Life In Photos #30

It’s been a rather off week on the blog! I missed yesterday’s 5 Fandom post, and only put up one other post during the week! Yikes. I’m blaming the five days straight of rain we had. Ugh. I don’t mind a rainy day, but a full week of rain just makes me want to sleep until it’s over. Also, because of all the rain, I hardly took any photos this week. I find that when we’re around the house I take so many fewer pictures. Looks like I need to get back in the swing of things next week!

Last weekend (before all the rain showed up!) we took a walk around the neighborhood. I love this tree! My little just couldn’t resist the giant leaf pile waiting at the base and had to take a running leap.

She spent so much time lining up all her stuffies just right and really wanted me to snap a picture! So cute.

We whipped up some sugar cookies and then had a decorating party yesterday! She liked spreading on the frosting, but sprinkles were definitely her favorite part.

Clockwise from top left…

1. Our jack-o-lantern turned to mush already (curse you, rain!) so we had to snag a new pumpkin for our little. She picked painting instead of carving, and made this free form ladybug.
2. I let my little pick out one of those quarter prizes from the grocery store machines, and she got this grow-in-water lobster. It started out so cute and quickly turned terrifying haha! It looks like a face hugger from Alien.
3. The finished products of our cookie decorating!
4. I have been doing SO much plush sewing! I’ve since finished getting all of Princess Luna’s pieces cut out, and started her stitching.

Today we are having our first D&D session with the group we put together! I’m excited. It’s been about ten years since I’ve played D&D, and I can’t wait to jump back in. Hope your weekend treated you well!

Life In Photos #29

A week ago we went to the Sandwich Fair and my little met the most content, relaxed bunny I’ve ever seen in my life.

We also saw this absolutely fantastic breed of chicken. New life goal: attain afro chickens.

While reading outside one afternoon, this teeny tiny little bug landed on my book and, even after some gentle prodding, refused to budge. I had to blow him off to avoid smushing when I turned the page!

We took a walk at sunset and I attempted to have an impromptu photoshoot with my little…after a million silly faces I gave up. Sometimes it’s just not happening.

However, walks at sunset are now my new favorite thing as the fall leaves just look so extraordinary! So while the photoshoot with my daughter didn’t work out, I did get some fun fall themed shots!

I found an excellent reflective window (see below for the fabulous schoolhouse said window is from) which made for a fun selfie! I like how the cobwebs and window dust almost give it an old photograph feel.

This old schoolhouse is right next door to my apartment, and I have always found it to be so creepy! Definitely creepy in a good way, though I wouldn’t be caught dead near it at night by myself. I definitely want to come back here in different light and take some photos – it just screams haunted house to me. Although I don’t know when it was originally built, it has been in use since the 1800s. It was restored back in 2011, but the inside has so many class photos from the 1800s and 1900s which to me just adds to the creep factor! Chalk it up (HEH schoolhouse pun) to too many horror movies.

I think this is my favorite edit of the day. I really wish I could get that chain link fence out of there, but my PS skills are just not that good. However on the whole, I love the light hitting the tree leaves, and the paled out school house in the background.

Clockwise from top left…

1. Eli sits like such a proper gentleman kitty sometimes!
2. I’ve started the My Little Pony plushes for my little for Christmas. Coming along nicely!
3. We made some yummy fall Rice Krispie treats. This was my first time making them – I used to hate them as a kid!
4. Drafted four more patterns of plushes for Christmas presents. So much to do!

We were originally supposed to do our yearly family photo shoot today, but it is a cold and rainy mess outside, so that’s been postponed! Instead, a day of lounging and playtime awaits!

Apple Crisp + Mini Apple Crisp Pies

Confession: I am not a big pumpkin spice fan. I think it smells amazing, but I really don’t go nuts for EAT ALL THINGS PUMPKIN SPICE like most of the internet does in fall. For me, it’s all about the apple crisp! I love apples, and the combination of soft baked apples with cinnamon sugar is great on it’s own. But mix that with a topping of oats and brown sugar that is a perfect balance of chewy and crisp – now I’m over the moon. This is the first year where I finally feel like I’ve perfected my apple crisp recipe, so of course I had to share so you can make your own!

Ingredients:

6 apples (this year I used Macintosh and Cortland, but it can be made with whatever is on hand)
roughly 1 tbsp lemon juice
roughly 1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the topping:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 cup oats
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cups butter

*Note: This makes a LOT of topping. The crumble is my favorite part, so this will fully cover your apples with a good layer! If you like less, half the ingredients for the topping section!*

Preheat your oven to 375F. Then start with slicing your apples and removing the skin. I do this by hand, as I broke my all in one corer, peeler, slicer shenanigans, but if you have one of those, use it! So much quicker.

