I have been.......

What have you considered doing instead?

No such thing as a crazy cat lady, Hayven. Just people who've never been "owned" by a cat yet.

What a wonderful trip you must be on! Those are memories you'll have...

I have been eating cake

I have been eating cake

I have been eating cake.

I have been eating cake

I baked an Apple Cake yesterday .....best ever. Loaded with apples roasted walnuts w/cream cheese icing.

Guess what I am having for breakfast?

I have been constantly looking at a new Google play market app I installed on my phone. Why? Because my son, (my youngest, once the baby of the family...) developed it. He's a web designer and called me the other day to tell me about it. He decided to create an app and just did it. They grow up so fast and make you so proud.

*drool* Cream cheese icing? YES PLEASE. I could eat an entire carrot cake whole, but your apple cake sounds even better.

You can say that again...it was stressful, but the beautiful home I have now was worth it.

DLane, it is like a section on a smartphone where you pay for downloads or some are free. These applications (apps) do things like check your bank account balance, keep track of your calorie intake like a food log, give you updates on the weather, and the like. You name it, it probably exists. For example, I have an app that displays 3 time zones.

Congrats to your son, Sorceress. It's cool to see the fruits of his labor, years? What is the app called?

Thank you Hayven. My son will be 29 this year, time goes by so quickly...
The app is called "To-Do Paper", it's free and brand-new. It's a functional one for me. It's like a to do list that pops up on your phone in the background that you customize. This is the link:

play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wigg leso.todopaper

As parents we can't help but be proud of our children, you know?

I just wish I could see my children more often. My pets are my "kids" now.

Hayven asked for this awesome cake recipe. I want to share it with everyone. If anyone else makes this, you will love me forever. I kid you not.

Fresh Apple Cake
Thinly sliced apples create rich, moist layers of fruit within this cake recipe.
This recipe goes with Caramel-Apple Cobbler Cake, Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

Southern Living OCTOBER 2010

Yield: Makes 12 to 15 servings
Total:2 Hours
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 4 large), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges
Browned-Butter Frosting,
Dark Chocolate Frosting, or
Cream Cheese Frosting
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.

2. Stir together butter and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl until blended.

3. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture, stirring until blended. Stir in apples and 1 cup pecans. (Batter will be very thick, similar to a cookie dough.) Spread batter into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan.

4. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 45 minutes). Spread your choice of frosting over top of cake; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pecans.

Note:
Note: Total time does not include preparing frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
This recipe goes with Fresh Apple Cake

Southern Living OCTOBER 2010

Yield: Makes about 1 2/3 cups
Total:10 Minutes
Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar and salt, beating until blended. Stir in vanilla.

That sounds delicious Cincy. What is Browned Butter frosting?

Sorceress, I haven't tried this, I used the cream cheese icing.

I would like to try this but the cup of butter scares me.

Browned-Butter Frosting
This recipe goes with Pizza Cake, Fresh Apple Cake

Southern Living OCTOBER 2010

Yield: Makes about 3 1/2 cups
Total:1 Hour, 16 Minutes
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
1. Cook butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, 6 to 8 minutes or until butter begins to turn golden brown. Remove pan from heat immediately, and pour butter into a small bowl. Cover and chill 1 hour or until butter is cool and begins to solidify.

2. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk, beginning and ending with powdered sugar. Beat mixture at low speed until well blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

www.myrecipes.com/recipe/browned-butter-frosti ng-10000002012759/print/

Oooh Cincy, that sounds really good. I'm a butter and vanilla nut. I make my own buttercream frosting too, which is pretty much all butter. I figure you only live once anyway. It's not like I eat this stuff all the time, it's pretty rare that I bake a cake. I do make cupcakes tho, and I do have a celebration coming in about a week so maybe I can use this frosting instead.

I love to make apple pie, that's my specialty. From the crust on, it's all home-made. Takes me about 6 hours to make it, but it's worth it.

Oh really? Never really thought about it. My daughter is a cupcake fanatic. That's all she makes. Last year at Thanksgiving I brought my apple pies (with extras) for dessert. My kids all took extra slices home with them, which made me feel good. It was worth the work and hours I put into them. They won't openly admit it, but they'll always divvy up the left-overs and take it home with them.

Is anyone a vegetarian/vegan out there? I've been since college.

Sorry, got carried away in my explanation. :S

Thanks for the recipe, Cincy. I have everything but the pecans. I'll try this out this weekend.

It's wonderful here so far. 50s at night, 70s during the day.

Is there any way someone can fix it? Or is that cost the same as buying a new one?

Our brand new one lasted a little over a year, we replaced it with a new one with with just the basic features and we like it.

I have been packing up the Halloween decorations.