Cherry Crisp

My Grandma died my senior year of high school, so when the family divided the household possessions, I inherited several things from her kitchen, including a couple of cookbooks. My Grandma was a GREAT cook, and I love being able to cook each day in the kitchen that used to be hers.

While I don't remember that Grandma ever made this recipe, it was one of my favorite finds in the cookbooks. It's a very tasty dessert, and since you don't make it in a 9x13 dish, it's not as overwhelming when you feed a smaller group of people. It also makes a fabulous breakfast (HEY! It has FRUIT! It counts as healthy!) if you have any left over. After about 2 days in the leftover world, the "crisp" loses its crispiness, but it's still tasty...just slightly mushy. This also tastes great with ice cream on top.

The Recipe

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup melted shortening
1 cup quick-cook oats
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 can cherry pie filling

Cream brown sugar, white sugar, butter, and shortening. Add oatmeal and stir together. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add to other mixture and stir. Press half this mixture into an 11x7 pan. Pour pie filling on top. Cover with rest of mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

My sister makes this recipe using a pie filling other than cherry...and she says it is quite yummy. So if you're not a big fan of cherry pie filling, you can use apple or blueberry or anything else.

I usually start by mixing together all the dry ingredients while the butter and shortening are melting in the microwave.

Here they are mixed...

I use the butter flavored shortening sticks because, as I have mentioned before, I HATE measuring shortening in a cup.

Once the butter and shortening are melted, I dump in both kinds of sugar.

...and stir...

...and add the oatmeal...

...and stir some more...

...then I add the dry ingredients to the big bowl...

This recipe isn't super messy, but I usually put a sandwich bag over my hand to reduce whatever mess exists. I press half the mixture into the bottom of the dish.

...this is what it looks like when it's all in there...

...add the pie filling. I've used the sugar free kind before and it works just fine. Although the other CUP of sugar might negate that move. :)

...add the rest of the mixture on top. I don't press this down. I just crumble it over the top.

...the finished product - straight from the oven!

Where oh Where Have I Been?

RIGHT HERE!!!!

Unfortunately, right after I posted my singles diatribe last Friday night...my internet gave out. I had a message when I got home that said I was up for repair first thing tomorrow morning. However, just a few minutes ago, I noticed it seemed to be working again, so HERE I AM!!! It has been very hard to be disconnected...didn't realize how accustomed I'd become to being online at will.

Anyway, what have I been up to? SO SO MUCH.

* This week is registration week at work, so we'll be welcoming hundreds (literally) of new students and their parents in the next few days. I love registration weeks because I love to meet people, but these weeks do lead to exhaustion.

* I learned yesterday that my RA from my sophomore year of college passed away. It was extremely unexpected and I don't even know very much about it yet. She and I were the same age, so that makes it extra jarring. And she'd just gotten married a couple of weeks ago.

* PHATS!!! Check this out!
Yep! That was me on my way to my first tennis lesson. Yes, tennis. As in the sport. My main goal was to make contact with the ball, and I was successful. Sometimes. I actually had a blast and can't wait to take another swing at it! (ha ha)

* Baked...I don't even know how many dozen cookies Saturday and tonight. It's been a chocolate chip/peanut butter festival around here.

* And on Sunday - a personal victory. More city driving. I went with my friend Faith (and by went, I mean drove) and her two daughters to visit my college roommate, Jenny, who just had her first baby.

He had previously been much happier but was getting tired by this time. Jenny says he HATES going to sleep because he might miss something. Apparently four visitors were worthy of fighting sleep!

So that's been life since I was disconnected. And of course I would reconnect right when I'm supposed to sleep!! So I'm back...and hopefully I'll catch up on reading soon. I feel so behind on everybody's lives!

OH how true...

...the fact that I spent my Friday night meticulously tending to my yard...receiving mosquito bites in the oddest of places...and doing my own pedicure (because it's cheaper) makes this even better.

While said pedicure "sets," I'm watching Conan take pot-shots at celebrities and reading this blog entry sent to me by my good friend, Rachel. She and I understand these things. I'm not going to post the whole blog here, because obviously you can go read it yourself, but I am picking my favorites for further commentary.

The entry (in case you haven't looked yet) covers "the different stereotypes and challenges singles have to navigate when they go to church." I don't post this out of bitterness. Being single at 31 isn't where I thought I'd be when I made my own life plan at age four. But it's not so bad. I post this simply because I've been on the receiving end of some of these comments and some are...unpleasant. Some are stinkin' funny. But most of them just get old.

#5. Someone pays you the world's most backhanded compliment: I just don't understand how someone as great as you isn't married yet. Well....clearly I'm either not that great after all, or it's just one of life's great mysteries. And thanks for reminding me I'm single. I'd forgotten.

