Pumpkins, Ponderings, and Apple Crisp

I just had to share a few recent pictures since the last time I shared with you guys I wasn't able to.  A couple weeks ago, we went down to the quaint, little pumpkin patch "down the road", The Penny Pumpkin Patch.  We look forward to picking out pumpkins every year, and since moving back to my hometown this spot has been our place to go!  It's a fun family tradition.

This sweet place is in a tiny community named Penny which is basically in the middle of nowhere, but isn't that the best place for a pumpkin patch to be?!  If you head out of town, it's somewhere between the horse farms, soybean fields, and all the smoking tobacco barns. 

Speaking of, I have to share with you a snippet of my country life.  I have never used tobacco a minute in my life, but we live in in the middle tobacco farm country.  Every fall when the harvested tobacco smokes in the barns, it is simply the quintessential smell of early autumn in the country!  If you open your windows on a brisk late September morning and smell the woodsy campfire type scent wafting in, it's a sign that the new season is at hand. I'm sure it must be funny to think about if you're not familiar with the scent or the country way of life, but for most of the people around here it's a familiar, endearing scent that welcomes fall to Kentucky! 

The love of my life!

Whenever we're at the patch I love seeing our kids run free around the pumpkins, their heart so excited their legs can hardly keep up!  We let them pick out one of their favorite pumpkins to take home.  Our daughter takes her task very seriously, where as our son just likes to mostly run and climb on whatever is around.  (With a very energetic 5 and 6 years old every single errand is an adventure, to say the least!!) I decided on a beautiful deep orange trio of pumpkins that came stacked up and ready to adorn our front porch!

I had to steal a picture of me with my beautiful little girl as she is bursting with excitement to be picking out her 2016 pumpkin! 

Just look at those dark brown eyes you could get lost in... and those eyelashes!  She's a cutie!! 

God knows and see her little heart.  I pray that I'm meeting her needs as a mommy should. Parenting has been one of the biggest leaps of faith from the very start.  It is a day by day, hour by hour reminder that I need daily help from the Lord.  I love our children with all my being, but I imperfectly guide them while trusting God's grace to cover us in the process. 

More than anything, I want to raise adults who love God with their whole being

and love people... out loud! 

Simple goal as it is, ultimately it will be their decision to make.  

My nickel parenting advice? 

Faith. (in God) 

Trust. (In God)

Prayer. (With each breath.)

Love (The best you can.)

Repeat.

Back home we set out the pumpkin bounty on the front and back porch and the mums I bought at the grocery. I admire the little acorns we have by the millions around our porch.  The giant oak trees loom overhead and shower our place with acorns. 

I happen to like things like that. :)

Inside I've began to set a cozy scene with the fire in the fireplace!  Most mornings are chilly enough to turn it on as I sip a quick cup of coffee during the week or my 2-3 cups I linger over on the weekends! I have bits of fall décor peeking out here and there!  I've since added more from the time this picture was taken, but it's real life here. This mama doesn't have time to stage photos these days, yet I don't want that to keep me from sharing my home with you! 

So, I've had requests for some of the recipes of things I've been making in the kitchen. and I don't want to let my cozy followers down!...

 I'm letting you all in on a delicious and easy recipe I've been making for years and years every fall!  It's a classic apple crisp recipe with dried cranberries and cinnamon. I like to bake crumbles and crisps in the fall months filled with warm and chewy fruit and topped with a crumbly oat topping! This one is a snap to put together. It's a perfect dessert with some cold milk or a decadent breakfast with a steamy cup of coffee!  Fresh out of the oven with some vanilla ice cream for us!

Cinnamon-Apple Berry Crumble

6 cups of sliced and peeled apples (about 6 medium)

1 c. dried cranberries

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

3/4 c. oats, quick cook or old fashioned if you want more texture

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2c. chopped walnuts or pecans

Ice cream if you want it extra delicious!

