How to make an apple pie - Mama Milly style

So you know that saying, easy as pie? 

 

 

Well we made quite a few pies this year and I decided I would take pictures along the way and post a picture tutorial - not for any reason except I can, and I made so many pies I had lots of opportunity!

 So the first step to making a great apple pie is to buy a house with apple trees!

Yes, if you remember we moved to a different house back in May, and we didn't buy a new house, we went with an established neighbourhood - you just can't beat the trees and the size of the yards.  Besides that, we have a lot of company throughout the year, it's just how we roll, so I am always concerned that people will have a place to park.  We looked at some new houses in new neighbourhoods, and we just felt like the narrow streets and small front yards leave your company o where to park!
So we bought a house that was the same age as our old house, actually it even has the same brick on the front, but it is bigger and way closer to our church! One really cool thing about our house is the two big apple trees!  One had small apples - 1-2 inch and the other tree had big apples, some where literally the size of softballs!  And neither tree is a crab apple tree, so that is even better!  We had so many apples!  It was crazy!

 So I made a lot of the little ones into applesauce, but we had a bit of a debate around here as to when to pick them.  My hubby had a friend back in Calgary who had an apple tree and he said you have to wait until the first frost to make the apples sweeter, but I thought we should pick them as soon as the neighbour started picking his - he is 95 years old or something so really, I am guessing he knows when to pick the apples!  The other neighbour told me, that he told her, that they haven't bought apples in 30 years or something.  They keep the ones they pick down in the cold room and eat apples all year!  So anyway, we had a debate and I think they must be sweeter after the frost, but the wind in the fall just knocks them off the tree like crazy, so next year the little ones are getting picked as soon as the old guy starts picking his!

 Next, have a super cool sister who buys you super cool tools like the apple, peeler, corer that is above!  It is so neat, I should go get a second one so next year we can do them twice as fast!  Not only does it do all the work in one go - it makes cool slinky apples like this...
 and it also makes crazy long apple peel strings like you can see in the background of that picture or is this crazy one....

 

Oh that was so fun!  I have another friend who has apple trees and she has a apple crisp making party every year after they pick their apples.  She invites some women over and we make an assembly line to peel, core and cut the apples, put them into aluminum pans, cover them with topping and put the lids on and add an instruction sticker.  Then we would split the crisps and take them home.  It was always so fun and productive too!  I came home with at least 6 crisps each year!  All that to say that next year, I am hoping to do the same!   

 

So once you send all the apples through your cool machine (or cut them by hand if you insist) toss them with a bit of sugar - I use brown because I like it better - or a mixture of brown and white a bit of lemon juice and a little smidge of flour, then put them in the pie plates which are lined with pastry.

 

 I was going to put my recipe in this post, but I use the pastry recipe on the back of the Crisco box, just because I always have and it always works, so why change, right? Truthfully though when I was running out of time last week with company coming, and apples getting old, and fruit flies starting, I bought some pie crusts - really, it's the filling that matters, do whatever you have to!  We are not going for perfection here, just goodness!  The above pictures are homemade though - AND as a side note, I use wax paper to roll out my pastry, then it doesn't get too much flour and it doesn't stick to anything, and you don't have to handle it too much to make it tough - works every time!

Doesn't that look good?  I made one with less than half the sugar for a friend and apparently it was still yummy, so there you go!  So almost done, put the top pastry on and cut some steam escape holes and pinch the edges and bake.

 

It's hard to tell, but I always cut a little heart in the middle and then put an x on the top, bottom, and each side of the heart - it's just what I do! 
So one of these was for a friend, and the other two I was going to invite people over to eat them - but we had some sad news this very day - right as I was ready to leave to deliver my pie...which made our whole week, never mind that one day look a lot different than I had planned. It was nice to have these desserts premade though so that when the company did arrive we had some yummy stuff to share.

Now my apples are done, the frost must have made the 20 apples still left in the big tree sweet, because the grackles have been crazy about them ever since - they can't be salvaged.  So if you weren't invited for pie this year, maybe we'll get to do it next year!

I can tell it's earlier than I normally wake up

How you ask?

Well, for one it is quiet in here, absolutely quiet.  No talking, no laughing, no screeching, no music, no little feet pattering around - really super quiet!

The coffee was hot!  Instead of lukewarm like I usually get it!  We have a thermal carafe as part of our coffee machine so that the coffee doesn't get yucky between when my husband makes it and I get up to drink it, but it doesn't stay particularly hot either.  Today it was hot, I kind of like that!

