No-Fail Apple Pie

Hopefully you perused our Cider Hill Farm fun earlier this week. And then immediately made plans for your own apple orchard visit. Ok, maybe it didn't have quite that effect since really all I actually showed you pictures of was my kid. Whoops. He "distracts" me from taking pictures of other things like fall views and cider donuts and beautiful apple filled trees. Anywho.

We've been munching on apples since our orchard trip and discovered some new apples that we love, including the Mutsu, which we picked for making apple pie. These apples were wonderful for this pie! The baked perfectly.

Fall + Apple Pie. It's apple pie making time.

I've been making this apple pie for about 5 years now and it always turns out perfectly. The first time I made it I didn't love the process of pouring the sugar/butter mixture over the entire crust (impossible!) and I wanted the filling to be a bit thicker so I've made a few adjustments over the years.

Last year I made a top crust of leaf cut-outs which was fun and made me feel super fancy. The hubs said there wasn't enough top crust going this route though. Maybe if I try it again I'll use a thicker crust and that'll help...? Or a thin layer of crust covered with the leaf cut-outs...? Maybe next year.

This year I went the traditional route - lattice. First I built my lattice on the countertop and then upon my attempt to transfer it to the pie, I failed. So I re-built it on the pie itself. I feel like I read before that you're supposed to build it first but maybe not. If my pie crust wasn't quite so warm it probably would've worked a little better, too.

Tip: When you pre-bake your bottom pie crust, make sure it's hanging over the rim of your pan a bit so the sides don't fall down. I keep forgetting this when I make my own pie crust and it always slips down the sides and I have to press it back up. Next year I will remember! I will.

I have been seriously enjoying my afternoon quiet time with a mug of hot tea and a sweet (this week it's been apple pie) lately. Of course, I only get that when Oliver takes his short afternoon nap. Those are becoming fewer and fewer. Sometimes I bribe him with TV for a bit of quiet when he's getting cranktastic. Truth.

Slice of apple pie a day keeps the doctor away... right?

Thought so.

Hope you love these recipes as much as we do!

Crust + Apple Pie Recipe
Pie Crust Recipe
Apple Pie Recipe (no crust)

A note on my linked recipes: I type up my recipes for my recipe binder once I decide I like them and my goal in typing them up is to simplify. So often I find myself looking back and my recipe for the next step and having to search for it because it's in a huge paragraph. To that end, you'll notice they look a bit different. i.e. "Medium skillet, Medium-High Heat -- butter & sugar" instead of "Put butter and sugar over medium-high heat in medium skillet." In my thinking, I want to see the size and type of pan first followed by heat and then what I'm putting in it. So that's how they are linked. Hopefully it's also simple and helpful for you. Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your feedback!

BBQ Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas

It's grillin' time! So ready for it. I love our grill. I love my daddy for gifting us with it for our wedding. Such a perfect gift from him, too. :)

Super happy for weather that brings our grill back out. I feel like it's so much easier to eat healthier with a grill by your side... or maybe it's just the wonderful weather that makes me feel like eating healthy, fresh foods rather than heavy dishes...? Eh. I'm just glad winter is OV-ER. Bleck. Give me the sun, please and thank you.

Grillin' weather. Grillin' chicken. Grillin' with Sweet Baby Ray's. Grillin' pineapple. Sigh.

First of all - If you don't use Sweet Baby Ray's, you should. Or let me know what you use that is better because I'm not sure what can top it. Well, maybe. My dad's barbecue chicken with his homemade beer barbecue sauce is pretty freakin' good. But I can't make that. So I'll say this I guess - Sweet Baby Ray's is the best for plain ol' out of the bottle barbecue sauce. Yes.

Anywho. Tonight we had some delish barbecue chicken & pineapple quesadillas. I love these things. This is maybe our third or fourth time having them... I'm not huge on repeating dinner yet because I love trying new recipes. Only the faves get repeated. I'll wait until kid time to play the repeat often game.

