Happy Belated Halloween!
Friends! I am sorry it has been so long. The month of October was beyond crazy for me. All great things though. Here are some of the things we did in October:
- We celebrated my parent’s 30th Anniversary with a weekend full of family, laughter, and a surprise party with some of their closest friends
- We closed on our first home!!!!!
- We moved into that home
- We sat down and took a deep breath
I hope that helps to explain my lack of posts recently.
Now that we are in November I would like to think life is going to slow down but who am I kidding? The holidays are upon us and much to my dismay the stores are doing their best to remind us that we are already behind. Side Note: I almost turned around and walked out of Target last week when I was looking for Halloween candy and was faced with Christmas decorations. Guys, it goes Halloween, Thanksgiving, THEN Christmas! I didn’t think I would ever become one of those people who got really annoyed at the amount of marketing and commercialism that comes with the holidays; guess that is starting to change. The hubby was always somewhat of a grouch since Christmas completely overshadowed Hanukkah. I am starting to see more Hanukkah decor these days so I am not sure he has much to complain about now.
I mentioned that we celebrated my parent’s anniversary earlier in the month. It was such an amazing weekend! My siblings and I starting planning for the weekend a year ago. The main goal was to spend time together as a family since we are all scattered about. My oldest brother lives in Syracuse with his wife and three adorable kids. My older sister lives outside of San Francisco with her husband and a baby on the way! My grandparents also live outside San Francisco and they all flew out for the weekend celebrations. My youngest brother lives in Pittsburgh so he and I were the ground crew. We had to do the creative storytelling so our parents wouldn’t catch wind of the details for their anniversary weekend.
Our family is a tight-knit group. When we get together it is always hysterical and exhausting in a good way. Since the time we have together is often brief we try to cram in as much love and laughter as we can. It is a pretty wonderful thing.
In an upcoming post I will share with you some of the cooking tips I learned from my grandpa Sam while he was here. I think I might have impressed him with my own cooking skills. You’ll have to stay tuned.
On this Hollymead Monday I wanted to share a recipe that merges two family dishes. My mom’s famous Apple Butter and grandma Peggy’s Apple Nut Muffins. I added a special touch with the cream cheese glaze. This is a great treat for a fall morning and the perfect way to use your leftover apples!
Apple Butter Muffins
Notes
I did not add nuts to my muffins since I am not a huge fan of them in my baked goods but I would recommend walnuts if you are going to use nuts.
Ingredients
- 1/3 Cup Butter Softened
- 2/3 Cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Cup Apple Butter
- 1/4 Cup Milk
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tsp. Salt
- 1 Tbsp. Grated Lemon Rind
- 2/3 Cup Chopped Nuts (Optional)
- Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing (Recipe Below)
For Cream Cheese Icing
- 1 Tbsp. Cream Cheese or Neufchatel
- 1 Tsp. Lemon Juice
- 1 Tsp. Milk
- 1 1/2 Cups Confectioner Sugar
- 1 Tsp. Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar together in a medium bowl with a mixer. Add eggs one at a time, mixing to combine after each addition. Add remaining ingredients except for the lemon zest and nuts. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated, careful not to overwork the batter. Gently fold in nuts and lemon zest. Spoon batter in to prepared muffin tins. Bake until done 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack before topping with cream cheese glaze.
Instructions for Glaze
- Whisk cream cheese, lemon juice and mil in a small bowl until smooth. Combine confectioner sugar and continue to whisk until smooth. Stir in cinnamon. For a thinner glaze add a little more milk but be careful with how much you add. To glaze muffins place glaze in a piping bag or small ziploc bag. Snip off a small portion of one corner of the bag. Drizzle the glaze over the muffins, glaze will harden as it sits.
