Only twice in the time that we’ve been together (over 6 years), does my partner recall a bad meal (amazing..I didn’t believe her, but she insisted). Wednesday night was one of them. I attempted to make Butternut Squash Skillet Lasagna from the blog How Sweet It Is. The pictures were delectable. The description mouth-watering. I love butternut squash and lasagna, so perfect!

But something happened in translation…mine came out goopy. The ground turkey tasted funky. The flavors didn’t mesh. Of course, accidentally dumping cumin in the squash instead of nutmeg probably had some effect. Hey, they’re both brown! It’s easy to get confused! I added the nutmeg on top of it…who would notice?

Apparently we both did. I don’t know what I did, but it crashed and burned. Dinner ended up being Eggo cinnamon toast waffles. Oh well. That’s the joy…and pain…of cooking.  I was crushed, especially since never has a recipe failed me from Jessica’s blog (and I suspect it wasn’t the recipe that failed). Check her blog out. You won’t be disappointed.

I needed to redeem myself. Prove I’m not a failure in the kitchen. Sure, I’ve only screwed up “two meals” (ahem), but the blow to my ego is more than I can handle.

I’ve been obsessed with apples lately. Maybe it’s the crisp Fall air. Or the fact that they’re in season right now. Apples always make me think crackling fires, tangy apple cider, scarecrows, pumpkins, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and corn husks.

But I get tired of making the same old things with apples. I mean, come on, how many apple pies can I make? I had good intentions of making apple butter with the golden delicious apples, but never got around to it. When black spots started to appear, I figured I should do something with them.

My parents were coming over for dinner and cards (Canasta…it’s a long-time family tradition), I decided to make a dessert using the apples. This time using a recipe from the blog Tea and Cookies. I’m sure you’re wondering if I get all my recipes from blogs, and the answer is no. You should see my cookbook and magazine piles. They need their own apartment. But there are some damn good cooks out there who have blogs and this is one of them.

The Grandmotherly Apple Cake was a hit! It’s like carrot cake, coffee cake, and oatmeal cookies with a not-to-sweet-I’m-going-to-lick-the-bowl cream cheese frosting. It made a full size round cake plus 6 extra-large muffins. Breakfast, yes!

Since I didn’t change anything about the recipe (it was perfect exactly as is), here’s the link to the recipe at Tea and Cookies.

http://www.teaandcookiesblog.com/2012/11/grandmotherly-apple-cake.html

Go, bake, and moan at your delight.