Baked Stuffed Apples

 As we enter fall that means fall treats come out. My all time favorite fall treat is baked stuffed apples. I made stuffed apples tonight, I stuffed my apples with pecans. There are many more things you can put in the apples such as ice cream, other nut, granola, and many more.

Here is what I put in the apples and how I did them:

- candied pecans
I candied them with maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, grapefruit juice, and a little bit of thyme. 
To cook the apples I hallowed them out leaving some apple left. Then I stuffed the pecans in the apples till pecans spilled out. Then a sprinkle of brown sugar and in too the oven. I cooked them for about 25 minutes until the apple was soft. Eat them when they're fresh out of the oven, it tastes better that way.

  When I cook from my mind I don't measure. I just kinda put some together till I'm happy with it.
  What's your favorite fall treat?
 

5K Running Dead

  After mom told me about the 5K zombie run I knew I had to do it. I went with Mom, Aidan, my friend from school and her brother. All of us had never done a run like this so we were all excited and nervous.
  How the run works and the rules are very simple. Each person got a belt with two flags, those were your "lives". As you ran the zombies would try to take the flags off the belt. If you lost both flags you were "dead". You weren't allowed to touch, hit, etc the zombies and they could only take your flags. There was a set course with obstacles and you would go though. Basic and easy.
  When we got there people were in costumes and some zombies were going around. We signed in, got our shirts and flag belts, and got to the start line. There were zombies walking around and taking pictures with people. The make up was so cool! the zombies looked like like the ones in The Walking Dead. Our wave was counted down and we ran.
  The first challenge was one zombie then two. Next was a tunnel. Three zombies were there. One on it, one shaking it, and one on the other side. I got through as fast as I could, then ran off. I lost one flag to the zombie guarding the exit of that tunnel. The next thing was broken down cars. There were zombies all over it. I jumped over the hood and run away from the zombies trying to get my flag. My friend and I Came up with the idea we would save our energy and walk when zombies weren't around and when we came across zombies we would sprint. We had to pass narrow paths with zombies trying to steal flags. There was a simple haystack to pass. Two zombies guarded the little stack. As I got to the top a zombie was climbing the stack. I jumped down missing the hay and the zombie straight to the ground. The next big challenge was the house. A massive horde of zombies were there waiting. On 3 my friend and I ran. The path was crawling with 10-20 zombies. I protected my last flag and ran. At one point I ran through two zombies hoping they weren't going to get my flag. I made it, breathing heavy but still alive. I waited for my friend to make it out and we walking to the next challenge. The zombies weren't done with us though. From behind a tarp jumped four zombies. I screamed and ran past them. The water station was after the house, I needed a drink. We set out again to what faced us. Another house, with a ton of flag thirsty zombies. I ran, dodging and weaving. I only had one flag and I didn't feel like dying. I got through it still with my last live. The color bombs and a couple zombies were next. Then the corn maze. I thought zombies would jump out, but no. I got a little lost but got out with one flag.   After we got through the maze we were done.
  It was so much fun! I screamed a lot. Ran and laughed. I got a dog tag that said survivor and a couple pictures with the zombies. Over all I had a really good time.

The newest family member

  Just after the new year a stray dog showed up in our neighborhood. The poor thing was so skinny probably she was skinnier than the girls on America's Next Top Model. She would come running up to us with her tail between her legs scared out of her mind. I felt so bad for the poor puppy and so did Mom. Mom and I started feeding her sandwich meat, tuna, or anything we had in our fridge. Dad was against it and didn't want anything to do with the puppy but he came around later. We were told some people in the neighborhood want the puppy out so we took her in.

  We along with one of Dad's co-worker my English teacher tried finding the puppy a new home. After a bath, food, a vet check, and a new name she was looking a lot better. We named her Polly first but Dad decided she should be CJ and well that stayed. My teacher told us about a home for her but we kept her. She is now our dog. I told my teacher about us keeping CJ and my teacher was so happy she told me she hoped we kept her.