Heat oven to preheat at 375 F.  In a large bowl mix apples, cranberries, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Spoon into an ungreased 11x7 baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix remaining ingredients with a fork until crumbly.  Spoon over the fruit mixture.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until apples are tender, juice bubbles and topping is golden brown!  Serve warm with ice cream!

Note: I'm sure you could make this with fresh cranberries if you add some extra sugar and cook it a little longer.

*Best Loved* Slow-Cooked Apple Butter

Welcome to a recipe that pretty much sums up the kind of food I love, the rich flavors of the season, the way I want my house to smell, and the homemade coziness I want my blog to convey .....  

Homemade slow cooked apple butter.  

This stuff is wonderful!!!  I'm a country girl at heart, and I grew up in a house in the country with apple trees.  Picking the good ripe apples, throwing the fallen ones over for the cows to eat, and climbing the apple trees were just a part of my growing up!  Apples with cinnamon is a familiar scent, because mom baked so many apple crisps and crumbles and pies in the fall and now I do the same!  There is something about the smell of cooking apples with spice takes me away to a picturesque and safe place in my soul. :)

I love the taste of creamy apple butter, so when I found this recipe I knew I had to attempt making it.  I published this recipe 2 years ago at Inspired By Family, and I'm excited that I'm finally getting around to bringing it to my blog.

This was my first attempt at making this spread homemade, and it turned out more delicious than expected!  Making it in the slow cooker allowed the process to be a bit more relaxed than other canning I've done, and it also filled the house with a cozy aroma!  This homemade apple butter is an excellent gift for family or something good to eat on all winter long with a flaky biscuit and a steamy cup of coffee.  

Slow Cooked Apple Butter

Recipe from Cooking with K

1/2-1 cups Water or Apple Cider

8-10 Whole Apples (I used Gala) washed, cored, and chopped

1-2 cups Brown Sugar

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

1/8 teaspoons Ground Cloves

1/8 teaspoons Allspice

1/8 teaspoons Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoons Salt

 Chop all of the apple, only leaving the core.  I left the peel on for just a bit of texture and fiber.

Place apples in the slow cooker and add sugar and spices.  Stir to combine. 

Add the water or cider. 

(If using cider, you may not want to add as much sugar as you would with water.)

Set cooker on high and bring to a bubble. 

Then turn down to low and cook for 6-8 hours, stirring every couple of hours.  If it needs to cook down even more, leave the lid propped open for a while.

The apple butter is done when it has a very deep color, apples are cooked to pieces, and it has thickened. 

Use a hand blender or food processor to cream it all together until smooth.  I had success using a hand blender right in the pot.  Easy and nothing extra to clean.

To can apple butter, you will need to buy jars and sterilize them in a boiling water bath or put in your dishwasher on "sterilize" setting.

To sterilize in a water bath, you will need to place a kitchen towel in the bottom of a sauce pot and fill halfway with water.  Turn jars upside down in the cold water and bring to a boil.  Boil over medium heat for 15 minutes.  Sterilize the jar lids, rings, and the end of your kitchen tongs in another pot the same way.  Never touch the inside of a jar or lid with your bare hands.  Use a tong for the lids and kitchen towel for the jars. 

Fill the jars to 1/2 inch from the top and take the end of a towel and dip in boiling water.  Wipe the rim of the jar very clean.  Place the lid onto the jar straight out of the water it was sterilized in, being careful not to touch it.  Take the tongs and get a ring.  You can place the ring with your hands to secure the jar.

When all of the jars are filled, place filled jars in a deep saucepan and boil over medium heat for 15 minutes.  Makes about 4 pints.

Remove and let cool on the counter over night. You know the jars have sealed with you hear the popping coming from the lids becoming vacuum tight once removed from the boiling water.  Store the jars of apple butter in the pantry, but if for some reason a jar doesn't seal properly, store in the fridge and use first. 

It won't last long!

