Apple Picking at Skytop Orchard (and recipes!)

The hubs, pup and I took our yearly trip up to Flat Rock, NC to go apple picking at Skytop Orchard! We went a little earlier this year thinking we were smart to beat the crowds. We were wrong...it wasn't as crowded as last year mid-October, but it was still packed! Different apple types come in season at different times so we were able to get some apples that are available mid-September that were already out of season in October, so it pays to go different times of the fall season!

It was a lot of fun and Aspen had a great time running through the orchard, sniffing the apples, and meeting all kinds of people! We got the famous apple cider doughnuts again but this time there wasn't a 45 minute wait! I bought a voucher in the barn when I bought my apples and apple cider so we just walked right up to the window and got our doughnuts!

I couldn't wait to start trying out apple recipes! The first thing I did was peel and slice a few then sauté them with sugar, cinnamon and butter. SO GOOD and SO EASY. You can pretty much just wing this one, but if you are nervous about how much of this and that to use, this recipe from Southern Living and My Recipes is a good one to help you find your way

I tried to make some applesauce from a recipe from The Pioneer Woman and it was going well until I left it on the heat too long and all of the liquid dried up and the sugar burned on the bottom of the pot... Note to self, keep a closer eye on the applesauce.

After ruining the applesauce, I was determined to make something else with my apples that I could enjoy so I made an apple cake with browned butter frosting. Oh my heavens this is a delicious cake! The large pieces of apple and the spices in the cake with the nuttiness from the frosting make a glorious combination! I ripped this recipe out of my September 2010 copy of Southern Living and had it in a binder with other recipes I've saved over the years. A hard-copy Pinterest if you will. 

This is the next recipe I want to make. Gotta love a good bundt cake! And a brown sugar glaze makes everything better :)

What apple recipes have you been dying to try?

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Valentine's Day Sweets

This is my first Valentine's Day married to my favorite man. So, I am trying to make this a special one! Not that they all won't be special :) I'm all about adding special touches. Don't just buy, make, or do something because "that's what you do" on Valentine's Day; make it unique to you and your sweet life together. It will be that much more appreciated when an effort is made to show how much you really care and that you aren't doing something just because you feel like you should.

Am I right?

Ok, moving on.

I love baking and make any excuse to do so! My husband loves the cookie cakes from Great American Cookie. We even ordered one for his groom's cake! So I thought what if I get him one of those heart shaped ones for Valentine's Day, but then I decided I could just bake one! And then realized I didn't know how to make it heart-shaped...so, I ended up baking individual chocolate chip cookies and using heart-shaped cookie cutters to shape them. (I cut the dough but they turned into blobs anyway so I just cut them after they baked) I have lots of chocolate chip cookie recipes, but for this I just used the one on the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip packaging. So. Good. They know what they are doing...THEN! I found a recipe from Tidy Mom for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting! I decided to make cookie sandwiches with the frosting in between. SO GOOD! And to make it extra festive, I put red crystals on the frosting peeking out from the sandwich. He's going to love them! (And I will, too!)

They turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. (Displayed on the cutest ruffled cupcake stand from TJ Maxx, a Christmas gift from my sweet mother-in-law!)

Another delicious (and decadent!) option are individual Molten Chocolate Cakes. I've made these many times and LOVE THEM. They are super easy to make and taste like they're from a high-end french bakery.

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These delicious desserts are sure to impress anyone! And not just on Valentine's Day :)

Enjoy!

Christmas fun!

As I have mentioned before (and will continue to!) Christmas is my favorite. All of it, everything about it! The hubs (who loves Christmas as much as I do) and I wanted to host some of our family and have a fun Christmas get together with food and then going to see the Lights Before Christmas at the Riverbank Zoo. So, yesterday my parents came down and we did just that!

A yummy display of food!

We had so much fun, and it's always great to get to spend time with my parents. My dad and Jeffrey are like two peas in a pod trading jokes, and Aspen tried to play with Mia, my parents' 11 year-old Cavalier who could care less about anyone other than my mom, let alone a rambunctious puppy!

