Fall Desserts

One thing I love about fall is all the delicious fall desserts. I don't profess to be any great baker so all my credit goes to the recipes. We tried many different fall desserts but 2 have become family favorites, definite keepers.

Our family is not big on cooked apples/apple pie. However, I've been dying to make a pie with fresh apples this fall and I found a recipe that EVERYONE will love, even non-apple pie fans and those undecided. This apple pie was light on the apples and heavy on the delicious crumb topping and crust and served alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was fall dessert heaven.

Crumb-Topped Apple Pie

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup uncooked regular oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced (I chose a variety-1 fuji, 1 golden delicious, and 1 granny smith)
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions
Combine first 5 ingredients. Add butter and stir. Reserve 1 1/4 cup, packed mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture on bottom and up sides of 9 inch pie dish.
Arrange apple slices in pie plate.
In a small saucepan, combine 1/3 cup sugar and cornstarch. Add water and bring to boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour over apples.
Top pie with remaining crumb mixture.
Bake at 350F for 42 minutes

(Adapted from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook)



Another winner (sorry no pictures-they were too good to last long enough!) for our family's favorite fall dessert was a chocolate chip pumpkin cookie adapted from several online sources.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup Libby Pumpkin Pie Mix canned
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Sift together first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. In another larger mixing bowl beat softened butter until creamy. Add sugar and blend. Add egg, pumpkin, and vanilla, blend well. Gradually add flour mixture and blend. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 375F on a greased cookie sheet for 10 minutes.

Fall Wreath

Here is a really cute fall wreath that my sister Mande made for her first home! So cute. Love the fall colors against her black door. She's the best and smartest and most creative big sis ever! p.s. sorry about the sideways pictures.

Halloween Greeting Card (Beware, the witching hour is upon us!)

This is our family Halloween greeting card that we are sending out this year. I love all the altered art ideas I have seen lately and thought they would be cute applied to our Halloween card. I took a picture of my daughter and had it printed in sepia tone. Then I took old book pages, paper, and stickers to create a cute, bewitching theme.

Gone Batty!

I took a page from Martha Stewart's book and made these bat cutouts to decorate my front door. At some point I will add spiders and spiderweb silhouettes. It's just something fun to look at as we are coming and going.

Scared Stiff! (starched ghost)

Here is another fast, no cost Halloween craft. I used a cloth diaper (I had them laying around-they are great dusting rags) but other materials such as cheese cloth or old sheet would work too.

Step 1: mix 1 cup cold water and 1/4 cup corn starch in a small sauce pan.

Step 2: bring to boil and stir until a thick jelly-like paste forms.

Step 3: soak cloth in water and squeeze out excess water (the water will help the cloth to absorb the starch)

Step 4: in a bowl add the starch solution and cloth, cover cloth well with starch solution and remove excess

Step 5: lay fabric over object to shape (I used a vase with a bowl turned upside down) and allow to dry over night

Step 6: add on face with paint or permanent marker.

I think with would look great with a battery tea light underneath or hanging from the ceiling.

Witches Jars

Here's a no cost idea for Halloween decor. I took jars and vases that I had and added "witches ingredients". I used pulled apart cotton balls for "cobwebs", green yarn for "poison seaweed", and black paper cut in the shape of bat wings for "wing of bat". I printed out the labels on computer paper with a spooky font. I used brown watercolor paints (the kind my two year old uses) to age the paper and then tore out the labels to give them a frayed look. I attached the labels with scotch tape. It was simple and quick and required no purchase. You could use all kinds of things around the house to double as "witches ingredients" and add them to any container.

Fall Ribbon Wreath

I know it's a little early for fall decor but all the fall decorations in the stores got me in the mood to make a craft project for decorating in October and November. This is a super, super easy project that I did in under an hour. It was super cheap too! I took a wire coat hanger and bent it into the shape of a circle. I bent the hook of the hanger at the top into a loop to hang the wreath. Next I took coordinating orange, brown, and gold ribbon and tulle and cut 6-8 inch strips (I got the ribbon from the dollar section of Michaels and added it to what I had in my stash at home). Then simply tie the ribbon around the hanger, fluff, and voila!