Happy Mother's Day: A Giveaway!

I haven't blogged in quite some time, but with Mother's Day right around the corner, I feel like giving away something! A custom Swarovski pocket rosary, to be exact. Now through Saturday night, you have a chance to win one. The Rafflecopter is below, so enter away! Once the winner is chosen, we will then design the rosary.

Here is an example of what I have previously designed, and what prompted this giveaway

 

So, good luck, and Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas, mine included! <3

 

 



 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Holiday Pie Baking Hack

I love pie. A lot. The year I was married, I found a recipe for an apple cranberry pie with a pecan crumble topping. I can't remember where I found it, but I've made so many changes to it that I call it my own. It is by far my favorite pie, but it is a lot of work to prepare. Since I have two toddlers running around, and another bebe rolling around in my womb, topped with my ITP, I'm pretty exhausted. But I NEED THIS PIE! I have come up with a few little hacks to save some time in making this delicious pie.

First. I bought pre-chopped pecans. I know this sounds like a waste, but this also saves me from using the food processor to chop them and blend them in with the sugars. Since they're already small, I just toss them in the mixing bowl with the sugars, flour, salt, and small pieces of cold butter, and work it all together with my hands. It doesn't take long at all.

(Delicious crumbly topping)

The next tip is to buy a pre-made pie crust. Yes, your homemade one is going to taste a million times better, but I do not have the time it takes to prepare this delicious, buttery, flaky crust. So I bought a two-pack at the store, and I'll use the other one for Christmas.

(Pie ready to bake, in the pre-made pie crust)

Thirdly, for an apple pie, invest in an apple peeler/slicer/corer. Five seconds, and your apple is ready to go. Seriously. Get one.

(Amazon link)

Last, bake ahead of time. I'm sure a lot of you who prepare an entire Thanksgiving meal do this, but I have yet to do this, and I'm busy with prenatal and hematology appointments, so making the pie ahead of time is saving me from going insane!

Now for the recipe. I'm going to disregard the pie crust part, because we are saving time!

APPLE CRANBERRY PECAN CRUMBLE PIE

Filling:

3 medium apples (for this round, I used one Braeburn, one Honeycrisp, and one Gala)

1 cup fresh cranberries

1/2 granulated sugar (you could use turbinado as well)

Juice of 1/2 lemon (I use ReaLemon because it's quicker!)

1/2 t ground cinnamon

2 T flour

Topping:

1/2 c pecans (get the pre-chopped ones!)

1/3 c sugar (since I'm halving this recipe, I used approximately half each of brown sugar and granulated sugar)

1/4 c + 2 T flour (give or take, since, again, this is half the recipe)

1/2 t salt

1/4 c (half a stick) cold unsalted butter

Use your handy apple peeler/corer/slicer to take care of your three apples, cut those in half (for gorgeous, uniform slices), toss them in a large-ish mixing bowl with your cranberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Mix real well and set it aside for 10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 400° with a dark baking sheet (lined with foil!) inside. Apparently this makes the bottom of the pie more crisp.

In your set-aside bowl, add cinnamon and flour and mix lightly. Turn mixture into your frozen pie shell and place the pie in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes.

While the pie is baking, we can now prepare the mouth-watering topping! To save on dishes, I just rinsed out the bowl I used for the filling and dried it. Toss in your chopped pecans and your sugar and mix them together with your fingers. Add the flour and salt and mix again. I like to cut the cold butter into little squares for easier working. Toss the squares in with the mixture and cut in the butter with your fingers until they resemble the crumbs in the photo above. It only takes about 5 minutes to accomplish this.

When the pie is done baking, remove and place your topping on top and pat it a bit so it stays in place. REDUCE YOUR OVEN TEMPERATURE TO 375°! Put your pie back in the oven for about 20 minutes and bake. Then place a foil tent over your pie and bake another 15 minutes. This last part helps your topping to stay golden brown instead of burned!

Once it's finished baking, let it cool completely then you can cover it with foil again and get it ready for transport. Great, now I want to eat it and I have to wait 2 whole days!

Autumn Favorite Things

I was recently featured in Molly Make Do's Favorite Things post, and I thought I'd do my own Autumn take on it, since I've been fortunate enough to be featured in one! It'll be short and sweet, and lacking in words, but here goes...

My friend Jane makes beautiful knit scarves and other cold weather accessories. I am fortunate enough to own a few of her items, and just ordered this absolutely stunning scarf called Falling Autumn Leaves Scarf. I cannot wait to receive it! It utters Autumn over and over again and makes me want to cry because of its beauty. She has one available in her Etsy shop, but I'm sure when it sells out, she can create another one for you!

Jenna embroiders gorgeous necklaces! I purchased the Sacred Heart one during Lent of this year and wear it all the time! It's dainty, lightweight, and is full of detail. I am currently eyeing her Autumn Colors necklace that she just put in her Etsy shop this week, along with a hoard of other Autumn, Thanksgiving, and Christmas designs! Again, this one screams Autumn and makes me weepy. Gotta love pregnancy hormones!

