Crust of bread

I'll admit that lots of things make me happy. 

I bet lots of things make you happy too.

When I start to think about what those things are... a lot of them are food or food related.  One of the foods high on my list is bread.  I could eat cheese and bread, or butter and bread or jam and bread, or nutella and bread for days straight and be totally blissful! 

I'm not talking about wonderbread, not that their is anything against it, but I prefer my bread to be crusty on the outside and soft in the middle.  I like when my bread is freshly made and still warm from the oven.

So, you can imagine my delight when a breadmaker showed up under the Christmas tree!  At first I was little bit like, "how much will I really use a bread maker?"  Then as I began to read the manual (geeky I know)... I realized how fancy these things are!  You put the ingredients in the tin... and walk away.  Seriously.  Then when you walk back later... the smell makes you drool and all you have to do is pop a fresh bread out of the machine and eat it.  (Have I got your attention yet?) 

Here is the first loaf from the bread maker.  This is a white loaf with a medium crust. 

Since this bread, Mr. Happy has made a french bread that was so good I totally forgot to take pictures (we dove right in).  I am looking forward to trying a wheat bread, raisin bread, rolls, and pizza dough too!

Had to share this slice of happy with you today (pun intended!!!)!  Does bread do it for you?  What other wonderful things should I be putting on my bread to make me smile?

Fresh warm crusty bread = happiness!

Apple stinkin pie

There is something about apple pie that always makes me happy.  From the moment I pick out the apples and all the way through to putting that first bite of warm pie in my tummy. 

I made an apple pie on request for Thanksgiving (yes I realize that was already eons ago) and snapped a few pictures along the way.

So here is a feast for your eyes... apple pie... happy style!

Any apple pie starts with -- you guessed it -- apples!  I like to use 2-3 types of apples to give my pies flavor, texture, and tartness.

Pictures here are granny smiths and cortlands.  Just look at that tiny reflection!

You have to take the skins off the apples.  I peel my with a peeler all at once.  Then I core and quarter the apples.  At this point it becomes hard to tell which ones were which.  I decided to do something a little special with this pie and slice the quarters with the slicer for uniform pie pieces. 

Something about putting all those slices in the shell... made this amazing slice.  Well.. I'll tell you more about that when we get there.

Once all the apples are sliced they end up in a big bowl and I begin to sweet and spice them.  Sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne pepper (remember I told you before I spice everything), and a pinch of salt.  Yup, that's basically it.  Then give the slices a toss to mix it all up.  And dump the apples in the pie crust. 

Crust... that's a whole other thing.  The one pictured uses butter and crisco... plus it's a cheddar crust.  Cheddar cheese just makes apples dance in your mouth!  Yes, I actually put shredded cheddar into the crust.  Heavenly!

Just look at that mound of delicious tart and spicy apples.  Happy yet?

Keeping in mind this was a fancy pie... I had to make a lattice top and fancy forked edges. 

Here's a little peak at those apples all nestled into their crusty home which is about to be warm and golden!  I think you can see the cheddar bits in the crust too!

Then for an extra surprise... brush the crust with water and then sprinkle sugar on that.  
Uh huh.. I know you are getting happier just thinking about making or eating one of these!  Do you see that sugar?

Pop it in the oven... let the crust brown and the filling getting bubbly.  I use a bit of foil to keep the edges from burning.  Once you get it out of the oven -- have your Thanksgiving golden guard your now prized pie while it cools outside (drives your neighbors nuts) in the autumn air.

The finished pie looked something like this.  A bit extra brown in some spots (ok burnt)... at this point I am still getting used to the oven in the new house, but the way we were eating it... you would have thought it was the most amazing thing we ever ate. 

Flaky light crust... touch of sugar hits your tongue quickly followed by those spicy apples I talked about so much.  Some of us put whoopsie cream on top as my grandpa would have said (that's whipped cream for those you who didn't follow).

All of us found ourselves smiling!

I would like to offer that a specially made apple pie = happiness!