Super Moon Eclipse

so yeah. super moon eclipse was pretty awesome. it was cold and windy, but still awesome. i think we lucked out with a clear night.

sadly, i didnt catch the beginning with my camera, as we went to the park, and by the time we set up, i turned on the camera and we had no sd card. yep.

either way, we brought some hot cocoa with us, and sat and watched the eclipse until the moon was a deep orange red, kind of like this.

we came home with enough time to grab the sd card, go out behind our apartments where the tiny waterfall resides, and took some pictures anyway. ☺

they all have different exposure settings, so the colors kind of vary. the last one i had a smaller aperture and longer shutter speed, i think. (basically, less light gets in with a smaller aperture.) but, you can kind of see where the shadow begins to move away and leave the partial ring.

then the camera died. since we had come home to take pictures, i had grabbed a blanket and burritoed myself to keep the cold out, so we gathered our things and came back inside.

i attempted some pictures of the stars, too, and actually came out successful this time! i can't wait to go back to north carolina or possibly virginia beach and try to get some more night shots with less light pollution from the nearby cities.

to me, this was super exciting. so there.

work is finally turning around, i hope. i have a manager now, if i didn't mention that. we can get things done! maybe it will be good for a bit. only time will tell.

in other news, my poor girl needs a wheel bearing. my car sounds like a helicopter and it sucks. i also need an oil change, and rear brakes badly, but i have no money. frustrating!! and even more frustrating? ron's new car and it's transmission issues. everything car wise just needs to quit or be free.

oh, i took satch for a ride on our last nice day we had! he is the best ever.

don't worry, we were at a stop light. ohh, he is so good, and funny. at one point he was whistling and screaming at the traffic, in which ron's response was to scream with him. and this is why i love them. ♥♥♥

anyway, no new recipes or treats for now.....actually, i just remembered i made some sweet tea tiramisu, and it is in my fridge. i will get pictures when i cut into this and post it sunday. i wish it wasn't 10:30, because i would totally eat some now, but the caffeine and sugar will probably prevent me from sleeping, or my heart will explode. i am working doubles the next couple days so sleep is kind of a priority (even though diablo has prevented me from going to bed early the last couple nights, but who's judging!?)

right then! so pictures to come of the sweet tea tiramisu. stay tuned! have a good weekend, and thanks for reading! ☻☺☻☺

Maple Cinnamon Donuts and Insane Inflatable

so this happened last time i blogged, but i didnt post the recipe for it just so i would have something to post other than a million pictures of the giant bouncy house.

i woke up and went on pinterest (of course), and found this super easy recipe for cinnamon donuts. the recipe calls for a vanilla glaze, but why not take it to the fall level and put some maple glaze on that? am i right?

as per usual, mine aren't nearly as pretty as the ones on the original website, but i was kind of in a hurry to eat them. like, i saw the recipe, checked my ingredients, and immediately needed them in my face. the maple glaze made them super awesome though. cinnamon and maple are so fall, just like apples.

i still have another loaf of the caramel apple bread, and a drawer full of apples. i still need some apple muffins. i found a recipe for caramel apple cinnamon rolls.

i super love fall.

even if it doesn't love me back. i am pretty sure some seasonal allergies are happening, and it sucks. i wake up in the morning and my face feels stuffy. usually at least once midday that happens, and at bedtime, it takes forever to get comfortable because my nose is like, NOPE. i wish i could be allergic to winter, then it would give me the best reason to get out of here.

anyway, as per usual, i've been working non stop, trying to sort things out. my new manager started today and it seemed like everything that could go wrong, went wrong. i am half expecting a phone call tomorrow that he can't log into the computer to do anything, but we'll see.

yesterday was the insane inflatable! it was super awesome, as usual, and i even came out with battle wounds, which means i was doing it right.

picture show time!

in line before the race

im not sure why my mom is looking like, "what the hell is that?"

mike and ron (the back two) busting people with balls

..what?

"and then we all took a nap."

ron mowed down some kid with the big balls.

success!! ☺

and just because i can share it. hardcore burn. it still burns to touch. the shower was not pleasant this morning, considering i like to shower in mordor. i also rolled my ankle a little, but it was way so totally worth it. we all had some fun, and i hope it comes back to go again next year!

i am still going to try to swing the shine tour in october, but money is not looking good at the moment. all these car problems are not making things easy. anyway, there is totally a super moon eclipse tonight, so we are going to try and catch that for a bit. maybe i'll see what pictures i can get! i have the next two days off, so let's see what that brings. have a good week, all! thanks for reading!

