Snow is in the air...

I love it when large snowflakes come drifting down outside. It makes me feel all cozy and ready for Christmas! In preparation for the holiday I wanted to make something that would display some snowflakes of my own. When my Grandparents passed away I was given some of my Grandmother's handmade crochet snowflakes. Growing up my Mom always had a few that we put on our own tree, and it was a treasured ritual to put them in a place of honor. Of course I wanted to carry out the same tradition myself. However, I wanted to display them in a way that I could keep them out for longer then just the holiday season. As a result, my stick tree was born! 

Materials:

- Tall glass vase

- 3-4 pinecones

- 10 or so sticks cut to desired length. I wanted my tree big so the sticks were taller then normal.

- Enough ornaments to fill your tree. I used my Grandmother's snowflakes and sparkly fake fruit.

The tree now nicely adorns the top of my book shelf and I am thinking it needs a strand of lights to give it an extra pop. Guess it's time to take out the Christmas totes and get the rest of the house excited for Christmas :).

The Pumpkin Patch

For the first time this year my husband and I decided to check out our local pumpkin patch. Neither one of us had ever been to one and we wanted some to carve and make decorative centerpieces. Well....okay, I wanted the pumpkins for centerpieces :). Either way, one crisp Saturday morning we made our way to a local farm and had way too much fun picking out some fancy looking pumpkins. It was the perfect celebration of fall and preparation for Thanksgiving!

 

For the record the pumpkin on the right is actually Walle, unfortunately he managed to turn out a little like ET. Maybe next year I'll go a more traditional route :)

SIPIDI Saturday: Best Apple Pie!

Nothing screams fall and Thanksgiving more then a perfect apple pie. Something about the idea of biting into gooey apples, a flaky crust, and crumbly topping is just divine. Now to be perfectly honest I do not eat apple pie for the apples. They are nice add on, but the real delicious goodness comes from the crumble topping and caramel that layers on top. I know I know...so bad...but oh so good! My Mom used to make this in the past and after finding this pin, I knew I had to do it myself! The result was a combination of what my Mom has used and my own creation. Try it yourself, I promise it won't disappoint!

 Apple Pie Recipe

1 Pie Crust
6 Tablespoons butter melted
1/4 Cup packed brown sugar
1 1/4 Cups white flour
6 apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a medium mixing bowl combine butter, brown sugar and 1 cup flour. Pinch with fingers until large crumbs form. Place in freezer.

In a large bowl, combine apples, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and remaining 1/4 cup flour. Stir until everything is dissolved and scrape mixture into pie crust, arranging apples as compactly as possible. Bake for 35 minutes 350 degrees.

Pull pie out and spread crumb topping over apples and bake 30-40 minutes longer until topping is golden brown.

Caramel Recipe 

1/2 Cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1 Can sweet and condensed milk

Boil for 3-5 minutes in the microwave stirring occasionally until thick. Let sit for awhile before pouring over the pie. There have been times when I've added a bit of flour to make it thicker as well.

Okay I will admit I cheated with a store bought crust :)

I like using a variety of apples, makes the flavor more interesting. 

If you even get to the flavor through the crumbs and caramel ;)

My fabulous apple peeler. Found mine at a garage sale, such a great invention!

Even convinced my husband to operate the machinery 

Perfect slices!

Getting ready to mix

All ready to go!

The crumbs have been added and baked.

Now for the caramel

Done!

Oh yummm!!! The smell alone is to die for. Happy eating!

Craft Fair Fun

In addition to starting a blog, being a substitute teacher, and taking graduate classes...I also decided to do my first craft fair! Not sure what I was thinking when I signed up three weeks beforehand, but either way I'm excited. What could be more fun then tables and tables of crafts?!?! If you happen to be in the area and want to have a little craft fair fun come on down!

Baldwinsville Christian Academy

7321 Van Buren Road

Baldwinsville, NY 13027

Here's a little taste of what I will be selling!

Hope to see you there!