 CJ is a very loved member of the Geraghty family. She is funny, cute, and just a really good puppy dog. When she plays it's by herself. She rolls on the floor and throws the ball and catches it. When she wags her tail she also wags her butt. CJ loves to be pet and belly rubs. She is a daddy's girl. Dad is her master and she follows him everywhere. I give CJ so many nicknames most of them I use only once.
CJ nickname list:
siege
fluffy bunny
fluffy
airplane ears
puppy
blonde dog
upper guppy

I have a lot more.

  CJ is a awesome puppy dog and I am so she showed up in our neighborhood.

bunny dog (my doing)

selfie with the puppy

Canada 2014

  Our school trip this year was to Canada for one week. The trip was to three cities: Montreal, Quebec City, and Ottawa. Our group was made up of about 40 kids of all different grades and ages and a small group of parents. The two most important members of the group were our tour guide, Patrick, and the driver, Normand. We called our tour guide, Patrick Star, after Patrick Starfish from Sponge Bob. At first he didn't get it, but after we explained it he understand.

  The first city we were in was Montreal. Our first day in Montreal was only a half day because we flew to Montreal that day. We drove around for a while seeing parts of Montreal. After our drive around, we went to dinner. We went to a French restaurant. After dinner, because every one was tired, we walked to the bus. On the way to the bus we walked by Notre-Dame Basilica where we were going the next day. After we stopped there for pictures, we got on the bus and went to the hotel and slept.  After getting some rest, we were off to see more of Montreal. First was a bus tour and a walk up to Mount Royal to look out over Montreal.  After that, we drove back to the Basilica and took a tour. The inside of Notre-Dame Basilica was beautiful and the organ was huge. By the time we left the church it was lunch time. For lunch we had free time so we could go on our own. Dad, Mr. Moss(my history teacher), Patrick Star, one of the parents and his daughter, some of the other kid, and I all went to lunch at a French restaurant. After lunch, the group met up and went to the Museum of Archaeology and History. Next we went to dinner at Le Cabaret du Roy. It's a sea themed restaurant where the waiters and performers are dressed as pirates. It was so much fun! Because the ends of my hair are blue one of the pirates called me a mermaid. Each table was made a team and we had a name and captain. Throughout the dinner each team had to finish tasks like a quiz, a logic puzzle, and a luck game. Each task needed one person from the team. For the luck game I was that person. The rules were simple, there was a box with the numbers 1-9 and you rolled two die and the number you got you had to flip down tile or tiles that made the number you rolled. In the end your score was based on the added number of the tiles left. If all the tiles were down your score was 0. The pirate I played against scored 0 so I basically lost. When I played, the last number up was a 3 so I switched to 1 dice and rolled... a 3! I won and the whole table was so happy. The last thing we did at the restaurant was a dance. The Peruvian Monkey Dance. Watching the people dance was funny.  My history teacher was one of the dancers and was the star as well. After the very fun dinner,  we went and played laser tag.That also was very fun. We played two rounds. One round was every man for himself and the second one was teams. After the games, we went back to the hotel and went to bed. Day Three was a trip to the Biodome, Olympic Tower, and the drive to Quebec City. The Biodome was cool. There were three different habitats and each habitat had animals doing their thing. Next was the Olympic Tower. We took an elevator to the top. I could see all Montreal. It was a pretty view. We hopped in the bus and drove to Quebec City. The drive was about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

  When we got to Quebec City, we went to dinner and then took a walking tour of Old Town Quebec. After the walk, we went to our hotel and slept. Our first activity the next day was at the Plains of Abraham. We got a history lesson from two generals. After our lesson, we got to compete and it was French against English. We fake loaded guns, loaded a canon, and had to guess what objects were. In the end the French won and Team 2 won the whole thing. After that we went to the Observatoire de la Capitale. It was a 360 view of Quebec City. The view was so pretty and it was a beautiful sunny day. Lunch was next and every one separated.  After lunch we went to the Morrin Heritage Centre. The building was a prison turned school turned library. I got to go prison. Part of the tour was to the old solitary cells and we got to go inside. A walking tour was next and it was around Old Town. For dinner we went to the Sugar Shack. It's a maple syrup making place plus restaurant. Maple syrup was put on everything and after dinner we got up and played spoons and danced. We then learned how maple syrup is made and went to the playground and went on the marry-go-round and placed Foosball. Then it was back to the hotel to sleep. The next day was a tour of Parliament and the five hour drive to Ottawa.

