I need a better camera.

So, as you can see, I need a better camera, so I'm taking donations. Ha. Please let me know if you'd like to donate so that you don't have to see any more ugly food photos.

Drunken Apple Crisp and Drunken Squirrels

So- I come home from a lovely trip up north to realize that we've had torrential rains, flooding my back yard and causing the ground to become so soft- that my beloved apple tree has toppled over. You should have seen it in the spring- so many flowers, you could hardly see the leaves. Ahhh, so beautiful. Because of it's size and age, many of the limbs were almost touching the ground, creating a serene canopy under the tree- peaceful, quite and private. Yes... just you and the mosquitoes. And a chair, and a book, and a citronella candle... Anyway, we had grown to love this apple tree.

Two years before, the year we moved into the house, the apple tree had blossomed and given a bountiful harvest as well. So many apples had dropped on to the ground that we couldn't keep up with picking them up. Unbenounced to us, some of them had become fermented.

Wild life- mainly squirrels- began to eat the apples to fatten up for winter. Apparently, they had no prior knowledge (or maybe their memory served them well from prior years) of the fermentation process of these apples and the effects of eating them. On any given day, you would see 3-4 of them, nibbling, scavenging, playing, toppling over and falling out of trees. That's correct, DRUNKEN SQUIRRELS. Like a college kid after too many beers, they too were falling over drunk. I have video. I'm giggle-snorting the entire time. Hilarious.

Anyway, the squirrels drunken-ness really has nothing to do with the recipe, except for the same source of their good time, is the basis for the recipe below. Without further adu, I give you the Drunken Apple Crisp!

Ingredients:
5 cups apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
1/4 cup amaretto
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar

Topping:
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup butter (melted)

Directions:
1. Toss the apples with the amaretto, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar.
2. Mix the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter in a separate, large bowl.
3. Place the apple mixture into an 8x8 inch baking dish and pour the topping on.
4. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until it is bubbling and the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Garlic Cheddar DOG Treats

GARLIC CHEDDAR DOG TREATS
My fur babies love these! I say they're pretty good too!

Ingredients
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 T garlic powder
1 T oil or butter, softened
.5 c milk (may not need all)

Combine flour and cheese. Add in garlic powder and oil.
SLOWLY add milk, a little at a time, until a thick dough is formed.
Knead and roll out on lightly floured work space until 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on greased cookie sheets.
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Turn oven off, cool in oven, on sheets, with the door open.