I can’t believe summer is over. 8 weeks FLEW by. The Kids are older and did more things on their own this year with friends, HBear’s BF and with each other. Ninja and I tried to have a date once a week at local spots but as the summer got hotter, my symptoms flared more. We had visits from Ninja’s Bro, Sis and our nephew JQ. Ash rained down on us from all directions and our community battled historic fires and won. HBear worked a lot and SBean volunteered at different places throughout the summer. We ate some delicious meals, sipped on some fun cocktails and enjoyed SBean’s yummy summer baked treats. We ended on a high note with a quick trip to the coast which I can’t wait to share next week! It was a good summer but now it’s back to school, routine and activities. Yesterday SBean started piano and today she had her first day of… Grade 9!
HBear has her first class tomorrow but today she had her campus welcome party and picked up the last of her textbooks that just came in. Exciting!
To celebrate I read the sequel to Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter. Wes and Liz are off the college and it felt like the perfect YA read to celebrate back to school.
Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter A book set in a school (any level). I love Wes and Liz. I love how quirky Liz is and I love what a great MMC Wes was in a high school romance novel. I was so excited to see where college has taken them so I was pretty disappointed to see where they were just a few months after graduation. Wes has had some personal tragedy and life has thrown him some curveballs. A year and a half later and he’s ready to start his first year at UCLA in his dream studies while playing baseball again. The only thing that’s missing, Liz. Liz has spent the last two years, making friends, working as a photographer in athletics department, interning at her dream position and then Wes steps back into her life. How fun! This book made me remember young love and the beginning of school and fall in University. I loved watching my favourite couple make mistakes and figure it out. I loved seeing Wes become the ball player he was supposed to be and Liz become her best self too. I’m glad they had time apart and I loved watching them come back together. I also loved that they loved each other enough to cheer each other on when they weren’t a couple anymore. My favourite thing about Wes and Liz is that they are adults now and THEY like who the new Wes and Liz have become which makes the reader like their new vibe as well. I loved this book even more that the first one. I just love the characters. I will miss them and I think there should be a Clark and Sarah book!
I love apples. I am allergic to apples, but I LOVE apples. When I got my braces off, I wanted to bite into a crisp apple and then eat a Whopper with cheese heavy all because honestly, eating a Whopper with braces was the WORST!! LOL Mostly I wanted that apple though. Sadly, HBear has a similar allergy to me and apples or more likely the sulphur makes our tongues feel like a “carpet”. Yes, that’s the technical name for it lol. So, this season I said the heck with that and went full steam ahead with delicious fall apple dishes anyways! Ninja and SBean were in their fall apple harvest glory!
This Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Apples is the epitome of a fall Sunday dinner. It is savoury, sweet and comforting. It is a delicious autumn dinner worthy of a back to school celebration or just to welcome in the cooler temps. This is the perfect dinner to showcase our Okanagan bounty this apple season.
We were going to make apple cinnamon crepes but I had some tortillas in the cupboard so we decided to make Apple Cinnamon Quesadillas instead and I can confirm that it was the correct decision! This yummy all day breakfast dish reminded me of old school McDonald’s apple pies lol. The tortilla crisped up nicely and the softened apple slices with a hint of cinnamon was so good. Honestly though it was the heated cream cheese that made this yummy meal so memorable.
We are always looking for new side salads and this Apple Broccoli Salad was a winner. It was fresh, crisp and tasted like fall in a bowl. This is a yummy salad the highlights the season of the apple in the best way.
When I worked at a property management company back in Winnipeg, a coworker passed along her Amish Friendship Bread starter to me. Every few weeks I had to bake 4 loaves and set a starter aside or something like that lol, I can’t remember exactly but I remember that I loved the quick breads, they were the first and only thing I baked successfully during that time in my life. When I found this Amish Apple Cake, I knew we had to try it! We made it for dessert when my Sis and her family were over and everyone was skeptical because it looks unassuming which is a nice way to say, boring and unappealing lol. However, I was right and everyone thought it was delicious. This is an easy cake that is tasty and satisfying, using only humble ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. So yummy!
I loved this Apple Amaretto Sour we had during our podcast a few weeks ago. We used cider from a local cidery called Summerland Heritage Cider. Knowing how much was lost during the Summerland fire, we picked up a few bottles from a cider company dear to my heart. My Mom’s cousin’s partner of many many years, Tom, started the cider company with a few local farmer friends years ago and his apple orchard hosted my Mom’s celebration of life. We lost Tom a few years ago too. The company has since been passed on through other partner’s families but we still love their products and their family vibes.