  Once we got to Ottawa we had dinner and then went on a haunted walk around Ottawa. Then we  went to the hotel and slept. Day Six was a bus and walking tour of Ottawa and after that we went to the National Art Gallery. After that we had free time for lunch. Dad and I went off on our own and had lunch and a beaver tail.  A beaver tail is fried dough with a topping. After free time was the Museum of war and then dinner. The last activity was an IMAX movie about pandas. After the movie we went back to the hotel. Our last day was the Museum of History and then the flight home. At the airport goodbye and thank you were said to our awesome tour guide Patrick Star and our fabulous driver Normand. Both flights home were delayed and I got home at 2:30 in the morning. The trip was awesome and so much fun.

T to Tank

  Out of my boredum I had a great idea. I'll make something! So I hopped online and started googling. After scrolling I came across something that looked fun. Turning a old T-shirt to a brand new tank top. I looked for a how to on online and sure enough I found one. It's very easy to do and looks nice. If you want to get rid of a old T-shirt and have a new tank top and don't want to spend a lot of money just make one on your own.

Step 1: Find an old T-shirt you don't mind cutting up. Get scissors which you'll need to cut the shirt.

Step 2: Cut off the sleeves( the closer you to the neck you'll get skinnier sleeves). When you cut the sleeves cut down at a curve.  Then cut the neck line( the deeper you cut the deeper the neck line will be). Then cut the hem on the bottom. your going to need to keep this so put it off to the side.

Step 3: Cut a deep narrow "V" in the back.

Step 4: Take the left over from the bottom and cut it so it's one long strand. Bunch the sleeves together and tie the strand on top then wrap it down the back.

step 5: This step is optional. Cut the bottom of the front so it's higher than the back.

back view

front view 

Coffee & Salmon

  Again I made dinner for Grandma, Papa, Aidan, Mom, and one of grandma's sisters came.  I made coffee crusted salmon, coconut milk rice and steamed asparagus. If you try coffee crusted salmon use a thin layer of coffee, already use coffee grounds, or marinate it in coffee.    The layers of the coffee grounds on the salmon I did was a little too much raw coffee grounds.    Other than that,  everything was very good.   Along with dinner I made a great dessert.  For dessert, I made gluten free vanilla pudding pie with a mixed berry sauce and whip cream. The pie was delicious !!!!!!!! From start to  finish the whole meal was superb !!!!!  

Anthony's Pier 4

Last night I went to dinner at Anthony's Pier 4.

I went with:

Mom                                                     

           









Grandma











Papa

Aidan


?


They serve a lot of good sea food, steak, and salads.




My meal:

The original Pier 4 salad with beets, feta, onions, tomatoes, lettuce.

Fried sole with french fries

Like other restaurants they had bread and popovers. The popover was light and airy.

For dessert I had chocolate souffle. It was SO good!

The food was really really good. Anthony's pier 4 is closing soon.




random pictures:

fish fish FISHY!!!!!

Our fancy butter which papa made

Papa and his stirrer 

mini food

  On the 18th the library put on a mini food bake. There I made two mini hamburgers out of vanilla wafers, mini yorks, coconut colored green, and red frosting. I also made three mini ice creams with frosting, marshmallow, and little horn shaped chips. Finally I made two mini cakes. The cake was made of oreos, frosting, sprinkles. After a picture or two I got to eat the mini meal.

This is my mini meal.

