Apple Pie

So one of the reasons that I stopped blogging last spring was because of fear. Yes, fear. When you blog and put pictures out there, you have to remember that anyone can read your blog and get a glimpse of your life. For a few different reasons the fear grew in me. I became overwhelmed and thought that the best way for me to conquer what was going on was to take a break from blogging. In the past six months I have dealt with the fear of people knowing too much about me or my kids. I was able to overcome the fear by praying my way through it. I have renewed interest in blogging and sharing with others and feeling connected to other women whom I share common interests. So I am putting aside the fear and moving forward with my blogging.

I always have a difficult time in transitioning from summer to fall. It's not that I don't like fall with beautiful changing leaves, cooler temps, and more free time with the kids in school, it is the fact that we are so far away from my favorite season of summer. I actually mourn the loss of summer and the abundant sunshine and flip flop weather...I am a true summer girl. So last week I decided that I need to embrace the good things about fall and create new and positive memories, even if I didn't feel like it. I had to change my attitude and be grateful for this new season with so many possibilities.

When my oldest walked through the door one day last week, I asked her if she would accompany me to the apple orchard. It is rare that is she is home after school but she is on a short break from her athletic endeavors, as she has been having knee issues. I knew she would rather flop on her bed before beginning her evening studies, but I was able to convince her to go with me. As we walked outside, she asked if she could drive down the driveway. She won't get her driver's permit until January, but recently I have let her drive up and down the driveway and around our irregular circle. She has practiced parking and backing up, too. I can already see a difference in her confidence and I think this will really help her when she gets her permit and gets out on the real road. (I need to write a post on driving and teenagers and my thoughts on why kids need to get their permit and their license.)

One of the bonuses of where we live, is that it is near a wonderful apple orchard that sells fresh cider, homemade apple donuts, produce, and of course, fresh-picked apples. So after our two minute drive to the orchard we asked the salesperson which type of apples were appropriate for making a pie and we popped the apples into the bag from the indoor bin. We purchased them and were on our way out the door when I was stung by a bee. I didn't even see the bee. I just felt this horrible sting on my wrist and could feel the venom traveling downward into my arm. It hurt really badly! There wasn't a stinger and I couldn't believe how much it hurt. I was able to drive home and was glad that my daughter was with me! When we arrived home a few minutes later, I wanted to get started on the apple pie but was in pain and was feeling completely silly that I couldn't handle a little bee sting. Ana was so sweet and worried about me and she told me she thought it was a bee that flew away. She helped me peel and core several apples and it was really rare and precious mother daughter time. Then she went on her way to study.

I was alone in the kitchen and added the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg to the apples while waiting for my youngest to get off the bus. She has always baked with me and has a huge interest in watching Cake Boss. I thought it would be fun for her to make the crust. It hit me that I haven't baked with her in a long time and that is a great way to bond with her. She was so surprised that I was going to let her make the pie crust. We worked together and I let her do a lot of the work and helped her with a bit of the rolling and putting the pie crust into the pie dish. She did a lot of the venting of the pie and I had to show her how to make it look even. She was really good at pinching the layers together, so I let her take over that task! Meanwhile my arm was starting to really swell and I was in pain! At this point, the kitchen is becoming very messy with flour and dough everywhere including the floor and ingredients all over the counter.  And I still had to make dinner!

Love how the sunshine on this day streams into my kitchen!

Fresh peeled apples from the orchard

Marissa, my happy baker

Mmmmm, can you smell the apple pie wafting through the house?

Marissa was all about letting me take a few pictures of her while baking. (I didn't even ask my teenage daughter, Ana...privacy is pretty important to teenagers...even in this techno age.) Imagine my husband's surprise when he walked into a house smelling like fresh baked apple pie! He made me take Benadryl (that didn't even occur to me!) and had me keep ice on my wrist and the swelling started to subside. The next morning the swelling got a lot worse and from the lower part of my hand to my elbow was really swollen and inflamed and itchy. Thankfully, on Saturday morning I was able to start on a steroid which has helped tremendously. 

By the way the apple pie was delicious. And it feels good to have a new attitude about this fall season. 

I would love to hear how you are doing and what you have embraced lately!

hugs,
Cathy