Ghost à la Mode: A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery by Sue Ann Jaffarian Reread a favourite book. I don’t reread books but I do reread favourite genres and over the years I have learned that I love cozy mysteries. Give me a crazy single Mom or an elderly Auntie solving a local mystery and I am a happy Gal! Who knew? Lol. This book is delicious right from the beginning. In the first chapter the mystery begins with, a seance. Emma is a recently divorced single mom who moved back into her parent’s house as her daughter leaves for college. She is looking for a new direction and she finds it and a craving for apple pie at a seance with her friend. There she is contacted by an ancestor from Julian, California who was an apple pie baking woman, hung for murdering her husband. Turns out she is not the first relative that Granny Apples has contacted. I like how the spirit issue is handled with skepticism right off the hop and that her scientific doctor dad helps her move past her disbelief and on to the detective trail of finding the real killer and clearing her great great great grandmother’s name. I loved the support Emma gets from both of her parents. I love how Emma stood up for herself against her ex-husband. I love how despite being skeptical of something she doesn’t understand, Emma accepts the challenge and gets to work. I also loved Granny Apples! What a cool old woman/ghost lol. I also like Milo and how early on he asks questions about Emma as a medium, and whether or not this could lead to more paranormal investigations, which allowed me to become more invested in Emma seeing how the series could develop. The writing is straightforward and easy to follow along, so you are able to just enjoy the story. This book has everything, humour, mystery, even a little romance, this book is just so gosh darn cute.
Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Apples
4
servings10
minutes25
minutes5
minutesIngredients
1 lb pork tenderloin
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste
2 apples
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon thyme
Directions
Pat the pork tenderloin completely dry with paper towels. Season generously with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme, rubbing the spices into the meat.
Heat oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place pork in the pan and sear each side about 2 minutes until a golden-brown crust forms. Set pork aside.
Lower heat to medium and add butter to the skillet. Arrange apple slices in a single layer and cook undisturbed for about 2 minutes until golden on one side. Flip and continue cooking 1–2 minutes to achieve a tender-crisp texture.
Nestle the pork tenderloin back among the apples in the skillet. Drizzle maple syrup evenly over both pork and apples.
Transfer the skillet to a preheated oven at 375°F. Bake for 15–20 minutes, checking the pork’s internal temperature—it should register 145°F in the thickest part.
Let the pork rest for 5 minutes to lock in juices. Slice against the grain into medallions, plate with the caramelized apples, and drizzle with pan juices.
Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Quesadillas
2
servings10
minutes15
minutesIngredients
1 tablespoon butter
3 medium apples
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 medium flour tortillas
1/4 cup cream cheese
Directions
Peel and dice the apples.
In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add apples, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Cook for 6–8 minutes until softened.
Spread cream cheese on one half of a tortilla. Spoon 1/2 the cooked apples over the cheese.
Fold the tortilla in half to close. Repeat with the rest of the cheese, apples and tortilla.
In a clean skillet, melt a bit of butter. Toast each quesadilla on both sides until golden brown, about 2–3 minutes per side.
Let cool slightly, slice into wedges, and top with whip cream.
Apple Broccoli Salad
4
servings15
minutes30
minutesIngredients
2 cups broccoli florets, chopped
1 large Honeycrisp apple, diced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans. chopped
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, combine chopped broccoli, diced Honeycrisp apple, dried cranberries, chopped nuts, and red onion.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper until smooth.
Pour the dressing over the salad mixture and gently toss until everything is well coated.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow flavours to meld.
Amish Apple Cake
12
servings15
minutes40
minutesIngredients
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
3 medium apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.
Combine the dry ingredients and mix well.
Next, add eggs, oil, vanilla, and water. Mix well with a hand mixer then add the apples in. Stir in nuts, if desired.
Use a spatula to evenly distribute the batter into the 9 x 13 inch pan.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.
Apple Amaretto Sour
2
servings5
minutesIngredients
4 oz Amaretto Liqueur
1 oz lemon juice
4-6 oz apple cider, to top
ice
Garnish: apple slices & thyme
Directions
Add ice to a cocktail shaker. Fill with amaretto and lemon juice. Shake vigorously.
Fill glasses with crushed ice. Strain cocktail into glasses. Top with apple cider and garnish with a slice of apple and a sprig of thyme.
Ghost à la Mode: A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery by Sue Ann Jaffarian
Thank you to Homemade on a Weeknight for featuring my Fantasy Books and Cucumber post at their Book Review Linky Party last week.
This week we took a quick trip to the coast before school starts but I am exhausted and still need to go through hundreds of pictures 🥴😂 So, before we left for our adventure we did some stuff to prep for the new school year.
