Apple Pie

The fourth and final Thanksgiving pie was a delicious Apple Pie. For some reason, I was most nervous to make this pie, even though it is a fairly simple recipe. Something about having to alter the amount of certain ingredients based on the taste of the apples made me anxious. What if it was too sweet? Too tart? What if I messed up the most American and classic pies of Thanksgiving? Obviously, I put far too much pressure on myself over a pie. Seriously, it’s just dessert. But, alas, I can’t help it; I want everything to be perfect. I even went to bed Wednesday night thinking about what shapes I might cut out of the top crust. Apples? Leaves? Turkeys? The possibilities seemed endless and I was simply overwhelmed.

So many PIES!

‘Twas the night before Thanksgiving, when all through the house

Every creature was stirring, even the mouse!

The pies were cooling by the oven with care,

In hopes that Turkey Day soon would be there!

Okay, so the rhyme is better when written for Christmas, but you get the idea. It’s the day before Thanksgiving and I baked 3 of 4 pies for tomorrow’s delicious feast (Apple is a day-of pie). This year, we have a much smaller Thanksgiving guest list than usual, but we haven’t lessened the number of pies we’re baking. Actually, I think we've increased it...haha.

Scones!!!

I woke up on this lovely, sunny Veteran’s Day and ran to the grocery store to get some milk. I made the choice to walk down the baking aisle en route to the dairy case. What a great decision that was because it brought be to another blog post! Anyway, nestled just below the assortment of chocolate chips and baking chocolates were various holiday recipe cards, just waiting for me to take and use as inspiration. Naturally, I was overcome by the need to bake TODAY. My first thought was something simple and tasty for breakfast: scones!

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Cheers to taste testing!

There are few pairings more perfect than peanut butter and chocolate, especially in the world of desserts and baked goods. I feel like peanut butter and chocolate are always a good choice, always a crowd pleaser. So, what better way to commemorate my first post about baking than writing about this oh-so-delicious partnership. I found this particular recipe a couple of months ago while watching the Food Network. The delightful Barefoot Contessa made these cupcakes, but I decided to adapt the quantities for a two layer cake with LOTS of frosting.

Sidenote: I much prefer baking cakes to cupcakes. To me, cupcakes are unpredictable because there are so many of them. Some turn out small, some too big. Then you have to frost them each individually, which is somewhat annoying and time-consuming. But cake is consistent and reliable, and I'm a sucker for reliability. It is also far less tedious and quicker (except for my first cake…but that’s a story all it’s own). And most important: cake is so much easier to transport than a million little cupcakes. I just hate it when frosting sticks to the sides of a container! What a waste!

The Start of a Dream

If you are reading this, you probably know me and know that I'm searching for a job as a school counselor, but struggling in this venture. Back in August, I decided that I needed a new hobby while I searched for jobs, so I decided to do some more serious baking. I wanted to finally bake cakes from scratch, something I was always too busy to try while in school. So for my birthday in September, my family gave me all sorts of baking paraphernalia and I was ecstatic.

Let me explain why I love to bake. I love to give what I bake away to friends and family. There is nothing that makes me happier than watching someone take that first bite of some delicious treat that I made. I love sharing something I created with other people. That is why I bake.