Monday, September 19, 2011

Happy Birthday Nancy!

Happy 27th Birthday to the Best Biggest Sister Ever!
Sorry I won't be there to celebrate tomorrow--we'll make up for it in ATL this weekend :)




Love you Nance!

Annual Apple Orchard Trip & Apple Crisp Recipe


Labor Day Weekend we drove up to Flat Rock, NC to Sky Top Orchard for our annual apple picking trip.  We've being going to the same orchard for a few years and always look forward to it!  We did some strategic scheduling and decided to go Friday during the day in hopes of missing the Labor Day crowds.  Our plan worked...except for a pop up thunderstorm.  Luckily we were all done picking our apples--Galas, Courtlands, and Golden Delicious were on the menu this time. 
 






And what comes with apple picking...apple baking, of course!
Grandma Nancy's Apple Oatmeal Crisp
Makes 6 servings.
3-4 tart cooking apples 
½ C(1 stick) butter or margarine ( I have used both depending on what I have) 
¾ C firmly packed brown sugar  (again I use light or dark or a combination of what I have)
¾ C quick cooking oatmeal
½  C flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Pare apples: quarter, core and slice thinly.  Arrange slices in buttered shallow 6-cup baking dish.
2.  Melt butter or margarine in a medium size saucepan.  Stir in brown sugar, oatmeal, flour, and cinn. until mixture is crumbly: sprinkle over apples. I never find this real crumbly but use it like it is.
3.  Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) for 35 min. or until crumbs are golden brown, and apples are soft when pierced with a fork.


Happy Fall Yall! Enjoy :)

Friday, September 16, 2011

The BIG Test

Tomorrow I'll take The BIG Test aka the PRAXIS.  I have to pass this test to be a Speech-Language Pathologist.  Basically they ask you anything and everything that I was supposed to learn over the past 2 years.  How do you even start to study for that???  
You have to get 60% to pass--that sounds low.  I would hope I know more than 60% of the material necessary to do my job?! The problem is we are certified to do so much..there is no way you could know 100% of what we are certified to do.

In my PRAXIS prep class the instructor read the book, 'Testing Miss Malarkey'  It's so cute!  The book is all about how big standardized tests can get blown out of proportion and helps kids not to have test anxiety.  Maybe one day I'll be reading this book to my clients :)
'The Principal is literally flipping his wig over which pencils to order, students in art class learn the correct way to fill in circles, and Mr. Fitanuff is teaching yoga to help de-stress kids before the test. Even worse, children are denied recess, and parents are concerned about property values.'


So here we go...got my #2 pencil ready (it has to be non-mechanical---I have to go buy one.  No, I haven't owned a regular yellow #2 pencil since about the second grade)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Dear Peyton,

Dear Peyton,
I've been worried about your neck since the end of last season.  I'm bummed you had that anterior fusion to fix those pesky nerves and couldn't play against Houston...boy did we miss you!  I know you said 'you'll miss the team more than they miss you'--thanks for being humble but that is false.
I really don't want to cheer for Kerry Collins, or heaven forbid Curtis Painter.  They're not as cute as you and definitely can't control the offense at the line of scrimmage like you do.  Please don't stop watching films with the receivers--you are still the quarterback and they desperately need your help!
Hope those vertebrae fuse together correctly and nerves regenerate quickly.  Can't wait to see #18 under center really soon.
Love,
Rachael

PS-tell Mosley and Marshall I said hey!
pics via google images

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Monday's Meals

This is going to be a very busy driving week.  One trip to Augusta and two trips to Spartanburg = 546 miles driven by the end of the week, yikes I shouldn't have calculated... So for meals I need to plan ahead and break out the crock pot.
I have 2 recipes picked out for dinner:
a new one End of Summer Harvest Soup
picture and recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking
and a favorite Thai Pork Stew
Thai-Style Pork Stew Recipe
picture and recipe from Cooking Light 
And one for lunch:
Cilantro Chicken Salad
picture and recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes
And a treat to use some of my hand picked Sky Top Orchard Apples:
Grandma Nancy's Apple-Oatmeal Crisp--Recipe to come!
 

Babbling Beebe | Template By Rockaboo Designs | 2012