Cups only

  On the 13 I made dinner and I made chicken mug pie and cake in a cup with white chocolate frosting. It was really good and fun to make. Here is the chicken mug recipe.

feeds:4

What You Need:

1 tube jumbo bake-off butter biscuits, from the dairy aisle of market ( I made my own biscuits)

Sweet paprika, for sprinkling
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast pieces, diced
3 tablespoons butter
2 ribs celery and greens from the heart, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded potatoes, ready to cook hash browns, available in sacks on dairy aisle
1 pint half-and-half or cream
1 quart chicken stock, available in boxes on soup aisle
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg, a healthy grating
1 cup frozen green peas

What You Need To Do:

Preheat oven according to package directions and arrange biscuits on cookie sheet. You will have 4 extra biscuits. Save them for ham and cheese or egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches the next morning. Sprinkle biscuits with a little paprika and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

In a medium pot over medium to medium high heat, cook chicken in butter 2 minutes then add veggies and season with salt and pepper and poultry seasoning. Cook 5 minutes more, add flour cook another minute. Add potatoes, then whisk in half-and-half or cream and chicken stock. Add nutmeg. Bring soup to a boil by raising heat, then turn heat back to simmer and cook soup another 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Add peas. Stir in to warm them through a minute.

Serve mugs of soup with biscuits on top to cap the mug: chicken mug pies!


Next is the cake.

feeds:1

What You Need:

2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 salt
2 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp oil

What You Need To Do:

mix all the dry ingredients
add the milk, oil, vanilla in 
put that in a cup
put it in the microwave for 2 minutes and if it isn't done put it in for 15 second interval until it's done.

The last thing is the frosting.

What You Need:


12 oz white chocolate finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

What You Need To Do:


Place chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool, stirring occasionally, to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Beat with an electric mixer until ganache is double in volume, about 2 minutes.


ENJOY!!!!!!!

Last Night Dinner

  For mom's last night at Grandma's and papa's I made her dinner. I made chicken liver mousse with chicken livers we got at the farmer's market and grilled tilapia and a salad. It was good. Here is the chicken liver mousse recipe.

What You Need:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped tart apple
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 pound chicken livers, cleaned
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1 cup heavy cream

What You Need To Do:

In a large saute pan over low heat, melt the butter and cook onion, apple, and thyme, covered, until apples soften. Remove lid and increase heat to medium add the livers and cook until firm and still pink inside. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Add the pepper, salt, and brandy and puree in a food processor; then chill, covered. Meanwhile whip the heavy cream to medium peaks. Fold into cooled, pureed liver mixture. Serve chilled.

I got the recipe from foodnetwork.com 

Next is the tilapia 

What You Need:

• tilapia( one fillet for each person)
• 
  
• tomatoes( cut in to medium slices)
• 
  
• white wine
• 
  
• basil(chopped)
• 
  
• olive oil

What You Need To Do:

1. get enough large pieces of tin foil for each fillet then put one fillet in each piece of tin foil
2. drizzle a little olive oil on top of the fillets
3. put 2 or 3 slices of tomato on the fillets
4. then put some basil on top and add a little white whine.
5. wrap the fillets up but leave room in side the tin foil
6. put on the grill add grill for 7 minute.

Finally the salad

What You Need:

• lettuce of your choice
• 1 big tomato( cut into cubes)
• 1 cucumber( cut into tin slices)
• carrots (chopped)
• 1 cup coconut water
• mint (chopped)
• olive oil

What You Need To Do:

1. wash the lettuce then put it in a large bowl
2. put tomato, cucumber,carrots in the bowl with the lettuce.
3. in a different bowl add coconut milk, mint, and a little olive oil then mix.
4. add the coconut water dressing to the salad then mix it all in and you're done.

For dessert I made gluten free white chocolate chip cookies.

 

Birthday Dinner

Happy Birthday Papa!!!!!!

  For Papa's birthday I made dinner from stuff Mom and I got from the farm market. We made T-bone steak with a beet and sweet salad turnip salad with goat cheese also we made wilted beet and turnip greens. The last thing we made was tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella.  It was really good. Here is the recipes.

  First thing is the T-bone steaks.


