This Perfectly Imperfect Life

Our livingroom mantle A safe, fun, and spooky day to all of you! It's a beautiful Autumn day here at The Perfectly Imperfect Homestead, and with it being a Saturday to boot, I'm not sure how many or how few trick-or-treaters we'll end up with later today. (Every year is different than the last - it's been consistently inconsistent over the past decade). Mom will end up coming over with her trick-or-treater treats since many don't make the trip down to her end of TPIH despite my sending them to her, and hopefully we'll convince her to stay for dinner, I've got a chicken baking in the oven and it smells delish!  I've got the Michael Myers Halloween movies marathon running in the livingroom and the candy dish is ready by the front door! Tonight I'll leave out some special treats for loved ones who've passed on, in keeping with my Irish roots. What are your plans for today? PS: I'm so not ready to say farewell to October ye...

Pink Knockout, Rosa Radcon Pink Knockout, Rosa Radcon, same bush as above Aren't October roses The Best?! I love many things about October, but roses at Halloween makes my top five! (And another reason why I love Knockout roses. Not only are they the *only* roses I have left of all the roses I have grown over the last several years, but depending on the weather, they'll bloom through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas). What's one of your top five favorite things about October?

This morning in the kitchen, Empire apples Hello one and all, I'm back after quite a long blogging break, and ready to share with you a recipe for the best apple sauce I've ever made!  This morning I decided to make another batch, and this time I'm freezing most of it for the upcoming cold months since someone (me) finished off the first batch in no time.  And I'm not in the least bit sorry about that because it was Just That Good.  Gala apple in hand (September) Into your slow cooker/crock pot on the low setting for at least 5 hours, stirring every so often: The first time I made the slow cooker apple sauce back in September, I used five pounds of Gala apples (17 small-ish apples), but this morning I'm using six pounds of larger Empire apples, peeled, cored, and sliced or chopped - 3 cinnamon sticks - 2 tablespoons of lemon juice - 1/4 cup water.  As with making apple sauce on the stove, the same goes with making apple sauce in the ...