Simple & Sweet Apple Turnovers

SO DELICIOUS APPLE TURNOVERS!!!

Really simple to make: 1 Can apple pie filling(chop coarsely), 

1 Box Refrigerated Pastry Pie crust (2 circles per package), 1 egg, powdered sugar, 

milk, water, almond extract.

Cut out circles with a glass or small bowl. Use knife to score edges. Fill center with 1 TBls. filling.

Wet seam with a small amount of water and press closed.

Score edges with fork or I used a Wilton decorative stitching tool (used for cakes & fondant). 

It is pictured below. 

Beat egg with 1 tsp. Milk and brush on the top of the turnover. 

Yum! The egg wash created this nice browning effect after they were cooked in the oven. So awesome! 

SOOOOO TASTY LOOKING!

After the turnovers cooled for a while, I glazed them with powdered sugar and 1tsp. water and 1tsp. almond extract. After I mixed the icing I poured the mixture into a Ziploc bad and cut a small hole in the corner. I used it as a make shift pastry bag. Then I drizzled the topping on and allowed it to dry.

Heavenly treats!

Warm, sweet and tasty treat for the Fall season. You can't beat these treats for the holidays.

These beauties remind me of the little Wonder Bread pies that my Dad used to bring home when I was a little girl. What a treat they were. They package up nicely for a great gift.

BYU Themed Birthday Cake

This Brigham Young University themed birthday cake was really fun to make. My friends daughters birthday was the same day as the BYU Football game. So.....hence the Y's and the Navy Blue and White colored Poka-Dots. 

Here is how I made the cake:    After the cakes were cooled, I filled the center with buttercream frosting. Then I crumb coated both cakes with frosting. 

 I used fondant to cover both cakes.

 I like the smooth look of fondant on a cake.

 I used Satin Ice fondant to cover the cake. It works wonderfully and can be purchased at Orson Gigi. It is a bit pricey but gets the job done right!

 Using a fondant smoother, I smoothed out the white/vanilla fondant. So far, so good.

 Here are the 2 tiers after the dowels were put inside to hold the cake upright and help the cake from shifting.

  Here is the creative part: I used different tools to cut shapes out of the Navy Blue Fondant. I didn't have colored fondant so I mixed food colors to make the White Satin Ice fondant a dark Navy Blue. My hands were stained for a while after. 

 Here is the fun Y cake all finished!

 I think it turned out fun for a teenager that loves BYU. 

 I put the grass on the cake to represent BYU's football field grass.

 Happy Birthday Alex!

Canning Chopped Tomatoes

Here are the beauties! My garden keeps on producing tomatoes like mad. I am loving it! My husband will be happy I am saving him money by canning these babies! Bring on the Red delicious tomatoes.

I mixed the Beef Stake, Roma, and Lg. Cherry tomatoes to make this batch of chopped canned tomatoes. You know me, I can't waste a thing! 

Here is my lovely canning pot on the stove. My husband gave this to me as a gift last year for my birthday. Who knew I would become a domesticated canning woman. 

Here are the beautiful chopped tomatoes nicely preserved in pint sized jars. I can't wait to eat them in the fall when I am craving tomatoes again :).

Awe....delicious tomatoes!!!

Zesty Garden Salsa

My garden is overflowing with tomatoes! Yikes....I have tried to make every meal possible using tomatoes and I am running out of creative cooking ideas so I canned salsa today with fresh ingredients from my garden.

I usually spend time canning with my sister, but I wanted to see if I could do a batch all by myself. I did it! The truth is canning is better with someone to talk to :). Okay, I did have cute little kids around to talk to so I wasn't completely alone.

Here are my unwashed tomatoes straight out of the garden. I used a mixture of tomatoes for the salsa.

 After blanching the tomatoes for 30-60 seconds I placed the peeling tomatoes in ice water. 

I used the BALL Blue Book Guide to Preserving and followed the Zesty Salsa recipe inside. I love that book. My sister gave it to me for a gift and I know I will use it often in the years to come.

I combined tomatoes, green peppers, onions, garlic, salt, cider, and hot pepper flakes. 

After it came to a boil, I reduced the heat and simmered for 10 min. 

I processed the pint sized salsa jars in boiling water.

Here is one of my canned beauties! I can't wait to serve this salsa up with some delicious corn chips!

Zesty Garden Salsa

6 pint sized jars of zesty salsa.