So, What's New?

I know...I've been a horrible blogger. Hey, give me a break....I've been busy. You know, talking on the phone.

=))

I won't say that I haven't been on the phone a LOT more than, say, 4 months ago, but that's not all I've been doing. We've visited in person, too. :)

Ok, so seriously, we had company over Thanksgiving. My grandpa and his wife came up and spent a few days with us and we all had a blast and ate WAAAY too much food. They got here Wednesday around supper time and left just this morning. Mom and I have had the menu for this visit planned for months...as soon as we found out they were coming, we decided what we were going eat. I'm serious...that's how we roll. We cooked a ton of food and are still working on eating it all.

We're not really big on planning lots of activities for our company, depending on the company, so we didn't have anything planned for while they were here. We just sat around and talked. And talked. And ate. And slept. And then talked, etc. The guys shot some guns and the gals knit and crocheted and watched a girly movie. And then we ate, and then talked. Not that we don't talk while we eat, but I'm not sure how one would type that. Oh, and we drank copious amounts of strong coffee.

My grandpa and his wife also got to meet Jacob Saturday. Our plans were thrown a little out of kilter due to a death in Jacob's family, so they didn't get to spend as much time with Jacob as I had hoped. We had planned on spending Saturday afternoon and nearly all day Sunday together, but Sunday didn't work out. At least they got to meet him. My family loves to embarrass me (I know...hard to believe) so at the supper table Saturday night, my grandpa told Jacob that he had been looking forward to taking a walk with him down to the pond. He said "From what I've heard, I was just sure you could walk across!" Gotta love this sense of humor! Thankfully, Jake's just crazy enough to fit in and understand us! They liked Jacob and we all had a great time.

Earlier in the week last week, Mom and I stopped by the thrift store. You know, one of those ten second, see-if-they-have-any-skirts kind of run. Right. An hour or so later, I had a new skirt (black linen, new with tags...$3) and a new shirt. I saw this shirt that matched one Jake had perfectly, so I just had to have it. Ohhh...shut up already. :) I told Jacob about it and he was nice enough to wear his as well. I just think we look so cute. :) I think the only difference is the sleeves on my shirt have gathers and are a little puffed. Jacob said he could do without the puffs.

 

We grilled steaks Saturday night and there was one left that wouldn't fit on the grill so Jacob said he'd cook it. I kept him company. :D

So, Jacob's great-grandpa died Thursday. He had the visitation to be at on Sunday and wasn't feeling well, so he couldn't come to church with us like he had planned. The funeral was today, and considering the circumstances, I thought it would be good for me to go. I told Jacob as much, and he said I could go with them. I felt a little funny going with the family, but he said it was fine, so I got up early this morning and headed out to Jacob's. We left his house by 9:30 (eastern time...living this close to the time zone line gets confusing sometimes!) and headed to the funeral home. I got introduced to all kinds of extended family and was quite overwhelmed and embarrassed. Jacob took good care of me though, and it wasn't too awkward. (And I got introduced as his girlfriend. :D) The funeral service was Catholic, which was more awkward and strange than any of the rest of it. After all of the funeral stuff, we had a meal with all the family and then went back to Jacob's house. I sat around and visited with his family (him and his parents mostly) for a couple hours and had a great time. I was worried it would be strange and uncomfortable (I haven't had much time to visit with just his family) but it was great...not awkward at all. I really like spending time with his family....he has a few younger sisters that seem to like me alright. They couldn't decide who was going to sit beside me at lunch (I mean, the other side, not Jacob's side. :) ) and they wanted to be with me in the food line. I like them too, so it's all good. :D

In other news (but really, how interesting is anything else???) I have a lot of sewing and knitting work to get done before Christmas. I have several purses to make and a couple knitting things to work on. Should be interesting...at least busy, if nothing else! The rest of the family will be traveling a good bit for the next few weeks, and we will probably be having our friend from GA coming to visit. We tried to work something out for her to come this week but we were planning on going horseback riding and the weather isn't cooperating...sooo, hopefully the weather will be better next week and we'll get to go then. Jacob is planning on joining me, Dave, and Nicole for the ride, which will be fun. :) You know, I do just love to ride. Honest. :)



