easy as apple pie

well, if you go apple picking, ya gotta make apple pie, right?!

every year, after we pick apples, hc and i collaborate and make apple pies! i usually peel and slice the apples while hc makes the pie crust.

i love that olive is at an age where she can really help. we really do have fun together! she’s so cooperative, neat, and listens well to directions {unlike my little nugget ellie}.

we started with peeling 10-12 medium to small apples. i like to slice them more on the thin side as they cook well and it is easier to eat. i measured and olive threw in flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, brown sugar, and mixed it all up.

hc had whipped together the pie crust and refrigerated it for a bit before rolling it out to fit the pie pans. i filled the pans full of apples and hc then threw another pie crust layer on top of it and trimmed it. i rolled the remaining dough to cut out some stars to decorate the top of the crust with and then i brushed the top with some beaten egg, sprinkled on some sugar, and into the oven the pies went!

almost an hour later, we had our finished pies!!! we couldn’t wait to eat them! they turned out lovely and they were baked to perfection. hc preferred his served a la mode while i liked my pie plain {although i am a huge a la mode gal!}. we both thoroughly enjoyed our hard work! the pies were delicious!

baking apple pies is one of the reasons why i love fall!

happy fall y’all!

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[helping mama make apple pies]

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[peeling and cutting]

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[cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg]

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[hc making the pie dough]

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[buttered pie crust]

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[my baby girl helping out]

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[the finished product]

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xoxo

christmas popcorn

ever since we’ve moved into our neighborhood, i’ve made christmas popcorn for our surrounding friends every christmas!

it’s the easiest thing to make and oh so yummy! this year is the first year olive has really helped me with it and this year is the first year she is dressed so crazy! baby girl picked her outfit out or should i say lack thereof an oufit?! we’re going on week two or three of no clothes at home and she absolutely loves it! well, it definitely makes laundry a little lighter! haha!

i prepped our ingredients {popped the corn, opened the toppings, and readied the tools!} and boom! we were ready to go! i dumped a small bit of popcorn, at a time, into a bowl so we don’t have huge batches to cover. it’s best to do a small amount each time because you really want to coat the popcorn with the chocolate! olive sprinkled on the pretzels, m&ms, and we dusted each batch with perils!

olive so patiently helped me with each round and at the very end of it, i let her eat a piece and she was smitten! she loved it and gave me a thumbs up! i filled a santa cup up for her and she was a happy camper!

i then divvied up the popcorn into each jar and voila! they were ready to go out to each of our neighbor friends!

we had just enough left over for us and guess who ate it all? yup…miss olive!

get it girl!

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[prepping the jars]

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[yeahhhhhh, her baking outfit. she’s a nut! i love it! she only wears her undies and the most random stuff. it cracks me up!]

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[if you don’t know by  now, i liiiiiive in pj’s!]

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[i love this girl! her outfit choices crack me up!]

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[we’re ready to pour on the chocolate!]

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[yummmmm!]

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[i get a thumbs up!]

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xoxo

baking together

as olive has gotten older, it’s so fun to do something with her in the the kitchen.

i was excited to try out a brand called our flipside life. she offers easy, pre-measured bar mixes! you provide a few of the ingredients from within your cabinets and fridge and voila…you’re ready to make the yummy bars. she also sent us a mini spatula to frost the cake with and a mini apron for miss olive!

we made the frosting first…it was super runny and i freaked out a bit that i had messed up the easiest recipe! ha! but the chocolate needed to cool and after we made the bars…the chocolate had stiffen and was ready to be used to frost the cake!

olive helped me mix the batter. you first mix the dry ingredients together and then mix the wet components together. after that, you then combine all the ingredients and mix it all together. olive had a great time. she was cracking me up!! she made the funniest faces while hc took our pics. i was dyyyyying of laughter watching her make her silly faces. she’s become so animated and fun!

we then put the dish into the oven and olive was so intrigued by it. i warned her that the oven was hot and she kept saying, “oh, it’s hot! don’t touch it!”. yes, baby girl! that’s right!

once the cake was done baking, i set it out to cool. after olive’s bath, she then had the best time decorating it! that was the most fun part for her! she loved all the colorful sprinkles and really took charge in the decorating department.

i then sliced the cake into bars and served the delicious dessert. i loved the slight taste of coconut in every bite and loved how moist the cake was! overall, it was so fun and awesome to do this miss olive and we ended up with a healthy, sweet treat for everyone!

