Pie, pie, oh my!

Our church recently had their annual fall festival (oh wait...not that recent...a month ago) and of course, I had to enter a pie in the annual pie contest. I needed to find a way to top my pie from last year (last year I did a peanut butter fudge pie that won best presentation) and I think I did! I made it again for Thanksgiving and actually got to eat a big fat slice topped with ice cream. Yum. Add this pie to your Christmas table, I promise you won't be disappointed!  I make mine with a from scratch pie crust, because that buttery flaky crust is my favorite part of any pie, but you could also do a frozen crust if you're feeling lazy or crunched for time.

Caramel Cranberry Apple Pie



Pie crust:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 cup butter

1/4 cup very cold water

Cut your butter into very small pieces and put half of them in the freezer and the other half in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

Break out your hefty Kitchen Aid stand mixer and combine the flour, salt, sugar and butter until just mixed (your butter should still be chunky).

Add 1/4 cup ice cold water and mix until crumbly but holds together when squeezed. Add more water 1 tbsp at at time if needed. DO NOT over mix. You want those little chunks of butter because they will create the buttery little air pockets when you bake.

Turn onto work surface and knead once or twice into a ball. Chill until ready to use.

Filling:

4 green apples

1/2 cup butter

1 tbsp flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 bag dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 F. Fill a medium bowl with water. Peel and slice apples and place in the water to prevent them from browning until you are ready for them.

Melt the butter in a medium-large pot over medium heat. Stir in flour and cornstarch to create a roux. Add 2 tbsp of water and the vanilla, sugars, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bring to a simmer. Drain apples and add along with cranberries. Cook 5 min, stirring constantly. Remember to stand over the pot and savor the aroma, I swear at this point you have the smell of the holidays all simmering in one big pot.

 Remove from heat and allow to cool while you roll out crusts.

Divide your dough in half and roll one half out on a lightly floured surface. You want your dough approx 14 inches around to fill a 9 inch pie plate. Fill with your mixture of apple yumminess and add your second crust. You can cover the whole thing and slit, create a lattice top, or get extra festive and cut out some leaves like I did! Sprinkle with extra cinnamon sugar if desired.



Bake at 350 for 50-60 min until crust is golden. Best when served a la mode :)

Now it's your turn! Link back with your favorite holiday dessert!!!

Toddler Lunches, No Repeats; a 30 day challenge

We are in a rut- a big, fat, super deep rut. In fact, I'm pretty sure if I cook one more box of mac and cheese I might scream. Maybe worse. Benton has about 5 lunches we rotate through on a regular basis and I'm beginning to be concerned about him becoming too picky and not eating enough of all the food groups (namely veggies). In an effort to change it up, I've decided to create a 6 week challenge (Monday through Friday) to have a different lunch everyday for little man. My goal is to post pics weekly of each meal as well as a score based on the ease of preparation, health content, overall appeal, and most importantly, toddler approval. I'd love to have some of my fellow bloggers join me so we can share ideas! In the meantime, whats your favorite "go-to" meal for lunchtime?