Maple Apple Crisp

I love fall. I love everything about fall. I love the leaves changing colour, the fields of pumpkins and the fall harvest.

I recently picked all the delicious apples off of our tiny apple tree. This is the first year we have gotten more than just a few apples. I have been happily baking with them and have been enjoying the taste that a fresh-from-the-tree apple brings.

This past week, I made a yummy Maple Apple Crisp. It turned out so good! I thought I would share the recipe with you. I’m sorry to say that there is no picture to share. It was all eaten much too quickly!

Maple Apple Crisp

Ingredients

5 – 6 apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place apples in an 8×8 inch baking dish. Drizzle apples with syrup and stir to coat.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, oats, cinnamon and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture evenly over apples.
4. Bake for 35 minutes or  until topping is golden brown. Serve warm and enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Keeping the Hubby Organized

The other day, when I was tidying up hubby’s and my bedroom, I saw that my wonderful husband had a collection of papers, coins and more on his night stand. This seems to be the holding place for all those things that accumulate in his pocket during the day. I knew there must be something I could make to keep it all a little tidier looking.

I was fortunate to recently get the book One Yard Wonders. A nice book filled with lots of fun little projects. It had the perfect project!

This is a view of the back of the basket.  It has an opening for your cell phone/iPod charging cord.  Very cool!

I was supposed to make the bias tape, but was lazy and used some store-bought stuff. I really struggled getting it on though as it was a little on the narrow side. It would have been much, much easier had I chosen a wider tape. Nevertheless, this was a super fun project to make and nothing like what I have made in the past. I got to work with many layers of interfacing and even do a bit of quilting!

Look at this beautiful quilting job!

Hmm… well, yes, there are blue lines there.  That would be the blue dressmakers pencil that I used.  I thought it would just brush off since it seemed to be wiping off a bit when I was drawing the lines.

All in all, I think the project turned out pretty good.

In other news, I’ve also been working on the Reversible Tunic Top again – this time making it reversible.  I tried making the sleeves the ‘easy’ way and this is not working for me either.  Thankfully, I have a friend who is more experienced at sewing who will be popping by today to teach me how it’s done!

Read Full Post »

I Have Been Sewing!

Finally, I am finding time to show you what I have been up to!

Something for the messy mom in me that keeps getting oil stains on my shirts –

Something for my children who are back in school –

And something just for fun –

For the apron, I used the tutorial here.  I did not make an adjustable strap though, nor did I put a pocket on mine.

I made two different styles of reusable baggies for school.   The first ones have a velcro closure and are lined with nylon.  I use theses for ‘wet’ foods like apple slices, cucumbers, strawberries, etc.  I used the fabulous tutorial here.  The second baggies are just cloth and I use these for the ‘dry’ foods like crackers, nut mixes, etc.  I used the tutorial here for those.

I love how the owl softee turned out!  My kids have been fighting over who gets to have it.  I am keeping for myself until I decide what I want to do with it.  Right now it is decorating my dresser.  I used a tutorial for this owl, unfortunately, I forgot to bookmark the page and now I can’t find it!   I made the wings different from the ones in the tutorial as I wanted them to sit flat on the owl.  I’m really happy with how this guy turned out.

The Christmas stocking?  Don’t ask.  Yes, I have started it.  No, I haven’t gotten very far.  So far only my daughter’s name and a few snowflakes.  I wonder if I will work better under pressure?!?!

Read Full Post »

A Quick Update

Sorry about that!  Didn’t mean to disappear on you all!  What can I say?  Life happens.

Well, the bad news is, I didn’t win the serger over at Sew Mama Sew.  It was actually open only to US residents, but after talking to one of the staff there, they were going to try to get a serger to give away in Canada as well.  The winning entry was amazing though.  You should check it out if you get the chance.  The other bad news?  I didn’t win the weekly fabric giveaway either.  Oh well – you can’t win them all, eh?

The good news is, I have been getting some sewing done!  I have made 2 different kinds of snack bags for my children to use as they head back to school.  I have also made myself an apron so that I hopefully stop getting all these oil stains on my shirts.  I will post pictures later this week.

Tomorrow, my girls head back to school.  It has sure been nice having them home for the summer.  Although I am going to miss them like crazy, I look forward to getting back into routine and hopefully getting on top of all the household chores again.  My oldest thrives in a scheduled day and will be so happy to be back at school.  Thankfully, my children love school and are excited to get back.

Read Full Post »