Monday, August 15, 2016

The morning didn’t go quite as I had planned so my afternoon was a bit out of whack as well. Good thing I don’t do anything very important with my days.

I wanted to get my apple pie in the oven before the morning got too hot. It was lovely sitting out on the deck peeling, coring and slicing them. I mixed them up with the flour, sugar and spices and was ready to start baking by just past nine. But there were too many apples for my pie crust. I was afraid if I stacked the apples any higher I’d end up with a mess in the oven but I had about two cups left in the bowl. But what do you do with extra pie filling?

An internet search said to use it as a topping for ice cream or use it between layers of a spice cake – all of which sounded good but they were talking about canned pie filling. I finally found an apple loaf that would use up the apples I had (whether or not it was the amount called for in the recipe). It was a bonus that they baked at the same temperature as my pie – yes, there were two of them because I use the small foil pans.

My pie was done first and although it didn’t look very juicy the apples were cooked and the crust was a nice brown. As it cooled on the rack the pie started to deflate and ended up relatively flat for a pie. I think next time (if there is a next time) I will cook the filling on top of the stove before I put it into the crust and bake it. That way I’ll know ahead of time how much shrinkage there will be. The apple loaves turned out okay, but not spectacular. But if you put a big enough slice of cheddar cheese with the pie, and maybe a bit of butter on the loaf it will be fine.

My baking took up most of the morning and it was well past the cool of the day before I got outside to cut the lawn and boulevard. It hadn’t been done for close to three weeks so I had to go over the grass in the yard a couple of times; the first was mostly a cut and the second was to pick up the small mounds of grass that didn’t go into the lawn mower on the first round. I don’t worry much about the boulevard. It doesn’t get any water and the grass doesn’t grow well; I cut it mainly to keep down the weeds.

Finally, after a shower, I was able to get upstairs. I’ve declared Monday a prep day for all the projects I’m currently working on. I’m hoping that on the days I sew I can get right into the sewing part and spend less time looking for things. I have everything set for tomorrow (a new small project and a continuation of an old one). I have four cards packaged up and I have five more Farmer’s Wife Blocks packaged. With what is left of the afternoon (and there’s not much) I’ll take out the basting on some my Blossom flowers.

We’ve off to a vegan pot luck tonight and I still need to make my salad. It will go together quickly but I don’t want to make it until it is almost to time to go.