Lately I have found myself staring at my kitchen counter, wondering what on earth to do with all the apples we got from the apple orchard!  I wanted something easy that had a caramel apple flavor. Voila!

When my kids look back on their childhood they'll remember a lot of things, but I would think one memory that stands out would be our kitchen.

As a child, I was actually not a big fan of cupcakes.  They were alright, but there were other desserts I would pick over cupcakes.  As an adult, I have a much different viewpoint.

In our household, birthday cakes aren't chocolate, vanilla, or marble.  They're carrot cakes.  This is a tradition that I started as a kid when I fell in love with my stepmother's carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  Every year thereafter (even into my 20's!) she would make me a carrot cake for my birthday.  When I finally asked her for the recipe, I was a little surprised that it wasn't some vintage Grandmother recipe hidden in a recipe box somewhere.  Nope, it was straight out of Better Homes and Gardens.  I've been using it ever since.

Tired of making banana bread?  Make cake instead! [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:127]

A tasty recipe passed down from my Grandmother. [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:125]

A 'dump' cake (deemed by my Grandma - dump in all the ingredients and bake!) that's so sweet you serve it with cool whip or vanilla ice cream. [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:124]