace and quiet. I thought I would take a few minutes and play catch up since I just realized the last time I posted here was February 19th.  Wow, that was a fast month~

Did you have a nice Valentine's Day? We celebrated at home with homemade cards, chocolate kisses, and a family dinner.  It was perfect!

John and I made heart cookies for dessert.  They were completely nut free and he was so proud of himself. 

And quite delicious too!

 

The weather here in my world has been crazy.  One minute it's freezing and the next it feels like Spring.  One day last week it was so warm I was able to take a walk along the beach. 

It was so gorgeous I was able to actually walk down to the water.  I only had on a light jacket.  It was glorious.  I don't think I've ever been able to do that in February before.  Normally the wind is so cold I don't even get out of the car. 

I walked for almost an hour up and down the beach.  Felt so good.  I can't wait for summer!

Anyway, the next day it went back to being freezing cold again and my beach day was a distant memory.  Oh well. At least I'm not buried under 12 feet of snow like last winter.  I'm grateful for that! : )

 

 

 

This past weekend was the Academy Awards (i.e my favorite holiday!).  I watch faithfully every year weather I've seen the movies or not.  Most years there are more movies I haven't seen, but I don't care.  It's worth it to see the dresses and I am of course a sucker for a good acceptance speech.  I always end up crying even if I have no clue who the person is.  I can just imagine that feeling of "wow, I just won an Oscar!".  I had some wine to celebrate because, this finally happened....

 

Let's all wipe away our tears and take a sigh of relief... Thank you!  We've been waiting for this since 1996! Well, I have anyway. It was well worth staying up past midnight to see this moment.  PS I saw The Revenant and it was AMAZING! Well done!

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, by the way.... I have a random tip for you.  If you like lemon tea like I do you must try this.  Put a little lemon zest in your sugar.  It's sooooo yummy!  I have some in a separate sugar bowl that I use just for me.  You can also sprinkle this lemon sugar on cookies, desserts, or French toast. 

 

That's it....♥

 

 

 

 

So now that we are in March I decided I want to do another photo challenge.  I really enjoyed doing it in January.  It was nice having an "assignment" everyday.  I also loved posting my pictures (here and on IG/Twitter) and interacting with you.  I feel like we know more about each other and isn't that lovely? I think so!

 

I'm three days in already, so here's what you've missed so far. 

 

 

 

 

Day 1 was (of course) YOU.  So here's me.  Trust me, by looking at this picture you can tell the last thing I wanted to do was photograph myself so this is the best I could do.  Hello!

 

Those flowers on the right are from Valentines Day and are still blooming.  That makes me happy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2 is Nails.  I've been using this Le Vernis Rose en Gel on my nails for the past month.  I got it as a free gift at Sephora and I love it! It's a nail strengthener and brightener.  It goes on as a very sheer pink, and the formula filters out the yellow color of your nail and makes the white part look whiter! My nails have never felt better.  Well done Sephora! You've sucked me in again.... : )

 

 

 

 

Day 3 is Favorite Color.  My favorite colors are blue & black and as I was cooking dinner tonight I glanced out the window and saw the sky was my perfect shade! It's my absolute favorite when the sky is so dark blue that it's almost black.  Probably ten minutes after I took this picture, but if I didn't take it now you wouldn't be able to see anything : ) If you peek inside my closet you will see a good majority of my clothes are these colors.....with a little splash of pink mixed in for good measure!

 

So that's it! I'll be posting my March photos here daily so please check back.  I hope you are all having a wonderful day! It's Friday!!!!!  I'm off to get another cup of coffee and head out to work!

 

xoxo