Best Applesauce Cake

Ok I'm a huge fan of spice cake. Warm, rich, brown sugar infused happiness blended with cinnamon, cloves and spices. Soft, moist, fragrant and oh so delicious with tea! Omnomnomnom.

This cake was born when my huge backyard apple tree gave me a pile of apples a few years ago and I was lucky enough to have a pile of applesauce at my fingertips. So I invented this cake recipe as a happy, moist cakelicious applesaucey treat!!!!

1/4 cup margerine or butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup applesauce
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin spice (I dont usually measure too close)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Grease two round cake pans, divide batter and bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out happy

Orange Marmalade Cookies!!!!

The sun is shining through the windows and the birds are singing in the trees!! Spring is here!! Oh happy day!! Nothing screams tis spring like sitting outside on the patio with a cup of something to enjoy the beautiful weather that is now upon us.

But wait!! My fingers feel empty! And my tummy is growling! Oh what is a Niblet to do?? Bake some cookies of course!!! Something sweet and delectable to go with this cup of Earl Grey.

These cookies are awesome. Deliciously sweet notes of orange marmalade complimented by the yummy white vanilla make these light cakey on the inside crispy on the outside cookies something that isnt going to stick around long.

You can thank me later. Orange-you glad I shared it?? ;)

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1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp white sugar

1/3 cup margarine

6 tbsp orange marmalade

grated rind of one orange

1 1/2 tsp white vanilla**

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Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another bowl and then combine!

Drop by rounded tsp onto an air bake or parchement lined pan. Bake for 8-12 minutes at 375F oven depending. Let them cool on pan and then enjoy!!!!

**Why white vanilla? Well double strength white vanilla is fantastic thats why! Not only does it not impart a dark coloring to the cookie, but the aroma and flavor cannot be beat. Its sweeter and more delicious!! Go get some!!!! :D

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever!! No Foolin!!

Chewy, chocolatey, moist and oh so good. These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. Really. Not lying. Good luck trying to keep these around though, they have a tendancy to dissapear!!

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup margarine

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

In one bowl mix flour, soda and salt. In another bowl cream margarine, sugars, vanilla and egg. Blend with flour mix. Add chocolate chips. Drop rounded teaspoons onto air bake cookie sheet and bake at 350 F for 8-10 minutes. Cool on pans and remove and enjoy

Honey Ginger Spice Cookies

I love spice cookies with passion. And nothing begs to be made more for the cookie jar this blistery time of year than ginger spice cookies. Bursting with flavor and delicious beyond words, nothing compliments a cup of chai tea better :)

2 cups flour

2 3/4 tsp ginger

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1 tea bag chai spice

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup margarine

1 egg

1/4-1/2 cup honey

Mix first 7 ingredients in one bowl, and the remainder in another bowl. Combine and refrigerate one hour. Heat the oven to 350. Roll into 1 1/4 inch balls and roll in sugar and space 2" apart on a cookie sheet ( I used air bake) Bake for 12 minutes and remove from oven while the cookies are still soft. Cool on pan and enjoy :)

Spicy Cauliflower Soup

A snow storm has graced our lives today. Yipee. I dislike winter, and I have little patience for it this year especially. I would love nothing better than to disappear to Mexico and never look back! (Keep dreaming!!)

But I digress. Failing running away south of the border, I needed a way to stay warm today. And this soup fits the bill in a plethagora of ways. Flavorful, filling and hearty, this spicy soup made my day warmer and brighter. And it was super easy, take it from me :)

1 box (900 ml) chicken broth

1/2 onion chopped

2 tsp oilve oil

1/2 tsp garlic, jarred minced

3 large carrots chopped

4 medium potatoes chopped (I leave the peels on)

1/2 cauliflower, chopped

1 tsp garlic, jarred minced

1/4 tsp ground chili pepper

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp dill

1/4 tsp coriander

dash hot sauce (if you want)

salt and pepper

1/2-3/4 cups milk

**You can adjust the heat of the soup by how much spice you put in. Flavor according to taste**

Sautee onion and garlic in the oil for 2 minutes. Add to the broth in a large pot with the carrots, potatoes, additional garlic and the spices. Cook on medium low heat for 40-50 minutes or until veggies are soft. Add the milk and stir. Pulse in a food processor in small batched until smooth and transfer back to stove and heat on low a few more minutes. Serve

***You can add more milk if too thick***

Crunchy Carrot Dog Biscuits! Bow Wow!!

So the pups got stuck with thier mom for the day inside, and they started to go a little stir crazy. What to do? (There's only so much Sponge Bob Cartoons you can watch. Seriously, the dogs love that show.) So, we decided to create a new dog cookie.

These light and crunchy cookies were an instant hit with the pups, and will definatly have to be kept in the cookie jar. Bone-appetite ;)

**This receipe can be doubled for more**

1 cup carrots, grated and chopped fine

1 cup whole grain flour

1/2 cup oats

1/8 cup flax, ground

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp peanut butter

1/2 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients together. Add carrots and blend. Add oil, and peanut butter, then the water to blend the peanut butter. Mix the dough till no longer sticky, add a little flour if still sticky. Roll out to 1/8" or so, and cut into shapes or bars.

Bake in a 350 F over for 35-40 minutes on an ungreased sheet. Turn off the over heat, and leave the cookies in for an additional 35-40 minutes. Take out of oven and cool. Store in airtight container.

Hearty Cream of Potato Soup thats a breeze to make!

Well, the warm weather has left finally, though I was enjoying the unseasonable +26C (79 F) temperatures for the beginning of October. Anytime I can suntan that late, I'm a happy camper.

But now the cool is here, and with it the fresh summer produce is ending and the hearty fall fare is starting. Such as this wonderful soup, which isn't hard to make from scratch, and tastes awesome. And it'll keep you warm on those fall nights (unless you have plenty of dogs and a cat like me to keep your feet toasty :)

2 really large or 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

3 tbsp butter or margarine

3 tbsp all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups milk (you can use which ever kind you want)

1 tsp garlic (jarred kind) use more if you want

1 tsp dill, pinch salt and pepper (to taste)

Toss potatoes, onion and carrots, garlic and dill to the broth in a stockpot. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover stock pot and simmer 18-20 minutes or so. Mix occasionally, and watch for the consistency, you want some of the potatoes to sort of dissolve a little, making it very thick.

Add butter or marg to a small sauce pan, melt over medium heat and add flour till smooth. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer 2 minutes. Stir into potato stock. Add salt and pepper, or more dill and garlic if you want. Cook over lowish heat for 5-10 minutes, more if you used skim milk, because it will be thinner and need to thicken.

Enjoy your homeade soup!