Apple Pie Baking Experience, Part 2

I can honestly say that I was delighted to discover how easy it was to make this pie.  Yes, it took a little elbow grease to get it done but it was fun.  Read on for part 2!

I put my pie crust back in the fridge while I washed, peeled and sliced up 6 cups of apples for the filling.  After they were sliced, I mixed up some sugar and ground cinnamon and juiced one lemon.  I brought out my pie crust and the dough ball for the top of the pie, and set to work on layering my apples in the pan.  After each layer of apples I sprinkled on some of the sugar mixture, and continued layering until I was out of apples.  Then I put a few pieces of butter on top, poured the lemon juice into the filling and added just a sprinkle of flour to help thicken up the juices.

After that I got to play around with the design on top.  I decided to do the simple weaved look, and although it was a little messy I think it turned out alright.  Then I made an egg wash with one egg and a splash of milk, brushed that over the top and added some sugar so it would get shiny and a bit crispy.  Then I stuck it in the oven to bake and the good smells of apple pie baking filled the house. Yum.

Happy Memorial Day!

Apple Pie Baking Experience, Part 1

I used my oven for the first time today.  We're going to a church picnic Sunday afternoon, and I said I would bring a yummy chocolate cake with butter cream icing, so I whipped one of those bad boys up along with a half portion with peanut butter icing for the hubs. 

Anyways...while we were at the farmer's market this morning I saw some lovely apples, so I picked some up and said to myself, "hmmm...I think I'll try to make an apple pie."  Sure, why not?  I looked over some recipes online and found a pretty simple looking crust that got good reviews and an easy breezy filling recipe that could be tweaked as necessary.  

Thus began my mission.  It started with a pie crust (hence part one, since the pie is in the oven as I type). 

I mixed flour, salt, shortening and a little bit of ice water to make the crust.  I formed a ball and let it sit in the fridge for at least half an hour.  I made two crusts, one for the bottom and one to make my design on top.

After watching The Departed, I set back to work in rolling out the pie crust, pressing it and cutting the excess off the edges to give it a nice clean look.  I put wax paper under the dough while rolling it so that I could easily pick it up and move it without worrying about tearing the dough.  It worked pretty well.

Although I would love to share the rest of the pie making experience, I'm tired and the pie has just come out of the oven.  Check back later this weekend, I'll have the second half of pie baking and taste testing results.  Woohoo!

Weekend Wrap-Up

So this past weekend was a busy one!  Friday night was pretty low-key, which was fine with me.

Since I got my new stove this week, the hubs wanted to get us new bikes.  We went to a local shop in town but didn't really find anything we liked, so we asked around for some other places...that led us to Shirk's out in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Pennsylvania.  Seriously, it was out there, but it was beautiful and reminded me of good old BCo.

So!  We got our new bikes!

Here they are!

Yes, we got the same color bike.  No, we didn't try to.  It's just how it worked out, but I think it's cute.  Mine is the one in the front.  It's all tricked out with fenders and a basket rack.  Amazing.  Now I just have to remember how to ride it. 

I also find the bike shop's logo to be pretty cute, too.

After getting our bikes we went to an all you can eat spaghetti dinner.  It was pretty much the yummiest thing I've had in awhile.  There was a pretty awesome desert spread, too.  Good thing we got those bikes to work off some pounds.

On Sunday I took the hubs and Belly Boo for a little Sunday drive.  It was fun to get out and explore where we're living now that we have some time to do it.  And it's absolutely beautiful out here, I love it.

What was your favorite part of your weekend?  What are you looking forward to doing this summer?

Welcome Home, Mr. Stove, 2.0

Yesterday afternoon our new stove came home!  I think it only took the guys 20 minutes to take out our old stove and install and set up the new one.  Although it was sad to see the first stove go (really, it was), I was so excited to start making dinner on the new and improved stove sitting in our kitchen.

All settled in, tea pot, spoon rest and dish towel included.

Hello new flat top with an array of burners, quick boil feature and warming spot.

Hello burners that take seconds to warm up and won't let me down!

Hello oven with a nifty pull out rack, working oven light and semi-convection capabilities!

*Current rating is a 10/10...I'll let you know if that still stands after I use the oven for the first time.

WTF, Grey's?

Seriously?  Seriously.  I don't know how many times I said "WTF," "seriously," "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," and "noooo no no no no" last night.  Well that and "no you cannot kill McDreamy!" 

Am I the only one who thought that finale was just a tad too redic?

My face legit looked like this when Reed and Alex got shot.  And it looked like this for at least half the episode, too.

I gasped too.  Like, holy moly I was not expecting that.

I'm also hoping that I never see this man again (I know he's dead and all in Grey's Anatomy land, but seriously, he freaks me out.).

I still don't understand why the swat team man that shot Mr. Crazy didn't go after him in the first place, but I guess that just adds to the drama (not to mention it increased my heart rate 100 times). 