Classic Autumn Apple Crumble

I'm sitting a quiet home while my family sleeps in this morning, and the peace is almost too wonderful to handle!  (I love knowing my husband and children are here.)  The window is cracked enough for the cool fall-like temperature to sweep inside our home on this early September morning.  I actually have a soft robe on over my pjs and my coffee in hand as I reflect on my life.

Fall is near!  Autumn's warm and cozy tastes and smells and colors that wrap you like a Grandma's warm embrace is almost at our door step, and I couldn't be happier!  Yesterday was simply gorgeous!  The sky was blue and the air crisp, lacking any Southern humidity at all!  

After spending a special day with my lovely grandparents and cousins, we retreated home for naps.  Well, the rest of my crew did.  I gathered the ingredients and baked up a surprise treat of the season's first apple crumble!

Chopped apples with cinnamon topped with a buttery, brown sugary oat crunch sprinkled over the top and baked till bubbly and crisp on the edges.  I had leftover German roasted pecans from a recent baseball game we attended so I added those to take this rustic dessert to the next level!  I also tossed in some golden raisins since I had them.  

What a way to usher in the fall season but with a warm cozy apple crumble fresh from the oven.  Top it with ice cream or eat it simply with milk or a cup of coffee!  Anyway you choose with be a delicious start to this beautiful season!  

Classic Apple Crumble

Filling:

4-5 medium apples (I used Granny Smith and Gala)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1-2 Tbsp. Brown sugar

Topping:

1c. Oats

1c. brown sugar

1/2c. Flour

1/4 tsp. Cinnamon

1/4 tsp. Apple pie spice

1/2 c. Butter

Dash of salt

1/2 c. Pecans, chopped-optional

Peel and dice apples into about 1 inch pieces.  Toss with cinnamon and sugar and pour mixture into a 2 quart dish or pie plate.

In a large bowl, mix together oats, sugar, flour, and spices.  "Cut" in the butter until blended into course crumbs.  Stir in pecans.  Pour the crumble over the apples and bake at 350 degrees F. for 35-40 minutes.  Serve warm!

Apple Pie & Autumn Days

I Love Autumn!!!

There is something so comforting about fall's sights, smells and, of course, tastes. 

 

 

You know what I mean ... the crisp blue sky and the colors in nature going from summer's green to rusts, golds, plums, and blazing red.  

 

The smell of leaves on the ground (you know what I'm talking about) takes me back to my early childhood.  Jumping in huge piles of freshly raked leaves with my little brother is a favorite memory of mine!  My children are loving the beautiful colored leaves on the ground and collecting them along with acorns for a little fall "display" on our porch!  Precious.

It's pumpkin patch time, and we all go as a family for the very first time!! Here we are riding out to the patch together on a wagon!

 

What a dream come true for us...  Something I've looked forward to for many years! 

 The children's eyes lit up, as did my heart when they ran through the patch finding their perfect pumpkin!!

 

Back at home, get out the comfy throws and add an extra blanket to the bed for chilly nights in our upstairs attic-like master bedroom.  Blankets are my friends in cold weather, just ask my husband! 

 

This time of year our homes begin to smell like Grandma's house with vanilla, cinnamon, and pumpkin fragrances wafting in and out of rooms.  

 

We bring out our cozy recipes that simmer long and slow and start baking desserts that are really our favorite, like pumpkin spice muffins and pecan pie. 

 

And apple pie!  

 

 

Windows are opened again during the day to air out and cool off, and fireplaces are ablaze at night and early morning.  

 

Rainy days that bring in cold fronts give an additional excuse to light our candles and brew afternoon coffee... Such as this particular day last Saturday.  A perfect day!

The children were resting, and Mr. Cozy and I had an impromptu date in our living room!  I made Nana's (perfect) apple pie to really give us a taste of the season.  He made amazing coffee with extra fluffy foam on top.  He topped it off with a dusting of Pennsylvania maple sugar that Papa gave us as a yummy gift. Oh my!!