Dave and Mom will be gone to a show this weekend, and then Dad will go with them to NC somewhere for some blacksmith thing that has something to do with building a hammer. I'm not too knowledgeable about that part of it...all I know is they'll be gone and I'll feed the folks here while they're gone. :) Soon after they get back (like, the day or maybe two after) we leave for GA and FL for our annual family visiting trip. Fun fun fun! I'm still trying to figure out how I can visit with Jacob the Saturdays we'll be gone... :(

I think I'll shut up for now. I would apologize for my post dripping with Jacob-ness....but....I'm not. I'm not sorry. Sorry. :) You know, he told me to quit making him sound so great. Well...hm...he sorta is great. :D

Talk to y'all later!

Introducing...My Guy!!!

Well, I'm sure everyone reading my blog has caught the little hints I've been dropping for the past few weeks. So, I don't know how many of y'all have guessed it yet, but here's the announcement.

I've got a guy, boyfriend (Mom hates that word,) beau, what-have-you. His name is Jacob. He's great and amazing.

The end.

:)

I can't really write an "our story" kind of post, because our story is still very much in the process of being written. We have a baby story. WAIT...that did NOT sound like it was supposed to sound! What I'm trying to say is that our story is new, and as I said, still being written. So far, here's a little of what's happened.

We met Jacob's family soon after we moved here, I believe. Our cow was sick and we called around trying to find some family that had extra milk we could get. Someone told us about this family, so we called and talked to them and drove out to get some milk. I honestly remember very, very little about that day...I remember we met this family, they had a lot of kids, and a couple guys around my age. That's just about it.

Jacob tells me he remembers a lot more about me than I remember about him...makes me feel a little bad!!!

And that's about it. Nearly four years passed since then, and we never spent any time with Jacob's family. I didn't really give him much thought...I guess I figured we probably wouldn't have that much in common anyway. Funny how just what you're looking for can be so close and you don't realize it! So for four years we'd bump into each other around town or at auctions once a year or so. Someone told me once that Jacob thought I was stuck-up (Jacob says he didn't come right out and say that though!) and I guess I never really gave him any reason to think differently.

Then one day a couple months ago (September 13th, to be exact.) I got an email from Jacob. Random guys just don't email me out of the blue wanting to know how I was doing and stuff so I was really surprised. I told Mama...guess who I got an email from???! Surprised as I was, I was also happy. I don't have a ton of friends and one more friend was always nice. Yeah. One more friend. I emailed Jacob back, and tried to be extra friendly. I wanted him to at least get an idea that maybe I wasn't so stuck up after all. I emailed him a ridiculously long email telling him just about every thing that I'd been doing and that sort of thing. It felt a little funny to me, I guess because we didn't really know each other at all! A couple days later, he emailed back! So, I emailed another ridiculously long email, being very friendly and nice. Or at least, trying!

This went on for a few weeks. Then one Saturday, Mom and I had been yard saling or something and stopped by Walmart on the way home. We were in the checkout line and I saw Jacob! He came up and talked to us for a few minutes and then we left. I couldn't quite figure out why I was nervous...I mean, it was just Jacob. I'd seen him around before. Yeah...but not after a weird email out of the blue. :)

A few days later, we were chatting online and I asked if he'd be going to a local festival they were having here in town the next Saturday. I told him we were going and he said he'd have to work. Darn. My part of this organized bumping into each other wasn't going so well. So, that Saturday came, and we were standing out there listening to the music and guess who was there? Yeah...he got off early, hoping I'd be there. (It's so much fun to ask each other now...what were you thinking that day!?) My family was walking around at the festival and I'd seen Jacob talking to someone else and I didn't know if he'd seen me or not. He tells me he saw me the whole time. I was too shy to go up and talk to him and Dad was getting ready to leave. We were making one more round before we left, and I turned around and saw Jacob walking, rather quickly, to catch up with us. That day we were able to stand around and talk for a little while before we left. I had so much fun, and I really tried hard to be down to earth! He says that day is when he thought he might like me. He told me that his family would be planning a get-together soon, and I made sure to let him know we'd be interested in coming out. He said he'd let me know.

