Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

I might have mentioned that it rained here every day last week. Not just scattered showers, but cold rain all day long. Little and I were longing for a dry moment to play outside by the time Friday afternoon came along.

Every day last week I felt like we needed to do something to get out of the house. Monday we ran errands and had a doctor appointment; Tuesday we went to the mall with a friend; Wednesday we went to Bible Study Fellowship; Thursday we had a play date at a friend’s house; and Friday we went to Target and the mall (to return some things) just to get out of the house, not because we really needed to.

So today it is a beautiful sunny day with a temperature of 61 currently and headed toward the low 70s. And what have we done?

I’m still in my pajamas at 12:20. Go figure.

We are a little over a month into the Fall Into Reading challenge and so far things are going pretty well with my reading list. As it stands now, I have five books to finish and just under two months to accomplish my goal. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly to date:

The good – Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, et al.

I began reading this book back in the summer but had to set it aside when morning sickness set in and I could no longer handle reading about food. I was anxious to pick it back up as I really enjoyed what I had read and was not disappointed by the remainder of the book.

This non-fiction book records the efforts of Kingsolver’s family to eat locally for a full year. They accomplished the task by gardening, raising poultry (they live on a farm in Appalachia), visiting the local farmers’ market, and dealing with other farmers in their area to procure the food they needed. I found her stories about small-scale farming, canning, dealing with animals, and working with her neighbors to be both good reading and food for thought.

If you are interested in learning more about eating locally (either through growing your own or using local resources), eating organically, or just have an interest in how the modern American food business works I would recommend this book. It is well written, easy to read, and prompted many discussions between Matt and myself.

The bad – The Butterfly Effect by James Swallow

I don’t know that this book is bad per se, but it has been removed from my list. I’m not sure exactly how or when this book was added to my master reading list, but as I looked more closely at the book I decided it didn’t really interest me. I will probably add a book in place of this one; I just haven’t decided on one yet.

The ugly – Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Have you ever looked at a book numerous times over several months, been excited about reading it when you finally get to it, and then been disappointed when you started reading? That is how I felt with this book. I’ve wanted to read it for a couple of years now, so for a while I tried to trudge through it. When I realized that I had only read about 40 pages in almost two weeks and really had no interest in picking it back up, I knew it was time to let it go. Disappointing, yes, but there are too many books to read to get caught up on one I don’t enjoy.

Although fall officially started a month ago, it is jut now making it’s way to West Tennessee. The temperatures over the last few weeks have been in the high-70’s to upper-80’s range, and let me just tell you how silly I feel wearing shorts and flip-flops every day in October.

Things began to change on Monday when the rain started and a cold-front moved through. It has been raining for three days now and is supposed to continue through tomorrow. Rain is tough with a little girl who loves to play outside, but the cool weather is worth the insanity.

So this week we are celebrating the onset of Fall: temperatures in the 50’s; the opportunity to wear long sleeves, sweatshirts, and jackets; soup weather. There is something about the change of weather that comes in Spring and Fall that makes me smile.

I haven’t written about baseball this season even though we are huge fans of the game. However, a trip to the World Series for our favorite team warrants a few words.

On Sunday night, the Boston Red Sox completed a come back from a 3 games to 1 game deficit in the American League Championship Series to defeat the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 and win the AL penant and a trip to the World Series.

In celebration of their win, Jonathon Papelbon, the Sox closing pitcher, danced for the fans. This video isn’t great quality, but it is still pretty funny to see a baseball player dancing Riverdance.

The World Series begins Wednesday night featuring the Boston Red Sox versus the Colorado Rockies, and you better believe that we’ll be watching. Go Sox Go!!

Last night Matt and I were in charge of dessert for our Life Group meeting, so we pulled out one of our all-time favorite fall cake recipes. It had been a couple of years since we made this particular cake, and I had forgotten just how wonderful it is. Enjoy for dessert, as a yummy breakfast treat with your coffee, or just as a tasty snack.

Ingredients:
5 apples (smallish) – peeled, cored, and sliced thin (we usually cut them into thin bite-size chunks)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

4 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.
2. Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In large bowl, beat eggs and sugar with electric mixer (or in stand mixer) for 15 minutes on high speed. Add oil and blend in.
4. Add flour mixture and mix well. Add vanilla and blend. Fold apples and nuts into batter.
5. Pour batter into prepared 9×13 inch pan.
6. In small bowl, combine 4 teaspoons white sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle over cake prior to baking.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

I originally printed this recipe from allrecipes.com several years ago.