#6. Someone told you, "If you stop looking for love, you'll find it." In this case, I will never find love. I adore stories and I do not want to miss one second of my love story. So no, I won't quit looking for it, because when I find it, I want to know when that moment happened. I will journal it and treasure it.

#10. Your friends that have been married for 15 minutes act like they suddenly don't remember anything about dating and therefore can't give you any advice. "It's been so long since I dated; things have changed so much. I'm just out of that whole scene." I think my experience has been more that a friend who has been married for 15 minutes says to me "I'm just so glad I'm done dating. That was such a hard time in life." Mmmm thanks. I'll send you a postcard when I arrive to let you know how I feel about it.

#11. People are constantly volunteering you for things, because "you're single...you've got so much free time." I would like to contend that those who are single are twice as busy because they have no one with whom to divide the chores. When you're married (hypothetically speaking of course) there are more options for things like...who will mow the lawn...who will do the laundry...who will clean the house...who will grocery shop...who will service the car...who will pay the bills. When you're single - you win by default!

#15. Whenever married friends call you at noon on a Saturday, they start the conversation by saying, "Did I just wake you up?" You better believe you did! This is the one thing I love the MOST about being single and childless. Saturday mornings? If I choose to sleep til noon, I can.

#16. You assume that if you don't get married by final exams of your senior year in college, you'll never get married. Oh you mean that isn't true?

#17. You've secretly always wanted your own cat but are afraid that ownership of a single kitten will become some sort of gateway drug to becoming "the cat lady." Truly, truly, truly the reason I stopped at 2 cats. I got Braeya to give Kaegan someone to play with...but after that I told everyone that if I got a 3rd cat, I would officially be the crazy cat lady.

#23. Your married friends tiptoe around you during February because they think you're too delicate to handle the made-up holiday, Valentine's Day. I actually LOVE Valentine's Day. I love the excuse to tell people how much they mean to me...and I have been sorely disappointed by my married friends who meet my offerings with a shrug and "It's no big deal. It's just a day." HEY! Let me believe a holiday of love could be a good thing someday.

#30. Your best friend of 15 years gets married and then suddenly acts like a magical gap has opened up between you and decides that until you get married too you can't be close again because you just don't understand each other anymore. OH MY WORD. Actually I need to first say that my best friend has not changed ONE BIT since she got married. And I love hanging out with her and her husband...and I don't feel like the third wheel. It is so refreshing. But in relation to this comment, I would like to say that the gap hit big time when kids began appearing in my friends' homes. It has been probably the single hardest transition in my friendships.

#36. You've ever said the rhyme, "I'm a bachelor 'til the rapture." I haven't said this, actually, because I'd never heard it. But it cracks me up!

#39. You've developed a highly sensitive, "They're about to throw the bouquet" radar and know exactly when to leave a wedding." There will be NO bouquet toss at my wedding. I hate it, hate it, hate it, and what I hate even worse is when I hide from it and the entire toss is put on hold until the crowd has been carefully combed to extract all single hiding girls to force them into the front.

Okay I'm done now. :)

Happy Birthday, Phats!

Are you seeing a theme for June? :)

Phats has a birthday today! Hope your birthday is great...thanks for being a my good friend in blogland and in real life!

Happy Birthday, Brian!

Today is Brian Holland's birthday, and yesterday the Holland's Blog said to celebrate...everyone should go to Sonic for a free root beer float.

I thought it would be rude to not celebrate when invited...

...so happy birthday, Brian! :)

Thankful

We had some pretty nasty storms here yesterday. I hate storms. But I was out of food from being gone on vacation, so I had to rise above the fear just enough to go grocery shopping. I figured with my luck, I'd get struck by lightning while pushing the grocery cart to my car or something like that.

Call me paranoid....

...but while I was out worrying about that, my house actually did take a hit. Right to the phone. I came home to no phone. No internet. I waited for the storm to pass to see if it would fix itself, and when it did not, I called my new best friends at the troubleshooting department.

They informed me I'd probably taken a hit, and they'd send someone to fix it. The very nice man came today and told me I had indeed been struck by lightning...and it had completely fried the connections. Easily fixed...which he did.

I'm just thankful it took out my phone instead of my home!

Bits for Sunday, May 31, 2009

One hour and thirty seven minutes. That’s all the freedom I have left in a glorious vacation.

Tomorrow I re-enter the world of alarm clocks, the pink day planner, grocery shopping, cleaning, and financial aid.

I’ve written before about Bekah-vacations, which usually include a significant list of chores to be done around the house, scrapbooks to complete, cards to make, and naps to savor.

Not this time.

This time, I took a for-real, leave-the-state, book-a-hotel vacation. I know. It boggles the mind, but it’s true.