Last year, right before Thanksgiving, I took a gander to Orange Thyme's Etsy shop because someone had favorited her 'Pumpkin Cheesecake' lip balm. Really? Pumpkin AND cheesecake? Sign me up! I received it, and loved it, and then it got washed and dryer with the laundry. I was so bummed. How could I have done that to my favorite flavored lip balm? I'll definitely be ordering another one soon to replace mine. It's delish!

A couple other random gorgeous Autumn items I ran into this week on Etsy are:

This wreath (and a few hundred others) from The Violette Bloom:

This centerpiece from TheCreativeQ:

These earrings from TRTL Jewelry:

And, of course, I have to put in a plug for my own small business! I crafted this Warm Autumn rosary today and it is now listed here, and it's CHEAP! It's made with Preciosa crystal bicones and pearls. I like it so much, I might just keep it, so snatch it before it's gone ;)

Thanks for hanging out with me again! I'll try to make it on here again before Baby is born ;)

I've Been a Small Business Owner for a Year -- A Giveaway!

Last August was a huge month for me, both good and bad. I received my fabulous ITP diagnosis and spent 2 nights in the hospital, and I also registered with the state for my business license! August has historically always been an eventful month for me, mainly for my accident-proneness! A few broken elbows, and an awesome "L" scar that I got at Mukilteo Beach when I was 9. Memories that will stick with me forever.

Since I've been in "the biz" for a year now, I wanted to do another giveaway to celebrate this momentous occasion! This time, instead of having a premade one ready to ship, I thought I'd make a custom Swarovski bicone and pearl pocket rosary! You can take a gander over at FusionBeads.com and find some lovely mixes! I typically make them with the 6mm ones, but you can browse any other sizes and just let me know which mix you prefer.

Here are some examples

You can have that be one of your entries for the Rafflecopter...commenting with your favorite Swarovski bicone mix! The contest will start today (August 1) and run through midnight on August 15. I hope to have the pocket rosary out to the winner by month end! Thank you to everyone who has shown love and support during this past year. I am truly blessed to have a successful business that I LOVE running, and I don't feel like it's a job!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rosaries by Allison - Mini Spotlight

Here are a few of my newest items, and newly renewed items in my Etsy shop. I still always accept custom requests, so send me a message on the Etsy messaging system and we can design your dream rosary!

Arcade Fire - Intervention

This musical element song is epic. It has a pipe organ! It reminds me of being in church. Anyway, here's a video from a performance on "Austin City Limits" in 2007.

Pumpkin Recipe #2: Pumpkin Apple Pancakes

Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorite things...brinner, as we call it in my house. I decided since I have canned pumpkin in my fridge, to have these delicious pancakes for dinner tonight, and post the recipe for my fellow pumpkin lovers to enjoy! I have previously posted this recipe on my blog, during the Lenten season, so some of you may have already seen this one, but it's definitely worth repeating.

This recipe I got from the TV show "The Chew." One of the viewers "won" with her Pumpkin Apple Pancake recipe. I couldn't wait to try them when I saw the episode, and I'm so glad I did because we have them often! So delish!

MIA ROGERS' PUMPKIN APPLE PANCAKES

Ingredients:

1c flour

1 1/2t baking powder

1/2t cinnamon

1/4t nutmeg

1/8t ginger

1T butter, melted

1/2c pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/4c brown sugar

1/4t salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1c buttermilk*

1/3c peeled, diced apple (I usually use 1 apple)

Caramelized Apple Topping:

1 apple, thinly sliced

1T butter

2T brown sugar

(I usually double this recipe, because I love it so much! And really, who wants a scant amount of this apple-y goodness on their pancakes?!)

*If you don't have buttermilk, put 1T of lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup and fill with milk until it reaches 1c. Whisk it to combine, then let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes, until it's curdled. Mix it up and voila! You have your buttermilk substitute!

Directions:

In a medium bowl, toss in your flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a smaller bowl, place your egg, melted butter, diced apple, pumpkin puree, and buttermilk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and let stand for about 5 minutes. At this point, you can now make your caramelized apple topping!

In a large-ish skillet, melt your butter (here's where I'd use 2T...okay maybe 3 or 4T of butter!) over medium-ish heat. Add your brown sugar and apples and stir until the apples are nice and soft, and slightly golden (8ish minutes). (I can tell you from experience, that using one of those apple peeler/corer/slicers will save you so much time...do it!)

(This is my husband, being an awesome assistant, caramelizing the apples. Don't you love the action shot?!)

To cook your pancakes, scoop up 1/3c of the batter and plop it onto your preheated griddle. Cook on one side until it's bubbly, then flip and cook another 1 1/2ish minutes. When they are done, top with your delicious caramelized apples, some warm maple syrup, and maybe...just maybe...some brown sugar!

(Here is an unnecessary photo of the pancakes almost finished cooking.)

(The plated goodness.)

The recipe says it serves 4 people, but I can easily eat 4 of these delicious suckers myself! Enjoy!