Let me know he did! I think it was the next Sunday. They had a big shindig out at their farm, Jacob invited us, and we went. Yep, that's what I blogged about. I had a great time, most of all when we just stood around and talked. Jacob's family and friends started giving us a hard time, so it was a little awkward...we weren't really more than friends yet, but we kinda were...and everyone kinda knew it! That day, on the way to their house, my car started having trouble. I was describing it to Jacob when we got there and and he told me right what it was. (He's so smart!)

The next day, Monday, Jacob texted me to ask if I had a good time. Texting is a step up from emails or online chats, and that was the first time he'd texted me. Later that day, he asked more about my car. Long story short, (or at least shorter!) Jacob ordered the part to fix my car and told me he'd come fix it for me. I talked to Dad about it (and my grandmother, who asked how much he was going to charge. When I told her he said he'd just do it for me, I got the grandmotherly, knowing, "uh huh") and Dad said that was fine. We set up a time and I asked Jacob to stay for supper. (:) ) He did, and we had a great time. That was a Thursday, mid-October.

A few days after that, I found out about a concert the MacDonald Family was singing, and I told Jacob about it. Our family went and nearly all his family was there, and we really had a good time there too. We got to stand around and talk for a while after the concert. That was a Sunday, and earlier in the afternoon, before the concert, Jacob called me and we talked for about two hours, I think. We had to hang up so we could get ready to go!

Since then, I'm not sure about the timing of everything, but soon after that Jacob asked if he could come see me. Mom and Dad liked him, or at least what they'd seen of him so far, and I sure enough liked him, so we set up a time. Mom and Dave were getting ready to go out of town, so I really didn't think it was going to work for him to come over that week, but they made it work. Jacob came over that Saturday (towards the end of October) and has been here every Saturday since then. If you know my family at all, you know just about everyone here loves to talk. Nearly everyone except me, I guess...I usually just sit back and let everyone else talk! Considering the circumstances, Jacob and I wanted a little more opportunity to get to know each other and I talked to Mom and Dad about it....seems like everyone hogs Jacob while he's here! Now Jacob and I take walks around our place, or sit on the porch and talk, in addition to having family time where everyone all talks to him at once and I just sit back, watch, and laugh to myself! It's good though...my family likes getting to know him as well!

We never really sat down and said "hey, let's court!" but all of the sudden, that's exactly what we were doing and we both knew it! One evening, I just got it out and asked what his purpose of courtship was. I, of course, was already thinking that's what was going on, and he'd said some stuff that led me to think that he was thinking the same thing, but I really wanted to make sure we were both on the same page. This isn't something I want to play around with, only to decide all the sudden we don't like it and "move on" to someone else or something like that. That's not what I want at all! So, I asked Jacob what he was thinking. His answer to my question was that his purpose of courtship was to get to know me better and hopefully one day get married.

Yeah. We were on the same page.

The past couple of months have been so amazing. In all of our talking, we keep finding we have so much in common. I mentioned a certain singer one afternoon and Jacob said that he loved his music. He mentioned which was his favorite song by the guy, and it's my favorite as well. We both love dark chocolate...yes, he's already bought me some (as well as extra milk chocolate for the little guys.) My first chocolate from an unrelated guy. :D Jacob will bring up something new that we haven't talked about and give his opinion on the subject, and it will be the same as mine. One of the first times he visited, he mentioned how much it got on his nerves when parents gave small children free reign over their food, to feed themselves and make a huge mess. That's something my family talks about all the time, and we didn't even mention it first! We are still trying to find something we really disagree on!!!

Jake and I talk nearly every evening for at least two hours, depending on his schedule and how much sleep we need! His family owns and operates a store about 30 minutes from our house, and he works there, helping his family out. He also works at the sawmill occasionally and is, of course, an outstanding mechanic. :) He's always willing to help out when folks need him for anything.