These things are so easy, too. First, I pounded my chicken and seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin - just a light sprinkle of each. You don't have to do the pounding thing - my hubs is just all about the pounding of the chicken. always. I guess it makes for even cooking though. I let mine sit in the fridge for about 2-3 hours but that's not really necessary either. Again, seasoning. Hubs is big on the seasoning and the "marinating." So I let it sit. I'm sure it did something. :)

Right before putting it on the grill I added some barbecue sauce to each side. Chopped the pineapple up into sticks/wedges.  I cut the pineapple ends off. Then cut the pineapple in half. Then I cut each half into 8 pieces, wedges. (Layed... Laid... ?? Why do both of those look weird...?) I put the wedges down on their sides then cut the skin off and the rind off. Does that make sense? I'll have to cut up another pineapple and take some pictures. It's a pretty great cutting technique that I learned from some blog or cooking book or cooking show or something at some point.

You can cut it however you want. It'll still be delicious before AND after you grill it.

After the grilling just chop it all up. Oh, hey, I actually took a picture of that part.

Then we use our griddle to make the quesadilla. Place large flour tortilla on the griddle then sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese on it - maybe 1/8-1/4 cup. Then place your chopped chicken and pineapple on the tortilla. Do a little extra squirt of barbecue sauce to your liking. Maybe add some chopped cilantro or fresh jalapeños (seeds removed unless you wanna burn). Sprinkle another 1/8-1/4 cup of cheese then top it with the another tortilla. We didn't do cilantro or jale's this time and it was still excellent.

Let it cook there until it starts to get golden and then very very very carefully flip it over to cook the other side a bit. I put my griddle on 300 degrees and let it cook on each side for about 4 minutes. While you wait you can snack on the grilled pineapple and maybe throw a piece or two of chicken bits to your dog. That's what we did anyway.

For us - one large quesadilla was plenty along with our salad. We made two though - with 2 1/2 chicken breasts and a little over half of the pineapple. + the extra bits of pineapple and chicken breast that we ate or treated Billy to.

And that was dinner tonight. I'll add some pictures when we make this again... which will hopefully be soon because this is just blah without many pictures. Fail, Kem. It's hard to take pictures and cook at the same time... how do all those professional food bloggers do it? I shall learn.

Here's the "recipe" which is more like a how-to.

What's going to be YOUR first "spring is here, it's time to grill" meal? 

xo - Kem

Family, Friends & Salad

Hiatus much, Kem? yeahhhh.

I'm terrible at this blogging consistently thing. Gotta figure out how to make myself better. One post a week, at least... that's not hard... yeah, that's not hard.

Anywho.

Today is my mama's birthday! The hubs and I went to PA this weekend to visit my family and our friends. It was much needed. All pictures from family time are on my parents camera. :-/ Hm.

+ we got to rent a Prius Hybrid... that was fun. I get so excited renting cars... weird? Am I the only one? Driving new cars is fun! Free upgrade, thank you Alamo Insiders Club. + with Alamo Insiders your spouse can be added as an extra driver for FREE. Which is the only reason we are Alamo Insiders members in the first place.

My littlest brother is graduating high school in June! WOAH. He had his senior pictures at home when we visited. What a cutie. And look at how much older he looks in not even two years!? Maybe it's just the long hair and facial hair. ha The picture on the left is from our wedding not even two years ago. He was forced to cut his hair. ha

I love him.

Littlest Broseph.

We had a hang out night with about 15 to 20 of our friends on Saturday night. So good. Nice to be with people who just know you. Know what I mean? I miss it. I miss them. But I am happy to get the opportunity to form even more of those relationships here in Boston... eventually. Making friends, those friends who just know you is GREAT but hard. Know what I mean? Sure makes me appreciate and enjoy every second of being with them when I get to though. :)

Shout out to Girls Weekend in Florida in May! Pumped.

These are my best friends. BFF's. My "MOD's," that'd be "Maids of Dishonor," as they like to call themselves. What would life be like without these ladies? Stupid. It'd be stupid.

Just look at these amazing people?

Pajama & Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner) Birthday Surprise Birthday Party

Youth Ministry. So many reasons to act ridiculously silly. Nerd Night at the Skate Rink.

