Here in Columbus, there is a lot of snow on the ground. The temperatures have been consistently below freezing. It’s too cold to really enjoy any time spent outside. As a result, winter hibernation mode is seriously setting in. To me, this means lots of lazy weekends at home – reading blogs and books, playing games (video, board, tabletop), and enjoying comfort food. In short, winter is a perfect excuse to post this set of links:

• Video game cupcakes are nothing new. I made the ones pictured above a few years ago for a Super Bowl party. I know they aren’t standard Super Bowl party fare. But this is the same group of friends that has spent more than one New Years Eve playing Guitar Hero and Mario Kart. So I knew they would be appreciated. It was my first time using fondant, and taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of using flavorless red dye. For those that don’t know, red dye tends to be very bitter unless you use the flavorless version. I didn’t know this until my cute little cupcakes were topped with bitter red piranha plants. The cupcakes were still a hit. However, these game cupcakes that have been making the rounds on the internet beat my Mario cupcakes by a long shot.
• Jared and I often make homemade pizza on Sunday nights. To be honest, he makes the pizza crust. I just top it. One of these days, he’ll get around to posting his crust recipe on here. Until then, you’ll just have to trust me that it’s really good. Pizza on a Stick looks like a fun variation on regular pizza.
• What is a good weekend brunch without a cocktail? The problem is that mimosas seem very summery to me, and bloody marys are just plain nasty. Mele Kalikimaka Martinis would be a nice winter alternative, even after the holidays are over.
• On winter mornings, it’s always nice to have a healthy, homemade breakfast. Considering extra the drive-time that a winter commute can involve, it’s especially nice if that breakfast that can be eaten on the run or at the office. So I will definitely spend a Sunday afternoon making these Apple Walnut Spice Muffins very shortly.
• I do not give my slow cooker enough credit. Aside from Apple Butter Weekend, I really only pull it out a few times a year.  This winter, I have been trying to change that. I am continually surprised by the things one can make in a slow cooker. For example, it seems like a creamy soup would burn in the slow cooker. I hope this Crockpot Potato Soup recipe will prove me wrong when I try it.

From L-R: My mom, me and my sister getting cozy & chopping apples

Before I did this last year, I did a bit of research. A lot of people recommended using slow cookers since they are perfect for cooking at low heat for a very long time. As for the recipe itself, it’s definitely not set in stone. We used about a bushel of apples, half a jar of cinnamon, and four slow cookers. My best advice is to use a variety of apples, taste as you go, and adjust the sugar and seasonings to your personal preferences.


Apple Butter
Makes approximately 30, 8 ounce jars

Ingredients
1 bushel of apples
3 c. white sugar
2 c. brown sugar
8 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. salt
4 teaspoons nutmeg

1. Peel and core the apples. Chop them finely and divide them evenly among slow cookers.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine white and brown sugars, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Pour some of the mixture over each pot full of apples.
3. Cover and cook on high for 1.5 hours.
4. Reduce heat and cook for an additional 12 hours, stirring occasionally. Apple butter will thicken and turn a dark reddish-brown.
5. Blend apple butter with an immersion blender to smooth.
6. Distribute into canning jars and process in bath of boiling water. The USDA has a good canning tutorial, which can be found here. They do a better job of explaining the process than I ever could.
7. Enjoy! Or, if you’re feeling generous, give to family members and friends as a holiday gift.