Getting into the Fall Spirit

Yesterday morning, the kiddos and I were taking a walk through the neighborhood when what should walk right in front of us but three deer! I was amazed by how close we were able to get and how long they just stood there. Noah and Mikayla think the wildlife around here is the neatest thing (we have black squirrels!). We have also discovered (thanks to Bella's keen nose) that the deer actually use our backyard as a sleeping nest on a regular basis. How cool is that??

Yesterday promised to be one of those days that the weather couldn't quite decide what it was doing so I took advantage of it and sent most of my day in the kitchen. Two dozen bagels, a loaf of bread, filling for 5 pies, two completed pies and a meatloaf dinner later, I'd call it a success ;-) Sometimes I forget just how much I enjoy playing in the kitchen. Believe it or not I made it through the rest of the apples we had picked over the weekend already. I can't believe how quickly they went! I really wanted to try my hand at making some apple butter and freeze up some filling for apple crisp, so I'm debating going back and picking another 1/2 bushel here in the next few weeks. On that note, if anyone is looking for a Christmas idea for me (it's never too early to start planning) I would love to get a medium size chest freezer for the garage. I had to employ some clever tactics yesterday to get the pie fillings in and it made me realize I'm going to have a hard time fitting anything else in, especially once I get making some french bread loafs and cinnamon rolls here this weekend. Good thing I'm creative ;-)

Took some pictures of my cooking masterpieces. Dad and Scott, don't worry, I'm hooking you up with some bagels and a pie tonight! The kiddos and I are off to Fremont this afternoon for a weigh-in and dinner with the fam. Until tomorrow...

Apple pie filling (bet you wish you could smell it!)

And we have bagels - Noah was begging for one as I was taking them out of the oven

Apple pie bread. Taking this loaf to Fremont, but going to make another one tomorrow and turn it into French toast on Saturday morning, I'm thinking...

Apple Pie! (Mikayla and Noah DEVOURED it last night)