What's for dinner? - Ozark Apple Pudding

Mmm...mmm...good!  I was online yesterday and found a recipe for Ozark Apple Pudding.  It was on the website TastyKitchen.com. This particular recipe was in the blog tab in the step-by-step recipes.
 
When we found the recipe, both Savannah and I agreed that it was a must that we try it today. While I would not consider it a pudding as the title would suggest, it is a wonderful apple cake and was so easy to make. There is a step-by-step recipe with pictures here. It smelled wonderful while it was baking and was moist and delicious when it was eaten!

I did a couple of things different.  First off, I used 1 cup of cinnamon flavored apple sauce for one cup of the oil and only used 1/4 cup of oil.  I also left off the nuts...one - we were out of them and two - I am not really crazy about nuts in my cakes, cookies, or breads.

Just a heads up...I also made the coconut granola from the same blog area (here is the recipe).  It turned out alright and would have been much better had I not forgotten it in the oven.  It turned out a little on the brown side but was still pretty good.  The kids enjoyed eating it as cereal with milk on top.
 

Scholastic Website Thanksgiving Webcast and Activities

Last year, we took part in the Scholastic Thanksgiving Webcast as part of our November activities.  We were able to watch a live production of an interview with "Pilgrims," see various buildings and tools that were used during the Pilgrim era, and learn a little about their way of life.

Last week, I received an email announcing that the Thanksgiving activities were available again this year.  One example of an upcoming activity takes place on November 9th at 1 p.m. ET. There is a  "Tour the Wampanoag Homesite" that will be available for viewing online.  The website offers many other interesting activities and is really a fun way of learning a little about the past. For those of you interested in signing up, follow the link here.  This will take you to the sign-up page.

We received our first Pilgrim email today.  It is a letter from a Pilgrim child telling about the journey on the ship to the New World.  This letter has links to a Thanksgiving unit and other audio versions of "letters from Pilgrims." We look forward to following the site a few days at a time up until our Thanksgiving break.  It will be a chance to see what we remember from last year's unit and what new things we can discover.

Annual Trip to the Pear Trees

This morning started out with a round of beautiful fall weather.  The temperature was perfect.  Of course, our Oklahoma fall wind was coming in strong, but it was at least not cold.  We decided to take a nature hike and head to the pear trees.  We had not checked on the pears this year and were wondering just what we would find.  

Last year the pear were abundant (here is the post). However, this year...there was not a single pear to be had.  Out of the 3 trees in the grove, there were no pears in sight.  Now, we have the quest to try and solve the mystery of why.  Could it be the extreme drought? Maybe it was just a "sleeper" year for the trees. I am leaning more toward the drought because there was so much vegetation that was destroyed.  Our area was really hit hard.  

Anyway, we still have some pears from last year in the freezer so we just have to wait until next year to see if the pears return.