Place your apples in a 9″ pie pan and squirt with lemon juice (I don’t measure that, hence the ‘roughly’ in the ingredients). Then sprinkle on some cinnamon.

In a large bowl, combine the topping ingredients. Cut in the butter with two knives. This can be a very tedious step as it takes a bit of time, but you want it to look like a crumble. I switch between kneading the butter in with my hands for a bit, then resuming the cutting together with knives.

Place your crumble on top. I press it all down in the nooks and crannies with my fingers as I love the topping. If you halved it, you should have some apples still showing through.

Bake for 30 minutes or until your topping is golden brown! Let cool for about 10 minutes, then serve either plain or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Now, that is delicious, but I wanted to try something a little different just for fun, and it turned out great! Introducing…..

Mini Apple Crisp Pies!

They are the perfect serving size, either plain or with vanilla ice cream, and you can eat it with your hands (well, maybe not with the ice cream…).

These are so simple to make, with a few minor changes to the original recipe.

First, don’t slice your apples, cut them into 1/2 inch cube(ish) shapes. Mix with lemon juice and cinnamon in a bowl.

Then, take a store bought pie crust (or a homemade one if you’re super ambitious – I was not!) and using a 4″ circle cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough.

Place them in a greased muffin tin, and fill with apples. Top with crumble! A few notes: One (store bought) pie crust makes about seven mini crisp pies. Therefore, I would only use three apples vs. six, and definitely halve the topping ingredients otherwise you will have a ton of apples and crumble left over. Which you could always just make a smaller apple crisp with, so really, it’s up to you!

Anywho, bake these for about 20 -25 minutes at 375F and you have a perfect little handheld treat!

And by treat I mean breakfast. Yum.

Iced Pumpkin Spice Cookies

It’s no secret that baking is one of my favorite fall activities. I love to bake goodies for people. We celebrated my best friend’s birthday this past weekend, and she absolutely loves my pumpkin spice cookies. So of course I had to make a fresh batch! These pumpkin spice cookies are one of my absolute favorite cookies to bake. They bake up soft (the only way to go if you ask me), and have a perfect balance of sweet between the cookie and icing.

These cookies always seem extra special to me as I only make them in the fall. I suppose I could make them any time, but they are just such a perfect fall cookie (especially since pumpkin spice is all the rage!). Whip up a batch with the recipe below!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour (I split mine half white flour, half whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar (I cut mine down to 1 1/4 cup – it makes a difference with how sweet the icing is!)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Set aside.
• In a larger bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in egg and vanilla until creamy, then beat in the pumpkin until smooth.
• Add in dry ingredients, and mix thoroughly together.
• Drop tablespoonfuls onto lined cookie sheets (foil or parchment paper). Bake for 15 – 20 min (I find 16 minutes perfect!).
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Make sure they cool completely before icing them.

Icing Ingredients:

2 cups confectioner sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl until a semi-thick icing is formed. Add more milk to thin if necessary.
• Once cookies are completely cooled, just smear some on with a knife. The icing will harden some on the outside after a bit, but it never gets crunchy-hard – it’s one of my favorite icings for that reason. The perfect texture!

If you’re not an icing fan, these cookies are just as yummy without icing. I love them plain with a cup of tea. If you are making a plain batch, I highly recommend using the full 1 1/2 cups of sugar so they don’t taste too bland or get a bit overpowered by the spices. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Life In Photos #27

We revisited this area again with the hubs, and it’s my new favorite place. It’s so beautiful year round, but especially in the fall.

Since the hubs was with us he actually snapped some pics of me and my little!! A very rare thing. Big open field = we must play chase. My last sundress wear for the season – it was randomly 80 degrees a few days back. Really, fall?!

My two favorite people. She was so excited to find a mouse hole at the base of the tree!

We visited my dad this week and found this amazing bug on his deck. He was moving pretty darn slowly as it was a very chilly day. I just love the beautiful iridescent blue color! I haven’t looked up what type of bug it is yet, so if you know clue me in!

This last picture cracks me up. My little had just woken up from nap (she has been partial to napping on Big Bear lately) and the first thing out of her mouth was, “Take a picture of my feet please, Mommy.” Can do my love, can do.

Clockwise from top left…

1. I turned that lovely bunch of ingredients into my first homemade spaghetti sauce! It turned out really well!
2. I got my new Harry Potter spell Unsponges in from Nature Junkie. I just love her Unsponges!
3. I made apple turnovers with our fresh picked apples. That night I had one for dinner. And one for dessert.
4. Fall crafts took over this week!

