The BEST Apple Pie EVER!!!

Tired of your ordinary Apple Pie? Well this delicious Apple Pie adds a twist to the apple classic. Topped with a beautiful lattice topping, this will surely be a huge hit at your next get together. At the bottom I have also included a fail proof pie crust recipe. It is so simple, yet Soooo tasty!

Ingredients:

1 pie crust; See below for recipe
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp Vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1/2 teaspoon Salt
8 apples, (I like to use all different kinds in my pie), cored and sliced.

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water, along with Vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer for 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.

3. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F, and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.


Pie Crust:

2 cups Flour
1 cup Shortening
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/3 cup Milk
1 Egg
Directions:

Mix first 4 ingredients with wire whips. Beat Egg and Milk together in a separate bowl. Mix together just until flour is mixed in. Remember, to make this recipe work Don't mix it too much, it makes the pie crust tough. Split dough into two pieces. Flour counter and roll out into a circle.

Ask if you have any questions! Good Luck!

South West Egg Rolls

This recipe is to Die for!!! it's the same one from Chili's and almost identical to the ones from The Cheese Cake Factory. They are absolutely fabulous! for a really tasty change wrap it up in a egg roll wrap found in most grocery stores near the produce section and fry it!
2 tablespoons oil
1 chicken breast
2 tablespoons green onion--minced
2 tablespoons red bell pepper--minced
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels
1/4 cup black beans--rinsed
2 tablespoons spinach--chopped
2 tablespoons diced green chiles
1/2 tablespoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
5 (6 inch) uncooked flour tortillas (the kind you get in the refrigerated section of the store)

Rub 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over chicken breast. In a pan over medium heat, cook chicken around 5 minutes per side, until meat is cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat remaining tablespoon vegetable oil in pan over medium heat. Stir in green onion and red pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until tender.
Dice chicken and mix into the pan with onion and red pepper. Mix in corn, black beans, spinach, green chiles, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until well blended and tender. Remove from heat and stir in Monterey Jack cheese so that it melts.
Wrap tortillas with a clean, moist cloth. Microwave on high about 1 minute, or until hot and pliable.
Spoon even amounts of the mixture into each tortilla. Fold ends of tortillas, then roll tightly around mixture-it looks like an eggroll.
In a large, deep skillet, heat oil for deep frying to 375 degrees. Deep fry tortillas 10 minutes each, or until dark golden brown. Drain on paper towels before serving. Or you can bake them at 350 for 15-20 minutes (but this isn't near as tasty).

Diaper Wipe Case

I wanted a super cute Diaper Wipe case to display but, again, didn't want to spend the money and knew I could make it even cuter and choose the way I wanted it to look. I recently found an article in the April 2009 Family Circle, that talked about the fabulous things you can do with Mod Podge. It showed examples of Mod Podge plates, chairs, vases, art work...etc. I figure why not a diaper wipe case.

So I went to a paper place, and picked out some paper I liked.
Then I measured out the length of the case cut it to it's perfect size.
First I Mod Podged the case, then I placed the paper over it and made sure all the air bubbles were out. I proceeded to cover the top of the paper with a 2 coats of Mod Podge, each time waiting for it to dry before replaying the next layer.
The final product!

Finishing Touches

On top of the dresser I found this shapely lamp at a garage sell for $2. It was a horrible hunter green, nothing a little spray paint couldn't fix. It also had no lamp shade, no problem, I could get one.

So again my plan is cheap and chic. I found some spray paint at Joannes on sell, I primed and spray painted it.
Now for the lamp shade, I asked around looked at thrift stores, and finally a wonderful women told me she had a gorgeous lamp shade I could have for free, Perfect! It worked great. I may re-do the shade with more color, Your thoughts?
The other things on top of the dresser are random nick nacks I picked up here and their all for under $5 total.

Thrifty but Chic

I recently re-did my boy's room. I wish I could paint, but being renters...well it sometimes just doesn't happen.

While visiting my parents I hit up a neighbors garage sell and they gave me this sturdy, solid wood dresser for free, needless to say it was lacking, a lot.

Here's the before picture


now to prep this baby,
I sanded everything front and back.
Cleaned everything from the inside out with bleach water.
I filled up some dings with puddy.
Covered the drawers with Some hefty wrapping paper, just to make sure everything was clean.
The dresser didn't have handles so I drilled holes were I wanted my knobs to go.

I wasn't sure what color I wanted to pain it, so off to Home depot, to get some ideas, I started looking around and then I remembered the reject paint, I found a beautiful cream color, for $1. If it didn't work out I could always repaint it. No problem.

Now for the knobs, I looked everywhere, trying to find the perfect knobs I wanted it to be fun, but not cutesy. I wanted to be able to replace them when the kids got older if I needed to, I also really didn't want to spend to much, I wanted to try and see how little I could spend.

While cleaning out my In-Laws, garage, We came across these huge beautiful colored beads, just the color I was looking for. I sanded them off a little bit and added a new coat of paint to them. I also found to plain round wooden balls to go on the two top smaller drawers.

After everything had dried I finished it off with the finishing pieces.

A new venture

I decided to start a new blog, on everything crafty! Things I do, things that inspire me, food that tastes amazing! and even exercising tips for those who hate to exercise and especially run, such as myself and have now come to love it. I hope to share many things with you and that we can all inspire each other. Give and get feed back! This is as much as a hobby than anything else, but I hope you will enjoy it!