This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support
Yesterday, Lindsey mentioned in her post that we have finally hit winter here in Phoenix! We have had a couple of nights that have gone into freezing temperatures and highs in the forties during the day, with rain! Eat your hearts out everywhere else! But, to us it is cold and Lindsey's delicious chicken soup really hits the spot!
Today I am going to share a recipe that will be a perfect comfort food for these cold winter days. Not only that, it is so cute, I had to make it. I've had this recipe for quite awhile! It comes from the 1991 Leisure Arts edition of Christmas Gifts of Good Taste. I don't know if you have any of these books, but they have a lot of good ideas and beautiful photographs of things that I rarely actually make. But, I do get inspired by them quite often sometimes do my own take on the idea. I have seen the picture of these Baked Apple Dumplings so many times and have wanted to make them. I have finally done it! (With a few variations.)
Before I give you the recipe, let me give you a few tips:
Since I had pecans left over after the holidays, I was able to use them by chopping them up with my Pampered Chef chopper!
After the apples are peeled and cored, start filling them with the filling then stick in the cinnamon stick to act as a stem. Then, I sprinkled the pecan mixture over the outside of the apples as well. We have a different idea about this step that I will share later.
This photo is so I can show off my new French Rolling Pin that Lindsey got me for Christmas! I used it to roll out a big sheet of the pastry dough. I used an 8" bowl to cut out circles to cover the apples.
Do you remember these cute little cookie cutters shaped like leaves that I've told you about before? They are perfect for this recipe.
Okay, here is the recipe!
Here they are out of the oven.
Here is the inside.
Now, here are a few observations and things that we may do differently the next time.
These would make a beautiful dessert when having friends over in fall or winter! Or, just to curl up with while reading a good book! Let me know if you enjoy them.
3 Comments
This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. 3 Winks Design does not share your personal information. All views expressed are our own. Thank you for your support! Happy New Year! The holidays are over and I am still depressed about that. I am here to try and cheer us all up with this delicious Chicken Soup Recipe!
Don't you love chicken soup? Chicken soup is like going home. That's why they have all of those Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Because it is good for you! Well, here in Phoenix we had winter last week. It was really ridiculously cold! Also, my little girl was sick, just in time for Christmas and her first birthday. It was a total bummer. So, I went into super mom mode and made some homemade chicken soup to try and heal her (she ended up having an ear infection, so antibiotics also played a role in the process.) Wherever you are in the country right now, you might be experiencing winter. You might be experiencing sickness. You might be experiencing post holiday ennuyeux. No matter what your personal state of being is right now, this soup will help. It is tasty, and easy to make! Make this Chicken Soup, curl up by a fire, and read your favorite copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Feel better, because I will soon be sharing with you how to make a gluten free smash cake for a baby's first birthday, and we're going to need to be over our post holiday funk for that!
This post contains affiliate links. We will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost with you. 3 Winks design does not share your information. All views expressed are our own
We have mentioned before that we are a game playing, competitive family! When we get together for the holidays, the games come out and we have so much fun. Sometimes, when we don't feel like gathering around a card table or sitting on hard chairs, we all lounge on the couch and play trivia games. We don't necessarily play by the rules, but we ask the questions and crack ourselves up trying to come up with the correct, or if not correct, then the funniest answers. These types of games are a great way to get to know one another a little better, so we thought that today, at the start of this new year, we would let you get to know us better by answering a few of these trivia questions from a couple of our favorite games. That's why we call today's Friday Faves Trivia Truths!
We have taken today's questions from two of our favorite trivia games. They have a lot of fun questions and incite a lot of laughter. The games are The Game of Things and Loaded Questions.
Question #1: In an emergency situation, what would be your strength?
Alicia-her efficiency Helen-her preparedness skills Lindsey-her level headedness Maddy-she stays calm under pressure.
Question #2: What compliment embarrasses you the most?
Helen-all compliments Lindsey-"You look like you've lost weight!" Does that mean you thought I looked fat before? Alicia-"You have curly hair!" Is that a compliment? Maddy-she says all compliments as well because she doesn't like being the center of attention.
Question #3: Things that taste better than chocolate? Oh come on now!
Lindsey-Maybe Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Chocolate Drizzle? Alicia-Sushi? Helen-Salmon? Maddy-Peanut Butter and Chocolate!
Question #4: What would you like to test for a living?
Maddy and Alicia both say-Mattresses. They would nap on any of them. Helen-My niece Amanda tests ice cream for Haagen-Dazs and I would like her job, except I am not a microbiologist. Lindsey-She already tests people's ability to obey the law.
Question #5: What is the 1 thing that is preventing you from being the greatest person in the history of the world?
Lindsey-My student loans. Helen-My natural klutziness. Maddy-I'm not tall enough! (?) Alicia-I'm to lazy.
How would you answer those questions? Give us your answers in the comments!
Another game that is super easy to play while lounging on the couch is Scattergories! We've been enjoying this one a lot this season. Finally, I was given a game that does require sitting around the game table, but it is so much fun, it is worth getting off the couch! It is called Cover Your Assets! I have failed to win at it yet, but it is so much fun. I love this description of the game, "Whooping, hollering, contagious laughter, and gloating are possible side effects of this game."
If you want to see some of our other favorite games, go to these posts:
Our Favorite Card Games Games for Two 10 Great Party Games
Lindsey wrote this post back in 2015, right after we first started this blog. She hadn't been home from her mission in France very long and she was excited to talk about the extension of the Christmas holiday that she got to know very well while there. You may have heard of 3 Kings Day, celebrated on January 6-7th. It is a holiday in Europe. In France it is called Epiphany. It has to do with the three wise men coming to see Jesus after he was born. Many people don't realize that the Wise Men didn't arrive to see the Christ child until much later than the shepherds, as they followed the new star that appeared in the heavens on the night of his birth.
So how do Europeans celebrate Epiphany? They bake a cake, with something inside it called a "feve" (because it used to be a fava bean.) After it is baked, someone hides under the table and tells you who to serve the slices to, everyone then eats their slice and the person who finds the feve gets to be king or queen for a day. Basically it is an excuse to eat cake. There are a few different versions of king cake floating around France (and I am sure the rest of Europe, but here at Three Winks we only care about France.Ha Ha) My favorite is the brioche. Don't ask me to describe what the cake tastes like in English, because I can't. It is cake. What more do you need to know? I got this King cake recipe from my favorite French super baker tartelette, and I just made a few adjustments, because I don't generally have orange blossom flower water lying around the house. (I know, I need to be better.) So I made it with a mixture of the pure vanilla extract that my sister in law's mother made and almond extract (to remind you of the other type of king cake, frangipane, that has almond paste in it.) If you are as cool as tartelette, use the orange blossom flower water. The woman is French after all so she knows what she is talking about. Want to see some pictures?
After it was all baked... I went to bed because it was super late. The next day after my oldest niece and nephew got home from school I sliced it up. My niece Shyanne hid under the table and called out who got which piece. My sister in law Korina ended up with the feve and got to be queen for the day. She was happy because she asked if the queen gets a foot massage and I said yes, but not from me.
Good thing she has four kids and a husband to take care of that. So, king cakes. They are a fun little tradition, and you get to eat cake! Check out tartelette's blog for her king cake recipe and try it out! Happy belated Epiphany!
Here are some ideas for favors if you need them!
|
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
|