Our Wedding. Some serious dancing going on at the end of the night. Love.

They are fun peoples.

Then Sunday I had some Girls Only time at California Pizza Kitchen after church. Favorites. Aren't they pretty? Yup. Pretty friends.

If you've never been there and had the Five Cheese & Tomato Pizza you should go do that very soon. + the Thai Chicken Salad. Our go to. Linds and I always split the half salad + the pizza. I know the pizza sounds boring but I swear to you it's not. Do it.

Favorites. 

For mama's birthday I made lunch - requested was a "Father's Day Chicken," a salad and bread. What mama wants, mama gets. Plus a cake. Strawberry Shortcake Cake... from the store though. I cheated. But that's what ya gotta do when you're traveling six hours and just don't have time to make the cake. It was a good one though. + I got fresh strawberries, too.... semi-homemade? ha Not quite.

What is "Father's Day Chicken," you ask? Well, that's the super delicious chicken that I made for Father's Day last year. It was actually a steak marinade that I used on the chicken AND the steak but it was delish on both. (Steak for the Father's and chicken for the rest of us!)

I also made a pretty bangin' salad. Spring Mix + a little Romaine (cause I prefer it to Spring Mix) + Roasted Red Bell Peppers + Goat Cheese + Brown Sugared Roasted Walnuts + Croutons + Cranberry-ish Vinaigrette. 

Cranberry-ish Vinaigrette = I would have used Raspberry Vinaigrette but mama made up a mixture of some leftover dressings + cranberries + strawberries earlier that week and so we used that. It was pretty delish. 

My leftover chicken & salad fixings Salad for din tonight. + my Kindle reading since I was all by my lonesome.

Tonight I had leftover chicken + salad fixings for dinner since hubs is at a Celtics game that he got invited to last minute with some work friends. (yayyy!) Fab doesn't share my super love for salads so I don't force them on him too much. Plus, I gotta use all this spring mix! Note to self: get the small container next time - it expands!

You should probably go make this salad right now. You'll thank me. Goat cheese + roasted red peppers + roasted sweet walnuts = ..... the most awesomest, yummiest, delicious word ever. It's a party in your mouth. Wish goat cheese wasn't so dang expensive. 

Instructions/Recipes:
Roasted Red Bell Peppers
Raspberry Vinaigrette
Brown Sugar Roasted Walnuts

Enjoy dearies. I promise to post more regularly.

Hopefully I didn't bore you too much with my topic-jumping, friends-praising rambling ways on this post. 

xo

Kem

chocolate puddin' cake

I'm enjoying a little bit of a lazy morning while it's storming outside. Well, more like raining a little with a lot of wind. Our grill has made it's way to the other side of the deck and my mother-in-laws grill has face planted.

This weather makes me happy. Thoughts of time spent sitting on porches with family watching, listening and smelling the rain... good stuff. I'm reading "Ferris' Bluff" by Fred Limberg on my Kindle right now and it's set in Arkansas where it storms a lot and where I used to live... there are quite a few scenes in the book that talk about sitting on the porch during the early morning or during a storm and it makes me smile every time.

P.S. If you have a Kindle you should subscribe to BookBub and they'll send you an email a day with four or five books that are discounted (usually below $4) or free (usually at least two) on Amazon. I'm not super picky so it works for me... I just check out the reviews and if they aren't terrible, which they usually aren't, then I get the free ones.
... Can you have a "p.s." before the end? It's a "p.s." at the end of this section only. yup.

So, let's get to the point. CHOCOLATE PUDDING CAKE. But since we were chatting about Arkansas let's call it Chocolate Puddin' Cake. Doesn't that sound more down home and delicious? Yup.

I can't recall how I came across this recipe... maybe on a Food Network show...? Either way - I googled and went along with this recipe to try it out. It's a pretty strange recipe and I had some serious doubts when I got to the end but I went with it after re-reading the directions at least 10x to make sure I was reading it correctly.

