Fall Mood Board: #1

I still lamenting how short the summer seemed and having trouble adjusting to the idea of fall maybe because I'm dreading the winter that follows. I actually love the snow but not commuting in the bitter cold. But I'm rushing ahead a season!

Back to fall. In an effort to get inspired by and into the season I've been browsing and came up with some images to set the mood. And hopefully inspire some fall activities.

Judging from my first set of images, it seems as if eating will be one of my preferred fall activities. The recipe for the Chocolate Pear Tart can be found at Confessions of a Tart.

Apple Picking Part 2: Simplest Apple Tart

After recovering from our outing in the orchards, the very full basket of apples that resulted was begging to be made into something. I searched for an apple pie recipe, I had success with a few years ago to no avail and decided if I didn't act soon our harvest would end up as as deer food. (More about that later.)

I opted for this "Simplest Apple Tart" posted on Smitten Kitchen with beautifully photographed instructions. I didn't follow Deb's advice on the sugar and went with the full five table spoons of Alice Water's original recipe calls for. Two would not have satisfied my sweet tooth or our mix of apples which included Granny Smith. The final tart was not overly sweet even with 5 generous tablespoons. We had the tart with ice cream and there was a nice contrast between the still semi-tart apples and the truly sweet ice cream. It was a perfect reward for our apple picking effort.

To make things even simpler I cheated and used pre-made pie crust. I cheated again and made the fold over edge by tearing a second pie crust and adding it on. No rolling pins were involved in the making of our tart and it turned out just fine. I'll take on pâte brisée another day when the tractor is working.

Early Apple Picking

We went apple picking early this year. In fact on the first day our local farm was open to the public for picking. We were looking forward to a hayride but we were so early, they were still fixing the tractor or running to get fuel for the tractor depending on who you spoke to.

So we had to walk out through the orchards ourselves and carry the basket as it filled up. My little one wanted to carry it in the beginning. She told me she was fours years old now and had enough "enjurey" to carry it herself. A few feet later she decided she wasn't strong enough yet and I took over. Without the extra weight she ran ahead of me, when I finally caught up out of breath and took the lead again, I was scolded for going too fast. We ended up going further out than I expected and got quite a work out in. The problem with a good apple picking session is, at least without door to door tractor service, by the time your done there's no "enjurey" left to make the pie.

Now We Are Four

Yesterday my little one turned four! Seems unbelievable to me that she is already four and wearing 5T clothing and size 11 shoes. She's grown so much this year. The baby is disappearing and the little girl/teenager is emerging.

Yesterday for her birthday, I signed her up for Soccer, so I guess I'm officially a soccer mom now. Yikes! Not looking forward to getting up early on Sunday mornings, better figure out the auto timer on the coffee pot, so I have hot coffee for cold mornings standing on the sidelines cheering.

A Moody Rainy End to Summer

The Labor Day Weekend and beyond has been a wet mess. Certainly not the weather I was hoping for the unofficial end of summer and my vacation. We've had exactly one sunny day which I slept through out of sheer exhaustion having come off a rough week of work prior to the holiday. The rest have been cloudy with some form of rain, from shower to down pour.

I'm finding it hard to be sunny at the same time I'm looking at the garden I was hoping to mulch drowning in water and places I toyed with visiting being actually under water. We're trying to make the best of it.

Here are some photos of the last days at the pool. Sad it will be another year before I catch her going down the froggy slide.