Best Apple Pie Recipe

One of the things I love about fall is picking apples. We visited the orchard on Saturday and got about a bushel of apples. Those apples will be applesauce, pies, crisps, fried apples and I'm hoping some apple butter. My grandson,who is 19 months, was so excited about this apple tree made of wood with holes cut out for their faces. How funny is that?

I am going to give you all the best apple pie recipe. It is from my 30 year old Pillsbury Kitchens Family Cookbook and it's the best recipe I've ever used. So here goes. Just to let you know, I usually use the streusel topping on my pies instead of a top crust but you can do it either way. And of course, it's always better if you use homemade crust but you can use an already made one. I also personally prefer butter to margarine for baking.

Ingredients
9" pie crust
6 cups peeled, sliced apples
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of salt
1 Tablespoon of butter or margarine

Heat oven to 425*F. Prepare pastry. In large bowl, combine apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt; toss lightly to mix. Turn into pastry-lined pie pan. Dot with margarine or butter. Cover with top crust (cut slits for escape of steam); seal and flute edge. Bake at 425*F for 40 to 45 minutes or until juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.
(If you are using the streusel topping leave out the 1 Tablespoon of butter)

Streusel Topping
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine

In small bowl, combine all ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit filling. Bake as directed with the recipe. Cover topping with foil last 10 minutes of baking time if the top browns too quickly.

Here is my pie.

Enjoy your pies. See ya next time.

Naturally Comfy News

What's the latest at Naturally Comfy? I have been trying to improve things in my Etsy shop. Things like pictures, tags, etc. I have also been working on some sleeping masks for the shop.
I am also working on some more small rag quilts. And I will be adding some fall and winter items soon.
I am also signing willing victims up for my Naturally Comfy newsletter. There's a link on the right column up at the top. I will be sending out monthly newsletters that will let you know about sales, (some will be exclusive, newsletter subscriber sales). I will also let you know what's new and what will be coming soon. Included will also be contest and giveaway information.

So, that's what's going on. I will be posting soon about my venture with making some CPSIA tracking labels for my kid's stuff. So, stick around for that, it should be interesting. See you soon.

Homeschool Thursday

Well, we started school this week. We have started out slow, only doing a couple of subjects. Next week we will get more going on. This week though we took our first field trip of the new school year. We went to the zoo. It was a great day, sunny but not too hot. We had a nice time and got some cute pictures. We were able to get a look at the 3 week old giraffe outside with the other giraffes. See the baby over there?

Here's the daddy. Isn't he cute?

We visited the dog shark area, where you can touch the sharks. The kids love that!

The polar bear is one of our favorites too.

We also took in the dolphin show, but I can never get good pictures in there.
We didn't get to all the animals this trip. Next time I guess. I think our next field trip will be the beginning of October. Stay tuned, I'll be posting about it.

What is That?

In the spring, I usually buy flowers to plant in my flower bed in front of the house. This spring I never did do it. So, of course, weeds have taken it over.
We have taken a weed eater to it once. Then a few weeks ago our neighbor was looking at the weeds and told my husband he wanted some when they were bigger. He said it makes good salsa. I thought it was weird but hey, who am I to judge. Then last week a friend came by and asked where I got the plants out front. She was talking about the same plants.
Strange that everybody is so interested in those weeds. I didn't get them from anywhere they are just there. Thinking back I have actually battled these "weeds" for years. I pull them out all summer trying to keep my flowers free of weeds. She said they are tomatillos, pronounced [toh-MAH-tee-YO]. Wow! I have a crop of tomatillos in my front flower bed.
Apparently, they are good for making salsas and other Mexican dishes. Now,if they grow and mature enough before it gets cold we will have lots of tomatillos. They are still pretty small, remember we did hack them down once already. I have no idea where they came from or how they got here, but here they are. Hopefully, we can enjoy them and share them with the friends and neighbors who recognized them before we got the weed whacker out again.
Here are some recipes for using tomatillos.
And some more interesting tomatillo sites.
http://www.mariquita.com/images/photogallery/vegetablesatoz/tomatillo/tomatillophotoessay.html
http://www.baileyfarmsinc.com/recipeList.asp?PRODUCT=55

Gearing Up For School

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted anything new. I have been trying to get things more organized and cleaned out around home before we start school for this year. We will be starting school the week of the 31st. We are usually earlier than that, but I need some organization before we start. We have parted with a ton of stuff this week and hopefully next week will be just as productive. We have a small house and it is just too full.
This school year I am already planning some field trips. We didn't do many last year and I want this year to be a little more exciting and fun. Our first official field trip will be the zoo. And it will actually be our second day of school. What a great way to start the school year.
So anyway, after we get things underway for school I'm hoping to have more time for blogging more often and regularly and also for my etsy shop. And of course I'll be sharing pictures of our field trips. So check back and I'll see you soon.

Don't Look Now, Here Comes the 80's

I can't believe it! Here is one of the latest junior styles. Look familiar? They will if you are old enough to remember the 80's. That's right. The 80's is making a comeback. That's what I've heard anyway. I'm wondering if it's just some of the clothes or other 80's fads and fashions too. I'm thinking slouch socks, jelly shoes, leg warmers, parachute pants, overalls, big hair, well you get the idea. Back in the 80's when really big hair was popular my hair was so smooth and straight I couldn't make it big to save my life. My hair laughed at perms and curling irons. Over the years, for whatever reason, my hair has become curly and can be frizzy if not kept under control. Now, my hair laughs at my flat iron. So, I'm thinking if 80s hair does come back, either my hair will rebel and turn straight again (I wouldn't mind) or I am going to be really hip now. Although, now I'm too mature(read old)to care if I'm hip or not. The 80s was fun when it was the 80s, but having looked back on some of the fashion and music, I'm thinking it might be better if the 80s stay back there in the 80s.
Do you remember the wedding of Charles and Di? Or how about the launch of MTV, Michael Jackson's hair on fire, ALF, the space shuttle Challenger disaster, Chernobyl, The Exxon Valdez oil spill, the fall of the Berlin Wall and end of the Cold War.
Take a stroll down memory lane and look at more of the history of the 80s here.
I know some of you may be thinking "gag me with a spoon", some may be thinking "radical!" Whatever you're thinking, you may want to take your bad self out and stock up on hairspray and get out your Flashdance clothes and just wait it out.
Like it or not, the 80's may be back for awhile.

"I Want Chicken and Chi Chi's"

Today, I just wanted to post my favorite TV commercial at the moment. I hope you enjoy it too.