Thanksgiving and setting up Christmas

I made 2 apple pies for Thanksgiving and they were so good!  

Thanks to Donnie Jo Britton for her amazing recipes!

Perfect pie crust

2  cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup shortening

approx. 1/4 cup ice water

Mix flour and salt together.  Cut in shortening with pastry blender until crumbly.  Stir in ice water with fork until dough holds together.  Form into two balls.  Put in refrigerator at least 10 minutes before handling.

Fresh Apple Pie filling

3 1/2 cups fresh apples 

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

3 Tbls cornstarch or 6 Tbls flour

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup apple juice

2 Tbls bottled lemon juice

Cut apples and set aside in large bowl.  combine all dry ingredients in a saucepan.  Add water, apple and lemon juice and cook on medium heat till thick and bubbly.  Pour over apples and then take your pastry cutter and chop up apples with the filling so it is all chopped and mixed together.

pour filling into unbaked pie crust.  Cover with top crust and seal edges well.  Prick and decorate.  Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30-40 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Enjoy!!

Yes I made doughnuts for thanksgiving dessert too.  SO EASY!!

Get Pillsbury bisquits but not flaky kind.

  Separate biscuits and then take a small cookie cutter and make doughnut holes in the middle. 

 Fry over medium heat.  

When cooled dip in butter and then dip into cinnamon sugar or you can make a powder sugar and milk icing.  They were GOOD and so easy and fast!  I made around 35 in less than an hour start to in the decorative bowl. 

a leaf cookie cutter 

YUM! 

Elaina's table (we had thanksgiving dinner at the Brimhalls.  We had Mark and Ashley Olsen, Emily and Erik Olsen and David and Andrea Juarez and our family.  Good Times!

My veggie plate!

cottage cheese jell-o...it tastes better then it looks :)

Homemade breadsticks

My doughnuts

doughnut holes for the kids

My pies!

Wassle......Perfect after dinner drink

Apple juice, cinnamon sticks, oranges, allspice(just a dash) and heat :)

I am grateful for my Man!

The before dinner crowd

Brig, Elaina, Ashley, (london) Mark

So the day after Thanksgiving I started decorating for Christmas.  I love this time of year!

 

Me and the boys picked a puzzle out at the store and when we are done we will modge podge it and hang it in their room.  THey liked this one because there is a warrior and a hunter..... For Bridger orion (hunter) Gideon Ryder (Warrior on a dragon) 

Our goal is to have it done before Christmas

Our living room.  I made a project area right in the middle of the room and the boys LOVE it.  They were already there I just made it functional.  I put all there project stuff in the wicker baskets under the bench like, one basket is for art supplies, middle basket for games and third basket is for boys sewing and play dough.