First, we have what the batter should NOT look like. Whoops. Here we have all the cocoa in the recipe mixed into the batter whereas only 2 TB was supposed to be mixed in. I'm not even sure how I managed that. Rewind. Restart.

Restarted. Dropped the sugar canister on the floor. Good thing that baby is thick... not sure how it didn't break. I'm such a klutz.

That looks more like it. After the batter is combined in there lookin' all normal you're going to throw some dry ingredients on top of it and then pour boiling water on top. Makes perfect sense. How do people come up with these things??

So now you sprinkle 3/4 cup packed brown sugar and 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa power on top of the batter. Then pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water on top of it. No stirring allowed.

Now pop it in the oven at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Let it sit for 15 minutes before serving. Now devour it. With ice cream, preferably. So yummy. It's like a melty brownie with built in sauce. Mmmm.

Enjoy, dearies.

xo - Kem

wait until cooled to lick the spoon

For Christmas I got my hubs Celtics tickets for last night's game - Celtics vs Bulls. Two tickets. And called up one of his bff's to see if he could go with him.

Fab and his Christmas Gifts. Happy Man.

So that's where they were last night. He was a happy man. Unfortunately, the Celtics lost.... in overtime... by 1 point... right at the buzzer... after a bad call by the refs. Suck. (Don't tell my mom I said "suck.") But it was a great game, nonetheless.

So - back to me. While he was at the game, I had my own girls night. I went to Marshall's and picked up some bath stuff to fulfill one of my New Years Goals (more on those in another post!). While there, I browsed the sale section... danger danger. But I kept it under control and only got a recipe book stand for $3! Holla. And some Essie Nail Polish for $3. Holla again. When Fab got home and I showed him what I got he said, "What else you got in your back of tricks there?" I love him and his silly humor.

Then to the grocery store for some crackers, chocolate and butter. Grabbed a Redbox movie, "What to Expect When You're Expecting." Picked up some Barefoot Sweet Red and headed home to make myself some treats, watch my movie and have a glass of wine.

Excellent.

A few weeks ago I recorded some shows on Food Network during their "Southern Belle Weekend." (I lived in the South up until 2003 and my mama cooks Southern. I hope you said that last part with a Southern accent... I did.) One of Trisha Yearwood's episodes featured this recipe and I added it to my "to make" list then. And then this week I saw it on Pinterest - it was calling my name. Obviously.

First, I tried for a while to get the cork out of my wine bottle. That took some serious elbow grease. And reminded me what a weakling I am. Then I poured myself a glass of red. (Note to self: buy a new wine bottle opener that does more of the work for you.)

Treat time.

Saltine Crackers. Butter. Brown Sugar. Chocolate. Easy breezy.

First things first - turn on that oven. 350 degrees F.

Grab a jelly roll pan... although, in my case, it was a baking pan because my jelly roll pan is in storage, so it was a tad larger than desired. I'd def recommend the jelly roll size, if you have it, because the crackers won't move around when you're trying to spread the chocolate on top.

Line it with tinfoil - this makes for incredibly easy clean-up. Spray it with a generous amount of cooking spray, butter flavored preferably. Then lay out 40 crackers, salty side down...yep, my pic is salty side up - whoops. That's one sleeve of crackers + like 4 from another. Geesh. Couldn't just put 40 in one sleeve?

Now get a medium sized pot and put it over medium heat. Throw in two sticks of butta. Two. Mmm.

And add some brown sugar. 1 cup packed.

Heat and stir occasionally until the butter has melted completely and the mixture comes to a boil. Stir, stir, stir or that butter won't get fully incorporated into the sugar. Boil it for about 1 minute then reduce temperature to low and simmer for 3-5 minutes. It's going to thicken up and get to be a caramel color.

Now pour it over your crackers, covering them evenly. After pouring you can move the caramel over a little to get to the edges and any spots it didn't make it to. Oooooo, yum. Resist the urge to do any licking of the spoon... at least until the mixture cools off... you'll burn your tongue like I did. Ouch.

Now stick it in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until it's just bubbly. Remove from oven and pour your 2 cups of chocolate chips on top, wait a bit for them to melt then spread, spread, spread. 

