Crumbly Apple Pie

My sister-in-law turned  me on to these recipe books years ago, when I first met my husband.  They are classic and everything is amazing...the pumpkin roll is out of this world...

I did tweak a thing or two in my version of the recipe tho..always add a pinch of cardamom and I like some walnuts in my apple pie crumbs.
I also slightly upped the sugar..go figure!  lol
I have been making this pie for 23+ years now.
If you have an apple peeler corer slicer, you are golden!  This thing is a major time saver. I have a pampered chef brand one for 20+ years now...but this one is cheaper and my friend has it and uses it with great success..

Crumbly Apple Pie

Flaky Pie Crust (recipe below)

make pie crust below and put into pie pan

In a large bowl..
peel core and slice 5 apples (macintosh is my go to for baking, use your fav)
3/4 C white sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch cardamom
dash salt
 mix apples well to coat with the sugary deliciousness.

Pour into crust...

In food processor (or a bowl using a pastry knife to cut butter)
1 C brown sugar
1 C flour
1/2 c walnuts (optional)
1/3 C butter( I use a little more, I'm out of control)
whirl in food processor until grainy
sprinkle over..okay dump...and push it around until its evenly distributed.

Bake in 400° preheated oven on the bottom rack (rack all the way in bottom level) for 35 mins....I put a crust shield over it after 25-30 mins to prevent the crust edges from over browning.

Flaky Pie Crust

3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 C (scant) shortening
6 tbsp water

I put all of this in the food processor...you can cut it together by hand with a pastry blender if you prefer.
dump out onto counter and form into a ball making sure its all moistened..cut into three parts and roll out.
You can bake this ahead of time for tarts....I do not pre-bake for this apple pie.

before baking

This thing doesn't fit all of my pie plates but it covers enough. 

Some things that will make your pride making experience easier, of course you're welcome to use premade piecrusts, and having an apple peeler corer slicer or is a huge timesaver.
I am going to make a few more this week, we are drowning in apples so I will take more pics when I make it again, and update this post.  

Knit an elf hat in a few hours

I made this hat after trying the video below...and wanting a more tapered hat.  
For your first hat, I recommend following the video and then, you can 
play around and make your own patterns up.  This pattern is still not mastered. 

I crochet and I knit and I saw these loom sets and decided to buy one and give it a whirl....talk about simple!  A young child can sit and make a hat in a few hours. 

The first set I got was round...I looked at the directions, yawned. I don't have time for that....

I turned on good ol' YouTube..the gal in the video below caught my eye and the very first hat I made, turned out fantastic!!

Don't mine my selfie modeling my first hat..I don't really care for selfie pics much but I wanted you to see the hat on someone.

My family loved it and some of my friends ordered some from me.  I was going to put them on etsy but I can't keep up with the demand of people I know.  I am also working on Christmas gifts for the family...my son will never get his kind sized afghan lol...that project took a back seat to this loom.

The gal in the video below  is entertaining as well as a great teacher to get you started on your first hat.  Use a soft yarn..don't use something cheap to try it, you will end up with an itchy hat no one wants to wear. Go for a comfortable type..my fav less expensive is Lion Brand Heartland.  Alpaca and Merino mix is a nice soft and warm, but pricey choice too..maybe use the Lion Brand first.  You won't be disappointed. (I don't work for Lion Brand, I just love the softness of their yarn and its great or looming)

This is my first Elf hat. I need to trim up the pompom but I wanted to give you an idea of what it will turn out like. 

This goes down past my chest. It's so fun and a great skiing hat. You can make it as long as you like. 

I wanted to learn to make a longer one and one that tapers down more, so  I ran with this idea, and used a rectangle loom to make an elf hat. I needed to be able to reduce and I wasn't sure how I could do this on a round loom..maybe there is a way...but this was easy.  

What I did was,  use a rectangle loom, 18 pegs long. This is doubled so it will be using 36 pegs total.I did what she does on the round loom by going around twice then pulling the bottom round over-the-top. 

I made the rim and two stripes ( 8 rows long each). Then I moved all four corner loops off the corner pegs and put them on the peg next to it. Pulling the two bottom strings over the top loops as you go around the loom in those corners. 

Then I did a few more stripes. I found that minimizing mid stripe was better than doing it on a beginning or end of a stripe. It was less noticeable. 

I am really new at using these looms so I may find an easier way but this was so simple I don't know how much easier it could get. 

I continued making each stripe and downsizing, until it was the desired length I wanted and I downsized as far as I could go. 

Here are a few other hats I made from the video, before venturing out on my own and playing with my own pattern ideas. 

These are the shorter type, like in her video..and I made a beanie type also.My youngest son is obsessed with brown and blue...hub requested the patriots colors, it'll be his ski hat.