Today I Am Thankful For......

Many Things!

But here are a few of the most important:

1.   My Savior, Jesus Christ.

2.   A LOVING husband who supports me in all that I do.

3.   The BEST children any Mom could ever ask for.

4.   Parents and In-laws who are GREAT examples to me.

5.   Six WONDERFUL siblings who I adore and look up to.

6.   AMAZING friends and neighbors.

7.   My little home.  It is CUTE and perfect for us.

8.   GOOD health.

9.   A baby who sleeps through the night.

10. The many opportunities that I have to serve others.

And the list goes on and on.

When I was growing up, my Dad often made my favorite dessert....Brownie Pudding Cake (which I will post a recipe for later).  But, the other day I was looking through one of my cookbooks, and I found a recipe for an Apple Pudding Cake.  You can't go wrong with pudding cake, right?  If Brownie Pudding Cake is good, then Apple Pudding Cake must be equally as good.  Well, we have an abundance of apples right now, so I decided to give this recipe a try.  It was simple to make, and my house smelled AMAZING while it was baking.  I kept telling the kids that I hoped it tasted as good as it smelled, and it did.  It was so delicious!  The cake was super moist, and the hot apples on top just made it WONDERFUL!  You are going to have to give this recipe a try.

APPLE PUDDING CAKE

This recipe may need to be doubled if you are using a 9 by 13 -inch pan.

Cake:                                                                            

1/4 cup shortening or oil                                               

1 egg                                                                               

1/2 cup milk or apple juice                                                         

1 cup white sugar                                                           

1 teaspoon vanilla                                                          

1 cup sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

1 bottle sliced apples (I just boiled fresh apples)

2 Tablespoons tapioca or cornstarch

              (or apple pie filling)

sugar

cinnamon

In a bowl, cream together sugar, shortening, egg, milk or juice from apples, and vanilla.  Mix together dry ingredients and add to mixture.  Set aside.

In a saucepan, drain remaining juice from apples.  Mix a small amount of liquid into cornstarch or tapioca.  Mix tapioca according to package directions.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens.  Add apples into thickened sauce and heat.  Pour apples or apple filling into a baking dish.

Drop cake batter by tablespoon on top of apples.  (The best way to do this is to have two tablespoons - 1 to scoop batter and another to scrape the batter off the spoon.)  Spread the dollops of batter carefully so all the apples are covered with cake batter.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cake tests done.  (I doubled the recipe and it took closer to 45 minutes to bake)  Serve warm with ice cream or whipping cream on top.