Hi Ho the Derry-o..To the Mountains We Go

Reason #217... why it is glorious to live in North Carolina... 

being wedged perfectly between the mountains and the sea... The best of both worlds!

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!

 

Happy October!

Today is the first day of my FAVORITE month...OCTOBER!!! And in celebration of this fabulous occasion, I made... drum roll please... Caramel Apples!! I have been collecting items for quite some time to make these delicious treats. I think this is the beginning of a lifelong tradition, and a beautiful friendship!

I have 2 small crock pots so I put a bag of caramels with 2 tablespoons of water in one, and in the other, I put half of a bag of white chocolate almond bark. I cooked them both on low and stirred about every 10 minutes until they were both creamy and melted...YUM!

While the caramel and the white chocolate were melting, I pulled down 3 plates ( do these look a little familiar? Junking Parte Uno - Habitat for Humanity...LOVE that place!), and filled them each with goodies. Whole pecans, one with crushed pecans, and one with cinnamon! Yep, I said cinnamon...

I ended up with 4 caramel apples. The first 2, I dipped in the crock pot with caramel, rolled in the chopped and whole pecans, then drizzled with melted dark chocolate. The other 2, I dipped in the caramel, let cool, then dipped in the white chocolate, then rolled in cinnamon. We call this the Apple Pie Caramel Apple! This one is by far, the bestest, most tastiest caramel apple in the world.

I had quite a bit of white chocolate and caramel left over, and you know that I work very hard at letting nothing go to waste. That meant caramel, white chocolate, dark chocolate, and cinnamon drizzled popcorn and white chocolate turtles...YES MA'AM! This also turned out to be wonderful!

Here's a picture of all of the goodies...So pretty! and so tasty too! They are displayed on the cake plates that I made from my yard sale and junking travels this morning! You'll be seeing a lot more of them in the future, and some tutorials, too!!

Happy October Ya'll!

Check it out! You can find this blog posted over at Someday Crafts!

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HAPPY FALL YA'LL!...I know I have about 3 more weeks before I can officially say that, but today has been a lazy Labor Day Monday...and what better to do than begin decorating for fall!! Today brings summer to a close, at least in my neck of the woods. The lake and my back yard will hopefully be a lot quieter. And as much as I love the summer and that good ole southern sunshine, it's kinda nice to transition into some cooler weather. It's been a hot one and my garden is beginning to dry up. I've eaten and put up more than enough of my share of squash and zucchini this summer, I have cucumbers and pickles coming out of my ears, and I am ready to start canning some of that good tasting apple butter. The mountains will soon be calling me and I cannot wait to bring back that sweet crisp fruit...mountain apples!!

Well, I just wanted to post a few things I've been working on lately. I've been trying to focus my time on things that would go well at craft shows plus Christmas gifts and goodies. I've been crocheting up a storm trying to get several dishcloths made. Folded up and stacked, three of these little beauties tied together with some jute string make a fancy little gift. I personally love the warmer colored yarns; red, brown, rust... which are also perfect for the season we're about to be entering.





After crocheting a few of these babies, I finally figured out the right size. The first 3 cloths were quite a bit larger than I would have preferred, so I rolled them up and tied them with a piece of string. These turned out cute, too, and would look really nice, rolled up in a gift basket, with a few homemade canned goodies and maybe a loaf of warm fresh-baked bread?!! Doesn't this time of year just get you excited?! What can I say, I'm in the autumn spirit!!