My baby shower favors

We had our baby shower last week.  It was wonderful!  My sister asked me what theme I wanted for the shower and I didn't have a preference but I knew I wanted pumpkin pie, pecan pie and other autumn desserts.  The shower ended up just being decorated like it was Thanksgiving.  It was beautiful and so delicious.

I made the favors for the guests.  Nothing new, it was pretty much the same favor I've given at many other parties.  I already had some little boxes (from papermart.com) and I used one of  my favorite chocolates: Lindt Truffles.  Costco used to carry bags of the milk chocolate truffles all year long but in the last couple years or so, they only carry them just before and during the Christmas season.  The bag they carry now has assorted truffles:  milk, white, dark, peanut butter and 60% dark.  Oh So Good!!

 Here, my daughter and nephew were helping me fill the boxes.  Three truffles per box.

 

I made labels with MS Publisher and instead of using ribbon, I printed out orange and white checkers and cut them in strips to use on the favors.  

Tiny caramel apples

Caramel apples are one of my favorite things to eat. When I was at Whole Foods this weekend, I saw these tiny apples. I actually thought they were cherries at first! They are crab apples, super tart and super tiny. I just had to buy some to see if I could make tiny caramel apples. So this morning, this is what I made.

In this picture, you can't really tell how tiny they are.

Looks just like a regular apple but with a huge stem.

Beautiful tiny things.

Just ignore the unmanicured fingernails and rough hands. Who has time for that anyway? I sure don't. I can barely take these pictures with a 1 year old tugging on my legs for me to carry her.

Oh you are so cute, I could just pinch you!

I melted a few caramel square in the microwave for about 45 seconds and added a bit of water until I got the consistency I wanted and dipped the apples.

So tiny!! So cute! I can barely stand it!

mmmm. But I need to eat more than one to satisfy my caramel apple craving.

my famous cheesecake/apple dessert

before sugar and cinnamon and baking

i've been making this dessert for a long time time. i really like cheesecake but sometimes there's too much cheese and not enough pie crust. whether it's graham cracker crust or regular buttery pie crust, i just love it! i made a dessert with just a little filling and lots of crust and topped it with apple, sugar, and cinnamon.


here's the recipe
12 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar (sometimes i use turbinado sugar)
2 eggs
1/4 vanilla
1 apples, thinly sliced (you can peel it but i don't)
1/3 cup sugar mixed with 1 t cinnamon

since i haven't been able to perfect pie crust from scratch, i just buy it from trader joe's (it's the best!). i lay both pie crusts together and roll it out and put it into a large 16 inch round pan. after spreading the filling, i cover it with apple slices and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. then bake for 30 min at 350 degrees

pumpkin pie

my most favorite dessert this time of year is pumpkin pie. but if it doesn't have whip cream, then it's not. it just not as fantastic without the whip cream. anyway, i made this yesterday.

here is the recipe from all allrecipes.com
i just used pie crust from the grocery store. this is the first time i used a whole wheat crust. it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together white sugar, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. When these ingredients are well mixed, stir in the eggs followed by the pumpkin and milk. Transfer mixture to the pie crust.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 1/2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the pie comes out clean. Cool before serving.

caramel apples

here's a better picture of the mini caramel apples. i forgot to take pictures of the regular sized apples. i made caramel and chocolate covered caramel apples.

sneak peak

i love this time of year. one of the reasons i love it is because we have a harvest festival at church. i've always had my "bakery" booth and of course this year, wanted to do the same. but it's been busy and kind of crazy due to the fires here. so i didn't have time to bake all the stuff i wanted too. i've been making caramel apples every year and i made them today. but i was so excited because i found these tiny apples and decided to make tiny caramel apples (in addition to the regular sized granny smith apples) for my booth. since it's evening, the picture isn't that great because of the flash. but i'll take more on sunday so i can show you the other apples.