Iced Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Happy Halloween everyone! I’m sure I’ll have some photos of my little miss trick-or-treating tomorrow, but for today, enjoy a yummy cookie recipe instead.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies are yet another fabulous part of fall. Granted, I could bake them anytime I wanted, but they just seem to taste better in their appropriate season! I think this is one of my most highly loved recipes by my friends and family (They did quite well at the farmer’s market last year as well). This year my best friend asked for them for her birthday, and my hubs asked me to bake them for the blood drive at his work. So I’ve had a pumpkin-y household for the past two weeks. It’s okay, I needed a break from all the apple goodies I had been baking anyway.

Ingredients:

Cookies:
2 1/2 cups flour (I use half white flour, half wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened (I use Country Crock Spread and it works perfectly fine)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh, whatever you have)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Icing:
2 cups confectioner sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350F.

She decided she had to bake in her jammies!

First, mix your dry ingredients, stir and set them aside.

In a larger bowl, cream butter and sugar together.

Add eggs and vanilla and blend thoroughly.

Then add in your pumpkin and mix well.

Pour in the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.

And the most important part, the assistant taste test.

I use my dough scoop to drop the dough onto cookie sheets – if you don’t have one just drop tablespoon size balls. Bake for 15 minutes, and let thoroughly cool before icing them.(To make the icing, combine all icing ingredients and stir with a fork.)

To ice mine, I use a fine icing tip and bag, but a baggie with the tip snipped would work as well. Or, if you don’t mind a messier way, you can just drizzle it on with a spoon! (I say that’s messier because when I’ve done it that way I get it all over my cooling racks and table.) Let them sit out until the icing hardens, then store in an air tight container.

These are just so delicious – chewy and soft, just the way I like a cookie. Enjoy!

Connect With Me

Apple Crisp

The first of my many apple recipe posts just had to be apple crisp. It is my absolute favorite apple dessert. A thick crust of brown sugary oatmeal goodness on top of a baked bed of cinnamon apples. . .just to die for.

I don’t actually use a recipe when I make apple crisp – all the ones I’ve tried never end up with enough topping for my tastes. I like a THICK amount of it, not just a smidge on top of the apples. So the recipe here is a rough idea of what I use, but mine varies from batch to batch. Feel free to play with it so it’s adjusted to your tastes!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups baking oats
1/2 cup butter
5 small to medium size apples (I used Macintosh for this particular batch.)
Lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 375F.

Start by combining your flour, sugar, and oats. Mix thoroughly – I do all this by hand instead of with a spoon as I find it mixes better overall.

Then add in your butter, and mix up. Again, I do this by hand as I find that creates a better texture for the topping (I do use a spoon to scrape down the sides however). Once combined, set aside.

Now it’s time to peel and slice your apples. My mom got me this Pampered Chef all in one Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer and it makes every apple-baking project about 500% more efficient than hand cutting and peeling your apples. I highly recommend the investment into this contraption. It may look like an 18th century torture device, but it is amazing. I ended up using only 5 of the apples I’d set out for the crisp, because that was what filled my pan. That’s how I measure how many to use – however many fills my 9×9 pan.

Once the apples are in, I squirt some lemon juice on top and then sprinkle with some cinnamon sugar.

Then place your crust on. This is yet another step I do by hand since I find it much easier to place the topping with my fingers than to try and smear it around with a spoon.

I bake mine uncovered for 30 minutes. This allows the crust to get a nice crunchy top, but still be chewy on the underside. So each bite is a fabulous combination of crunchy, chewy, and gooey apple. Mmmmmm. Definitely eat it warm – with or without ice cream. I actually prefer apple crisp without ice cream; I save it for the pie!

Hope you enjoy some apple crisp this season!

Connect With Me

Molasses Cookies

I’m about 95% sure that molasses cookies are my all time favorite cookie. They are such a perfect combo of soft and chewy, not too sweet with that lovely spice taste. . .I’m drooling thinking about them. However, I make them sparingly, and really only in the fall. I think the fact that I only have them twice a year or so definitely adds to my love for them!

Molasses cookies are definitely a bit more involved compared to my chocolate chip cookie recipe, but they are so worth it. So if you’re up for a bit of extra time and effort, here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

3/4 Cups Margarine, melted. (I use Country Crock Spread which isn’t true margarine, but works perfectly.)
1 Cup White Sugar
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Molasses
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 Tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 Cup White Sugar (for rolling)

First combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a small bowl.

