Hi Everybody! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been loving this fall so far! Taking walks outside and enjoying the beautiful, colorful nature, baking some of my favorite fall treats, drinking hot apple cider and finally wearing all those sweaters and cardigans that I’ve been waiting to wear again! One of my fall favorites is plaid; cozy plaid blankets to cuddle under, cute plaid shirts to wear with jeans, or soft plaid scarves to keep you warm! I was making some sugar cookies the other day, and thought I would decorate them with a plaid pattern for a fun fall look. I used my favorite Martha Stewart Sugar Cookie recipe and Royal Icing recipe for these, you can find them both HERE!

Hi Everyone! I hope you are all having a good week so far! I wanted to stop by and share these Walnut Chocolate Chip Blondies with you today! After all the apple baking I’ve been doing, I started craving something chocolaty so I made these delicious blondies, which instantly satisfied that craving! These moist and gooey bars are filled with chopped walnuts and chocolate chips and are incredibly rich and decadent… the perfect dessert! They are delicious on their own, but if you want to make them even better, serve them warm with some vanilla ice-cream, sprinkled with chopped nuts and drizzled with caramel sauce!

2 sticks (8oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 to 1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped

1 to 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. First, preheat your oven to 350 deg F, and grease your baking pan (about an 8×12 inch pan). Then, make the batter by creaming together the granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter in your electric mixer. Once you have a light and fluffy mixture, add in the eggs and vanilla extract and mix again until smooth. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt, then add it into the wet ingredients in three portions and mix until you have a smooth batter.

2. Fold in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips using a spatula (adjust the amount of walnuts and chocolate chips to your taste), and pour the batter (it will be very thick) into your prepared pan. Smooth out the top and bake for 25 – 30 minutes, or until the top appears done, although the blondies may still be a little gooey inside. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Hi Everyone! I hope you are all doing well and enjoy fall so far! Today I wanted to stop by and share my Fall Apple Recipe Collection with you! I’m thinking that I should start looking for an apple orchard to buy soon, because I’ve been doing so much baking with apples these past couple of weeks! I love baking with apples because there are so many different ways that you can make them, and also because they are one of my favorite fall baking ingredients. I love the warm and cozy flavors they create when they are paired with cinnamon and other spices! Here are some of my favorites…

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins (Recipe HERE)

These apple muffins are super quick and easy to make and have great texture thanks to the whole wheat flour. They are filled with pieces of juicy apples and topped with walnuts and brown sugar, making them deliciously crunchy on top!

Classic Apple Strudel (Recipe HERE)

This classic European dessert is one of my favorite ways to use apples! It does take some time and practice to get the dough right, but it’s so worth it! Serve the strudel warm, with ice-cream, whipped cream or dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

Mini Apple Turnovers (Recipe HERE)

Classic Apple Pie (Recipe HERE)

The most popular fall favorite! This apple pie is made up of a rich, buttery and flaky crust and filled with tart apples and warm fall spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

Apple Cranberry Crisp (Recipe HERE)

A freshly baked apple crisp may just be the coziest fall dessert of all! This apple crisp is dotted with tart cranberries and topped with a sweet, crunchy oat topping. Served warm with some ice-cream, it’s just melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

Homemade Slow Cooker Apple butter (Recipe HERE)

This applebutter not only fills your home with the most wonderful aromas as it slowly cooks in your slow cooker, but it is absolutely delicious, filled with tart apples, cinnamon and apple cider to boost the apple flavor!

Good morning Everyone! I wanted to share these Chocolate Covered Pretzel Bites with you today, because they are SO GOOD and so addicting! Snacking has to be one of my worst habits, and the other day I was craving something good and came up with these little things! I love the sweet and salty combination, and these little pretzels are dipped in chocolate and then coated with a thick layer of all kinds of goodies… sprinkles, chopped nuts, candy! So good, and so addicting! Even though I love regular chocolate covered pretzels, I love this little mini version even more, because how cute are these little pretzel treats! You can use whatever nuts, candy or other toppings you like, and could even make holiday themed ones!