Caramel Glazed Apple Bread and the Cider Experiment

did i mention i have my weight in apples to use up within a couple of weeks?

no? well i do.

not that that's a bad thing at all, although i'm pretty sure i need a couple days to actually have time to bake them all up into delicious treats of various types. tuesday i experimented with making apple cider!

one word of advice: if you're using mulling spices, don't put them in until the end. or at least take them out after a few minutes. have you ever over brewed tea and it turned bitter? yeah. if it wasn't for that, this would have been spectacular. it made my apartment smell really good. i also need a larger stock pot. i had to split the recipe into two of my smaller (but the biggest i own) pots, and they kind of bubbled over a bit. BUT....it smelled delicious none the less.

i got the recipe from gimme some oven, and it seriously couldn't be easier. (let's not talk about how i screwed up though.) you need:

12 medium apples (i used honeycrisp and jonamac, but you can use whatever you'd like)
a large orange
about a gallon of water
1/2-1c brown sugar
mulling spices (i used 4 spice bags, they are tea bag sized)
OR (in place of "tea" bags)
4 cinnamon sticks
a whole nutmeg
1 tbsp whole cloves
an allspice (optional)

quarter your apples and the orange, you don't have to core or remove the stems. just wash them and cut them. put them in a large stock pot and fill with water until covered. if you are using the whole spices, go ahead and toss them in too. if you are using the spice "tea" bags, save those for the last few minutes.

bring to a simmer on high heat, and then turn to low heat. cover and stir occasionally for two hours. once everything is nice and soft, mash it with a potato masher, wooden spoon, or spatula. let it continue to simmer for another hour.

strain through a fine mesh strainer into a container. add your brown sugar to taste. you can also strain through cheesecloth to squeeze the most cider out of the apples.

let's not forget about the apple bread. you know, the one i mentioned with the caramel glaze? yeah buddy. that's some good stuff right there. i mean, the apple streusel bread i have made in the past was good, but i think this tops it. it is seriously fluffy, cinnamony, appley, and caramelly.

yeah, so mine is not as pretty as the ones on the link i gave you, but theirs are mini, i don't have mini loaf pans, and, well, this is the only picture i got that i liked. i actually have some donuts to share, but i will share them on sunday so i have something to post.

seriously, though, go try this bread. mine may look kind of derpy, but i think the contrast of the apples and the cinnamon swirls looks pretty cool. my glaze could use some work, but it tastes good. that's what matters.

maybe i should just not be lazy and take some better pictures.

i could use some nice big windows for some natural light. i am pretty sure this apartment used to be a cave. it sucks. in the mean time, i am left to dream about a house i will probably not have until i am old, because i am poor. i mean, who knows if i'll have a job. rumor has it they might close my store....now that i finally got a manager and all. it only took two months. oh, and they finally agreed to let me hire a keyholder so i am not completely screwed when someone asks for a day off! small steps, small steps. hopefully it's an improvement.

it is also the insane inflatable this weekend. i am excited for that! saturday is the day, and i'm pretty sure i'm more prepared than last year. i am up to week 6 in my c25k training app. i kind of skipped a week, i got overwhelmed with work and the lot of things, so i just started again. i am getting close to 3 miles though! not that i plan on running the whole thing on saturday, i mean, it's basically a giant bouncy house. why run and skip everything?

i feel like i need to sort things out. i am not sure what, though. i actually took quite a few days off lately, mostly because i was wasting paid time off. i just feel like something is off. i feel like i can't remember things, like i have a.d.d. and can't pay attention to anything, i space out and forget what i'm doing.....i thought maybe taking time off would help, unless i'm doing it wrong. i don't usually have a lot of days off, i have been trying to do things with my free time, but i didn't think it was that much. my paid time just reset, and since i didn't use it all, maybe i will take a week or something just to hang out and not worry and do anything. i don't know. contemplating. and now i'm rambling

anyway, thanks for reading. check back sunday! ♥

Apple Season!

yeah buddy. can i tell you how much i love apples? more love them in certain things, like muffins and bread, but its delicious. yes. yes indeed.

you know what sucks, though? jury duty. i totally had jury duty today and it was the most awful thing ever. seriously, my butt hurts from sitting on the most uncomfortable benches and chairs ever from 9am-4pm. like, my legs went numb for a bit and everything.

enough about that though. i was wasting my paid time off this weekend and went apple picking!

we went to ontario orchards on saturday, in the rain. it wasn't actually raining too badly while we were out, but it also meant that there were like no people, and it was awesome. no screaming kids or anything. AND i got paid for the day. win win. up until the lake, but i'll get to that in a minute.

i am pretty sure we picked my weight in apples. at least half, anyway. we got some honeycrisp and some jonamacs, which we made pie and applesauce with on sunday!

i think this was the best looking pie crust i've made, except i guess it didnt get cooked long enough. pies are not my forte. i will admit that. cheesecake, yes. cakes, yes. cookies, yep yep yep. fruit pies? NOPE. custard pies i can handle. i have no idea why. it's like something goes wrong every time. someday i will figure it out. until then, i get to screw up some more pies to, uh, test.

aside from picking apples, we also picked rocks on lake ontario.