 Mostly I can tell though because all these kids are sleeping!  I debated about whether or not to go upstairs to take pictures, I mean because I am actually blogging I don't want to take the chance of waking them...although they do need to get up in the next 15 minutes or so!  Do you take pictures of your kids sleeping?  I am just realizing that you can tell these are authentic pictures because my little Dash here in the first picture has 3 different sets of sheets happening!  LOL!  A fitted sheet from one set, a flat from another and an entirely different pillowcase! Too funny!

 There are kids in there - but they are too buried to be able to see them!  Oh, I shot my theory out of the water, because there are actually matching sheets on the two bunks, but whatever...to be honest, they don't have the pillowcases that match on the beds, which I would stage if I had thought about it - AND they do have matching duvet covers that I could have put on.  I do always buy twin size things in duplicate.  So that the beds have the potential to be matching at all times....

 Again, mismatched pillow case...

And this last pictures cracks me up - because I follow Honest Toddler on twitter.  I swear it could be my own kid tweeting!  Although I don't go to the park NEARLY as much as that person tweets about!  Anyway, this is my toddler, in the big bed....sleeping sideways.  I laughed so hard one day when the Honest Toddler tweeted something to the effect of  - 'woke up in the big bed today in the shape of an H - guess who was in the middle' .....truth my friends - even when she sleeps in there alone she makes an H shape.

Last night she did actually stay in her own bed, and only came to see me at about 6:15...maybe that is why I ended up getting up earlier than normal.

Anyway, the last way I can tell I am up earlier than normal is that I am actually blogging - because I had a minute to myself, with no one needing any food, or any wiping - and with no one asking to use the computer!  Hopefully this will all happen again soon!

Welcome Home

We had the opportunity to go to the Welcome Home for the CYIA workers on Saturday. 

It was kind of amazing. 

I am so happy that our oldest daughter had the opportunity to serve this year, I am feeling really blessed.

Each worker had opportunity to stand up and share their summer highlight - it moved me to tears numerous times. Did you know that there were 5000 children enrolled in 5 day clubs this summer in Saskatchewan? There were 1298 children enrolled in Alberta and 45.9% of those 6298 children don't regularily attend church or Sunday School.  Almost 600 children made decisions to accept Christ and over 7000 Mailbox club lessons were received.   

This is incredible to me. 

But it is more than that.  It is more than the kids who attended the clubs.  It is the kids who taught the clubs.  I was so amazed to hear what THEY got out of the summer.  An increased sense of God's love for the kids they were teaching, a realization that He really does provide.  One boy talked about how his heart was broken for all the fatherless children he taught on this one reserve and how he felt like maybe they (the CYIA workers) were father figures to them, but how could they do that, they weren't equipped, they couldn't go back often enough - and God showed him that the way they were doing it was taking these children and introducing them to THE Father.  Introducing them to Father God, who IS a father to the fatherless.  He was amazed to see his role as teacher in this 'bigger picture' light.  One girl talked about having a rollover with her car and realizing that God provides when someone came along to help her, and her injuries were very minimal, considering.  They spoke of God giving them energy and enthusiasm for the task, for Him providing physical needs like places to stay and children to attend the clubs.  The spoke of learning that prayers are really answered - WHEN YOU PRAY THEM.  I was just amazed at what it did for them, not just those they were teaching!  I was so not that mature when I was 14, 15, 16, heck not even when I was in my 20s.
I am humbled and awed that we were able to be a small part of it.

So why does this all matter to me?  Because I grew up believing in God, but having fear that He wasn't going to accept me, but knowing in my own self that it didn't fit with the character of God that you hear about.  We didn't go to church when I was growing up, and my  mom did put me into Pioneer Clubs so I would have the opportunity to learn about God, which probably reinforced what I 'knew' to be true, but at the same time it was confusing because it was inconsistent with what the church had said to my mom when I was born.  So now that I know what the Bible really says about God, and am discovering more every day His great love for us, the love that caused him to die for us WHILE we were still sinners, I want everyone to know.  Because that love is not just for me, it is for my kids, and my husband, and my neighbours and my family members. That love is offered freely - and it doesn't end, even when I blow it.  God is so faithful, even when I am not - that is amazing!  And the unfortunate part is that we only get one chance!  I don't believe in reincarnation - so we have to choose to believe Him while we are here so that we don't get there to have Him say that He never knew us.  Because we have to live here on earth in our life like we are living with Him, so that in our death, he too will say Welcome Home.

So what is my daughter doing today to wind down, now that clubs are done and school isn't starting until tomorrow or Wednesday?

Quizzing!

LOL!  That is another thing that is amazing to me.  This year they are memorizing from Matthew.  I am going to try and memorize too - even though I am old and it is hard for me. But of all the things she could be doing on her first weekday off of teaching and one of her only days off before starting back to school work, she is memorizing! 

Totally in awe!