I made lots of finger food appetizers and desserts with a fun Christmas-y punch and stovetop hot chocolate to finish the night off! (Recipes and links at end)

Ham and Cheese Party Roll-ups

Mini Chicken and Waffles

Bacon-wrapped Lil' Smokies

Peppermint Marshmallows

Candy Cane Oreo Brownies

Posing by the giant Christmas tree at the Zoo

My adorable parents!

Here is a compilation of all of the recipes for the food, desserts, and drinks:

Savories
Bacon-wrapped Lil' Smokies (with a delicious brown sugar glaze! Sure to be a crowd pleaser)
Hot Ham & Cheese Roll-ups (my Dad's favorite)
Mini Chicken and Waffles - so simple! Just Mini Eggo waffles with a Chick-fil-A nugget sandwiched between with a toothpick! Serve with a drizzle of Maple Syrup.

Sweets
Puppy Chow
Gingerbread cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting - recipe from The Cupcake Diaries by the girls of Georgetown Cupcake! This cookbook started my cupcake craze!
Candy Cane Oreo Brownies (I couldn't find the candy cane type Oreos but the Mint ones worked perfectly!)
Pretzel "Kisses"(Linked recipe used Hugs, but again, couldn't find so Kisses it was!)

Drinks
Cranberry Punch
Stovetop Hot Chocolate (so fast and east and makes the perfect cup of hot chocolate)
Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows (a show-stopper for sure)

Happy Halloween Two Thousand and Fifteen!

Love a good chalkboard sign

It doesn't even feel real that it's already time for Halloween! Where did the time go? (Another holiday closer to Christmas!)

It was a pretty chill Halloween for the hubs and I this year. I worked and then came home and we watched the rest of the Clemson game. (8-0!) No little ones yet and there is no trick-or-treating in our neighborhood so nothing to get excited about.

Our Halloween tradition we started last year and we continued this year is to watch Hocus Pocus (duh) and, being the Harry Potter fans that we are, make Butterbeer! It is so easy and so delicious! We visited Harry Potter land last summer (during our spontaneous weekend trip to Orlando where we got engaged! More on that later, promise) and were able to try some bonafide Butterbeer! This recipe tastes pretty darn close...

For the drink:

24 oz cream soda
2 teaspoon vanilla butter nut flavoring

All you do for this is mix the flavoring in with your cream soda.

Next, for the delicious cream topping:

1 7 oz container of marshmallow fluff
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon rum extract

Mix together with electric mixer until smooth (and whipped!)

Add the cream topping to the top of your cream soda mixture and enjoy!

(To get a more frozen consistency, freeze cream soda mixture in plastic cup 3-4 hours before adding cream topping.)

What are some Halloween traditions you and your family have?

Homemade Hot Chocolate

Ahhh… the weather is finally getting cooler. And by cooler I mean 70’s. Fall is my favorite season! I love it when the air gets crisp and I can pull out my cozy sweaters and riding boots. I trade in my vanilla iced coffee for a PSL and the Yankee candles are lit filling our home with warm fall scents. Not to mention the excitement in the air with football games and Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in the near future!

One thing I can’t get enough of when the air turns colder is a mug of hot chocolate. Mmmmm… who doesn’t love Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa with the mini marshmallows! While the packets of hot chocolate don’t necessary break the bank, I love it when I can recreate my own homemade mix for pennies and I know exactly what goes in it. Courtesy of Martha Stewart by way of Pinterest, I was able to do just that. Three ingredients and 10 minutes later I had three mason jars of hot chocolate mix just in time for fall and winter!

  (I made a funnel from a piece of computer paper to make it easier to transfer the mix from the bowl to the jars). I know, I thought I was clever, too :)

And if you want to make some to give as a gift, here are some cute printable chalkboard labels from Mom 4 Real. She has her own version of the recipe that contains powdered milk and powdered sugar if you want to go that route instead.

Enjoy!