basic donuts

okay, bear with me ... there are literally children climbing on me right now so this is gonna be a real quick post with probably a million typos ...

anyway, donuts! my mom got me this pan for christmas and today i used it for the first time. well, wolfgang and i. lately we have been bonding over food. he is all about cooking and baking and i am all about letting him help. his tiny voice and little helping hands are to die for.

okay, moving right along. i found this super easy recipe on pinterest, of course, but i tweaked it a bit.

1. preheat oven to 350. spray pan with non stick cooking spray.
2. in a large bowl whisk together one egg, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, one cup water and one box of dry cake mix. we used strawberry, but you could use any. next time we are going for chocolate.
3. spoon mixture into muffin pan ... this batter will make eighteen donuts (three pans worth)
4. bake in the oven for about tenish minutes. maybe a little longer. just poke em with a toothpick.
5. immediately move to cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before frosting them!

okay, frosting:

1. melt two tablespoons butter.
2. in a large bowl, mix 1.5 cups powdered sugar with the melted butter.
3. slowly add milk, one tablespoon at a time. i used four tablespoons ... you want the frosting to be a little runny! thick frosting will not work. i mean it will, but wouldn't be as pretty.
4. take your donut and dip it into the frosting, bottom side. so the soft top will actually be the bottom on the donut. make sense? ... after you dip the donut, lift it up and turn it from side to side, making sure to evenly coat it.
5. that's it! add sprinkles or whatever topping you want!

... you could also add a little food coloring if you want colorful donuts.

i hope this all made sense, my kids are cray right now and i gotta go! :)

seriously, these are so easy and delicious. they are basically just cake in donut form, but so fun and would be so easy to prepare a lot of them for a birthday party or whatever! xo

an apple orchard with new friends

so, i made a new friend. her name is sara and she has two little boys ... vince and memphis. long story short, instagram brought us together and i am so glad it did. she is in town from las vegas and we have been spending a lot of time together. this past week i took her to my favorite apple orchard and even though we nearly died from the heat, we had such an amazing time ... 

you can learn more about sara here and here

also! ... i made a whole lotta applesauce with the apples we picked and if you wanna great recipe to try, you can find it here

i hope everyone is having a happy weekend! xo

salt dough ornaments

our christmas spirit is off the charts right now. last year i hosted thanksgiving, so i was focused on turkey recipes and how to set a pretty table ... but this year, i am not hosting, so i dove head first into christmas ... 

eleanor has already made her list and asks me everyday if i remember what she wants. goodness, i loved the holidays as a kid, but i love it even more as a mommy. 

anyway, the day after thanksgiving we will make our annual trip to the tree farm to pick a tree. we will bring it home and hang our candlestick lights and just a few ornaments on the tree ... usually something we have made together. all of the other ornaments that have been passed down and gifted to us will hang on our smaller tree upstairs. it's all so very fun and exciting. so much magic in this season. 

this year for our main tree we are making cranberry garland and salt dough ornaments. super easy and super fun for our little ones ... and the best part is we can put on holiday music, drink hot cocoa and spend time with one another ... making memories. 

salt dough ornaments ;

1. mix together 1 cup all purpose flour and 1/4 cup salt. blend well. 
2. while mixing, slowly add water until a dough forms (about 1/2 cup). careful not to make it too wet!
3. wrap dough in plastic and let it chill in the fridge for about twenty minutes.
4. roll out dough on floured surface and cut shapes. 
5. poke holes using a toothpick. 
6. bake in a 300 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. check often ... you want them to harden, not turn brown. 
7. lastly attach strings and decorate if you like ... one idea is using tacky glue and small beads! or just leave plain. im sure there are other ways to decorate and im sure you can find those ideas on pinterest!

side note: that wooden rolling pin belonged to my grandma who passed this summer. this morning as we rolled out the salt dough, i thought of her. there were a lot of grand children on my mom's side of the family and my grandma lived in an old schoolhouse. (very tiny) ... on christmas day when we walked into her house, there were presents stacked so high, almost to the ceiling! and they nearly covered her entire living room ... so much magic and memories during this time of year and i just love it so much. xo.

apples and more!

today was the first day it really, really felt like autumn ... by that i mean, if you walked outside at nine am without a sweater on, you were cold. the skies were gray and the chill in the air made your nose run a bit ... our yard is gradually being overtaken by fallen leaves and the lawn mower is most likely stored away until spring. everywhere you go, you see mums and pumpkins for sale ... pumpkin lattes being advertised at starbucks and shoot, even mcdonalds ... anyway, fall is here and im bloody loving it. 

as most of you know, we already went apple picking a few weeks back, but i just had to bundle up my boys and go again ... i mean, we can always use more applesauce and i really wanted to make apple butter this time around. so, we spent the morning at our favorite orchard and by the end of today, there was apple butter simmering in the le creuset and applesauce in the slow cooker ... im saving the honey crisps for pie ...

i wanted to share with you a recipe for apple butter and my grandma's homemade biscuits ... for me, there is delicious nostalgia in every bite ... see recipes below. 

apple butter (i found this recipe on pinterest):

1. slice, peel and core six apples of your choice. 
2. place them in a dutch oven and add 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and one squeeze of fresh lemon juice. 
3. cover and simmer on low for about two hours. 
4. throw it in a food processor and puree until smooth. 
5. divide into two 8 oz glass jars. 
6. spread on a biscuit and enjoy!

homemade biscuits: you can find the recipe here

applesauce:

1. slice, peel and core as many apples as you want.
2. place them in a crock pot or slow cooker.
3. cover with water just below apples (not too much)
4. sprinkle with desired amount of cinnamon
5. slow cook on low about eight hours or overnight.
6. throw it in a food processor and puree.
7. store in mason jars. (i freeze mine in freezer bags because i put them in reusable pouches for wolfgang ... he loves applesauce!)

enjoy! xo

p.s. ... our blanket is from target, the adorable knit jumpers the boys are wearing are from the gap and their matching moccs were kindly gifted to us from kc moccs.