It TASTES like Fall!

After all the years of my family making fun of me because I lack cooking skills, I now have Rob to prove that I CAN COOK! With the help of my mom, enrichment night, emily's delicious recipes, and a cookbook that my mom gave me, I have to say, I am a pretty darn cook.

Right now there are so many yummy fall/summer foods in season and I think food just tastes better when it is in season. So... here are some of my favorite recipes that I have made recently that just taste like fall!

Apple Oatmeal Cookies

Now, I am fortunate enough to live just blocks away from a large farmer's market AND an apple orchard. So Rob and I picked up some fresh picked, local Honey Crisp apples for this recipe. And in my opinion (Rob disagrees), the cookies are pretty healthy. Even though we don't agree on that, we agree that they are yummy and so moist.



1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup butter (melt & cool)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2 cups apples (peel and chop in little chunks)

Mix everything together
Bake at 375 for 12 minutes


Freezer Jam

Berries are just going out of season right now, so get them while you can! Rob and I made strawberry-rasberry jam, and at enrichment night, I made strawberry-rasperry-blueberry jam. IT IS SUPER EASY TO MAKE! AND INCREDIBLY GOOD, especially on fresh baked bread.

Just make sure you follow the recipe exactly or you might get jam that doesn't set up very well. And whatever you do, resist sticking a spoon or finger that you already licked back in the jam. Not only is this tasting method unsanitary, but the enzymes in your saliva break down the gelatin, which results in jam that doesn't set.





**** I am only posting how to make strawberry jam. If you use a different fruit, you need to follow the ratios that are in the insert for your pectin****

EXACTLY 2 cups mashed berries(about 1 lb whole berries)
- wash, destem, and mash with a potatoe masher.

Add EXACTLY 4 cups of sugar to the berries and stir well. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Add Certo brand premium liquid fruit pectin to fruit mixture. Stir for about 3 minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy. It's okay if there are still a few sugar crystals.

Pour into small 1-2 cups size containers. Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. It will then be ready to eat or to freeze.

Freezes for a year. Once taken out and put into fridge, it will last for about a month.