Guest Blogger-Chocolate Eclair Cake

-The following post was written by my daughter Anna-

I am excited to share one of my go to dessert with you!

I am blessed to have so many wonderful women in my life who have taught me how to bake and cook.

This recipe comes from the kitchen of my husbands grandmother. We call her "Mom"! 

When Ethan and I got married his grandmother made me a recipe book filled with many of the family favorites. Ethan's grandmother is a fantastic cook and has always treated me like one of her own grandchildren. The Chocolate Eclair Cake is one of Ethan's favorites. It's really easy and always a crowd pleaser!

-Chocolate Eclair Cake-

What you need:

-2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding mix

-2 cups of cold milk

-1 thawed 16oz container of cool whip (must be thawed)

-1 box of graham crackers

-1 jar/can of milk chocolate icing

-Pecans or favorite kind of nuts(optional)

What you do:

Mix together pudding, milk and thawed cool whip.

In a 9x13 pan put a layer of graham crackers then top with a layer of the pudding mixture. Add another layer of graham crackers and then the rest of the pudding mixture. Then add one final layer of graham crackers. In the microwave heat chocolate icing for about 30 seconds or until it is creamy. Poor over the top of the graham crackers and spread out. At this point you can add the nuts on top of the icing but I don't because Ethan doesn't really like nuts. Place in refrigerator and let sit over night. 

Enjoy!

A story that comes to mind when I think about Ethan's grandmother was the first time I went to his grandparents house. It was on a Sunday afternoon and it was to celebrate Ethan's 16th birthday. I took a change of clothes since we went there right after church. I went into a spare bedroom to change and as I went to exit the room I couldn't get the door open. At first I panicked because I thought I was stuck in this room and I was already nervous about making a good impression then I realized that the door was locked. I calmly walked out of the room pretending that nothing even happened. Funny to look back on now, but not so funny in the moment!

Applesauce Anyone?

Well I decided to get domestic yesterday and make some homemade applesauce. I wanted to make it the way our Grandma D used too! I even got to use the utensils she used when making it. Brings back special memories of her cooking in her kitchen. She loved to cook and often prepared 3 hot meals a day for her family. They had a large bell on a single pole with a string that was rung at meal time. My husband and his siblings knew that no matter what, they were to promptly come home for dinner! Now these were the days mind you when children would play outdoors for hours after school with other neighborhood children. Yes, I was one of those barefoot, skinny children running recklessly outdoors and I will always treasure those simple and innocent days!

Grandma D's Homemade Applesauce

 1 bag of gala apples but you can use any apples you choose. Some apples are better cooking apples than others so I would do some research.
1. Wash apples and then place apples whole in pot, cover with water.
 **using whole apples allows you to get all the good healthy vitamins from the skins.
2. Bring to boil till very soft, I use a fork to test them.
3. Remove apples from pot while hot.
4. Place whole apples in a colander with a pan under it and mash them real good!
  **Skins will remain in colander but the sauce and all the good juices will go into pan.
I then add 2 teas of cinnamon and  1 cup sugar or you can be healthy and
organic like I was today and use Organic Agave Nectar. I used the light Agave!
You use 2/3 syrup to every 1 cup sugar! One bag of apples fills a 1 quart size mason
jar. Place it in the frig to get cold and then enjoy! It is yummy warm too!
There is nothing like fresh applesauce! Great on toast!
My grandchildren and children loved it and have already requested that I make more!

Eggs Have It!

So excited to be able to share another great recipe with you today. Can I just say I love sweets!  You can love sweets , it is just all about moderation. The key is exercising off the extra pounds so that you can eat more! LOL
Hope you enjoy this recipe, it is a family favorite of ours!
                                   
 Aunt Melissa's Oatmeal Cookies
3 eggs               2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup raisins      1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla       1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup butter       1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup brown sugar   2 cups oatmeal
1 cup white sugar   3/4 cup pecans (optional)

** Combine eggs, raisins and vanilla. Let stand 1 hour. Cream together butter and sugars. Add flour, salt,cinnamon and soda to sugar mixture. Mix well. Blend in eggs and raisins, oatmeal and nuts. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes! Yummy!
**I have substituted chocolate chips for the raisins and left out the cinnamon on occasion, try it!

The story that came to mind when I was thinking of this recipe was the time I was in the grocery with 4 of our 5 children. On these occasions my grocery trips would take much longer and my brain would be fried by the end. As we were heading down the last aisle in the dairy section, I handed our sweet Anna, then 4 at the time, a carton of eggs and said" Hold these real careful for mommy so they won't break". She was thrilled and took the job at hand very seriously. I was then distracted ,which very easily happens when you have multiple children in the grocery store. As I turned around to check on Anna she had cracked several eggs in her lap. Oh dear Anna what happened ? I said. She replied "Mommy, I was seeing if there are any  baby chickens in our eggs! I just couldn't help but laugh as I proceeded to clean up the mess and get another carton of eggs! Children are such a joy and always seems make us laugh on days we need it the most!