My Favorite Finds #3

This is one of my FAVORITE apple pie recipes of all time! A local church would have their annual craft fair in the beginning of Fall, and their members would bake hundreds of these to sell as a fundraiser (you had to get there early to get one because they'd sell out everytime!). A recipe would always be attached to each pie. It was also published in their fundraiser cookbook. I always end up baking a few of these every Fall when it's apple season around here. So the next time you're at the grocery store, be sure to ask for "paper" and save them for this wonderful recipe! If you choose to make the single-serving size, brown paper lunch bags are the perfect size! And for those of you that don't have the pie crust thing down, this crust is a "pat in the pan" recipe!

BROWN BAG APPLE PIE

Crust:
1 ½ cup flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
½ cup oil
1 Tbsp. milk

Mix Crust ingredients and pat in pie plate. (For small pies, divide into 4 equal parts.)

Filling:
6 large baking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
½ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix Filling ingredients together and pour into unbaked pie crust.

Topping:
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
1/3 butter, softened

Mix Topping ingredients and pat on top of pie filling. Place pie in a large brown paper bag. Fold ends under and staple bag. Bake on a cookie sheet for 1 hour at 425 degrees F.

For small pies, bake 30 minutes and use small brown lunch bags. Make sure that the bag is not touching any part of the oven. Yield: 1 large pie or 4 small pies

My Favorite Finds #2

I plant tomatoes every year because they are so easy to grow and there's always a guarantee I will have plenty to go around and there's nothing like a home-grown tomato! I usually grow three types......"regular", plum and a grape or cherry tomato. Here's a simple yet delicious recipe for them! The recipe calls for large tomatoes, but you can replace them with grape or cherry tomatoes sliced in half. I first got to taste this recipe when I attended an Italian-American club meeting with my Italian friend from work. What a treat!

Tomato Onion Salad
4 large tomatoes, sliced

2 medium sweet onions, thinly sliced and separated into rings

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon finely chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Layer tomatoes and onions in a shallow serving dish. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the remaining ingredients; shake well. Drizzle over salad. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Yield: 6 servings

Courtesy of: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Tomato-Onion-Salad

My Favorite Finds #1

I was shopping at my local grocery store the other day and I noticed they were selling wooden hangers for clothing. I thought to myself those are so much nicer than wire hangers and are probably stronger than the plastic hangers. They would be great for heavy coats. But, because it wasn't something I needed, I passed them on by (and they were even on sale, too). As I was surfing the net, I came across this cute idea to turn plain wooden hangers into art for your closet! These would make the cutest AND unique housewarming gifts! Or you can personalize them for your kids by adding their name! Wouldn't they be nice in your coat closet and when guests visit and hang up their coats, they would see your one-of-a-kind hangers? I think I may be heading back to that store now...........

Decoupage Coat Hanger*

Materials needed:
wooden coat hanger, base paint, decoupage paper, paint brush, decoupage medium or glue, varnish

Instructions:
This project uses the decoupage method. Prepare your wooden coat hanger by sanding it and base painting it. Let dry. Cut out your decoupage paper (you will need small designs to be able to place it onto the hanger). Using your decoupage glue or white wood glue, adhere the little images on to the coat hanger. Once you have all your images glued and the glue has dried, apply a coat of varnish. Let dry.

*Courtesy of: http://www.craftbits.com/

New Series

I love fun DIY (do-it-yourself) projects, cooking, crafting and gardening! I say "fun DIY projects" because I like making useful or decorative things for my home and garden; I'm not referring to DIY projects such as painting walls or putting in a new bathtub! I love to surf the internet to find new ideas and recipes. I have decided to include the treasures I find here in my blog.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and I would love your feedback and photos of your finished projects!

I'm back!

I've been enjoying the last three weekends getting away from it all. Over Father's Day weekend, my husband and I headed "west" and stayed in a cabin on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River. We enjoyed our annual trek to the Mountain Man Rendezvous (Prairie Villa Rendezvous) in Prairie du Chien, WI. We had a great weekend. Only mishap was when we were getting ready to leave, after having breakfast in a very small town, we got into a "fender bender" with a young girl who decided to pull into the parking space next to us as we were backing out. When we called the police, we had to wait for him because "he wasn't on duty yet". Talk about a small town! Then, we found out later, he was the Chief of Police!

The next weekend, we went up north and stayed in my brother's travel trailer in a campground on a lake. Luckily, the weather cooled down enough because the campground's electricity at each campsite was too old to handle running an air conditioner unit! We had dinner several times at "supper clubs" (couldn't find anything that was referred to as a restaurant). We also encountered "wildlife", such as deer, a porcupine that wouldn't get out of the road and an unidentified snake that my fearless husband tried to pick up! Also, I got to see my husband get thrown from a Waverunner! LOL!

The Fourth of July weekend was a stay-at-home weekend. We didn't even go anywhere to watch fireworks (though, I did watch our local fireworks show from my daughter's 2nd floor bedroom window). I did a lot of "putzing" around the house and got a bunch of stuff done.

Now, it's time to get back on track and get into the regular routine again. But it is summer, and when you live in Wisconsin, you want to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible, especially since the summer weather had a late start around here.

Happy Summer!

I passed my motorcycle class!

I've been around motorcycles most of my adult life, but always as a passenger. I've tried riding a few times in my life, like in parking lots, etc., but never really learned enough to go out on the roads by myself. I bought a 250cc scooter a couple of years ago to save on gas and I ride it to and from work. Here in Wisconsin, you need a motorcycle license to drive anything over a 99cc engine. So, I took a motorcycle safety course at our local tech college. Once you pass the class, they give you a waiver to take to DMV to get your license (you don't have to take the road test). It was a fun class and I am glad I took it. They teach you a lot of emergency maneuvers, which I really wanted to learn in a controlled environment (not on the road with real obstacles). So, hopefully in the near future, I can upgrade my scooter to a real bike!

Sitting on a Harley at the Harley Davidson Museum Milwaukee WI!