No, I’m not quitting my blog…I thought if I didn’t say something the very first line, some of you might think I was pulling the plug… NO, I’m not, but you’d think by the way my life has been going these last few weeks, I was. I’ve been doing more posts about non-sewing topics than ones about sewing. That’s the part I hope you won’t be disappointed about, because today’s post is a non-sewing one as well. I didn’t intend for it to be this way today… in fact, I had really good intentions on getting Lian’s dress finished if I could. I had two things on my To-Do list for Thursday: finish Lian’s dress and make an apple pie for someone!
But NO… Rebecca had to sell 4 doll necklaces in our Etsy shop…(Oh, by the way, she’s got a few new ones listed if you want to check them out… HERE) and I had to get them boxed up and ready to take into the Post Office.
Right after that my hubby wanted to go over my business insurance papers… yuck… it’s gone up! Then he decided we needed to pay a few bills…
Then I thought I was finally ready to go to town and get the necklaces mailed off, but he wanted me to come with him to the eye doctor and help him pick out a new pair of frames for his glasses… S-U-R-E… I can squeeze you in…
After I left him, I headed to the PO and got the necklaces mailed off… then I just wanted to go pick up some butter for an apple pie I wanted to make for a guy from India who goes to our church. Since he’s been in the United States, he’s discovered his favorite dessert is apple pie. My hubby told him maybe I could make him one…sometime…Well, I found out it was his birthday recently and was going to bake him one last week, but my brother and his family came down… so I had to put it off. Today was the day I was planning on doing it.
But we had a birthday celebration with some friends this evening and I didn’t get started on the pie until we got home, sometime near 9:00 p.m. I got my apples sliced and all mixed up with the goodies that make a pie so yummy…and then I started on my Aunt Evelyn’s Never Fail Pie Crust.
(Just to let you know… my stove top was cleaned very well before I started rolling out my pie crust on it…)
It was going great until I put the top crust on my pie…thinking it looked so pretty with no cracks in it…
but then I realized I forgot the little pats of butter on top of the apples, so I had to take the pie crust top off and add the butter then re-roll the crust. Fortunately this pie crust recipe is very forgiving and you can roll and re-roll without it getting tough.
I finally got the pie made… added a few little leaves so it didn’t look quite so plain and put it in the oven to bake.
It takes about 45-50 minutes so I was thinking… Hey, I can sew while my pie is baking, but then I looked at my kitchen… guess not!
***Disclaimer: My kitchen is the one room in our fixer upper house that hasn’t had anything done to it yet… and I used to cringe when I thought about taking pictures in it, so as much as I wish I had beautiful counters to display my pie “goings on” and pretty white cabinets in the background, I don’t, but I hope that doesn’t affect how the pie tastes!
Oh, here’s the pie all finished…I’ll send it with my hubby tomorrow and hopefully DV will be thrilled! Something to check off my To-Do list… maybe tomorrow will involve sewing! Let’s certainly hope so!
If you get real close to your computer screen, I bet you can smell it! My kitchen smells super yummy! :o)
Okay, it’s 1:09 and I’m heading to bed!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh my goodness, Jeanne, I about died laughing at the picture of your kitchen at the end! That’s just what happens here too! Yes, that pie does look VERY good though, and I bet your kitchen is spic and span now! I have never rolled out dough on my stove top, although I do have a glass one, but use one of those Tupperware sheets, that are very handy. The older I get, the less baking I seem to do, and now I just get the already made pie crusts that you unwrap and put in the pie plate. It works for me and I don’t have flour everywhere when I mak a pie.
Don’t worry about not having a sewing blog everyday—we still love you!
Hi Linda,
My kitchen was a disaster… I couldn’t dare show you the pile of dishes I had in the sink too… getting ready to tackle them in a minute.
After I rolled out my dough, I remembered a trick on rolling it between 2 layers of parchment paper and wished I had remembered that… it would have “looked” better for my demonstration purposes! :o)
Thanks for your kind words about not having to have a sewing post every day…it’s a good thing because some days I just can’t get in my sewing room…
Blessings, Jeanne
Great blog, Jeanne….you’re creative no matter which room in the house or out of it, you spend time in. I think it’s very thoughtful of you to bring us along no matter where you are.
The pie turned out beautifully…and what a thoughtful gift for DV.
Take care.
HI Becky
My hubby just left with DV’s pie… I hope it tastes good… that’s the thing about a pie… you can’t test taste it to see if you got it sweet enough or not… It’s all or nothing when you make a pie!
Thank you Becky,
Blessings, Jeanne
I love seeing all your posts. You are human, and real life sometimes has to come first, sewing second. I know, what a bad thing to say. LOL Don’t worry, when you get time to sew, we will all love seeing those posts as well. 🙂
Thank you Christine,
Yep…sometimes sewing comes second… and third and fourth even… Oh well, gotta keep my family happy first thing!