Mix thoroughly, and set aside.

In a larger bowl beat sugar, melted butter, and egg together until smooth.

Pour in molasses and mix well.

Pour dry ingredients into the wet, and combine thoroughly.

At this point, cover your bowl with tinfoil and chill in the fridge for an hour, minimum. (Mine chilled for about two hours since I let it sit in for all of my little missy’s nap time!)

Once chilled, preheat oven to 375. Measure out your half cup of sugar into a bowl, and some flour into another bowl. Flour your hands regularly as you roll the dough into walnut size balls (mine were slightly larger) to prevent it from sticking.

My assistant really enjoyed the ‘flour your hands’ part!

Roll each ball in the sugar, then place on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, until tops are cracked. Cool on wire racks, and enjoy!

These didn’t last long in our house. This batch made roughly 34 cookies. . .they were gone in about five days! However we did share with our neighbor, and with my brother. That’s the excuse I’m sticking with at least.

Connect With Me

Fall Nature Collage

Taking walks on fall days are just lovely. The weather is at that perfect temperature of not too chilly, but not too hot. It’s not quite hat and gloves weather; a sweatshirt does just fine. Me and my little miss have been fully enjoying the weather with lots of walks outside.

She is just starting to learn and grasp the concept of seasons – what that means, and what effects the different seasons have. We often take ‘treasure walks’ as she has dubbed them, where she carries along a little bucket and we collect treasures along the way! Her favorite fall things to collect are of course all the different colored leaves, and acorns as well.

       Some driveway leaf collection as we headed out on our walk.

But instead of just tossing the leaves back outside, we like to bring them in for art projects. We started with a collage of leaves this season, using Con-Tact paper.

Bucket-O-Treasures, ready for crafting.

It’s about the simplest craft ever, but she loves it! I give her a piece of Con-Tact paper sticky side up, and she sticks on the leaves in different patterns. This week she made leaf ‘families’ and designated each leaf a title (Baby Leaf, Mommy Leaf, Daddy Leaf, Mimi Leaf – she came up with so many!).

We’ve got a few more fall leaf crafts coming, so keep an eye out in the coming weeks.

Her first leaf collage of the season.

Connect With Me

Fall Craft: Air Dry Clay

So despite the bout of 80+ degree weather with horrid humidity that just passed through, I am quite ready for fall. I bought some new jeans, busted my sweaters out of my steamer trunk, and actually had to wear slippers the other morning. Bring on the fall!

I can’t wait for apple picking, followed by lots of apple baking. Apple crisp anyone? Drool. . .Point being, I am ready for fall to be here; to see brightly colored leaves out my windows. So I decided to start some fall crafts with my little miss. I found this recipe for air dry clay via Nurture Store and decided to give it a go. It worked great! A nice white clay that dries by itself overnight – perfect!

All you need is:

1 part white glue to 2 parts cornstarch

I used 2 Cups of cornstarch and 1 Cup of glue, which made a TON. I would recommend using 1 Cup cornstarch and 1/2 Cup glue if you’re only doing this for one child.

So blob it all in and mix it up.

It will look like a sticky mess for a bit, but then it starts to form a nice dough.

I put some cornstarch on my hands (so it wouldn’t stick while I still worked it together) to work it into this nice ball.

I did end up kneading it a bit more cornstarch (I’d say no more than 1/8 of a cup) because I found it was still a little too sticky.

My mom gave me these excellent fall cookie cutters last year,

so we grabbed one of each size and started cutting out some shapes! My miss still needs a little help with pushing the cutter all the way down, but she did quite well.

   

Then we put all our shapes on a cookie sheet with wax paper to dry. I used a straw to add a hold in each one so we can use them as a little fall banner after she colors them.

The next day, they were all dry, so she got to color them! We just used plain Crayola crayons (albeit the washable kind, since that’s all we have) and they worked great. I wouldn’t recommend painting these, simply because I have every idea that they’d start to disintegrate with water given what they’re made of. . .but crayons, markers, even colored pencils would work great! We started out just using fall colors, but then she really wanted blue and how could I say no? So they became rainbow leaves, acorns, and pumpkins. I plan to hang them pennant banner-style underneath my chalkboard once I redo it for fall.

On the whole, this is a great, cheap, and simple craft with many applications. I think it would be great to try and make beads with older kids! As you can see from the pics, our session was very messy, but that can be avoided. I just don’t mind a mess (which cleaned up in all of five minutes – it comes right off with water!). Hope you find a use for this easy clay!

Connect With Me