Growing up, I watched my mom plan our family vacations. She pored over AAA books, made hotel reservations weeks in advance, saved money from all the budgets to cover things like food and gas, bought little presents to keep me entertained along the route, filled a cooler with snacks and drinks, and made sure the camera was at the ready to capture each vacation-y moment.
I learned well.

I won’t bother to tell you how many hours I spent poring over AAA books, reading dozens of hotel reviews, and searching any site I could find for fun things to do. An entire page in my day planner was devoted to the budget, the packing list, and the things-to-do-before-I-go reminders.

There are times when it pays to have some OCD blood and other times it gets really annoying. This was kind of a combo of the two. I lovingly sealed and stamped all the cards that would need to be mailed while I was gone and left them in the capable care of a co-worker…with little purple sticky notes informing her of the day each should be mailed. I divided my funds into little envelopes, each carefully marked with its designation. I typed out two pages of instructions for my house sitter and monitored the levels of cat litter and food to make sure they were well-stocked. The car enjoyed a tire rotation, a bit of repair for the death rattle it had begun to make, and even a new windshield wiper for the passenger. I stalked the weather channel to make informed packing decisions. I pre-chilled the water bottles for the cooler and purchased health-conscious snacks for the snack bag.

And promptly at 7:30 on Tuesday morning, I deposited the last of my luggage in the living room to await the arrival of my friend who had so graciously agreed to travel with me. We strategically packed my car, scurried through a drive-thru for the must-have traveling caffeine and within an hour were blissfully unaware that we were lost, despite an atlas and OCD-induced printed instructions from my front porch to the hotel’s lobby.

Once we found our way back to the right road…we ventured forth, and ten hours and four states later, we arrived in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Land of the chocolate and home of the sweet. We spent a couple of days there, touring gorgeous gardens, sampling the healthy antioxidant loaded chocolate treats, getting lost (thanks to the lousy local map provided at the hotel…though not published by the hotel) and making our very own waffles at the hotel breakfast bar. We took a combined total of almost 300 pictures, laughed at the road signs littering the state of Pennsylvania, learned we do not look good in hairnets, dodged the massive herds of field trip participants, and developed an idea for the new and improved car horn, which should have various sounds for various situations.

I would prattle on about the trip, but I already did in the 17 posts below!! Over on the right is a Virtual Vacation list if you want to look at posts in order.

Enjoy!

Meanwhile, I must begin to think about getting to bed at a decent hour.

Virtual Vacation: The End!

** I made a side bar called "Virtual Vacation" if you want to look at the posts in order. They are somewhat backwards if you go through them like I have them here. **

Well, all good things must come to an end. So after loading up on treasures at the scrapbook store, Amber and I headed home. We intended to only drive halfway, stay at some random hotel, and then drive on in Friday morning. But we were both ready to come home, and saving the other night's hotel money didn't sound so bad either, so we came all the way home Thursday night.

I drove the turnpike this time, and about halfway through, we could tell a storm was about to let loose. Driving 70 in a rainstorm in the mountains did not sound fun to me.


The guy in front of me put on his flashers, and I was so glad he did. I might have hit him otherwise. I was too afraid to pull over - afraid someone wouldn't see me and would wipe me out.

But we made it through the rainstorm, through a couple more...and all the way home.

Here were some of our favorite road signs:

There is also a Husband, PA, and an Intercourse, PA, but we only saw a sign for Lover.

We arrived home about 12:30. By the time I carried things out of the car and sat on my bed, the clock said 12:41.

Amber and I are still friends, we had fun, and I'd visit Hershey again if I ever have the chance!

Virtual Vacation: Last Stop - Chocolate World!

Thursday was our last day to be in Hershey, so we saved our trip to Chocolate World for then. I had no idea it was such a popular field trip destination. Pretty sure we didn't take field trips to such places when I was in school. At times we were overwhelmed by massive herds of children, but overall it was a fun place to go.

Nice bonus: 2 hours and under = free parking. Love that! We made sure to get in and out right at two hours.

Our first stop in Chocolate World was the tour. We sat in little cars that resembled sleighs, and rode through a factory tour of how chocolate is made from cocoa beans clear through until packaging. It was great, but I needed to ride it about three times. Trying to take in all the sights (and smells!) can't be done in one trip.

These lovely cows serenaded us at different points throughout the ride.

A vat of chocolate. Seriously - can life be any better?

Filling the syrup bottles. Again I say...can life be any better?

The production counter. I knew this world contains a lot of chocolate, but these numbers blew my mind. We were there at 11:30 in the morning!

If I could have reached through the glass......

Amber on the ride...

Me on the ride. At the end, they told you to look up for a picture, and then the pictures were available for purchase. Unfortunately I was talking (shocker!) during ours so we opted out of the $9.95 and just used these that we took.

At the end of the ride, we were given our very own tiny candy bar. I'd learned about that part of the adventure from watching Jon and Kate Plus 8. They did an episode at Chocolate World.