Pretzel nibblers

Semi-chocolate chips

Walnuts or pecans

M&M’s

White chocolate

Sprinkles

Coconut

Peppermint candy

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DIRECTIONS

First, prepare all the toppings that you’re going to coat the chocolate covered pretzels with. You can use anything you like, nuts, chocolate, candy, coconut, sprinkles… whatever you like! Just chop everything to be about the same size. Then, melt your chocolate chips, either in a heatproof bowl over some simmering water (if you use this method, simply let the chocolate chips melt, and once they have almost melted, take them off the heat and stir until smooth) or in the microwave. Dip the pretzels in the chocolate until it is 3/4 of the way coated in it, then cover them with your toppings and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper. Let set in the fridge, and store in a cool place.

 Happy Baking, Everyone!

So the other night, my husband and I were sitting on the couch watching TV and I was looking through the Pottery Barn Christmas ornament collection online, because in my mind, it can never be too early to start looking forward to Christmas! Well, the sweet man that he is, my husband ordered my favorite ornaments for me, and today a package came in the mail with these beautiful London-themed Christmas ornaments! They remind me of my college days of living in London, and I can’t wait to hang them on our Christmas tree this year! I have always loved Christmas ornaments and have lots of special ones; some that used to hang on our tree when I was small, some that my mom and mother-in-law have gotten for me, some that remind me of fun places that we’ve visited, and some very old and special ones  that used to belong to my two grandmothers when they were little girls. I love that each ornament holds a cherished memory, and that I am reminded of all those special times and people every time I see our decorated tree at Christmastime!

I hope you all have a great rest of your week, thanks for stopping by today and come back again soon!

Hi Everyone! Happy Weekend! We’ve been having such beautiful weather here for the past few days, fall has finally arrived and we’ve been taking advantage of the great weather and taking lots of walks around our neighborhood every night and the other day we drove down to Virginia to visit Great Falls National Park. It was a beautiful, cool and sunny day, and being out in nature was the perfect way to spend it! The park, which is located along the Potomac River is just a short drive from Washington DC, and is a really nice place to visit! The park isn’t too big so it’s definitely not an intense hiking experience, it was a really relaxing walk actually! The trail leads through the woods which are filled with beautiful old trees and lots of deer walking around and the views of the falls are just breath-taking!
We loved visiting this national park so much, we’ve even started researching other parks to visit. After reading the campingfunzone.com blog post about the Big Bend in Texas, I think that’s next on our bucket list. It’s right on the Mexican border and has so many great qualities! As soon as we both get some time off work, we’re going to take a roadtrip and see some sights.

A view of the beautiful falls. It was such a gorgeous view and the water was completely clear and almost sparkly blue as the sun was hitting it.

Standing by the falls.

Taking a little break… and hoping there weren’t any snakes that were about to crawl out of the rocks!

The park has several different trails that you can follow, all of which take you alongside the river at some point so you get some great views of the falls! There is also a big picnic area near the visitor center which was filled with people grilling, eating and playing games.

Someone else was walking through the park too! There were so many deer gracefully walking around and I couldn’t believe how completely unafraid they were of us! I was standing so close to this little one when I took the picture, and he looked up to look at me and then just continued eating the plants around! I’ve never seen anything like it before! My husband has a feeling that the deer had previously been fed from man made feeders, similar to those found at Feed That Game for example, as this would make them more susceptable to human contact and make them aware that they’re in a safe environment. Well, I’m kind of glad they had, because I got to experience this!

I hope you all enjoyed this little “walk” through the park with me and if you want to visit or read more about Great Falls National Park in Virginia, visit their website HERE. I hope that you all have a wonderful fall weekend, thanks for stopping by today and come back again for some new recipes I will be sharing soon!

Hi Everyone! I love these words from Jane Austen that say, “Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness!” Don’t you agree? Everyone has a favorite version of the classic apple pie. Maybe it’s the pie that your grandmother or mother always made, or maybe it’s one you tried at a bakery and loved or one you found in your favorite cookbook. Today I want to share my favorite apple pie with you! I love trying new recipes and giving old favorites a new twist, but my apple pie is the one thing that I always use the same recipe for, because it’s just that good! The best part of this pie is definitely the crust; it’s buttery and rich, deliciously flaky and perfectly complements the apple filling that’s made up of tart apples that are warmed up with the aromatic flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg. Served warm with vanilla ice-cream that melts into every bite, this pie is like a sweet taste of that cozy, homey feeling we all love!

