In One Weekend

Apple Cake

Before I left at the end of last week, I baked a quick-to-make cake for Daddy-O so he would not feel neglected or forgotten. So quick to stir together that I mixed it while still in my pajamas. Popped it in the oven to bake while I took a shower. With nearly an hour baking time, I had plenty to time to get ready before it was done.

The apple cake was ready for Daddy-O to sample before I left. He came in from feeding cows and was happy to find a treat waiting. A warm cake, fresh out of the oven.

My weekend trip to see the grandchildren had a two-fold mission. One...make sure that Baby Girl had an angel costume for her preschool Christmas program. And two...to attend Little Sister's piano recital. Soon after I arrived at their house, I pulled out the little sewing machine I bought the last time I was there and set it up on their dining room table and set to work.

Baby Girl discovered she did not like trying on garments in progress. She didn't like getting stuck by the pins in the first try-on. Who would? But her mommy told her that a few sticks are part of having a mommy or grandmother that sews for you. Thankfully, when it was done, she climbed up on the sofa to see herself in the mirror and all was good.

Little Sister had her Christmas piano recital the next day and played like a seasoned professional. Having an audience didn't seem to bother her in the least. I was so happy that they live close enough now that I could go watch her play.

And the *next* day, I loaded up and pulled out of their driveway an hour before the sun came up and drove straight to church in time to ring handbells at our morning worship service. It's a three hour drive. This time a third of it was in the dark, in the rain, in the fog.

And when my very tired self finally got back to my own house, I found the best surprise waiting for me. A dear friend had created a yarn advent calendar for me! A yarn a day from now until Christmas. For the first time in forever, we do not have a paper advent calendar in our house. I made sure the children (grown and little ones) all got home. But somehow I skipped us. Thanks to this friend, we will count down the days until Christmas with yarn. (There was also the perfect knitter Christmas mug tucked in that stuffed-full-box.)

And in a blink, the whirlwind weekend was over.This morning I'm in recovery mode. Sometimes if Daddy-O wakes up before me, he brings me coffee in bed. I asked last night that if that happened today, please bring it in a Christmas mug. And that's what happened. He is THE best.

Here is the recipe for the "one bowl apple cake" that took two bowls. One bowl for the wet ingredients and the apples and one bowl to mix the flour and baking powder together. The cake begs to be served with a cup of coffee or tea. Or, maybe a glass of milk. Daddy-O did tell me that after a few days (I left him with a whole cake to eat by himself) it got "wet and sticky". So maybe this is best eaten in the first day or two.

ONE BOWL APPLE CAKE (that really takes two bowls)

2 eggs

1-3/4 cups sugar

2 leaping teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup oil

6 medium apples

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, cinnamon and oil. Peel and slice the apples directly into the bowl, stirring them in as you go to keep them from turning brown. (I sliced them thin.)

Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well until all of the flour is absorbed by the wet ingredients. Pour mixture into a greased 9x13-inch baking pan, or two 9-inch round pans. Bake for 50-55 minutes for 9x13 pan. Might be less if you use the round pans.

I will admit that I had my doubts about this recipe when it was mixed up. It looked like apple slices barely coated with batter. But it baked into a lovely cake, crusty on top and dense with apples. 

As I was trying to salvage some files from an old computer, I found this recipe that I had saved years ago. Glad I stumbled across it and was able to print it out. That old computer is on it's very last legs.