It's pretty funny, looking back over the past few years now. He told me that everyone has always been trying to get us together and he always told them that he didn't think that would work. He's had to eat a lot of words over that, he says! People would tell him they knew the perfect girl for him and he'd know right off it was me. I don't know what took him so long to figure this all out!!! :)

We're both enduring tons of teasing right now. Dad seems to think we only eat good when Jacob's coming, which isn't true at all! Any time I'm in the kitchen making new cookies or anything, Dad says "oh, is Jacob coming over?" Jacob's family teases him pretty bad too, and there are more of them than there are here! He has eight brothers and sisters, as well as a pretty big extended family, and more friends than I have.

Someone asked me last Saturday, how serious is this? My answer? Pretty serious. Jacob and I aren't interested in playing dating games where you try out one guy or girl and then dump them, over and over. We both are in this with the intent and purpose of marriage evaluation. So yes, it's pretty serious. No, we're not engaged, but that is definitely what courtship leads to, Lord willing!

My whole family really likes Jacob, and my parents are almost as excited and happy about this as I am, I think! He fits in around here, which is defintely a huge plus and something we really doubted we would find! I mean, who fits in with my family???!!! While we do realize that the important thing is that Jacob and I are compatable, we both also believe that both of our families should like and get along well with the other family as well. I haven't been able to spend much time with his family yet, but I really like what I have seen when I've been around them. His family is great, and I look forward to spending more time with them!

So, there's the beginning of our little story! I look forward to sharing more here as it happens! Now here are the pictures...so far!!!

He makes me laugh!

 

On our walk Saturday, we came across this tree. Perfect picture moment.

So, that's us. :D

Observations

Originally written and posted May 15th, 2010.

Fun times!!!

These are a few things I noticed last night while out milking. For those of you who don’t know, I milk late at night, well after dark.

Don’t take deep breaths, sing, or do anything that requires your mouth to be open, taking in air. Especially while carrying or kneeling down by the lantern. Like that notorious box of chocolates, “you never know what you’re gonna get!” In other words, you might inhale more than air…. It’s best to hold your breath as long as possible, and then breathe through your sleeve or something, to reduce your chances of a fly intake.

Same goes for sitting under the cow…inhaling a fly just isn’t all that grand.

Is it good luck or bad luck when a baby ‘possum runs across the path in front of you? I forget…
Don’t freak out when you see a very large, pale, wolf-like thing slink out from behind the stock trailer, coming up from behind you as you see it out of the corner of your eye. It’s just the dog, who you thought was on the other side of the trailer. And the huge, dark thing running toward you is just the cow.

We don’t really live in KY, as I realized last night. Due to the extreme humidity, heat, sogginess of the ground, excessive flying things, and those odd birds that make really odd noises at you in the woods, it really comes across as being the Amazon jungle.

The dark stringy thing on your arm isn’t anything scary…just a piece of grass. Even though it looks like a leech or something and won’t come off when you brush at it frantically…

And above all, watch for Mama Copperhead when you cross the creek. She may be mad at humankind after Titus killed her baby earlier…

The one good thing I noticed last night was the over-abundance of lightening bugs. It almost looked like you were immersed into a galaxy. Actually, it looked like I was immersed into a galaxy, not you.

Oh, and does the Amazon jungle have these bees that eat the wood from the rafters on the porch, and drop sawdust all over my computer here???

We had friends come over one evening this past week, and had a great time visiting with them. Even though the shelves in the pantry all decided to collapse when I put the salt back up. Impecable timing. Actually, I don’t think shelves can really “decide” to collapse. We ended up having to stack the contents of our pantry on the hearth. Oh, well. I made chicken alfredo, green beans, and french bread for supper, and apple pie and ice cream for dessert. It was…quite filling.

I have quite a time going back and reading these old posts!

Tea Cups

Originally written and posted July 25th, 2010.

Fun Fact of the Week:
No, this isn’t starting a new trend or anything, and I most likely won’t be posting a new fun fact about myself every week, but it was an interesting and catchy post title, so I took it.

I love pretty, dainty tea cups, and I love drinking hot tea out of them.

Did you know that about me? I used to have a few different delicate china tea cups, but over the years (and the additions of brothers,) one by one they all got smattered. I may have one packed away somewhere, but I don’t know where it would be. Come to think of it, Dave still owes me for one such cup he smashed….

