10 Pretty Things

1. Rainbow Chocolate Chips Cookies   2. Adorable Rats who cuddle teddy bears  3. This outfit   4. Slices of Lemon earrings  5. Swirly girly font called Cupcake  6.  Owl inspired palette  7. Caribbean colored Wellington boots   8. Strawberry lemonade cupcakes   9. Fresh Flowers   10. Pegasus Origami Necklace

What pretty things do you love today?

Saturday Loves

Oh my goodness have I been seeing the best crafts, DIYs, and recipes lately… I just have to share!

1. Matchbox Mini Art - finally a cute way to display Kinder toys, Squinkies, or Lego people!

2. Bookmark Valentines -an adorable valentine for the bookwork in your family

3. Boarding School Badges – a great gift for Harry Potter fans, or to hand our special duties in your home… I would totally be the Librarian!

4. Pretty Plastic Cup Lampshades - I love how these look for a playroom or a bedroom… clever!

5. Two Ingredient Valentine’s Day Fudge – this just looks yummy and whips up pretty quick!

6. Easy Peasy Nutella Cookies – tried these are LOOOOOOVE them… seriously, make them. =)

There are a lot more fun links to share so check back tomorrow!!

Rustic Picnic Pies

 

I have been trying to get into baking from scratch more, something that I have never been very good at. Thanks to Pinterest though I have many new recipe ideas and this photo just caught my eye:

Don’t they just scream summer and sunny days? Well as the snow comes down here I decided to bring a taste of summer back into the house, even for a day. I had most of the ingredients on hand and the recipe is pretty straight forward and easy to follow. I have never made pie crust from scratch either so it was definitely an experience to do all at once. Luckily aside from my dough being a little thick the recipe came out wonderfully.

I love The Farm Chicks blog! It is full of really inspiring, has crafts and recipes that are fun and easy, and best of all, there are strawberries everywhere!!! Here is the recipe for the pocket pies, originally found here:

Crust:

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 1/2 cups cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg

1/2 cup cold water

• Combine the flour and graham cracker crumbs in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles course meal. Whisk the egg and water together and mix into the flour mixture until just combined. Transfer to a clean work surface and gently press to form a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, press into a disk shape, and chill for at least one hour.
• While dough chills, prepare Strawberry Pie Filling.

Strawberry Pie Filling:

4 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered (cut into eighths if the berries are huge)

1 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine all ingredients into a medium bowl and stir together until flour and sugar are mixed in. Set Pie Filling aside. Line two large baking sheets with foil or parchment and lightly grease.
• Roll out dough onto a floured work surface and roll out to a 1/8″ thickness. Use a cereal bowl for a guide, and trace with a knife.
• Repeat until the dough is all used up. (Should make about 16-18 dough circles). Divide pie filling evenly between the dough circles, folding and pressing each one closed as you go. Press edges with a fork and prick center for steam to escape. Place the pies on the baking sheets.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and filling is oozing out from steam holes. Remove pies immediately to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely. (They will harden up as they cool to room temperature).

Notes:

These pies will ooze filling as they cook, as the strawberries are very juicy. If you prefer a less juicy/messy pie, don’t use all of the juice from the filling mixture when filling the pies.

Your baking sheets will look somewhat – a lot juicy when you remove the pies from the oven. Don’t worry, this is normal. Just make sure to remove the pies while they’re hot so the filling doesn’t stick to the foil/parchment.

I definitely recommend using foil or parchment, rather than placing these directly on the baking sheet. this way, you won’t have a huge clean-up when you’re done!

Picnic Pies are rustic and don’t need to be perfect. They’re meant to be enjoyed!

 

*Yummo!* A cooling pie waiting to be eaten!

This Just Pinned

1. Tissue Paper covered Mason Jars with tea lights, 2. Pink Lemonade Pie, 3.  Comfy Winter Outfit,

4. Fabric Covered Altoid Tins, , 5. Paper Beads, 6. Lemon Garlic Spaghetti

7. Talk bubble necklace, 8. A cute brunch idea

Hello Apple Braid!

I was planning on posting about organizing and such and then I baked some apple bread that I found on Pinterest.

Holy Cow! Start your diet tomorrow and bake some of this yummy stuff!

The recipe itself is pretty easy. I am not the bread maker in the family, but I found the recipe went quick and neat.

I especially loved the way the apple filling turned out… definitely using that in more recipes!

The only difference is that I left the skin on my apples, something I always do because it is good for you and I like the flavor.

I think that I may try the same bread but with a cherry or cran-apple type of filling, there are endless possibilities.

I am really proud of myself because I have never made a bread, or a glaze, or a fancy thing like the braid.

Anyhow, here is the recipe, originally found here:

Apple Braid

Makes 1 bread (approximately 12 servings)

Print this recipe!

For the Apple Filling

3 medium-size Granny Smith apples
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon juice

For the Bread

2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon instant yeast (I prefer SAF Instant Yeast)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil

For the Glaze:
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
5 teaspoons whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt
Pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Make the Apple Filling: Peel, core, and slice the apples into thin slices, then cut the slices in half. Toss the apple pieces with the sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Bake the apple filling in an 8-inch square baking pan (or 9-inch pie tin) for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. (Note: Do not turn the oven off at this point. You will be using it to bake the finished braid.)

Make the Bread: While the apple filling is baking, begin preparing the bread dough. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and oil and mix the dough for 6 minutes using an electric mixer on medium-high speed.

Spray a smooth clean surface with cooking spray and turn the dough out onto the surface. Knead the dough briefly to give it a smooth surface (this will only take several turns of the dough to accomplish). Spray a rolling pin with cooking spray and roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 12-inches by 16-inches in size. Lift onto a greased baking sheet.

Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut each side into strips about 1-inch wide down each side, leaving the center third of the dough uncut. Spread the apple filling down the middle third of the dough. Fold strips of dough into the center, crisscrossing the filling by alternating strips from each side. Lightly press ends to seal, and straighten out the braid with your hands, if necessary, to straighten.

Bake the braid in the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the braid cool for several minutes.

Make the Glaze: Whisk together the glaze ingredients in a small bowl until blended and smooth.

Brush the glaze in a thick coat over the entire surface of the apple braid while it is still cooling. Carefully transfer the braid to a cooling rack set on a baking sheet (to catch drips) to finish cooling and prevent the bottom of the braid from becoming soggy from sitting in any pooling glaze. Slice and serve.