Snowflakes

Well our first snowstorm of the winter and it's almost March! That is unheard of in Connecticut!  I was getting so used to no snow that I was already moving on to spring in my heart. Little did I know that winter was not over with -- and that's quite okay. 

Because today was a S N O W  D A Y !!! We got the 'no school email' around dinner time (although we all kind of knew it was coming). Perfect timing for this soup hot off the stove. Bubbling, spicy, warm, savory, and the cutest name in the word: Cowboy Stew! 

Here' the recipe - so easy, so cozy! 

I decided after dinner we needed a pie tomorrow on our snow day to nibble on throughout the afternoon of being snowed in. So Scott offered to run to the store just before the snow got bad. I needed a few things for this pie recipe -- I wanted to try a new one. This one is called Country Fair Candy Apple Pie -- the name had me swooning already. It's a pie that had promise of tasting like the candy apples you get a a fair! Oh boy! 

I made the pie dough and pie crust at night and froze it -- I always fill and bake my pie with my crust frozen. It comes out so much better that way. 

Late in the evening I could hear the snowplows scarping along (one of my favorite sounds of winter). There's nothing cozier than the dark of night, pajamas, hot tea, and the sound of the snowplow. Bliss. 

When we woke up in the morning after sleeping soundly under heavy down comforters, it was a wonderland of snow. 

There are two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.

~Albert Einstein

As much as I love seeing all that pretty snow I wanted to spend my day in my country kitchen, although we did go for a walk in the afternoon! 

As soon as the weather calls for something that might possibly be a snow day we plan out a really fun breakfast. This year we prepared the evening before an egg casserole and boy was it good! And it was fun to slide it in the oven early in the morning while Scott and Abigail were sleeping. 

We had a lovely roast for dinner and then P I E for dessert. Among all of that were lots of cups of tea, homework for Abigail, and just some rest. 

I was thinking today how blessed I am to be a homemaker - a full time classroom teacher I am too - but I still consider myself a homemaker. I might not be in my home the whole day but in my heart I am. There are just some things that make it lovely. And when I'm making a new recipe like today's Candy Apple Pie there are a few things I like to do to make it easier on me: 

Tip One: If you can with a new recipe, try to have one part that you've done a million times. For example, if you are making a new soup, have the rolls/salad/bread/whatever that you've made before so many times you don't even have to think about it. For me, I used the same pie dough recipe I always do and the crumb topping too - so the only new part was the filling. 

Tip Two: Clean up your kitchen before you start a new recipe. Make space for making something new. Especially since you've never made it, you just don't know how much room you'll need

Tip Three: Whether it's baking or cooking or anything new in the kitchen, let other's in your family know, "mama is making a new recipe today -- I think you're gonna love this candy apple pie, but I need to measure, and think" If I'm not interrupted with a new recipe I don't get frustrated. 

Tip Four: Get out all of your ingredients first. This is great for any cooking, but to be honest when I whip up my muffins, or cook what we call, "Abigail Soup" I don't need to gather my ingredients first... I can just go, go, go.

Tip Five: Put on a cute apron, some music that you like that is relaxing and not distracting - you'll be in the mood for cooking/baking more with an apron tied on. 

Here is the pie dough getting ready to come together. All that flour is mixing with the fat. 

And here is the pie dough about to head to the refrigerator for an hour to chill. 

And my favorite part-- rolling out the pie dough and fluting the edges! Rolling it out and getting into into a pie pan used to intimidate me. Oh the pies I messed up before I could really get it in there good! Like anything in the world, it just took practice, practice, practice (and luckily my hubby didn't mind my first 100 pie crusts not being pretty - he said, "doesn't matter to me, still tastes the same!) But now they are so easy and I feel sooooooo good! There is nothing like the feeling right here. 

I always freeze my pie dough overnight. I only add filling into a frozen crust. It bakes up so much prettier that way! It really holds it's shape. 

So that Country Fair, Candy Apple Pie??? How did it come out? Well it came out bubbling with candy apple glaze, it did! And it was so so so so good.

Well that's it - I hope this post warmed you up and got you ready to fix up something good and yummy on a cold and blustery day in your neck of the woods! It sure was a yummy snow day!