When we were in Gettysburg, one of the sutlers had various lady-like goods, not all in direct relation to sleeping on the hard ground, or cooking over the open fire, or having layers of dust on your skin, or any of those other pleasant things related to reenacting. She had lacy handkerchiefs, kid gloves (that made me somewhat miffed…my big hands won’t go in any of those vintage gloves,) pretty jewelry, and lovely china tea cups. They were a good price, so I bought two white cups with saucers. The patterns on the two cups don’t quite match, but you can’t really tell, unless you look very close. They are gorgeous. I think maybe what draws me to them is the delicate femininty of them. I don’t get to enjoy a lot of that…I’m strong, and do what needs doing, and sometimes the things that need doing are not things that you’d picture a lady in a fancy tea dress doing. Not that they’re bad things, of course, just not….well, you know what I mean?

So, I’ve found that ending an evening with my knitting and a cup of hot tea in my fancy tea cup is the perfect way to end a day… I love coffee, and coffee’s a great way to start the day…gets you up and going. It’s even good in the middle of the day, and I’ve been known to down a Venti Caramel Frapp with extra espresso at 11PM before (A few years ago….I was on the way home from a bluegrass concert a long way from home…needed to stay awake!!!) but a hot cup of tea to end the day is prefectly divine! Oh, and coffee should be strong and bold…so you can’t really enjoy it out of a tea cup, anyway…coffee needs a mug.

I need to get back to that evening practice!

Lattice-Topped Pie Crust

Ok, so remember how I said I'd take pictures while I made the lattice on top of my apple pie Saturday? Wouldn't you know I made the ugliest pie ever??? Seriously...it was AWFUL! I'm blaming it on using all store-bought whole wheat flour. Even Sally Fallon uses a bit of white flour in pie crusts, so maybe I'll have to try that next time. I'd never made a crust with store-bought flour (always ground it myself before) so I guess it's just different. Oh, well...my pie still tasted pretty good, even if it was ugly. And, as my friend said, that's all that matters. He's so sweet.

Ahem.

Oh, yeah...pie crust.

Sooo...I rolled out the top half of the dough and cut little strips. I used a ruler and a pizza cutter because I never can cut anything straight.

My pie...

I start with one strip over the top, followed by another in the opposite direction...

Then I fold one back (and break the darn thing off) and place another beneath it...

And replace the broken folded one...

Then I fold the same one back, in the opposite direction...

Place another strip there and replace the folded one...

I usually try to keep everything even, so I started on the sides next. Basically, all you do is fold every other strip back, place another strip down, and replace the folded ones.

Just do the same thing over and over until the pie is done! I didn't get any more in-action pictures...I figured it would be good just to show y'all the basics of how it's done. I made little ropes of dough, pressed them on the edge, and crimped them a little, trying to make it pretty.

It didn't work.

I also forgot to get any pictures after I put the sauce on and after I baked it. It made a mess.

Saturday we ate and then all went to a revival meeting over an hour away. Mom wanted us all to coordinate so we all planned on khaki and blues. Some of the boys wore khaki pants and blue shirts and some swapped it up. My friend (he does have a name...it's all coming soon enough!) called me earlier in the day to see what we were wearing and dressed to match. So he and I matched...and I completely forgot to take the pictures I was planning on taking. :(

After church that night we came back here to the house for pie and ice cream. My friend had my camera and he caught me. Maybe one day I'll remember to stand up straight.

I'm just waiting to get some pictures...maybe I'll remember to get them Saturday. :) I like Saturday.

Stay tuned. :)

As American As...

Originally written and posted April 5th, 2010.

I was going through my old blog archives trying to decide what to repost, and came across my Apple Pie. Looked so good I decided to make it for dessert tomorrow....because I have special company every Saturday. Dad says "oh, yeah...you make apple pie for him and we get leftover cookies..." It's not that bad.

I don't think.

Ok, so maybe...

Anyway...ahem...on to the blog post about Apple Pie, which is, I'm sure, what everyone is dying to hear about now. I know, I know...I'm terrible. Just hold your horses.

As American As...

