An Autumn Recipe

My Happy Kitchen...

As the saying goes, "If a messy kitchen is a happy kitchen, then my kitchen is delirious!"  That seems to fit my home today.  I have fallen in love with Saturdays.  And as each one rolls around, I seem to fall in love a little more.  I love that I have nothing to do but clean ALL DAY...and once I'm done cleaning, cook.  And then...Clean.  Again.  Cook.  Clean.  Craft.  And Bible Study! 

Today has been a cold and rainy Saturday.  Clean home, coffee brewing, humming dryer, sleeping doggies.  And good, good food.  My favorite room is my kitchen, as of late.  I love to clean it and then mess it up.  Because a mess means...FOOD! 

The recipe that I'm gonna share with you today I found on Pinterest.  Although I would love to, I can't claim this recipe as my own, I didn't come up with it.  But I'm greatly appreciative of SixSistersStuff (sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com) These girls have an awesome page and some incredible recipes.  Be sure to check them out!

You can tell by the majority of recipes on this blog that I have a thing for apples.  But I have a small confession to make.  I don't like apple pie... I love the idea of apple pie, the smell, and the ice cream that is usually partnered with it, but I just can't make myself like it.  How sad, I know, it breaks my heart too, but I am working on it.  And it's not just apple pie...it's anything where the apples are cooked.  It's really just cooked fruit in general.

But. This. Recipe. Is. Delicious!

  

Lots of dough and butter and sugar and cinnamon and sweetness and just a little apple.  One word...YUM!

~Easy Bite Size Apple Pie~

 Ingredients:

1/2 cup of sugar 

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1 pkg refrigerated pie crust (2 sleeves)

3 tablespoons of melted butter

2 medium tarts apples, each cut into 8 wedges

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and the cinnamon.  Set aside 1 tablespoon of the mixture.  On a lightly floured surface, unroll the pie crusts.  Brush with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and sprinkle with remaining sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Cut each of the pie crusts into 1 inch strips.  There should be about 8 strips. Wrap each strip around each of the apple wedges, placing the sugared side of the crust against the apple.

Place the wrapped wedges on parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Brush the tops with the remaining  melted butter and sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon of sugar/cinnamon mixture that was set aside.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.  Serve warm.  Makes 16.

Optional Glaze:

3 3/4 cups of powdered sugar

1/4 tablespoon of salt

1/4 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/3 cup of softened butter

Mix the ingredients together and pour over top of the apple wedges once you pull them out of the oven.

I think that I like this recipe because the apples are still a little crunchy. 

Now, get up and go into your kitchen and make some for yourself.  You won't regret it!

 

An Apple A Day...Day 3

Day 3... Pint Sized Apple Pie

Aren't they cute...I find these little personal-sized apple pies darling! A great afternoon snack or the grand finale to an already perfect dinner.

Here are the few ingredients you will need to get started:

3 tablespoons butter
dash of cinnamon
3 pint sized jars
pie crust (homemade or store bought)
apple pie filling


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

First: Using the lid to the jar, cut out 4 circles and sit to the side. These will be the tops to your pies.

Second: Taking the remaining dough, begin pressing it to the sides and bottom of your jar.

This is what your jars will look like once the dough has been pressed. They don't have to be perfect, you are getting ready to fill them. (And sorry about these pictures, my flash didn't come on, and I didn't notice it until I had finished.)

Third: Spoon the apple pie mixture into the pie pressed jars. You can get the recipe for the apple pie filling here. When canning the pie filling, I had about a half of a jar left that I couldn't can. So I spooned it into a jar, put on a lid, and stuck it in the fridge...until now!

Fourth: Spoon a tablespoon of butter into each jar, on top of the pie filling. And sprinkle in a dash of cinnamon.

Fifth: Take the circles that you cut out from the lid and lay them on top of the mixture, pinching the sides to create a scalloped edge. For 2 of the pie tops, I just cut a circle in the top. For the other, I used 2 of the circles, cut into strips, and made a lattice pie top.

Here is what the lattice looked like before putting on top of the pie.Sixth: Brush the tops with butter or milk and then sprinkle with sugar. Place on to a pan and bake for approximately 30 to 40 minutes at 375 degrees or until tops are golden brown. At 20 minutes, I placed aluminum foil on top of the jars so that the pie crust didn't burn.

Don't these just look fantastic. And trust me, they smell and taste as yummy as they look. Grab a glass of milk and a fork, and you're good to go!

You can also complete steps 1 through 5 and then put the lids on these and freeze 'em. They make great holiday and hostess gifts. If you do freeze them, you need to let 'em thaw before putting in the oven.

