Brown Bag Apple Pie and Father's Day

To this day my husband will tell you it was this pie that won me his heart. Now there might have been a little part of me that was trying hard to win it, but nonetheless, I succeeded! But still, I too give credit to this golden gem of a pie. I think there's something magical about the way it bakes as the paper bag holds in all the apple and cinnamon flavors. And the smell as it bakes is smokey and sweet. 

Don't get me wrong, the first time I baked this I was checking the oven every two minutes thinking the bag would erupt in flames, but that has never happened. The oven temp is 425, so by Bradbury's rules we're safe! 

So in honor of father's day I baked this pie especially for my husband. We enjoyed the day cooking out with my family and then the boys left for the golf course. Jason couldn't have asked for a better day. Family, 18 holes, and brown bag apple pie. It was a good day.

 This little contraption makes the prep time go about 5x faster, no joke! It's an apple/potato peeler that can be found at any kitchen store. 

 It's so easy to make the crust right in the pie plate. No rolling out dough!

 Once you add the wet ingredients you start by mixing with a fork.

 Kole likes to "help" me. I'll take it.

 Not going to lie...it's hard to resist snacking on the apples once they're all coated!

 Then you soften the butter to make the top crust. 

 Then it goes in the paper bag and gets stapled up.

 You just have to make sure the bag isn't touching any parts of the oven.

 This is my favorite part! 

 I swear this pie comes out perfect every time. It's not fancy, just easy!

 Dad was a happy camper.

 Sonja too. First taste of apple pie, she loved it!

If you're interested the recipe is at the end of the post. Let me know if you have any questions about it! Enjoy!

Here are just a few more snapshots from our Father's Day!

Brown Bag Apple Pie

Remove one oven rack so only the bottom rack remains. Preheat oven to 425.

Crust:

1 and 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup oil

1 T milk

Mix and pat in pie plate

Filling:

6 large apples peeled and sliced

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

2 T flour

Coat apples and put into pie crust

Topping:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter slightly melted 

Mix and then crumble onto the top of the pie

Open a large brown paper bag on top of a cookie sheet. Place pie plate in the bag and staple shut. Carefully carry the cookie sheet and place in the oven making sure no part of the bag is touching the oven.

Bake for one hour at 425. 

Revival



I'm taking this time to officially welcome myself back to the blogging world. This little space of my life is so fun for me to update, however, the challenges of life as a wife, mother, and teacher immensly got in the way. Now, I'm adding the title of STUDENT to that list! I'm back at Judson, but this time I'm here for my masters in literacy. I'm one class in and I've loved every minute of it. Call me a nerd, I know.

Now I'm taking a technology class and blogging is a part of it. It's a great excuse to get me back on track. So here I am again. It will be a challenge but I'm ready.

Catching up.....Pumpkin Farm

In October we visited a pumpkin farm in St. Louis. Kole had a fantastic time. He played in corn, rode a pony, (which he wasn't too sure about) and went on a tractor ride. It was a fun time had by all, especially Sonja who slept through it all.

 

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Fall and friendship tea

Maternity leave is awesome! It's so crazy not working, you get to do more things. We got to spend a week in St. Louis. Jason had a work trip in Kansas City so he dropped off the kids and me at his parent's house. We enjoyed beautiful fall weather and colors, good food as always, long walks, and plain old relaxation. While we were there I rediscovered my love for friendship tea. I think I drank more of this tea than coffee. I loved it so much my mom found the recipe and I made some for myself (and a few others). It's so easy and it makes a great gift. You could decorate the jars with fabric, cute labels and twine. I didn't have the time or the stuff to do this but maybe for Christmas I will?! That might be wishful thinking but we'll see!

Here's the tea in a cute mug.....see recipe below and enjoy some other snapshots of fall!

 

We've done so much driving lately....these two are so good in the car.

Friendship Tea

1 tang mix

1 lemonade mix

1 unsweetened ice tea mix

( I used the whole containers for all three of the mixes)

1 cup sugar

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

Stir all together and put in jars. When making tea use 3 tsp of mix for one cup of hot water.

 

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She's here!!

We checked into the hospital at 7:00 pm on Wednesday night.  I was induced with cervadil around 9:00 and started feeling action around 1:00 am.  Sonja was born at 6:30 am.  Just a few pushes and she was here!  She came so fast and I was so greatful for that.  We thought we'd get the whole night before to sleep and then they'd start me with pitocin in the morning, but that wasn't the case.  So we were up all night having a baby!  

We just can't get enough of her sweet face.  She is such a great sleeper, but mom wishes she would eat a little more!  It's been awesome having family and friends here to visit and help out.  We are excited to begin new adventures as a family of four!  

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