That’s right…Apple Pie! Saturday, I made Tea, Butter, Apple Pie, Vanilla Ice Cream, French Bread, and Chicken & Dumplings. (Gee...I was busy)I’ll just stick to an Apple Pie how-to for now, though, to avoid the post-a-mile-long dilema! Actually, this post will probably end up being that long anyway…

I make my pie crust from scratch (you wouldn’t have guessed that, would you?!) and then put in apples, place a lattice crust on top, and then pour a thick, yummy sauce over the whole thing! The End.

=))

Ok, I seriously crack myself up sometimes… On to the REAL blog!

For my pie crust, I start by grinding white wheat. I had to use Hard White this time, because I’m out of Soft White, which I would normally use for pie crusts, and pastries in general. (Theoretically, I would use Soft White Wheat for pastries. After I wrote that, I realized that I don’t really even make pastries!) The only ingredients in my crust recipe are flour, butter (lard, when I have it, [yay!!! I have lard!] ) water, and salt. I made a double crust recipe, since I wanted a top on my pie! (I don't have any wheat right now....I'll use regular, store-bought wheat flour. Not sure that that's any better than regular white flour, but it makes me feel better.)

Combine 2 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon of salt…

Cut in 2/3 of a cup PLUS 2 Tablespoons of cold butter with a pastry blender (lard does make an excellent crust, but I don’t have any right now. Yes, I’m finding it hard to exist without it, and I’m willing the pigs to grow faster.)

Add about 7 Tablespoons of ice water and mix…

After you’ve mixed it well (if it’s too dry, you can add more ice water, a LITTLE at a time!) turn it onto the counter and roll into a smooth ball. Divide it in half, and roll into another smooth ball… Actually, you could skip the first rolling…lol

Roll the one half of the dough into a circle, and flip gracefully into the pie pan, being sure not to tear it. Ok, maybe not so gracefully, employing lots of concentration, and please try not to say anything ugly. Well, not too ugly, anyway. I forgot about this handy bit of wisdom, but you can roll it out onto one of those flexible cutting mats, and then pick the whole thing up, mat and all, and flip it over on top of your pan. I somehow forgot all about doing that, until I had a pie crust half stuck to the counter, and was trying to peel it off without tearing it too badly. I’m so glad it doesn’t have to be pretty (or even presentable) at this stage! Just get a crust in there, and we’ll worry about the looks of it all later!!! Unless you’re like me, and take pictures that show otherwise, no one will ever know it wasn’t always perfect!

I pulled off the extra dough hanging off the edge for a very scientific reason. I didn’t want it to be there.

I peeled and sliced 6 Granny Smith apples. However, in this house full of piranas, by the time I got around to putting them in the crust (I had sliced them before I even started the crust,) there were probably only about 4 left!!! Do piranas usually eat apples?

And I can’t just dump them in, so I spent forever arranging them just right. I tend to be a perfectionist so the inside of my pie had to be pretty, too. And contrary to what the picture indicates, I am NOT one of those piranas mentioned. Really. I’m not! :D

And Mama (the closest one nearby gets grabbed for photography when I need both hands in my work and need a picture of it!) has a hard time only taking pictures of my hands. She delights in catching my most Un-Photogenic moments, as noted in my previous post!

And I’m finally (almost) done arranging the apples just so. Ain’t they purdy?!

Now, in the meantime, I have prepared the sauce for the pie. I don’t put anything on my apples, or cook them first, and I really like the pie this way. I make a sauce, and then pour it over the whole pie AFTER the lattice top is on. The sauce is butter, flour, water, and sugar. Let me say that I thought my pie was a little too dry…I wanted sauce!!! So, next time I make this, I will most likely double this sauce recipe. (definitely doubling it tomorrow...I've made it since this post was written, and a doubled recipe works well)

Melt 1/2 cup of butter and add 3 tablespoons of flour…

Add 1/4 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar and bring to a boil…

Ok, now you just let the sauce simmer for a while while you finish the pie crust. I rolled out my other ball of dough, and cut 1/2-3/4 inch strips. (No, I didn’t measure, and mine weren’t straight.) I think it would look even better to make them tiny, so you would have more lattice, but…I didn’t do it. :)  Anyway…. (I'll have to make it extra pretty tomorrow...hehe)

I start by crossing 2 strips in the very center, and then folding one back to place another underneath, and then keeping doing (folding every other on back) that until your whole pie is covered. Oh, boy…does that make any sense at all to y’all? Mama was still taking the pictures while I was doing this, and she said that it was too confusing to her. I find it easy, but I have a background of braiding 21 strands of leather together, so a few strips of pie crust is as easy as…well, pie! :) (Maybe tomorrow I'll take very detailed step-by-step pictures of placing the lattice.)