Now you gotta wait. Sorry. Just be patient, it'll be worth it. Since we didn't have room in our freezer, I just left them on the counter to cool off then broke them up and put them in a ziploc to put in the fridge. BUT if you have room then stick that tray in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes and then break them up and enjoy! 

They are delicious and so incredibly easy. Enjoy!

Download the recipe here.

xo - Kem

chili... now that it's not so chilly

This is Boston, right? Where it's supposed to be cold? Not 50 degrees in the winter. So strange.

So usually I cook up this chipotle turkey chili but I wanted to go the traditional route this time around. So I did a little research and found a recipe on my trusty All Recipes that I pulled spices from and then threw in the extras... beans, meat, tomatoes, corn, etc. 

One day, I'll be able to just throw all these things together like my mama. Until then, I rely on phone calls home and the internet. Unfortunately, my mom's big on "just a little of this" and "a dash of that" and "maybe a cup...or two, of this" and that's just hard to follow. One day. One day, I'll be there. 

So cornbread. It's taken me a while to find a recipe that I love and I think I've finally got it. The only thing I changed up was to add greek yogurt to my sour cream (b/c I didn't have enough) and I used about 1/2 cup sugar b/c we like our cornbread a little sweeter. 

Chili and cornbread perfection is found here. 

Download the cornbread recipe.

Download the chili recipe.

Like a dummy, I used what was left of my sour cream for this delish cornbread and didn't have any for chili toppings. If you've never had sour cream on your chili you should try that out. So all we had this time around was some shredded cheddar cheese.

Do you have a favorite chili and cornbread combo? Or a secret  ingredient that you want to share?

blog beginning & a yummy dinner

I've been wanting to start a blog for quite a while and semi-started one before I got married in July 2011.  It's 2013. WOAH. Time flies. I mean, I know it's only been a year and a half since we got married but it certainly seems like ... well, it seems like it was forever ago but at the same time yesterday. That makes sense....right? No. Ok.

Anywho. I've wanted to start a blog since then. Always felt like I wouldn't know what to say... wouldn't know how to say it... wouldn't have enough to say... wouldn't have any readers... etc, etc. Those still all ring true but who cares... I'll start and hope I have enough to say and maybe at least one person will read my blog... even if it's just my mom... or my best friend. Gotta start somewhere, right?

Tonight we had some absolutely deliciously moist Chicken Burgers from over at Cassie Craves. I've wanted to make these ever since I pinned them quite a while ago but the few times I've put them on our menu for the week, we ended up not making them for various reasons. So tonight, they've made it onto the grill pan.

How great do those look? And that Rosemary Garlic Mayo is so yum! And they are incredibly easy.

Rosemary Garlic Mayo
1c mayonnaise
1/4 c rosemary, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced

Mix half of that mayo in with 1lb ground chicken along with 1/4 tsp ground pepper & 1/2 tsp salt. Form into 4 patties. Cook on grill pan. Melt provolone on your burgers. Almost done!

Now make those buns crispy. Add a thin layer of that delicious mayo onto your buns (hamburger buns that is... although, it'll probably end up on your buns anyway) and grill them face down for a bit until they are nice and golden. Pop your burger and bun together, add a slice of tomato and some more mayo and chow. done. You will be one happy kid. Deliciousness.

Chicken Burgers with Rosemary Garlic Mayo & a salad with leftover mustard vinaigrette from Christmas. mmmm... so good.

And this salad and vinaigrette. Delicious, as well. Just some romaine, chopped green apples, raisins, feta cheese & candied pecans. Ate about half of those candied pecans off the top of the salad while I was waiting for the burgers to finish. The vinaigrette is really what makes this baby though.

I made the vinaigrette originally for Christmas then again the following week and ate the leftovers today. We kinda like it. Pulled it from my dear friend, allrecipes.com from Roquefort Pear Salad. I used regular mustard both times because that's what I had on hand though.

Oh deliciousness. 

That's all for now. All = a lot. Sorry bout that.

Kem