Virtual Vacation: Chocolate Lunch

Chocolate is lunch, right? :)

We thought so.

This was the Hershey Bake Shoppe, which had some absolutely sinful treats.

Such as....

...or even worse....

We opted to do fondue. There was a chocolate fountain with an eternal source of rich fondue...and the nice lady behind the counter made these for us. Cups of fondue, brownie, chocolate chips, whipped cream, more chocolate chips, and as if that wasn't enough...a sliver of Hershey bar.

Oh yeah.

Amber went for dark chocolate (antioxidants, you know) and I opted for milk chocolate (dairy, you know).

Couldn't possibly be happier.

Guess who won???

Not me.

Virtual Vacation: The Bake Shoppe Store

After we finished our little riding tour, we hit the Bake Shoppe store. This had several activities you could do, but we'd already caught glimpses of the gift shop (see post below) and were into saving money. But just to give you an idea...you could have your picture taken and put on a candy bar wrapper. You could get an ID and become a factory worker for a minute. And you could personalize the little tissue paper that sticks out of a Hershey kiss.

Instead, we took pictures. :) This is just a view of the front of the store...


Upstairs was the Kit Kat Cafe, where you could get hot dogs, sandwiches, and blizzard-like treats. There were several tables and chairs up there - including this one hidden behind the Reese's sign and curtain.

This was the view from the table where we sat while we ate our fondue. These panels rotated. One side was painted like four Hershey bars side by side. This other side showed glimpses of their different candy logos.

I wanted to try this but I thought you had to pay to do it. You could turn the wheel (like the girl in the pink shorts at the bottom of the picture) and kisses would come down the chute to fill a bag. Pretty cool!

Where is Bekah?? Oh there she is! Right by the chocolate.

Amber with the world's largest Hershey bar. I didn't even look at how many fat grams were in that one!

Virtual Vacation: Shopping at Chocolate World

The last thing we did before coming home was shop in the massive string of gift shops in Chocolate World. It was especially perilous since all the field trip kids were turned loose in the shopping arena...but we managed.

I wanted to get gifts that seemed at least a bit unique, so I stopped at this custom molded chocolates store.
Got this for Olivia, who took care of my house, my plants, and Kaegan & Braeya while I was gone.

Got this one for my parents. My Dad has declared it doesn't appeal to him and my Mom has decided it's too cute to eat. I should have purchased cereal bowls. LOL. (They did like it, I promise!)

Now THIS is the kind of clock I need in my house! This was in the main area of Chocolate World.

I'm thankful I'm not a Barbie collector, because I would have had to purchase the Hershey Barbie (complete with kiss shaped earrings) - which cost $50. I put that money toward scrapping supplies, thankyouverymuch.

Goodbye, sweet Chocolate World!! Thank you for letting us visit and for making my first vacation so much fun!!!

Amber's fond farewell to Chocolate World.

After we left, we stopped at a scrapbook store in the outlet mall just about a mile away. I'd read online that they had some products specifically for Hershey, so I thought I should load up while I was in the vicinity!

Virtual Vacation: Chocolate Lab

I promised Christina some chocolate, so here goes!

After we spent the morning at the Botanical Gardens (those posts are below), we ate lunch and got majorly lost trying to navigate the town.

We found the Hershey Story museum, which offered a variety of fun things. There are two more posts below about this stop on the trip.

The first thing we did was participate in the Chocolate Lab. Not a dog. An actual lab with actual chocolate.

The first part was kind of like school. We listened to a lady talk to us about the history of cacao and the origin of chocolate. Here I am with a cacao pod. (I think. I was actually far more caught up in the pictures than the listening. Such a bad student.)

After that, we learned about the "nibs" which are inside the pod, and we took turns grinding them with this little granite pestle thing. At this point, I began thanking God for candy bars. This was all a lot of effort for, as the instructor said, "a mediocre chocolate drink." At least she was honest!

Please know how much pride I have swallowed to post the hairnet pictures. NOT my best look. The lady in the background was kind of a Where's Waldo-ette of our trip. We saw her at the gardens...we saw her here...and she was even staying in our hotel! She was nice, but it was funny to keep seeing her everywhere. In this picture I'm grating a piece of chocolate. And part of my glove. But don't tell.

We put the grated chocolate in warm water and did this whisking thing until it dissolved. Then we could add honey, cinnamon, corn meal (!?!) and red pepper flakes (!??!?!??!?) if we wanted to alter the taste and consistency of our drink.

No words. What a dumb picture. LOL.

Amber's empty cup, and her "parting gift" - a chocolate cacao pod.

I'm glad we did the lab - it was not a long activity, but it was fun and different. And I managed to learn just a thing or two...like I look horrible in a hairnet...and chocolate has come a LONG way.