I was SO not worrying about the edges right now…after I got all of the strips in place, I pulled off all the extra dough there, and, combining it with the dough I had pulled off earlier, made another ball of dough. Then, I pulled off smal pieces and made several thin ropes of dough. I placed these ropes on the edge of my pie, and used them to cover up all of the ugly edges. You can crimp all of the layers together after you’ve got the rope on, and it’s neat and pretty! (I think it would be pretty to braid three very long, thin strips of dough and put that on the rim, but well see...)

Yep…it would’ve been prettier with thinner strips for the lattice. Anyway, now the sauce is a sweet, thick, simmery, yumminess and it’s ready to pour! You’re going to do this sloooowly, so that the sauce will go down through the crust holes and all through the apples. If you go too fast, it will be…messy!!!

And it’s ready for the oven!

Bake it at 425* for 15 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 350* and bake for 35-45 more minutes, until the apples are soft.

And that’s all, folks! It’s really easy, and it’s absolutley divine with homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. (5 cups of milk, 3 cups of cream, 2 cups of sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla)

(By the way, I use a pretty deep pie dish for my pies...not a standard shallow one. So, if you have a more shallow one than me, you might need fewer apples and one recipe of sauce... I also pile my apples in pretty good, so my apple pie is pretty fat!)

Please don’t hurt yourself eating too much…I would really hate to be resonsible for something so…awful.

=))

~Kayla

P.S. Toss the apple slices with a little (couple tablespoons maybe) lemon juice...will keep them from turning brown.

Printable Apple Pie Recipe

Printable Double Pie Crust Recipe

Today

This morning, Rylie hepled me make omelets.

Guardian of the Salt and Pepper.

I told her to smile. Silly girl!

We sat out on the porch for a little while this afternoon.

Titus was cutting with the tractor...

Miss Grumpy Gills

Cutey Pie

She talks up a storm now. Won't be quiet, actually. She follows me around doing everything. When I go to the kitchen, she says "washing dishes?" When I open the dishwasher, she says "want help me?" Guess she hasn't figured out yet that she's the one helping me...lol! She learned how to load the silverware holder with dirty silverware by watching me...she puts everything in just like I do.  She knows where the clean silverware goes, she dries and puts them up. The other utensils that don't go in the silverware drawer...well, she knows those, too.

In the morning when I go into the kitchen with my coffee cup, she says "making coffee?" I grab the cream out of the fridge, and she says "got cream?" When I cook, she says "up here?" and points to the counter. She always asks "salt? pepper?" When I do laundry, she puts the clothes in the dryer, and "folds" them. She's seen me shake the wrinkles out of dried clothes, so she shakes everything out and then hands it to me.

When I go into the bathroom and shut the door, she stands outside and says "coming out?" When I open the door, she gasps and laughs like she thought I'd never come out. I open the bathroom cabinet and she says "brushing teeth?" She wants to be in my lap every time I sit down. "Up here?" she says. If I'm busy and say no, she smiles and comes back with "puwheeeese?" How do you turn that down? When she walks to a different room to get a toy, she says "I be back...going get a toy!" and when she gets back, she announces it with "I'm back!"

When I rock her to sleep and she's just about to fall asleep, she hands me her bottle and says "take this." I tell her I'll go lay her down now, and she snuggles up and says "ok."

I was holding her and I told her "I like you!" She says "I like me!" I said, "say 'I like you too!'" She said "I like me!" So I said "I like you!" She says..."thank you?" :)

She insanely adorable. I need one.

Even if she did throw up everywhere today. :(