DOUGH
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
2 sticks (8oz) unsalted butter
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ice waterFILLING
3 lbs (about 7 large) apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
3 tbs all-purpose flour
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
2 – 3 tbs granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

EGG WASH
1 egg yolk
1 tbs water

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DIRECTIONS

Hi Everybody! I hope you are all having a good Monday and a good beginning to the fall season! To celebrate the first day of fall yesterday, my husband and I took a long walk down the nature trail that starts right behind where we live. It was a beautiful evening and as we walked down the little path in the woods, there were hints of the upcoming season all around us; the crisp air, the cool breeze, and the leaves beginning to turn bright red and orange and yellow. Besides getting some much needed exercise and fresh air, it was the perfect way to end the weekend and spend some time together! Today, I wanted to stop by and share these Whole Wheat Apple Muffins with you. They are super quick and easy to make, and are so good to grab for breakfast in the morning or enjoy with your tea or coffee. I love the texture and earthy flavor that the whole wheat flour adds, the juicy bursts of flavor from the tart apples and how moist the yogurt makes these muffins. A little taste of fall in every delicious bite!

MUFFINS

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbs ground cinnamon

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 stick (4oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup plain white yogurt (or buttermilk)

2 apples

TOPPING

1/4 cup light brown sugar

2 tbs all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbs unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

1. First, sift together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set it aside, and combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar and butter in your electric mixer bowl, until you have a smooth, creamy mixture. Add in the egg and the yogurt (or buttermilk if you are using that instead of yogurt) and mix again. Then, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in three parts and mix until you have a smooth batter.

2. Next, preheat your oven to 375 deg F and line your muffin pans with muffin liners. Peel, core and dice your apples and mix them into the muffin batter using a wooden spoon. Set it aside, and prepare your topping by mixing all the topping ingredients together until you get a crumbly mixture. Spoon the batter into your prepared muffin cups, filling each until it’s about 2/3 of the way full, and evenly divide the topping mixture between them, sprinkling it on top of the muffin batter. Bake for 17 – 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for a couple of minutes before eating.

Hi Everybody! Happy First Day of Fall! I couldn’t be more excited that today is the official beginning of my favorite season! I love everything about fall; the way the world becomes beautifully colorful as the leaves turn every different shade of red, orange, and yellow, the wonderfully crisp air, the cozy scarves, and jackets, and all the delicious apple pies, pumpkin pies, and pecan pies, of course!

My most favorite thing about fall would be when the weather outside gets colder and the evenings get darker, everything inside the home only seems to get warmer and brighter. As the air outside becomes cool and crisp, we bring the warmth inside. And perhaps the coziest and most wonderful warmth comes from the fall kitchen, which as the season arrives begins to fill up with the most delicious aromas and flavors of spices, buttery pie crusts, and deep-colored, hearty stews cooking away on the stove. Those warm and familiar scents bring back some of the fondest memories and create many happy new ones every year. There is nothing like the comfort, warmth, and safety of Home, especially at this time of year. After a cold and rainy day, be it literal or not, there is nothing as wonderful and reassuring as opening the front door and being warmly welcomed by the warmth and glow of a burning fire, the scent of an apple pie baking in the oven, or the coziness of soft plaid blankets and pillows waiting for you on the couch. I remember back in college when one of my friends used floor cushions and bean bags as couch alternatives! I should admit, it was quite comfy and space-saving when you live in a tiny dorm room. Oh, those days were a different kind of comfort (even though there was no welcoming scent of apple pie). These days, I love to cozy into the blankets and turn on the TV, and hopefully one of my favorite movies will be on the TV! The other day I found out from this source here that different states have different statistics on Marvel and DC movies that they prefer, well I was praying it was my favorite, which is Iron Man but alas it was Batman. Between you and me I’m going to be sticking to my Avenger’s movies for my rainy days lounging on the sofa!

Some of my friends think I’m crazy for loving the fall, especially those of my friends who get the winter blues around this time of year. Most of them get through this time by taking products like delta-8 THC where companies like Area 52 promote it as a legal way to get high as well as making them feel relaxed and happy during fall/winter, and then they tend to thrive in the summer, however, I am very different! In summer I tend to feel sluggish and tired and I don’t feel as enthusiastic as I do in other parts of the year, whereas in fall the air feels fresh and I can go out for a long walk without feeling sticky and exhausted as well as experiencing all the smells of the gorgeous pies baked in this time of year! So, what’s your favorite season?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a great beginning of this new season! Thanks for stopping by today, I’m off to bake some pie! Come back soon for some more delicious fall recipes!