Pumpkin Patch

McKade's 2nd Birthday Cake
for his fall festival themed party.

Norfolk Southern

I made this cake for a friend whose husband works for Norfolk Southern. It was a yummy pineapple coconut cream cake.

Homemade Apple Pie

I love fall and harvest time. It is a family tradition to trek to the North Georgia Mountains and take in the beauty of Amicalola Falls and the changing leaves. The trip is not complete without a stop in Ellijay at one of the many apple orchards. This year we made that stop at Hillcrest Orchards. We had a fabulous family day and brought back a huge bag of apples. I love the smell of fresh baked apple pie in the fall. It reminds me of my grandmother!

Today I made up 5 apple pies. We are eating one and freezing the rest. I must say it is YUMMY even gluten free. You really can't tell the difference in the crust!

RECIPE

CRUST

• 1 cup all purpose flour (substitute a gluten free flour* + 1 1/4 tsp xantham gum for GF)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
• 1/3 cup shortening (I use spectrum organic or coconut oil)
• 4-6 Tbsp cold water

Mix together dry ingredients, cut in shortening, add cold water a little bit at a time. Chill briefly before rolling out. Divide dough in half for top and bottom crust (give the bottom a little more than half). Roll out bottom crust and lay in pie plate, trim off excess. Roll out top crust and set aside.

FILLING

• tart apples
• lemon juice
• 2/3 cup organic cane sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp flour (substite gluten free flour to make it GF)
  
• 2 Tbsp butter
  

Peel and dice about 3-4 cups of tart apples, squeeze a dab of fresh lemon juice on the apples. In a separate bowl mix remaining ingredients. Pour mixture over apples and cover them. Dump apples in pie plate, slice up 2 Tbsp of butter over the top, wet the rim of the bottom crust, lay on the top crust. Take a fork and impress the top crust around the edges. Trim off the excess with a knife. Cut 5 slits in the top of pie. Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until crust is brown.

*I use Bob's Red Mill All puropse g-free flour. Sometimes I combine 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice flour and 1/4 cup White Rice flour with 1/2 cup all purpose flour for an even better blend.

3D Ladybug

I was so happy to get to do this Ladybug cake. I had been wanting to do something similar for awhile and was getting ready to do one for my katybug just for fun. This was for a little girl's first birthday. Her nickname is Addi-bug. The ladybug on top is on a separate cardboard hidden by green grass and this cake was taken off to be her smash cake.

Toy Story

Blue & Brown

Military Cake

I really loved getting to make this cake. It was in honor of a friend being deployed for his second war time tour. I admire the bravery of our service men and the sacrifices they have to make. My prayers are with him and his family during this time.