I am seeing so many pumpkin recipes today. Now don’t misunderstand me, I think that’s a great fall flavor, but I always feel like fall apples get lost behind the giant pumpkin. That’s why today I want to share my favorite apple dip recipe.
My daughter insisted on adding the Kit-Kat.
It’s super easy to make, requires absolutely no cooking and takes less than 20 minutes of your time. I like to make it on a Sunday and then portion it out for snacks through the week. My daughters even take it to school with them.
Caramel Fluff Dip
Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup caramel topping
1 tsp vanilla extract
7 oz marshmallow fluff
Sliced apples, chocolate sticks or graham crackers
Directions
Use a hand mixer on medium speed to combine the cream cheese, brown sugar, caramel and vanilla.
Then use a rubber spatula to fold the marshmallow fluff into the cream cheese mixture.
Serve with sliced apples, chocolate sticks and graham crackers if desired.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and appreciate the flavor of fall apples a little more.
Summer is flying by. We got our camp site set up now that our camper is finally fixed. We went swimming in Lake Michigan and even climbed a lighthouse.
My mom bought the girls a small pool for the house, and it is getting a ton of use.
And on Thursdays we cheer. Bear’s team got 2nd place at States this season and we are hoping for a bid to nationals after the fall. She has learned so much this first year. We put all of her mementos on to a wreath in order to display them.
I keep wishing time would slow down, but I guess I should start prepping for fall.
It’s been a rough week. We have been all go and no slow. Even more obnoxious, we are one car down, so I feel like I am hyper stimulated and need to calm down.
So I learned how to make something new.
Meet Ockey the Octopus. He’s supposed to be a cat toy but my girls have decided that these will be better suited as backpack charms. I followed the directions from off the beaten hook but am using safety eyes instead of embroidering my own.
I have had so many random thoughts over the past week that I have gotten behind in my Cooking around the World posts. The next location on my list was Nevada, and I’m feeling lamb today.
I found a recipe on Accounting for Taste. I also learned that Basque immigrants came to Northern Nevada during the gold rush. They were mostly sheep herders who sold meat to the mining camps. Their culture and influence still can be found in the area today.
I took the advice of the blog post and served the stewed lamb with roasted baby potatoes and a salad. I loved the rich flavor of the meat with just the subtle taste of wine.
Have you ever seen those t-shirts that say “I’d rather be listening to a true crime podcast”? I feel like I should have one, because that’s pretty much all I do at work. I am a regular listener of Crime Junkie, a Date with Dateline and 3 Spooked Girls. I always hope for an Agatha Christie ending where everything can be explained and all the people get closure, but that’s not real life. It’s the unsolved cases that stick with me the most.
Niqui McCown was just 28 years old in the summer of 2001 when she went missing. From an outsider’s perspective, her life was moving in an upward trajectory. She had just celebrated her daughter’s ninth birthday, and was set to marry her high school sweetheart in 3 weeks. The Sunday that she went missing unfolded like any other Sunday. She went to church, then home to change clothes, and then off to the laundry mat. That’s the last time she was ever seen again.
Niqui’s fiancé, Bobby Webster, was the first person to express concern about Niqui’s whereabouts. He kept calling her sister, looking for her, but when the family wanted to report Niqui missing, he chose to stay home and watch a movie.
He watched The Gift starring Katie Holmes. It’s about a woman who goes missing before her wedding, because her fiancé killed her. It felt very odd to her family in light of Nicqui’s disappearance.
The movie wasn’t the only odd thing that Bobby did. He cancelled the wedding right after Nicqui disappeared. He also sold his wedding ring and cashed a tax check. It was as if he didn’t expect her to come home.
5 months after Niqui went missing, the SUV she had been driving was found in Dayton, Ohio. Her laundry was still in the car and the radio had been stolen, but there were no signs of a struggle. Even more strange was the location of the car. It was found in the same apartment complex where her ex boyfriend lived. Witnesses say the car had been there between 2 weeks and 2 months. They also claimed the car had been moved multiple times. Was someone trying to make sure it was noticed in order to make her ex look like a suspect?
As police continued their investigation, the name of Nicqui’s coworker, Tommy Swint, kept being mentioned. Her sister’s said he was infatuated with Niqui. He had taken her on shopping sprees and bought her lingerie for her bridal shower. There was also a story about Tommy attempting to assault Niqui in her home.
As police dug deeper into Tommy Swint, they learned that he had a girlfriend who lived near where Niqui’s SUV had been found. His story about his whereabouts kept changing. He inserted himself into the search for Niqui, and made her family uncomfortable. Unfortunately, there was no smoking gun.
5 years after Niqui McCown disappeared, Tommy Swint became a police officer in a neighboring town, but only for 2 months. He was asked to resign, because he had failed to disclose being a person of interest in Niqui’s disappearance. Tommy responded with a press conference, professing his innocence. The Richmond police responded by publicly asking for Tommy’s DNA.
The DNA was not for Niqui’s case though. Tommy had been connected to the 1991 murder of Tina Ivery. Dayton police already had a witness come forward with a story of a missing comforter that resembled the one she was found wrapped in and a trail of blood. Tommy’s DNA proved to be the smoking gun. Unfortunately, before he could be arrested, Tommy Swint committed suicide.
The best part of the podcast, Missing: Niqui McCown is that her family is part of the story. We hear the memories of Niqui’s sisters and daughter in their own words. Maybe telling her story again and again will trigger a witness memory that help the family bring Niqui home.
If you know anything, please use the flyer to share with investigators.
Kristie's Craziness 