Apples and Black Walnuts

HAPPY FALL EVERYONE…This weekend was one of the most beautiful so far this month…well the whole last two weeks were as well but I so enjoyed the weekend.
We spent lots of our down time in the screen room – not many of those kinds of days left to sit out there.  We enjoyed watching the Brewer’s and the Packers do their thing…like they do!!!!  Yeah…they both won!
And I made some awesome Baby Back Ribs and these delights below!

I had a need to make something with Apples so I made some Apple Dumplings – they turned out good but not great. I don’t think I had enough sugar inside but it certainly didn’t stop me from eating mine.
They were calling my name even before they got baked

Here’s mine just waiting for the special sweet Vanilla sauce
 

 
Doesn’t it look awesome!  Yep, it was.

 

On Thursday I went Black Walnut picking…right out my front door (well, IN THE STREET, across the street).
These came from the road – there are so many you don’t need to search or even go into the grass area and the best part is the cars that hit them have popped the skins on them so that saved me tons of time and stained hands.  These are also the culprits that kill all our tomatoes, and most of the flowering plants we plant…there’s a tree in back and one in front…we are doomed.
 
Now mind you I finally did get stained fingers – I lifted up the bag they were in without thinking. Do you know how long the stain stays…I have a tinge yet this morning.

I put them in a pillowcase (no I will not wash them and use them again on the bed!) and in pans then covered them with very hot water and almost immediately it started  to show some color.
I let them soak for a couple days

And no finished photo to show you…I was so busy helping Doug get these bags out of the pans and not get any of it on the driveway (death would have occurred instantly because this was all done against his will).
We put the stain in a large covered bucket and he carried it oh so carefully to the basement where I will have to use it…no stain upstairs in the kitchen sink.

Now…will someone tell me how to use this stain…do I use it like I do my coffee mixture?
And…if I boil it down some to condense it will it still work so I can get a darker color?
I thank you in advance.

Goodness I just have to share this.  I purchased a Kindle edition of the new book by Amy Clipston called ‘Naomi’s Gift ‘ (another wonderful Amish Fiction – part of Kauffman’s Amish Bakery series) and not too far into it I found an error…double words so that left part of the sentence off…but I kept reading…a few pages later, more double words…this repeated itself through the entire book.  36 KNOWN DOUBLE WORD ERRORS/PARTS OF SENTENCES LEFT OFF in the book (that I noticed anyway).

I reported this to Amazon (along with a detailed description of EACH ERROR AND PAGE it was on (at their request) and they immediately refunded the price (but also removed the book from my kindle - Boy, they sure could have let me have the inferior edition for heavens sake)!
And I e-mailed Amy as well…she replied back with a huge thank you.

THIS IS A SERIES WORTH BUYING AND READING.
 
Kauffman Amish Bakery Series
Book One:  A Gift of Grace
Book Two: A Promise of Hope
Book Three: A Place of Peace
Book Four: A Life of Joy (available Jan. 24, 2012)
Book Five: Naomi’s Gift
   

 

 

So how many of you are on PINTEREST?  I love that site.  I have found so many wonderful ideas and recipes – it’s like having your own online journal of all things you like…so if you want to follow me and join yourself let me know…I’ll send you an invite. You can find it on the right sidebar at the top.

Now that’s not much from here but it’s all I got for ya! 

P.S. I want to say thank you to WENDY for becoming my 800th follower today! Wow…thanks Wendy.

Karen~