Why Our House Smells Amazing

Happy Election Day!!

I should really say:

HAPPY WE -DON'T- HAVE- TO- LISTEN- TO- GROWN- MEN- GO- AT- EACH- OTHERS- THROATS- AND- GET- CRAP- MAIL- ANYMORE DAY!!!

I should also really say:

HAPPY -NO -MORE -PEOPLE- TELLING -YOU- WHO -TO VOTE- FOR DAY!!!!

I hope you all had a fun time at the booths,

and may the best man win.

I did vote but I didn't get one of those awesome stickers that say:

I Voted Today.

 I snuck this picture while voting 

You think that they would be able to afford such a little token of appreciation,

considering they are promising much more.

But it's just politic promises.

I'm going to stop now,

I could go on for the rest of the night on this crapola.

Today,

I finally took the first step to legalizing my married name...

it's been almost 6 months since our wedding.

I haven't been putting it off or anything.

You think they could make this whole process a lot easier!

Because of my half day at work,

and after casting my vote,

I headed to the local social security office and finally legally changed my name.

My initials will now spell out N.A.G.

Yes NAG,

and I love it.

One of my best friends initials after she got married is KEG.

I was also planning on getting my drivers license done,

however, while at the social security office,

I was informed I could not do that until I got my new card.

So, home I came to relax!

The first thing I do when I get home is 

get out of my work clothes and in PJs or sweats.

Senor Daniel had to work at his second job tonight,

but I did get to see him quickly before he left.

 I was already in my PJs 

He started our fabulous crock pot dinner before he left

so it would be ready just on time for when he got home.

 It looks disgusting but it was delicious 

As I was sitting around watching Burlesque and waiting to start my baking adventure for this week,

I decided to snack on some raspberries.

Horrible idea.

Raspberries should not be eaten any later than the middle of September.

They were squishy, and bitter, some sour,

some too sweet. 

And I was all excited to have some delicious raspberries. 

I can eat them like most people eat popcorn.

If you live anywhere in the Northeast,

and also have recently gone through the hurricane,

unfortunately tomorrow night I guess we are receiving snow.

I am petrified of snow.

I've lived in CT my entire life and I HATE snow.

I will gladly admit I'm a horrible snow driver,

I only have a front wheel drive car.

We live in an area surrounded by hills and curves.

As soon as I saw this horrible news,

my anxiety shot through the roof and I curled up in the fetal position.

Not really though cause I was at work,

but it's the thought at this moment.

Then I got a hilarious yet hateful text from that same best friend that has the KEG initials after she saw my post about the weather:

I laughed.

A lot.

Even though I wanted to hurt her and her 90 degree weather.

Screw snow.

I still refuse to wear a jacket.

After my wonderful movie,

disgusting raspberries,

slight freaking out about the upcoming weather,

it was time for my baking adventure.

Because Dan prepared the crockpot,

I was not able to grab pictures of the process or what you'll need,

but here's how to make cheesy chicken and rice in the crockpot.

This baking adventure is why my house smells amazing,

and still smells amazing after a few hours.

You can thank me later for this.

Baked Apple Cider Donut Holes

What you'll need:

1. 2 Cups flour

2. 1 1/2 Teaspoon baking powder

3. 1 1/2 Teaspoon baking soda

4. 1/2 Teaspoon salt

5. 2 Teaspoons cinnamon

6. 1 Egg

7. 2/3 Cup brown sugar

8. 1/2 Cup apple butter

9. 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

10. 1/3 Cup honey

11. 1/3 Cup apple cider- after eating them with this amount, I'd up it to 1/2 cup

12. 1/3 Cup plain yogurt- I used plain greek yogurt

13. 2 Tablespoons canola oil

14. Pam

For topping:

1. 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter- I used salted and it was fine

2. 1/4 Cup sugar

3. 1 Tablespoon cinnamon

*After using the specific amounts of cinnamon/sugar, I tried using the McCormick premixed cinnamon/sugar. It actually worked a lot better when rolling the donut holes.

It's up to you, 

your judgement is as good as mine.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

How to make your house smell like heaven:

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Nicole's fun fact for the day: do you know why you always have to mix the wet ingredients separate from the baking soda/powder?... Once they get wet- the baking soda/powder becomes active meaning ready to bake and to rise :) always keep them separate.

 I got a little carried away with the flour.
 It's sometimes fun to play with flour.
 Try it and let me know what fun you have with flour.
 We shall call it : Fun with Flour

In a mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, egg, apple butter, vanilla extract, honey, apple cider, yogurt, and canola oil. 

 Looks delish doesn't it "/ 

The packed brown sugar looked like a sand castle,
made me think of the beach during this coldness.

 As I was pouring the cider into the mixture,
 I got a huge craving for it and decided to pour myself some :)
 It tickled my fancy. 

 Peek-a-boo!! Fun while baking 

Mix wet ingredients together until nice and smooth, 

only take like 15 seconds.

Combine dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend until just mixed.

Lumps are ok in this instance.

 Looks disgustingly delicious,
 ignore current smell... just wait until they start baking 

Using a spoon or one of those awesome cupcake scoops I have that I informed you to go out and splurge on,

fill mini tins to just below the rim. 

I overfilled some of mine,

but thats ok because this batter makes about 36-48 donut holes.

I didn't want to wait to make more minis, so I made regular size cupcakes... 

and accidentally burnt them :( 

Nicole fail.

Cook for 10-12 minutes.

This is when your house will smell like happiness and apple butterflies.

Your welcome.

When donuts come out of oven,

melt butter in a bowl and combine cinnamon and sugar in a different bowl if thats the way you choose to go.

No matter what route you go,

just make sure cinnamon/sugar ends up in a bowl :) 

If you have a pastry brush feel free to use that,

I do not so I used a fork-

brush the tops of each hole with a small amount of butter,

basically just enough to get them wet.

Because it was just me and I don't have three hands, I could not get a picture of this moment.

Before and after brushing with butter

Once butter is on,

put the top down into the cinnamon/sugar mix and swirl around.

Once top is covered,

roll sides in mixture.

And wa-la!

Hope you all had a great election day,

I know most had the day off!

See you for newlyWed Wednesday filled with snow.

 Ladies- stand back this ones taken!
 To give him credit: he was cleaning up and
 putting the dishes in the dishwasher. 

Ta ta for now!!