there is actually a purpose for collecting a crate full of rocks. ron wants to make a fancy tabletop with them, basically by making a "tray" from pallets, filling it with rocks, and then putting a piece of glass on top of it. so someday, when it gets done, i will post pictures, but in the mean time, we have a crate full of rocks.

oh, and a log.

i turned around and he had carried a log up the beach and was way too excited, because apparently the log is going to be an end table. something like that. in the mean time, we also have a log now.

oh yes, to continue what i was saying earlier about the water- i learned a valuable lesson. despite what i think, i am not faster than water.

i saw a rock i wanted, but it was in the edge of the water, and despite the waves, i thought i could grab it and get out, buuuut i was way wrong and got way soaked. i could wring out my shoes. we ended up going to walmart and i bought a pair of shoes for $6 with some replacement socks because my feet felt so gross. wet socks are pretty terrible. i think wet feet in wet shoes with no socks ties for the worst feeling ever, though. all luke warm and....moist. ugh. let's move on though. i had dry feet after and it was the best feeling ever.


sunday we spent the day home pretty much, while i got paid for that too. (thanks, paid time off!). we ate donuts and a giant cinnamon roll for breakfast, because i spent like $17 on apple cider and baked goods at the orchard's farmers market. we made the pie and sauce, and i also made another tomato pie, which is almost gone. i need muffins though. i know we have pie and such, but muffins are my thing. so expect those, probably wednesday since i have tomorrow off.

i should put more halfmoons in the works, too. we had giant ones as big as my face while we went apple picking and they were pretty much the best thing ever. have a good week, all. thanks for reading!

Blueberry Muffins- Finally!

i have been super slacking on this again. i am sorry. i feel like i havent had any time for anything lately, and i don't know why. i am not working any more than usual, er, something like that. maybe? although i did actually waste some pto on sunday to take a day off, and then had monday off, too. i think im wasting a sick day on saturday, so i am not working much at all the next week or so. THEN i took monday and tuesday off because i have jury duty one of those days. wat? i am not looking forward to that at all. least political person ever, and worst person ever at decision making sitting right here.

i haven't even gone running in a week. over a week now. it super sucks. i am hoping to try tonight, or tomorrow, definitely.

well, enough about that. in the mean time, i got this recipe from my baking class in college. it's actually for chocolate chip muffins, but it actually made a pretty awesome blueberry muffin, too! i kind of wish i had the chunky sugar crystals to sprinkle on top of them as a blueberry muffin. i also added some orange zest, so there was a nice hint of citrus in them too!

Blueberry Muffins
12 muffins

2 c all purpose flour
1/3 c light brown sugar
1/3 c granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of one orange
2/3 c milk
1/2 c butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c blueberries
1-2 tbsp flour

preheat the oven to 400F. grease or line 12 muffin cups.

in a medium bowl, combine the blueberries and the 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour, and shake to coat. this will keep your blueberries from turning the batter entirely purple.

in a separate bowl, combine your flour, sugars, baking powder, salt and orange zest, and whisk well to combine.

in yet another bowl, combine your milk, butter, eggs, and vanilla and whisk well. add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (a few lumps are okay!). fold in the blueberries, and divide between the muffin cups. bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown (mine took the whole 20 minutes, but it is probably because of my silicone liners i used. just keep an eye on them!).

ta daa! muffins are magic! ☺

seriously. i have been dying for blueberry muffins since i picked a freezer full of blueberries. they call to me in my sleep. i owe someone a pie, too.

so those two days i had off, it was for kristen's birthday. it was also my grandma's birthday, she turned 92. my mom and i went out to see her for a couple of hours for dinner, and then came home so ron could show off his new car to his dad. after that, we went to see kristen and played cards against humanity until 2 am. it was super awesome, but since we had to get up early to leave for darien lake, we were all really tired the next morning. but- we got up anyway, grabbed some stuff to make lunches, and headed out. we spent the day there, hitting up rides and playing in the water park. it was nice out, so it was a pretty good day, not to mention tickets were buy one get one! free is my favorite number.

yes, as you can see, i abused snapchat all day, but whatever. it was all good times. i feel really weird when i have a few days off like this and go out. having a life is so weird. considering i didn't use up all my paid time off, i will probably try to waste a few days here and there in the coming year. unless i get fired or quit or burn the place down. i actually got a new manager, but noone has met him, and noone knows who it is, all we know is he was from outside the company. because hiring completely new people who know nothing about what theyre getting into is the best idea ever. sigh. im just not gonna say anything, cuz apparently myself and other assistants who have been with the company for years are useless. yep. we'll see what happens.

i have this weekend off, though, too! we are gonna go apple picking! apple muffins!! yay! ☺

alright. i have to get ready for work now. thanks for reading, i am going to do my best to keep to my sunday-wednesday schedule on here and not miss anymore. have a good weekend!