Melt in your mouth apple pie, perfect coffee, rainy afternoon, candles and sharing it all with the love of my life!.... What could be better?!

My new book, Women Living Well!!!  

When my blog "friend" Courtney Joseph just released her first book, I had to preorder it.  I was thrilled it came in on a rainy weekend so I could really dig in and read!!  

And oh, how it's a good read!

Courtney loves Jesus with all her heart, and she has an amazing online ministry (Women Living Well).  She is so lovely in spirit and genuinely enjoys all things home & family as I do, but she is also very real and relatable!  When I read this book, I feel as though she's talking to me in my own home, as a friend does.  This book is encouraging to read and the more I do the more I want to serve my family and draw closer to the Lord.  She and I have never met, but we certainly could be close friends!

(There are a few of you whom I feel the very same way about:)

Y'all really need to try out Nana's apple pie recipe (delicious!) and also this book if you haven't yet!   

My life has even more facets now, but I still like to keep pleasures simple, and I draw the rest I need from God's love and grace.  He is the only constant in our changing lives, and the return of Autumn reminds me of that. :)

 

If you love apple desserts like we do, you must check out my Caramel Apple Cake and Best Apple Crisp!  

 

 Linking up with friends at:

 

 

 

 

The Best Autumn Apple Crisp & Apple Pickin!

 

Farewell Summer!

What is it about the this time of year--with the cooler nights and autumn in the air-- that causes us to crave the warm aromas of vanilla, coffee, or cinnamon?  There is just something heart-warming about pulling a steamy apple pie or crisp out of the oven!  What a delicious surprise for the hubby after work, the kids as they come home from school, or on a brisk Saturday after a game of family football. A dessert dotted with butter and brown sugar somehow always puts a smile on my face and extra faces in my house!

 

Here are a few pictures of our fun apple picking afternoon together!  Mr. Cozy and I love doing seasonal things like this. 

 

 

Can you tell I was incredibly happy to on the wagon ride out to the orchard?  It was only my sweet husband and I together for the ride!  How romantic. :)

 

I'm ready to start pickin!!!

 

 

I found a perfect one!

 

After picking some beautiful Jonathan apples (which are my favorite) at the orchard, I decided it would only be the right thing to do for me to make the very first apple crisp of the season!  Friends, this one is truly the Best apple crisp I've ever had!  It's an easy one to make and calls for staple pantry ingredients plus a special one for making it so delicious--yellow cake mix! 

 

 

While my husband is usually more of a pie kind of guy, he could hardly keep his fork out of it!!  With a frosty glass of milk and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, this crumble apple crisp is sure to satisfy your cinnamon-apple cravings.  Hope you can enjoy it in the upcoming season with your family! 

 

 

Autumn Apple Crisp

 

7 c. Diced Tart Apples, about 7 medium

1 c. Sugar

1 Tbsp. All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

Dash of Salt

1/4 c. Water

1- 9 oz. pkg. Yellow Cake Mix (I used Jiffy)

3/4 c. Rolled Oats

1/3 c. Butter, cold and cubed

1 heaping Tbsp. Dark Brown Sugar

1/2 c. Pecans, coarsely chopped

1/4 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Baking Powder

 

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Dice apples into small bits and place in a medium sized bowl.

 

Add sugar and the 4 ingredients. 

 

 Stir to combine and set bowl aside.

 

 In another bowl, dump the yellow cake mix, oats, brown sugar, powder and soda.

 

 Stir to combine.

 

 Add the butter and cut into the mixture, with two forks, until crumbly.

 

 This is what makes it a Crisp.

 

 Pour the delicious apple mixture into a greased baking dish.

 

Sprinkle the crumble topping over the apples. 

 

 Spread out evenly to all the edges.

 

Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes or until apples are tender and top is golden and bubbly!

 

Serve warm with ice cream. 

 When the ice cream begins to melt is when it's the best!

Enjoy!

 

 

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