I do applaud and thank the writers for not making us wait until next season to find out if everyone would have lived.  That made me feel a little better, for real.  I just don't want any more season finales like that.  It was too intense.

Today is the Day...

Our new stove arrives at 4:30 this afternoon.  I'm stoked.

I already figured out what I'm going to make, and it is a yummtastic pasta dish that I tried out a few weeks ago from Rachael Ray.  It's easy and quick to make which is perfect because the hubs has a "guy's night" and he can brag about how awesome of a cook I am.

*Kidding!*

I'll be sure to post a bloggy with the recipe later this week!

22 Days Until...

We are here.

Manchester, Tennessee, that is.

In which we will be with 80,000 other people at Bonnaroo.

 

And we will get to see some whoa-awesome acts play.  Like the ones here:

 

I cannot wait.  Tickets will be in the mail next week!

Adios, Mr. Stove!

I am beyond excited.  We are going stove shopping tonight thanks to the First Time Buyers tax credit.  When we moved into our house this fall we knew our stove was old, but we had no idea how horrible it actually was.  So before he leaves our humble abode forever, Mr. Stove gets a whole post dedicated to him.

Mr. Stove, although you've been a great addition to our kitchen, it's time to say goodbye.

You've caused many a frustrations with your right front burner that either refused to work or when it did work got hotter than what was necessary.

I will not miss your ancient timer and clock system that I could never understand how to use.

Soon enough I will be able to fit more than one tray of delicious cookies or a full roasting pan into our new oven without having to worry about how big of a chicken or turkey or ham I decide to make.

You were a good friend, Mr. Stove, but it's time to go. 

Love always,
Brittany

Oh Hail!

I'm not usually a fan of thunderstorms. Actually, I hate them something fierce. So when we got a super nasty one this afternoon I was not a happy camper. We had hail on three separate occasions, and it was hail bigger than any I've ever seen in my life. Crazy.

See this photo...they were bigger than these.


At one point it had stopped raining and the sun came out...so I went outside to take some pictures of the hail all over the place. And then it happened. Just as I was about to put my hand on the door to go outside there was a bright flash of lightning and instantaneous thunder. Holy moly did I jump and run up the stairs. I was almost fried.

So then I just decided to hang out with the fam in the living room. That was a much better and safer plan. But eventually the skies cleared and I went outside where there were still hail stones on the ground. Here are some pictures from this whacky weather.

This was what our driveway, yard and surrounding area looked like after about 5 minutes of the hail downpour.

I found this little dude in our front yard after the storms were over.

Even more hail stones. They were all over the place!

Do you like thunderstorms? Did you have any crazy (or not so crazy) weather like we did in the past week?

Introductions...

Hi! Hola! Bonjour! I'm claiming this url as my new home on the internet. Basically, it will just be a collection of stories that I have to share - about momma-hood, cooking disasters, crafty projects I do here and there and anything else that comes up along the way. I hope that if you stop by you'll drop a little note - it'd be great to hear from all you cyber-peeps.

So, I hate to be like everyone else, but this first post will be all about me and the fam, the little "cast of characters" shall we say. Starting with myself.

I'm Brittany.

I'm 21 years young and I'm a stay at home momma to the most beautiful baby in the world. I love baking tasty treats for anyone that will eat them, cooking in general, sewing lovely things and artsy projects. I have a huge sweet tooth for photography, music (listening and analyzing, not playing), reading, writing and discovering new things. I'm a picky eater and no, I won't eat my veggies.

This is my man, who we will refer to as "The Hubs."

Obviously, that's not his real name. Anyways, "The Hubs" is the love of my life who is not a picky eater and will eat almost anything you put in front of him. He likes photography, too, and of course eating all the tasty treats I make. The Hubs can turn my day around in an instant and makes me smile like nobody else can. Sometimes he tells really bad jokes, but they make me laugh, so it's all good. He's pretty cute, too...that never hurts!

And this is Belly Boo.

No her first name is not Belly nor is her middle name Boo. Just thought I'd clarify since I wouldn't doubt people would use those names today...she is 9 months old (yeesh!) and currently getting into everything that she can. She is our little blessing in disguise, and no matter how bad my day is if I see her smile or hear a giggle my heart just melts a little bit (okay, it melts a lot) and suddenly I'm all better again.

Last but not least, Rev.

Rev is our tri-pod kitty, meaning she has only three legs. Yup, that's right...we have a three legged cat. We rescued her just a few weeks before Belly Boo was born, so she was pretty much our "practice child." Don't feel too bad for her, though. She can run as fast as any four legged feline and gets into plenty of trouble. But she is such a lovely cat that it's okay, we forgive her.

So that's our cute little family...and I can't wait to share the silly and ridiculous things that happen in our little life. Catch ya later!