Apple Pie = Love

I suppose I "took the weekend off" from the computer.  Sometimes I feel people rely too much on computers, and once in a while I try not to use them... it does not help that I have Internet on my phone though ;)

Sunday was a really fun day! Mikayla woke me up... by shaking me out of my deep, beautiful sleep, saying, "Lets go bake pie! Moooooommmmmy, Please, lets go make a pie! I want to make pie!" Being the most fantastic mother that I am, I agreeably woke up, walked into the kitchen, and started baking with my lil princess!! We decided since we had a lot of apples, that we would make apple pie! I realized I only had one Pillsbury Pie Crust in the freezer, and one stick of butter... so I decided I would either find a pie crust to make (butter free?!) or have a crust less top.  I searched online and found the most amazing crust recipe!

Just throw all the ingredients in the pie dish, and presto! As you are pushing it into the pie dish, it magically turns into pie crust! I swear!!





Mikayla did it too!!



We baked that for 15 minutes.  While it was baking, in a large pot on the stove we melted one stick of butter, and once it was melted we whisked in 3-4 tablespoons of flour.  Then i dumped in 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown.  I also added in nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Let it come to a boil and then simmer... PRESTO!! (Just don't let it cool, it will become caramel-like and difficult to work with). 

Next, Mikayla and I peeled and sliced (really thin!) about 4 large apples of different variety.  Well, I peeled and sliced, she kinda mashed them in a bowl :) Then I mixed the apples into the pot and poured into the pie crust... presto... Insta-Pie!!

  I then sliced the Pillsbury Pie Crust top and simply weaved it.  I covered the top in Cinnamon and drizzled some of the syrup mix on top... it was so amazing!! Mikayla did the same thing, minus the stuff on top.

Voila... apple pie before 9 am! Woot woot!

Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons milk

Pie

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3-4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4-5 large apples
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Vanilla Extract

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.  Mix all Pie Crust ingredients into pie dish and bake for 15 minutes. 

2.  Melt butter in saucepan.  Stir in flour.  Add water, white and brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and let simmer. 

3. This is when I peeled and sliced my apples. 

4.  Take mixture off heat.  Stir in apples and coat. 

5.  Pour mixture into pie crust.

6. Take pie crust (any kind) and slice it into rows... weave the top of the pie.  I like to lay it out first to see how it looks, then I go back and carefully weave my dough. 

7.  Bake for about 45 minutes, or until top is nice and brown.

We also decided to go bowling on Sunday.... Mikayla has been on a bowling league, so she bowled every Friday this school year; Pete and I have not bowled in a long time!

First Game

Pete = 144

Mikayla = 85

Vanessa = 116

Yesterday my Mother and I went Xmas shopping, and then when Mikayla got home from school we did MORE shopping.  Needless to say, I did not want to come home and cook dinner.  We bought one of those I Love NY Take N Bake pizzas... I got Mediterranean, which had Garlic sauce, Spinach, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Olives.  Mmmm.   The pizzas are worth getting from there.... I also ordered a Meat Calzone for Pete (Sausage and Bacon), which I will never order again from there.  Here's a photo of the last lonely piece, which I ate for lunch...

Pete won himself a chance to cook dinner tonight.... see, he bet on bowling.  He bet that he would bowl better than mine and Mikaylas score combined!! Out of 3 games, he lost 3 times! (only one game was he actually close, but I think we beat him by 8 points). Dinner should be interesting... lets just keep our fingers crossed that its something my pregnant belly actually wants!