Apple-palooza

A few weeks ago I tried out a Snickerdoodle cupcake that I found on Pinterest. It was only ok, I didn't love it. I may try it again with a different frosting, this is cream cheese.


So October (or at least, every other October) at our house means apples, and apples, and more apples, and still more apples. Our apple trees are Rome and they seem to be perfect for just about everything. We have a bumper crop again this year, so we'll be busy on Saturdays for the forseeable future. My kids, as you can guess, are thrilled.

On Saturday, I baked 3 apple pies. I love the way the apples look when I'm cinamonning them up for the filling, and the sugar makes the apple juices start to run . . .

Here is my first kettle-ful of apples, which I obviously filled a little too full. Few things in the world smell as good as apples slow cooking on the stove on the fall. It is all terribly homey and cozy.

And then the apples cook down to a golden delightfulness that looks gorgeous in mason jars and makes me feel all domestic and Mama Hen-ish.

And then the apple pie sits on the counter taunting me while I clean up the apple mess (it looked like an apple explosion mess) and make dinner, adding even more to the domestic queen feeling I had going. I made up a huge pot of chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles for dinner and some cheddar garlic biscuits.

I love fall.

I love all the football (college, of course. I can live without the NFL), the crisp air, the autumn leaves. I love getting out my sweatshirts and sweaters and putting the extra blanket back on my bed. I love having soup for dinner, and baked potatoes, and chili with breadsticks, and stew. I love having to wear my super soft little socks on my feet when I lay around on Sunday afternoons. I love filling up all those empty mason jars that have been accumulating over the year. I love making Christmas plans, thinking about what to make (or buy if I can't come up with something good to make) for each person on my list. I love sipping hot chocolate while we watch Psych and Mythbusters on the DVR.

It's a precious time of year, the twinkling of an eye that passes far too quickly, the time between the start of fall and the annual Full Blown Christmas Panic that arrives around Thanksgiving. No matter what the song may say, this is the most wonderful time of the year.