Hopefully I’ll be back in my sewing room as soon as I get all my dishes done… I was busy this morning or they’d be done by now…
Blessings, Jeanne
You are a great woman of so many talents. ‘Nuff said!
Thank you Karen,
What sweet words from you… thanks so much! I’m smiling…. :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
Wow, a new use for the stove top! Maybe now I don’t have an excuse for not rolling out something. Great idea! I like your retro kitchen. Very fun to see how you created such a lovely pie.
Hi Joy,
Like I told Linda, I wish I had used my parchment paper to roll my crusts between..it would have just looked better, but my glass top stove really did work well….
So I have a retro kitchen…I always call it my “crummy” kitchen… I can’t wait for the remodel on it some day!
Thanks so much!
Blessings, Jeanne
I think a lot of the charm of this blog is seeing how someone else lives. Your life is really good without appearing completely under control — sort of like mine, though my house is definitely less under control than yours, and it looks like there’s machinery out here in the street at 7:30 am, trying to tear the street up. If I go out, will I be able to return?
Becky makes a really good point — you are creative, no matter which room you are in. So, if we extend that idea, a lot of things that could be drudgery are, if looked at more closely and positively, creativity. That’s encouraging and energizing, and, of course, applies to all of us, even if we sometimes forget.
Now for some vital questions. Did you sprinkle sugar on the pie crust? Are you going to share this very forgiving recipe? I slice my apples differently but I think I’m going to switch — I like the way yours look better. When you make pecan pie, do you turn all the pecans right side up?
HI Marilyn,
Seeing how I live? Oh dear… I hope no one wants to copy me… sometimes I’m a mess! My biggest problem is I try to do everything… and sometimes that’s a hindrance.
Yes, I brushed part of an egg white on the crust and then sprinkled sugar on the top of the pie. It’s supposed to make it shiny… I wish I had had those big sugar crystals…they look prettier on top of the pie crust. Yes, I’ll share my Aunt Evelyn’s recipe for her pie crust. She’s 92 now and has been using it forever! I’ll have to ask her where she got the recipe.
I sliced my golden delicious apples really thin… my sister gave me that tip…
It’s been a really long time since I made a pecan pie… I’m not sure if I put the pecans right side up or not… I might have to try one… again…
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
I forgot something. I was looking at one of Rebecca’s necklaces — would some of them make good bracelets for little girls. I have a 4 year old great niece who likes glittery things. The longer ones are too big. This would extend Rebecca’s market and give her fans a great source for little girl gifts.
HI Marilyn,
Yes, a few ladies have bought the doll necklaces to use as bracelets for themselves.
They are held together with magnetic clasps though, and I’m not sure if a little girl would be that careful with them… they could easy lose them… but that’s a good idea…
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Now my mouth is watering for that yummy pie. Would you be willing to share the recipe?
I’m always having trouble with my pie crusts and it looks like yours rolled out nicely.
Keep up the blog. I check it about every other day to see your latest creations.
HI Kimberly,
Thanks for the compliments on the pie! I will share it if you like… but let me make it for myself and make sure it’s perfect before I do…
Yes, pie crusts can be tricky, but this one is just like it says, Never Fail… that’s perfect for me!
Thanks for reading…
Blessings, Jeanne
Don’t feel bad about not having time to sew–I haven’t been able to sew much lately either. Life just gets busy sometimes, and doing things for your hubby or kids is more important than sewing. At least that’s the way I see it. I know what you mean about posting pictures in the kitchen. My kitchen could use major updating, and I see all those nice food pics taken in designer kitchens and wish mine was more modern! I still have the gold appliances, but they still work fine. It seems kind of frivolous to get all new appliances until we really need them, so I just keep making do with what I have. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t affect the taste of the food, and that’s what really matters!
HI Carolyn,
Thanks for your comments Carolyn… It’s nice to know I’m not alone with my “not so beautiful” kitchen… everything functions and I’m like you…I’ll have to wait until something breaks before I upgrade…
I guess I need to buy a marble looking piece of formica and use it under my pictures when I’m in the kitchen… that way I could fool everyone into thinking it was a nice countertop. I still have that ugly aqua with the gold speckles in it… ICK! One of these days maybe we’ll both have beautiful new kitchens…
Thanks Carolyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m glad I’m not the only one who sometimes forgets the pats of butter until after the top crust is on! LOL I generally just try to tuck the [cut smaller] pieces of butter thru the slits I make in the crust! So, sometimes I make a few extra cuts, or the cuts are a bit bigger, or more stretched-out-looking, at least the butter gets in there! LOL
HI Charlotte,
Oh, that’s a good idea…tuck the butter in the slits…if I ever forget again, I’ll do it your way.
Thanks,
Blessings,Jeanne