Wordless Wednesday Holiday Style

Transformation

Nothing says the start of fall like going apple picking with my family!  This year we were lucky to have friends join us!!!  We have been going to Alyson's Orchard in Walpole, NH for the past  years...it is so beautiful up there.

We had tons of fun picking apples, climbing trees, and walking through the pumpkin patch.

JUICY apples

Madison loved her apples!!!  She got very upset when she was "appleless"

Zain is so good with her!! 

I wonder...What is she thinking?

Enjoying the deep colors of fall.

There is nothing like the start of fall like the scent of apples baking in the oven...apple pie, apple crisp, apple crostata...want to make this?  Go Bake and Create with my great friend Avril OR my new personal favorite Apple Dumplings..OH MY I can not believe I have never had these before.  YUM YUM and YUMMMMYYYYY!!!!

So how does this transformation start?  Well, as Zain says, "let me show ya"

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pastry for double-crust pie (I used store bought Pillsbury dough)
• 6 large apples, peeled and cored
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F Butter a 9x13 inch pan

On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into a large rectangle, about 24 by 16 inches. Cut into 6 square pieces. Place an apple on each pastry square with the cored opening facing upward. Cut butter into 8 pieces. Place 1 piece of butter in the opening of each apple; reserve remaining butter for sauce. Divide brown sugar between apples, poking some inside each cored opening and the rest around the base of each apple. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples.

1. With slightly wet fingertips, bring one corner of pastry square up to the top of the apple, then bring the opposite corner to the top and press together. Bring up the two remaining corners, and seal. Slightly pinch the dough at the sides to completely seal in the apple. Repeat with the remaining apples. Place in prepared baking dish.

1. In a saucepan, combine water, white sugar, vanilla extract and reserved butter. Place over medium heat, and bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Carefully pour over dumplings.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

Right out of the oven...

I can not believe I just transformed a wonderful healthy apple into this SINfully yummy OH so BAD for you treat!  I shouldn't eat anymore but it is calling my name!!!! 

What is YOUR favorite apple transformation?  I'd LOVE to know because I want to take Zak apple picking while he is here this weekend....use MR. Linky at the bottom of the post to share :o)  

I hope you all have a wonderful Fall season and take some time to transform something ;o)

Wordless Wednesday

This photo is over 20 years old......me and my siblings at my grandmothers house.

I Love My Blue Sausages!

My facebook post on Tuesday:

Anyone want to come over and paint my toes this afternoon? I can't reach :o(

I am very lucky to have such great friends and family!  Today my friend Kirsten came over to drop off some Stampin Up catalogs for me and she also brought me some WONDERFUL nail polish!  Marine Scene from Sally Hanson...It is a really cool shade of blue which is very appropriate  (did I seriously spell that right the first time?) seeing as though Baby Boy Z3 is expecting to join us ANY DAY!!!!  Kirsten even offered to stay at my C R A Z Y house and paint my toes for me!  Her kids were all prepared to entertain Zak and Zain...SO SWEET!!!  Chris's sister, Shana, was already on her way over to do my toes.  People...you should have seen then before she worked her magic...G R O S S!!!!  She made them look all nice and pretty so when my feet are in my face as I push out my new baby boy I won't be so grossed out!

Look at my cute chubby swollen sausages now!  The boyZ keep telling me how much they just LOVE the color.  They are awesome!!!!

Thank you so much to Kirsten for the great color choice, and to Shana for coming over to pedi me!!!!  (I have actually been VERY lucky, this is the 3rd time I have gotten my toes painted while I have been preggo!  Dawn, Chris's other sister, did it the first time.  My sister Leigha did it last time out by the pool....thank you to the 2 of you as well!)

The boyZ were very happy to have their little cousin Xavier aka X-Man come over for a little play date while Shana worked her magic!  I can't believe how quickly X-Man is growing.  I think Zain doesn't realize that he is a big boy now...he kept saying "do you want to play with the baby toys?"  Too funny!  I took a few pictures of X-Man and this was my favorite!


I hope you all have a great day!

~K

(1 cm dilated, 9 to go! hear the sarcasm haha)

YUMMY MESSY SUMMER NIGHTS

I LOVE nights that Chris is home for a number of reasons....one that tops the list is that he makes dinner! I HATE cooking dinner, such a PIA if you ask me. Chris is the chef in this house, and thank goodness for that! One of our FAVORITE go to summer meals is good ole BBQ chicken! OH YUMMY and OH MESSY! He serves whatever we have on hand...usually rice and a veggie. Last night we had cauliflower and cheesy broccoli rice....whole meal done 40 minutes...even better. 20 min of which was just parboiling the chicken so it does not take so long on the grill. He slabs on the BBQ sauce in the last few minutes of sizzling on the grill. Favorite BBQ sauce is Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue.

After dinner the boyZ begged for a fire and a little marshmallow roasting. YAH mama wants a marshmallow!!! Chris does mine while I sit back and choke on the smoke, I mean enjoy the fire. So good, toasted so brown on the outside and sticky sweet on the inside. Zain likes his "raw" as he calls it and Zakary just started to like marshmallows last year.

Nights like this are one of my favorites! Everything seems so much simpler in the summer! Don't you think? What is your favorite carefree family summer activity? My list includes outdoor dinners like last night, full days at ANY body of water, bike rides (so much easier when I am not pregnant), walks, and ICE CREAM :o) I can't wait to read yours!

Enjoy your summer, make memories!

~K