Summer

We have been having such a great summer.  Other than the fact that our oldest is gone almost all day every day with her summer missions, but it has been so relaxing and we have had fun not being so scheduled!
We just finished our first week of holidays and we had a nice time at a family camp.  We have never been to family camp before and so we weren't sure what to expect.  I think that the general consensus was positive.  Our kids would go back tomorrow.  I found it hard to actually visit with the other families because there was no time in the morning and the free time in the afternoon I had a napping baby.  After evening chapel I was pretty anxious to get her to the trailer to bed as well, so I felt like most of the time I was unavailable for visiting.

 But as you can see it was still fun, tubes in the lake, swimming, big meals, Dutch Blitz over BBQ chips...I mean really, what more do you need?
We also had a family event on my husband's side, so that was fun..

 We also went to a wedding where we refreshed the kids' awesome dance moves

A little YMCA anyone??

We hosted a 5 day club in our backyard took - which was good, although I think my little kids gave their big sister a hard time about teaching, but I think they were still pretty co-operative!

We also went camping for a couple of nights, and other than everyone being a little sick from family camp, that was good too.  We had a little visitor, we had Ballerina's birthday out there, we had an aunt, uncle and two cousins come to visit...and there was a lake there too so that was great on the 30 degree day with no wind.  And ice cream was only $1 for a one scoop cone at the canteen...doesn't get much better!

This week is VBS,and then we are strating back to school next week, to get a jump on it and see how the schedule actually works.  I am all for starting early if we can take a big break at Christmas!
How has your summer been??

Christian Youth in Action

These are the 5 girls who stayed with us the first week of training for teaching 5 day clubs this summer.  Right after this picture we had one leave and another come for the second week of training and then the first week of teaching one of these girls stayed with us again as she and the Ballerina were teaching together all week.

I was so proud of these young ladies.  There was a 14, 15, 16, and two 19 year olds here the first week and one of the 19 year olds left to be replaced by a 17 year old.  They were simply amazing girls that I am so proud to know and proud to be a part of what God is going to do through them this summer!

You can read what is happening with Child Evangelism Fellowship through these young ladies and young men (there are young men teaching as well) by going to this blog and read and pray for them as they try to reach kids with the gospel of Jesus!  Pray for my daughter as well, because although she is not pictured with them, she is giving her summer for teaching as well and we are so proud of her!  Pray that they will be strengthened, and encouraged, that they will bear fruit, and pray as the Spirit leads as you read the blog!  Oh, and ask her about it if you know her IRL, she would love to know that you are interested! Thanks so much!

Summer lovin'

I am totally enjoying this summer break already.  We aren't really supposed to be taking the whole summer off - there is still some Math to do, although the Princess is done hers completely.  There is still some reading to do, although lots of it I can read aloud anytime of any day....but it is awesome to just be home and not feel like there are 1000 things to do.  Yesterday we made cootie catchers - such fun!  Today the Princess has the process mastered and she has made a new one just for fun.

We've also made them in miniature - because everything is more fun in miniature.











We have eaten seasonal fruit.....
 mmm, kiwi...at least my kids think it is mmmm, I don't think I have ever tried it.

We were going to go to the library, but I don't really feel like it.  So we'll just be happy with the books we have for now!

We can't really let any more butterflies out since all that we have raised are gone, but we can still look for more and try to get them to land on us.

 Maybe we'll run through the sprinkler some more 






 or skateboard some more....

We may even do math or read or make crafts, but regardless, it is all more fun in summer!

Just some pictures

I am reading blogs tonight.  Not because I don't have other things to do, I truly do...but instead I am catching up...it has been so long since I have caught up on blogs.  Thank you for posting your pictures and sharing your life - I truly appreciate it! I try to comment but the reality is that I get behind and so I don't comment on all your posts.  But I do try to comment so that you know I am reading!

So I thought I would share a few pics here, as I am inspired by the blogs I have read tonight!

 I got a new hair cut, summer highlights and my stylist straightened it for me, because she is awesome and I can't get it that flat no matter what!

 This was our cat Leo, he had to leave our house because I just couldn't handle it.  Now that I am mentioning that, I am realizing I haven't had a single sneezing fit or itchy eye for weeks.  He went to a family who lives on a farm and so I am sure he is much happier living outside!

 These were our caterpillars this year, hundreds extra again....

 And this picture was our last night in our old house.  We were getting ready and all and the neighbour (whom we loved) came over to bring the girls some skipping ropes.  She stayed to turn and Dash tried so hard to get it down...it will take some practice!

 The Baby fell asleep on Dash one day while we were watching a movie - so cute!

Moving day!  This is our family picture taken on the first day, right after we had prayed over our house and read some Scripture.  The realtor showed up just in time to take this for us!

Have a good night.
C