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[easy bake ingredients…it’s so convenient! i love the mini apron and spatula it comes with]

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[starting out with some simple mixing]

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[gahhhhhh, she’s so sweet]

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[her faces c r a c k me up!]

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[dyyyyyyying…she is hilarious]

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[i always have to squeeze her!]

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[almost ready for the oven!]

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[ready to decorate!]

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[she threw sprinkles just in this area, i had to remind her to spread it around. hahaha!]

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[she’s so proud of her decorative work!]

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xoxo

heart pies

mmmmmmm yum yum!

i made heart pies the other day in lieu of valentine’s day! every year, i try to think of something fun to make/bake in celebration of valentine’s day. thank goodness for pinterest!!! i definitely need it to be easy and fun, stress the easy part…’cause this mama ain’t got time for that. bahhhahaha!

i found this idea and thought, perfect! easy and fun! just what i wanted. i bought the ingredients and waited for a good moment in time {maybe ellie’s nap?} to execute this cute recipe!

you could either make your own pie crust or buy the store bought kind. it depends on how much time you have carved out for this type of activity. i was stressed for that so i did the latter but i highly recommend making your own pie crust…it’s more delicious that way {my favorite pie crust recipe is here}. i felt the store bought pie crust was a bit too bland, good but homemade is always better!

anyhoo, time was the factor so pre made pie crust it was! i rolled out the dough, cut out the hearts, filled each heart with cherry filling, buttered the edges, fluted the edges with a fork, then brushed the tops with egg, and then sprinkled it with sugar! phew! that was a mouthful!

the best part when i was making these pies? olive! she wanted to help and i was over the moon! it made my heart so happy to see her interested and so eager to help me put together the pies! she rolled out the dough, she cut out the hearts, she helped scoop out the pie filling, flute the edges, and she even cut the x’s onto the pies! yes, i gave her a sharp knife and she x’d all the pies! she did a great job handling the knife {with my guidance of course!} and i was so proud at how well she cut into the dough and made the x’s! such a big girl!

she was so excited that she had helped out with making the pies and was even more excited to watch the pies bake! i told her that once the pies were done, she could eat one and that just made her eyes sparkle! my heart was so full seeing her eyes light up when i gave her a sweet little cherry heart pie pop! she devoured every morsel! yum!

i definitely want to make these again…maybe round pie shapes instead? we had so much fun baking together, i can’t wait to conjure up some more creative treat ideas so olive and i can have more mommy and me time! yay!

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[ellie chillin’ while olive and i make pies]

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[mama’s little helper]

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[rolling the dough]

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[she loved pressing the dough into a heart shape]

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[she was so excited to see the heart shape she pressed!]

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[the sweetest face]

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[my favorite jelly jam]

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[spooning on the filling]

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[buttering the edges so the pie seals together]

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[sealing the heart]

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[the finished product!]

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[devouring her pie pop]

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[she’s the cutest]

xoxo

multitasking apple pie

hc helps out with the apple pies every year. he’s very good at it and now that we have a new baby and a toddler…multiple hands at multitasking is a must! we tried our best to make the apple pies while ellie was sleeping…she is the one we have to hold if she gets fussy, otherwise, olive is easy! she just entertains herself with her iPad or toys.

we got pretty far along before ellie woke up. i had peeled and sliced all the apples, hc made the batches of crust, and he was on to the walnut base. i took care of ellie and then wrapped her up in the carrier to finish making the apple filling.

we have made the same recipe every year but next year, i think i might want to replace the walnut filling with almonds. i think it’ll be a better compliment! every year, we get better and better at it…one year we had too many leftover apple slices but not enough to make another apple pie, one time we were short on the dough to make the top crust but this year we hit the nail on the head! we had the perfect amount of apples {pulled less than what the recipe called for} and we had copious amounts of pie dough to make a hearty and healthy sized crust for both pies {we doubled the recipe}! i even made cute little leaves for the tops of the pies…something i didn’t get to do the years prior because we would never have enough! hahaha!

we assembled our pies, brushed the crust with milk and sprinkled it with sugar, baked them for an hour, and let them cool down on baking racks. later that night, i sliced the pie and served it with ice cream ~ yummmmmm! it was delicious! i must say…it was our best pie yet!

happy fall y’all!

