So Domesticated of Me!

So after my apple picking excursion at the MacQueen Apple Orchard, I am left with a little over a dozen apples! 

What's a girl to do?

Bake! 

I wanted to find a recipe that would require a large amount of apples along with being a healthy snack at the same time... You know... to sort of replace my guilty habit of devouring our candy caramel squares and the already half-eaten bag of candy corn... 

So I found a recipe for Baked Apple Chips coated with cinnamon and sugar!

After my most recent blog post, (where I confessed my undying love for Fall), this seemed like the perfect snack to make! 

Although the recipe is time consuming in regards to how long it needs to bake, it was literally the easiest thing I've ever had to prepare... Which was helpful since I was in charge of cooking dinner for my hard-working, traveling husband. ;o) 

For those of you that know me, cooking for me is like pulling teeth. I just simply do not enjoy it. Oddly enough, I truly enjoy baking... but when you marry an Italian who was born with a spatula in his hand, I've gotten very used to not doing any cooking. 

Dinner tonight was pasta and veggies with a spicy sauce! 

Ingredients: Whole wheat pasta, vegetables, and Ro*Tel + chicken broth + half & half for the sauce. That's it! 

I was quite the multi-tasking, domestic wife tonight. 

While dinner was simmering, I finished preparing the apple chips. 

According to the recipe's directions, I let these babies bake on 200F degrees for 2.5 hours. As suggested, I flipped them over half way through as well. When the 2.5 hours were up, I turned off the oven and let them sit in the oven for another hour or so. 

And wha-lah! Warm, toasty, cinnamony, apple chips! :) 
(However, I think next time I will use less cinnamon)

Nothing like a great snack to wallow in during this Breaking Bad marathon before the final episode... uggggh.

So Jo(W)anna know what? Turns out my Irish roots are good for something other than drinking. ;o)

I'd say it was a successful night in the kitchen for this gal! 

Oh My Love for Fall

Autumn. 

What is it about autumn that makes me feel warm and cozy inside?

Maybe it's the sound of the leaves crunching beneath my brown tall rider boots that 98% of women in America own. 

Or maybe it's the mixture of the crisp air and warm sun all at the same time that leaves you so confused on how to dress. Or possibly it's the golden and vibrating colors of trees that look straight out of a Bob Ross painting. 

Maybe it's the ritual of throwing on my Pittsburgh Steelers apparel on a Sunday afternoon; only this season, I am left with a disappointing loss and the satisfaction of finishing a 6-pack of pumpkin ale... by myself... (Go Pirates)  

(I feel ya Tomlin)

Maybe it's the fact that I want to stuff everything, and anything, that involves caramel, pumpkin and apple into my mouth... 

Whatever it is, autumn makes me want to cuddle with every snuggable thing in sight and makes me just about the happiest human being alive. 

Yesterday, my friend Cristina and I took an afternoon trip to the MacQueen's Apple Orchard to pick some apples and to of course, enjoy the beautiful weather. 

 (#twinning)

(Someone remind me to get a manicure)

Needless to say, the experience was memorable, fun and breathtaking! 

With my love for photography, and Cristina's love for cooking, this apple picking trip turned out to be most rewarding in the end... Beautiful pictures and a happy belly.

Cristina found a recipe for Apple Turnovers that left us in a joyous apple induced coma.

Here they are before the oven...

and of course, the final product after the oven was...

(This literally makes me want to lick the computer screen) 

I think it is safe to say that I went to bed a very happy camper last night. 

So Jo(W)anna know what? In the scheme of things, what isn't there to love about fall? (And yes, that was a rhetorical question.) 

Wishing a very happy "sweaters and scarfs, warm apple cider, hay rides and corn mazes, chili for dinner, pumpkin spiced everything" season to you all! :)