chipmunk slam dunk

The apples are DONE!  In the end, we had between 30 and 40 pounds of apple...and that's processed apple slices, minus the weight of peels and cores.  

Todd holding just a small fraction of the peels generated

I've been folding big handfuls of apples into the weekly baked oatmeal, tossing a cup into fall salads, and I've finally found a great apple dessert recipe that's going into rotation here.  It's based on a popular Allrecipes entry, but I've made it significantly healthier.  It's so, so good.

German Apple Cake

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons pumpkin puree

1 TB vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 - 3 cups of diced/sliced apples

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 pan.  As with most recipes:  mix the wet and dry separately, combine, and stir in the apples.  Bake for about 35 minutes.  

If you care about that sort of thing, a big piece is about 125 calories.  It is especially good on day #2, and I think it would be AMAZING with a slick of cream cheese frosting.  PIE will be coming soon, and apple bread, and applesauce.  I can't wait!

The weather has remained unseasonably warm (85 degrees today!), and the tomatoes just keep coming, too.

Besides dehydrating sliced tomatoes for winter salads and soups, I've been making an all-purpose pizza/pasta sauce.  I use this recipe and it's the best sauce I've ever had!

A few leaves are changing here...

...but it's not really cold enough for the big color change yet.  I'm still seeing a ton of insect activity...

Carolina Leaf Roller cricket

Eupithecia moth caterpillar

...and plenty of the usual katydids, spiders, and moths on the porch that keep the kittens riveted.

Of course, our trail cams are still picking up tons, too.  So...many...deer.

Turkeys...

Rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, and plenty of coyotes.

We hear them howling at night too and it's such a cozy and essential component of fall around here.  

Speaking of creatures, Claudia is too old/pampered to hunt many of them now, but sometimes she surprises us.  I'll hear a loud meowing on the porch, and Claudia is coyly hinting at a great prize.

Then the big reveal...

...and the official offer.

This week, it was a chipmunk.

She waits patiently until she's sure that we aren't going to have a nibble (so far, we're on a five-year streak of abstaining from her gifts), and then she falls to, messily devouring it on our doorstep.  

Our indoor cats stare through the screen door in amazement.  I don't think they've ever seen food that doesn't come out of a can or bag.

They suspect that food procurement might cut into their nap time as well.

I think they may be right about that!

Have a great week!