Nell’s Apple Pie

My great-grandmother Nellene (Nell) created this recipe.  I never got to meet Nellene, but her pie has been the stuff of legends ever since.  She was very careful who she shared the recipe with and kept it pretty much a secret recipe until it fell into my hands. 

(Apparently, I have no gifting in the keep recipes secret department).
Nell’s pie is so much easier to make than a traditional 2 crust apple pie.  And everyone who tries it, is an immediate convert.  But.  This pie is especially beloved by those of the male persuasion. 
Seriously.  Young.  Old.  In da middle.  Undying love is profusely pledged for this pie.  It’s quite a spectacle.
When my dad was diagnosed with diabetes, I began making his with Splenda instead of sugar.  Because, my dad?  He insists he CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT THIS PIE. 
So… are you convinced to try Nell’s recipe? 
Start with a piecrust.  I make mine ahead in large batches and keep them in the freezer.  But use whatever crust you like...  From scratch or the grocer’s freezer. 
Once the crust is in the pan and the edges crimped, dump 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup white sugar into the bottom of the crust.  Mix gently with a fork until blended.

Mound up the pie with peeled, cored and thinly sliced apples.  The original recipe calls for golden delicious apples.  I’ve tried a few other apples, but always come back to the golden delicious variety.  They seem to work the best and they’re easy to find at the store year round. 
If your apples are a little tart, sprinkle the top with up to 1/2 cup more sugar.  I almost always opt out of this step.  They’re usually sweet enough. 
Take a carton of whipping cream and start slowly pouring cream over the apples.  Try to get a bit of cream on all the top apple slices.
 
Dust lightly with ground nutmeg.  No, it’s not the usual apple pie spice, but trust me on this one.  It just works. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. 

Nell’s Cream Apple Pie
1 prepared pie crust
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
4-5 golden delicious apples
1/4 to 1/2 cup additional sugar for dusting (optional)
1 to 1-1/2 cups whipping cream
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Place pie crust in a 9” pie plate and crimp edges.  Mix 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup sugar in bottom of the crust.  Peel, core and thinly slice apples and mound them on top of flour/sugar mixture.  Dust with additional sugar, to taste.  Sprinkle with nutmeg.  Pour whipping cream over the apples.  Try to get each apple covered with just a bit of cream.  Bake at 350 degrees 40-50 minutes. 

Freezing cookie dough

If you're looking ahead to Christmas and wondering how you're going to get all of your baking done, consider preparing and freezing your cookie dough now.  Before the busyness begins in earnest. 

Snickerdoodle dough balls

You can have a large assortment of cookie dough ready and waiting at your fingertips.  As Christmas inches closer there will be more time for family or last minute gifts instead of spending all your time in the kitchen.

Ziploc bag of chocolate chip dough balls

 

Molasses Crinkles

No real recipe for you today… just the steps to freezing your family favorites ahead of time  :) 

Freezing Cookie Dough

1.  Make the dough from any drop cookie recipe.  Just stay away from cookies that are made with an egg white dough (like meringue) or a more liquid batter (like macarons or brownies).  
2.  On a baking sheet, place heaping spoonfuls of your dough.  If the recipe requires the dough balls be rolled in a sugar mixture, do this before putting them on the sheet.  Continue plopping dough balls until the entire sheet is full. 
3.  Put baking sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours or overnight. 
4.  Remove from freezer and place in airtight containers or freezer bags.  Return to freezer. 
When Ready to Bake: 
Remove desired amount of cookie dough balls from the freezer.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake per your recipe instructions.  No need to thaw first, but you may need to add a minute or two to your baking time. 
Happy Freezing!

Thanksgiving subway sign

This sign was actually finished last fall, but it was too close to Thanksgiving to get it posted before everyone was focused on Christmas!

I’ve seen a lot of subway tutorials floating around, but they always seem to involve some sort of vinyl cutting device.  And I’m sure they’re fabulous to have.  But since I don’t have one…  my subway signs are of the hand painted variety.  And really.  It’s not that bad to paint a few words on a sign.  It may not be as perfect as vinyl would be, but that just adds to it’s “vintage” charm ;)

It all started with a plain pine board I found in the shed.  After a good sanding, I based it in dark walnut brown acrylic paint.  Next came a layer of mustard yellow and then a coat of red, allowing drying time between layers.  The final coat is a called old parchment. Perfect! 

Before the words were added, I gave it a another sanding.  Because I wanted it to look aged, I made sure to sand enough to allow a few areas of red, gold and/or brown paint layers to show. 

Then it’s a matter of printing out a variety of words in different fonts and arranging them on the board.  Once I was happy with their placement, I used graphite paper to trace the letters onto the board, removed the paper and started painting! 

Another bit of sanding after the letters were finished….

a coat of clear matte spray paint to seal and protect….

And we have a vinyl-less subway sign. 

Did anyone else notice the most prominent word is “pie?” 

Guess now y’all know what we’re really thankful for :)

with a whole heart

VIA

No Other Name

VIA

Be Ye Thankful

I have this little watercolor I painted a long time ago.

But I was never happy with the frame.  This fall, it was finally Thankful’s turn to have a little makeover.

I found an inexpensive frame at the thrift store, gave it a coat of orange and a chocolate brown glaze. 

SO much better and

a fun reminder to count our blessings!

Friday lovelies. . .

FLYING SALMON

Full Treasury {HERE}