Voila...Enjoy!

An Apple A Day...Day 1

Day 1: A Cup- A Cup-A Cup
(Also known as Apple Crisp)


Id' like to share this fantastically easy recipe with you because someone shared it with me. A trip to the mountains of North Carolina is always a necessity in October and it always yields mountain apples! A few years ago, as my husband was waiting for me to fill a peck size bag full of 25 different types of apples, he struck up a conversation with a sweet older lady. She also had several pecks of apples, so my hubby, being the inquisitive soul that he is, asked if she would share one of her favorite apple recipes. "A Cup-A Cup-A Cup" she said....

Like I said, this is a very simple recipe and only requires a few ingredients:

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of flour
1 cup of butter (or 1 stick) softened
3 apples (preferably Granny Smith but any type will work wonderfully)
a dash of Cinnamon
(apple juice or orange juice if on hand)

...Preheat the oven to 350 degrees...

First: Peel the apples


Second: Slice the apples and put into a buttered dish (I used good ole Miss Pam).


Third: Mix the sugar, flour, and softened butter together with a fork. You may need to start mixing it together with you hands, but a fork usually works just fine.


Fourth: Pour the crumbly mixture on top of the apples (If you have some apple or orange juice on hand, this is when you would pour about 1/3 cup over the apples, BEFORE you pour the crumbly mixture on top of the apples).


Fifth: Sprinkle a dash or two of cinnamon on top of your crumbly mixture.

Sixth: Place in the oven and cook at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown or until the smell begins to spread throughout your home.

See...golden brown and appley delicious!

Also, really good with some Vanilla or Butter Pecan Ice cream~!

Enjoy!!

Sheet Music and a Happy Heart

When I start thinking about Fall and Christmas, my palms get sweaty and my knees start to shake...L.O.V.E!!

God is so good to give us seasons and with each transition comes a newness, a freshness in the air. I couldn't wait for summer to get here, and as it quickly races past me, I can't help but breathe in the smells of apple pie and bonfires, envisioning pumpkins and falling leaves, scarves and sweaters, and B-O-O-T-S, my favorite!

September is in the air...and in craft world that means kicking Christmas into high gear!! Most "seasoned" (tee hee...no pun intended) crafters work all year on Christmas goodies and treasures, but if you're a procrastinator like me, you wait until you look at your calendar and see only 1 month between you and your first show of the season. Geez...I know, it's crazy, but I work better under pressure, what can I say?!

So, to usher in the first day of September, what better way to kick it off than with a creation for the holiday season...


I know, I skipped right over Fall and dove head first into Christmas but I have been eyeing this idea for too long!! I couldn't take it anymore. I have spent the entire summer searching for a beat up, musty smelling, stained hymnal, and yesterday...I FOUND ONE! Oh how happy this made me!! So you can imagine that waiting until today to get started on this was pure torture...

An old foam wreath that I paid $1.50 for, an old tattered hymnal that cost me $2, some hot glue, and a few golden, beat up Christmas balls transformed my evening into a vintage, shabby chic house of FaLaLaLaLaLaLa!!

Starting with the hymnal, I tore several pages out...Ok, maybe a little more than several, let's try, maybe 100?! ( I had to say a prayer of forgiveness, I felt kinda bad...Oh, and Tim Ervin Cooper, whose name was inscribed on the front cover, if you are reading this, I apologize to you, too!!).

So, here is what I started with...



...and then as I rolled pages...



a little dab of hot glue here...lots of dabs of hot glue there... some Christmas balls and few more dabs of hot glue and VOILA...~!!



Well, it took a little longer than that, but you get my drift. Lots of fun and a beautiful wreath that I cannot wait to showcase over the fireplace...You'll definitely be seeing a lot more of these!!

Before I go, I have to share with you the sweet moment that this crafting session led to...while I was rolling up those old Methodist pages of sheet music, and as I taped each one, the Southern Baptist in me couldn't help but humming a few of the lines. My heart became so full, i thought it might just burst! Any of you reading this that know me, know how much I love to sing, and how much more I love a good ole southern hymn. And even more than both of those things, I just love how in the stillness of some moments, it's as if God reaches down and wraps His big ole God arms around you, pulling you in real tight, whispering in your ear. And in this moment, that's exactly what He did, softly telling me, "My child, just breathe, rest in this moment." I adore those simple little reminders of His goodness and His grace. And as my head was already spinning at the thought of how quickly craft shows and Holidays would be approaching, He knew exactly what I needed to hear...and maybe you need to hear it, too...


"My child, just breathe...rest in this moment..."