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[apples picked from the orchard]

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[making apple pies in pj’s! what i do best!]

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[peeling and slicing apples]

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[my awesome helper]

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[walnut base]

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[rolling out the dough]

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[i love this messy haired babe]

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[sweet baby ellie]

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[the finished product]

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[apple pie a la mode…the only way!]

xoxo

walnut apple pie

yet again, after apple picking…the gratuitous apple pie baking begins. i used the same recipe we used last year that you can retrieve from this post here. it’s a walnut apple pie recipe that is quite delish. we make everything from scratch.

we started with cleaning and peeling the apples…about six apples per pie. as hc did that part, i started mixing together the crust ingredients. flour, salt, shortening, and then some, all mixed by hand. after i finished the crust, i stored in the freezer until we were finished with all the other ingredients and we were ready to assemble the pie.

i started next on the walnut layer. i crushed three fourths cup of walnuts and mixed it with brown sugar, butter, and vanilla. once hc was done coating the apples with cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, and vanilla, we were finally ready to assemble the pies!

i rolled out the crust and covered the bottom of both pie pans and then smoothed on a layer of the walnut mixture. i filled the pans all the way up with the apple slices, dotted each pie with cubes of butter and then covered it with the crust. i was a bit disappointed because last year we were a bit short on dough, so this year i doubled the recipe and still ended up short! boo! i know i didn’t thin out the dough enough! anyhoo, after i placed the top crust, i then brushed it with milk and sugar and popped them in the oven for sixty minutes {or until the crust is golden and it’s bubbling!}.

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[ingredients]

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[peeling and slicing apples]

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[watch out! she’s got a rolling pin]

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[roll with it]

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[the finish product]

i really enjoy making the apple pies every year after we go apple picking! i mean, what else should you do with them apples?! hahaha! no really, it’s always fun to bake something delicious and i can’t wait until olive is older and we can bake pies together!

xoxo

deeelish cookies

i’ve been making sugar cookies almost my whole life. it was what i did and do. every holiday season went hand in hand with making sugar cookies. yup. i actually have never kept a recipe. i would go from one version to the next because you can always find a sugar cookie recipe.

but i have searched no more. i have found the most perfect sugar cookie recipe. i’m in love.

so let me back this up a bit. i’ve been a bit obsessed with copper cookie cutters. yes. i want to buy 50 styles of cookie cutters but that would cost an arm and a leg. they are expensiiiiiive. well, i’m collecting a bit here and there so i can build my collection. anyhoozle, when i purchased a batch of cookie cutters from copper gifts, they came with a cute little booklet with a few recipes inside. i decided to try them! boy oh boy. it turned out the most delicious, buttery, perfect sugar cookies.

they had great tips {unlike the traditional way i use to make them} and it was sooo much easier and practical. the cookies came out substantial in size, thickness, and were perfectly baked to buttery goodness. mmmmm.

they also had a recipe in the fold over for royal icing. unfortunately, this was a last minute baking bonanza and we didn’t have any meringue powder in the house, nor could hc find it on his excursion out. so, i made icing without it and it was just fiiiine. it took longer to harden but it was, nonetheless, tasty good. my other problem or lack of effort?? i didn’t have the time or the energy to pipe my frosting. it was already soooo late {and i was damn tired} and i wasn’t in  the mood. shame on me, non? i just hand decorated each one, so my lines are a bit wonky…c’est la vie!

2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks room temp)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

gently mix butter and sugar, then beat until light and creamy. beat in eggs and vanilla. gently stir flour before measuring. combine dry ingredients and add a cup at a time to butter mixture. beat until completely blended. roll cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper. continue rolling all dough between parchment paper and placing in stacks on a cookie sheet (that fits in your refrigerator or freezer). cover cookie sheet with foil. chill dough overnight or 1 to 2 hours. remove one sheet of dough at a time and cut into shapes. bake on baking sheet at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or just until the edges begin to slightly brown. this recipe will make at least 2 dozen, 4 to 6-inch cookies.

for the icing, i used powdered sugar, warm water, clear vanilla extract, and food coloring. i made small batches of different colors to ice the cookies.

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[♥ xoxo i lov~e]

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overall, i was a happy gal on how they turned out {despite it being a last minute baking session}! annnddd, they were oh so delicious. i.can’t.stop.eating.them.

well, i hope y’all try this recipe! it’s so yummy. happy baking my lovies!

xoxo