Now the weather is nice....

Oktoberfest has come and gone... Feeling thankful :)

The weather was a little to be desired on Saturday and Sunday, so instead of bundling up and holding an umbrella all day, I decided to stay home after the CC in Botkins. Soup was on my mind! After having some awesome Italian Sausage Soup, (compliments of Deb) Friday night about 11 p.m., I had ambitious intentions.  I made a very large batch of Chicken Noodle and another of Beef Vegetable. MMmmm.... so much for eating up there all weekend!  I did have my traditional Mett on Friday crammed with sauerkraut, spicy mustard, onions and horseradish along with some greasy fries and a funnel cake for dessert. Of course, I also squeezed in some cabbage rolls, but other than that, the weather was just too rotten!  My kids were ecstatic! They wanted to eat it before the noodles were even cooked!  I sent an entire cooler full of individual portions up with Jenna and Lauren.

Natalie came home Saturday evening not feeling well, so she did not run in the 10K, but Jonathan and Andrew did. Jonathan was on a mission.  They are supposed to use the 10K as a "long run", but Jon must've decided this was an opportunity to beat his brother.  So, we were surprised to see him booking right along into the finish at a little over 39 minutes!  He received the 2nd place award for his age group.  Andrew has the same award from last year.  Moms (of twins) like it like that.  Things are even now.

Natalie went to school yesterday, only to come home not feeling well again! I can't really say what it is other than she feels pretty weak and has awful stomach cramps.  So, she is upstairs sleeping..almost at 12 hours right now! They have a big CC meet Thursday night and I'm sure hoping she is healthy and feeling strong enough to race.

Sunday, I even skipped the parade. (Yes, I skipped the parade!) I don't even think I missed anything! I switched to baking mode.  I tried a new recipe for Apple Struesel Pumpkin Muffins.  Oh, soo good. Definitely worth publishing! Even a few of my kids who do not like "pumpkin" liked these.  Very moist and great texture!

I doubled the recipe and it made about 40 muffins.  I added more pumpkin than it called for, used half white sugar & half brown and even substituted some wheat flour for white flour. I also did not use all the oil because of the added pumpkin. Mine were done in 30-35 minutes.

Apple Struesel Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (I used cinnamon, nutmeg & allspice)
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apple

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 teaspoons butter

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 18 muffin cups or use paper liners.

2.In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stirring just to moisten. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

3.In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.



So, what sounds good for today?