Righting a wrong in the kitchen....and pie!

If you are a regular visitor here, you may remember back to this post in October when I shared my family's "recipe" for dressing.  Well, I made my second attempt at it for Thanksgiving since we were stuck at home without the real cooks in the family. 

Here's what it looked like:

I'm overall happy with how it turned out.  Actually, on Thursday, it kind of sucked. I got it too dry again! But I was determined not to let it beat me.  So with leftovers on Friday, I added some broth and heated it up. Lee let me know real quick that it was "almost perfect" this time! YES! Sweet validation. 

After our fantastic turkey dinner, we got to have this glorious pie!

I've heard it called a Kentucky Derby Pie, or a Derby Pie, but all I know is that it's delicious with a capital D.  I used a Paula Deen recipe for mine. It was my second time making it, and this was just as good as the first time.  A couple of tips, though:  the recipe makes two pies (I gave one to a neighbor) and you MUST eat it warm with vanilla ice cream.  Give it a try!

I Heart Apples!

Once I got back home with my load of apples from my dad's apple tree, I almost panicked. I think I overestimated just how many apples that we could eat. Don't get me wrong; we eat a lot of apples...but this was a little much. See previous post for the photo of our haul.

Now let me start by saying I've never made an apple pie before. Actually, I don't much like apple pie either. Cooked apples just aren't my thing; I like them juicy and crisp with a little peanut butter. However, I have a hubby who likes apple pie, and I do like to cook, so I just went for it.  

If you have been reading for a while, this next bit won't surprise you at all.  I got my apple pie "recipe" from my mom, who apparently doesn't believe it recipes. Her directions were:  peel and slice the apples, pack them into the crust, add a scoop of sugar, some cinnamon and top with a few pats of butter. So that's what I did.  Oh, and I used a ready made crust from the refrigerated section, because who has time to make one from scratch, really??  And, I was baking during nap time so I needed it to be easy.  My foodie friends are probably rolling their eyes right now.  And laughing at my photos.

Here's what we started with.

My kitchen helper always ready to go! 

Before the top crust goes on.

Ready for the oven!

Finished at last! Isn't she pretty?

After the apple pie and apples for lunch, we still had some apples left for something else. Another pie?  Apple dip? So many things to consider....

I decided on the Apple Nachos from a Taste of Home magazine that I had dog-eared last fall. Yum! These require absolutely NO cooking at all!  You just slice the apples and pour on melted caramels and marshmallows, and top with peanuts and chocolate chips. The kids picked off and ate the chocolate chips; hubby and I took care of the rest. This would be a fantastic addition to a holiday party, but the trick is to make sure you serve immediately or else the caramel gets a little runny and gross.