What You Need:

• 3 big T-bone steaks( or more if you have more people coming)
• 5 clovers of garlic (minced)
• enough olive oil and balsamic vinegar  to cover the bottom of the 1 of the steaks
• salt
• pepper

What You Need To Do:

Mix the oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper together in a big bowl. Then put in the steaks and let them marinade for a couple hours. After they're done marinading put them on the grill until cooked how you like.

* they don't take very long to cook  so cook them last minute

Now the beet and turnip salad.

What You Need:

• enough beets and sweet salad turnips for the amount of people you're cooking for ( we used both purple and golden beets)
• salt 
• pepper
• olive oil
• goat cheese(optional)

What You Need To Do:

 

1. wash the beets and turnips
2. cut off the greens and set aside 
3. also cut off the ends 
4. cut them in fourths and put four slices in aluminum foil than place in the oven 
5. cook for 30 mins -1 hour then take them out and cool.
6. after they're cool take off the skins
7. put on the goat cheese or put in on the side

The next thing is the wilted beet and turnip greens.

What You Need:

• the beet and turnip green 
• olive oil 
• garlic

What You nNeed To Do:

1. wash the greens
2. add olive oil to the pan
3. brown the garlic then add the greens
4. cook until they're wilted

*The greens are a last minute thing too.

The last thing is tomatoes mozzarella basil.

What You Need:

• tomatoes 
• mozzarella 
• basil 
• olive oil
• pepper

What You Need To Do:

1. wash tomatoes and cut them in to thick slices
2. cut the mozzarella then put the slices on the tomatoes
3. then put 1 basil leaf on and you're done

ENJOY!

double chocolate

 
  For a going away party I decide to make a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce. I also made gluten free chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting. Here is the recipe for the cake:

What You Need:

1/2 cup water

the cake with a circle design

1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
18 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
6 eggs

What You Need To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease one 10 inch round cake pan and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
3. Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
4. Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready, put the cake pan in the larger pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
6. Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

And here is the recipe for the raspberry sauce

the finished raspberry sauce

What You Need:

1 pint fresh raspberries

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup cold water

What You Need To Do:

• Combine the raspberries, sugar, and orange juice in a saucepan. Whisk the cornstarch into the cold water until smooth. Add the mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the desired consistency is reached. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.
• Puree the sauce in a blender or with a handheld immersion blender and strain it through a fine sieve. Serve warm or cold.

Here is the recipe for the cupcakes

cupcakes

What You Need:

2/3 cup soymilk ( I use cows milk)

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2/3 cup agave nectar

1/3 cup cup canola oil

1 1/2 vanilla extract

1/2 almond extract

1 cup gluten free flour 

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

What You Need To Do:

1.preheat the oven to 325F and line the muffin tin.

2.mix milk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside to curdle beat in agave nectar, oil, vanilla, and almond extract. sift in flour, baking soda and powder, and salt and mix until smooth. 

3.fill the liner two-thirds full. bake 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into  the center comes out clean. let cool.

*these cupcakes take about an hour to cool.*

mexican hot chocolate cupcakes

  For mom's spanish party I made mexican hot chocolate cupcakes.  They were really good. Here is the recipe:

What You Need:

• 1cup non dairy milk (soy, almond, cashew, walnut, etc)
• 1teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 3/4cups vegan cane sugar or florida crystals( I use coconut sugar)
• 1/3cup canola oil
• 1teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2teaspoon almond extract
• 1cup All purpose flour
• 1/2cup dark cocoa powder
• 2teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 3/4teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4teaspoon salt
  What You Need To Do:
   preheat oven to 350 F and line cupcake pan with your choice of liner 
   Whisk together the milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla and almond extract to the curdled mixture and beat until foamy.
   In a separate bowl, sift together, flour, cocoa powder, spices, baking soda and powder, and salt. Add in two batches to the wet ingredients and beat until no lumps remain.
  
  
  Pour into liners, using 1/4 cup batter.
   Bake 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean
  
  
  transfer to a cooling rack and let cool. then frost them.
  
  
  I use a simple chocolate frosting. 
  
  
  ENJOY!