Sweet Apple Pie - Take 3 - Best one yet!

SWEET APPLE PIE - TAKE 3 – 11/15/09


APPLE PIE FILLING

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 4 ½ cups apples, peeled, cored, cut into 16ths (about 8 small apples)

• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

• ½ tsp sugar

• ½ cup brown sugar

Directions

Grease pie pan (I used stoneware). In a medium heated skillet add the butter then add the apples. Cook for about 2 to 5 minutes then add the cinnamon, brown sugar, and sugar. Swirl the apples around to make sure they all get coated. (Start mixture for Topping below). Cook another 5 minutes until apples are soft and caramelize. Pour apple pie filling into pie pan.

TOPPING

Ingredients

• ¾ cups melted butter

• 1 cup flour

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 egg

• ½ tsp cinnamon

Directions

Mix ingredients above. Pour topping over apple pie filling in pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes until crust turned light brown. Serve warm with Vanilla Ice Cream and Enjoy!!

NOTES: Best one yet!! Whole family likes and stays together well.

Should we have one more??

As I read an article in Parents magazine (see link to article below), I begin to realize this is exactly as I feel right now. Should we have one more? Then I think "Am I crazy?" The immediate questions that come to mind are "Can we afford another baby? Can we mentally handle another baby? Will by husband and I get through having another baby and still be married in the end?" My husband and I both come from families of 3 so 3 just seems to be the right number for some reason to me. My gut tells me I'm not done yet so I guess that means I'm not. The next question is "When do we have another one?" We currently have a toddler and infant at home who keep us constantly on our toes so I'm thinking it's going to be awhile yet. We'll see.

http://www.parents.com/getting-pregnant/considering-baby/another/should-we-have-one-more/

Right Now

As I'm watching the movie "Marley & Me" the other night with my husband and 2 1/2 year old daughter, I realize that this is a lot like my life. Around the middle of the movie when they have their second baby who's colicky, the mom decides to leave her job to be a stay-at-home mom (I wish we could afford for me to), you and your husband are on different ends of the spectrum on what seems like everything, the dog (or dogs in my case) always seem to bark or pee on the floor at the most inopportune moment (you know - when you're trying to get the baby down for a nap or just finished cleaning up a really messy diaper and had to give the baby a bath due to the really messy diaper), there's never enough money, life is as crazy as it gets (or so it seems at the time), and you wonder when you will ever get your equilibrium back - yeah - that's where I'm at. But then you have those moments when you are rocking the baby to sleep at bedtime and they cuddle into you for warmth, or your toddler hugs you, rubs your cheek and tells you not to be sad when you cry at a movie, or your 2 crazy dogs cuddle up next to you at the end of the night when both kids have gone to sleep or your husband wraps his arms around you from behind and nuzzles you on the neck...and then you know that all is OK...life is perfect and you wonder why you ever thought different...yeah...I'm there too.

Why I Voted for Obama

I tend not to listen to the politics side and to go with my gut when voting. My gut was already leaning heavily towards Obama for this last major election, but the final push was the following article I read in "Parents" magazine (see links below).

The Next First Family: Q&A with the Obamas
http://www.parents.com/family-life/work-money-politics/election-2008/the-obamas/
Q&A with Cindy McCain
http://www.parents.com/family-life/work-money-politics/election-2008/cindy-mccain/

What struck me with these two articles was that the Obama family came together as a family for the interview (which was the main topic of the interview) and the McCain family did not (only Cindy McCain was available - John McCain and children were too busy traveling, etc.)

In the end, I wanted someone in the Oval Office who would do right by my family. And my belief (especially after reading these articles) is that Obama was the best person for the job.