From Tree to Plate- Apple Pie

Housesitting has it's up's and down's but probably one of the coolest things is being able to make apple pie from scratch! Yesterday I noticed how many ripe and delicious Granny Smith apples there were on the apple tree so I grabbed a ladder and headed up to the west side of that tree to collect pounds of gorgeous green- pink fruits. After hunting and gathering, we sent them through a cleaning assembly line, then cored and peeled them. I then sliced them and tossed them in a little lemon juice, and doused them in a mixture of sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a little flour. Slipped the sliced, seasoned apples in the fridge to marry the flavors and began my dough before heading off to work for the evening. The dough was a simple mixture of flour, salt, chilled butter and ice cold water until made into a ball. Refrigerated the dough for 4 hours! I then rolled out the dough for the top and bottom crust to our delicious pie!

Easy now, place crust on pie baking dish and press around the bottom and sides, place apple filling in the dish (maneuvering apples to fill every open space to pack the pie with flavor), top the apples with 1/3" slices of butter, place other rolled dough over top of the dish and make slices to the top to create ventilation through the pie (see pictures below). Trim the extra dough from the edges and pinch sides together. Here you can get creative with design or just let it be rustic looking... However you like it! Then bake at 425 degrees for the first 15 minutes and then for the next 40-45 minutes at 350 or until the crust is a nice golden brown.

Vooalha!! A beautiful pie! Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!

Aleph

Today I am beginning a journey. A spiritual journey with the book Aleph, by Paulo Coelho. Page 1 immediately starts off:
"The world has never been as divided as it is now, what with religious wars, genocide, a lack of respect for the planet, economic crisis, depression, poverty, with everyone wanting instant solutions to at least some of the world's problems or their own. And things only look bleaker as we head into the future.
What am I doing here, trying to make my way in a spiritual tradition whose roots are in the remote past, far from all the challenges of the present moment?"

I left this first page with many thoughts. Mainly though, it's theme... "harsh reality" is something that consumes my thoughts often! Stress. Depression. Awestruck, and not in a good way. I sent my sister a picture of this first page knowing that she will find interest too! I read on and hope that some invocation about how to deal with, solve, cure these obstacles in our lives is ahead. Then page 21 happened:
"...I know that I am in all the people surrounding me, and tht they are in me. Together we write the Book of Life, our every encounter determined by fate and our hands joined in the belief that we can make a difference in this world. Everyone contributes a word, a sentence, an image, but in the end it all makes sense: the happiness of one becomes the joy of all."

Perfection. Thank you Paulo for once again bringing light to a dark place. I am thankful for such words of wisdom which help guide me through tough times! Stay tuned for more exerpts, self dialogue and discussion :)

Dance

I have been a nom stop dancing machine lately! Please don't stop the music! I'm so happy to be reaching others through my love for dance! Teaching dance is like a dream for me. Something I never ever saw coming! It is my therapy. It is my solace in a silly stressful world. It is my escape. My freedom. My art. My expression. My happy place. A blessing. A release. I am a leader now. I teach dance. Granted I can feel my aging body tear and fall apart more than I ever have. As I have just RICE'd (rest ice compress elevate) my right knee. I injured it practicing choreography but more specifically, doing backwards coffee grinders... a move that use to give me awful shin splints when I was a much younger dancer. Not to mention I am already fighting with my right shoulder after it decided to stop functioning correctly. Anyway, my point, I am conditioning my body to do hip hop again which is very strenuous on joints and surrounding muscles! But the sacrifice does not outweigh the gain even a little bit. I will wobble into class any day of the week until I'm old and shriveled... Searching for a way to encourage dancers' freedom to express themselves through this remarkable art form. I'm truly truly blessed to be given these opportunities to develop my own style/ genre of dance and fitness. I can only hope that I bring some joy to every students day. I tell them always that they have to smile, sweat and have fun! Every class! I love it love it love it! I have so much I want to accomplish in my life but this makes me feel like the road I'm on ain't all that bad after all :) thanks for listening!

Peach Butter

http://nourishedkitchen.com/peach-butter-recipe/

peach butter

YIELD: 6 pints (48 Servings)
PREP: 5 minsCOOK: 60 minsREADY IN: 1 hr 5 mins
Peach butter is simple to prepare and wonderfully rich in flavor thanks to the addition of spices like allspice, ginger and cloves.
ingredients
15 pounds peaches (pitted and quartered)
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
instructions
Working in batches, toss the peaches in a food processor or blender, and blend until smooth.
Pour peach puree into a heavy-bottomed stock pot, and stir in spices. Simmer uncovered over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, for about 60 minutes or until thickened into a fine paste.
Blend until smooth with an immersion blender, pour into pint-sized mason jars and refrigerate or can using the water bath method.