An apple pie a day, keeps the doctor away...

Yesterday I made a candy apple pie. And today I made another candy apple pie! They are super easy and one of the best recipes for our orchard apples. I'm sure I will make a few more this apple season.

These apples are fresh picked straight from our orchard!

Apple corer, peeler, slicer. Thank goodness. Such a time saver.

Dripping with cinnamon sugar. (measurements for about 8 apples - aprox. 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon)


Topping Ingredients:
1 cup Brown Sugar (I used white sugar with molasses because we didn't have brown)
3/4 cup Flour
3/4 cup Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Butter (one stick), melted

I also like putting some cinnamon in the topping.



Mix these together thoroughly and spread evenly over apples in a 9x13 pan.


Bake for 1/2 an hour at 400 degrees.


You will end up with just such a beautiful dish of goodness...


Though I have to add... that one of the best parts was my dad's homemade vanilla ice cream... nothing compares.

Rich & Vivid

When I think of Fall, I think of breathtaking freshness and crisp clean air. But most of all I think of rich, vivid colors. This is my aunt's chrysanthemum, which is probably left over from summer, come to think of it, but the richness of it's hue is inspiring to me. I can't wait for fall...

Photos: Cloudy and Bright

Yes, an oxymoron. But sometimes the days with cloudy skies (in a most literal sense, no drama implied) have a brighter sort of feeling to them! You must at least agree that the light has a whole different aesthetic.

That being said, my title was referring more directly to the brightness of the beads in comparison to the aforesaid cloudy day.

Hopefully I will do this 'photo-that-I-randomly-decided-to-capture' thing more often for you, my blog. (I really have been thinking about you, even though I was silent for a little bit of a long while...).

Hope you enjoyed these!

Tuesday Dinner

This Tuesday evening, there happened to be a mere 4 Kauk's at home. After whipping up some Macaroni for the two youngers, my big brother and I got creative for ourselves. As he began to cook up a pot of couscous, I figured it would be one of the easiest things to dress up a little... like so:

• I first added some lorn bell peppers who desperately needed eating, but who looked extremely handsome in our dinner...
• Then I finished off a bag of sundried tomatoes, which added yet another bright color and tangy flavor...
• I then spied an appetizing tin of peanuts, and beamed just thinking about the crunch they would provide...
• Lastly my brother, with a taste for the exotic, pulled down a lovely looking red spice (which really didn't have any flavor to speak of, but was exceptionally pretty). After serving up our portions into nice little bowls, he garnished the top with this redness.

The product of our efforts was one of the prettiest meals seen by myself for some time. Not to mention the fact that it was delicious. You really should try it sometime.

Bobby Pins

Today my littlest sister, Mackenzie, and I made colorful beaded bobby pins! She loves creativity, but its often hard to find things that are easy enough for her to learn and do without too much help. This project was perfect! She made her whole pretty rainbow hair pin with just a little bit of help and she caught on right away.
While she did an orderly pattern, I went for the random scheme (is that an oxymoron?) but now, since we used the same beads, we have a matching set!

Isn't she pretty?

Hap Birth t M !

Ok, that's a ridiculous title, I know. But... It's suppose to be half of "Happy Birthday to ME!" because today is my half-birthday! lol I sort of forgot about it but, my big brothers called me into the kitchen and there was a brownie in a cup with a candle. But, oh! this cup. haha. Jared just bought it in NYC and it is a half of a coffee cup! It has a handle and one side is curved out, and one side is flat. Very Alice-in-Wonderland-esk, like someone cut it in half, and it says sarcastically on the flat side "You asked for half a cup of coffee..."
Then they all sang happy birthday, but halfway through the song Adam said "Stop, thats half of the song!"
So happy Saturday to you and

Hap Birth t M !

And, here is a couple of pictures I took the other day for your viewing pleasure:

Let not the sun be vacant from the sky

The sun too quickly took its place

Behind the silhouetted peaks.

I followed it with desperate gaze

And mourned the warning late to keep:

Let not the sun be vacant from the sky

While yet within you harsh impatience lies;

For reckless words will pierce into the heart

But reconciliation grows

From pure and righteous blessings of the wise

This is a lyrical idea I laid down this evening. I already had a musical idea to work with, which always makes it easier, but this is also something I have wanted to express for some time. May it bless you.

-shiloh

Blackberry Pie

Today I made a blackberry pie. We were kindly sent home from somewhere with pie crust pastry and my siblings had just picked a tub of blackberries, so everything converged into a nice round pie pan. The convergence of these ingredients is displayed below.

For Better or Worse

My six-year-old sister, in a fit of the "nothing-to-do's" this afternoon, finally sat down a drew some pictures. I have yet to figure out what the inspiration was for this little assortment, but she must have been very inspired all the same.

This is the first that she showed me. It says (in Mackenzie Speak):
"WAT iz *oR FRAVET SOREE" "BiBLE" "Get"
Translated, this says "What is your favorite story? Bible, Great!"
I'm not sure exactly how even her way of sounding-it-out turned "great" into "get"... lol.

The next one is a hammer thinking about what it wants to build.
He thinks that he wants to build a church.
I think that's a great idea.
:)
He has extra nails just in case he needs them.

The last one was my favorite. It is about marriage. I love the swirlies around the edge, and the laser-blue eyes, and the cat ears on the veil. (I don't think they are suppose to be cat ears, but thats what they look like to me).

For better or for worse!

The little things

Its the 4th of July, a day so like and yet so unlike all those surrounding. The small portion of my family that is home, took a little trip down into Cupertino for a beautiful fireworks display. I came home full of joy and so many thoughts that I am wondering how I can possibly process them all.
Most prominent is the reveling in small things, and not being ashamed of it. I am watching my siblings grow up and walk the paths that are familiar to me, being older. It is easy to let that become a reason for scoffing at their "silliness" but today I strove to consciously choose the opposite.
I ate a snowcone. It was deliciously disgusting. It turned my lips and tongue orange. I couldn't finish it, so I dumped it into Asher's (also unfinished) red one. It got spilled onto our blanket. But you know? That's ok!
My favorite part of the night was hearing my sisters scream. After every firework. Eventually I joined in. I was dazzled, as they were dazzled. They picked their favorite kind of firework. My favorites are the ones that go up and fall down like streamers. Especially when they do five at once! Oh yes, they were amazing.

I've always imagined the 4th of July as being such a romantic holiday. But mine was so much better than that. I didn't spend the day with one person, but 6 other extra special unique and growing and precious people! I didn't snuggle with someone who loves me very much as I gazed at the lights, but I held on my lap a little four year old cutie who I love very much and who was so very happy about the fireworks. He told me "whenever I am sad, fireworks cheer me up!" haha. And although I didn't have a strong and protecting hand to hold, I became a strong and protecting hand myself as I took a sister on each side and walked with them, tired, to the car.

I had the simplest day, but well spent and precious in its way. I sat on a lawn filled with people, and saw the beauty of it all, even while it was tinged with irony in ways. After the grand finale, I stood up and swung Asher around and around. He cried, "do it again!" and I spun the other way.
The last song I listened to on my ipod during the wait kept ringing in my ears...

"I can feel something different for the first time. Heaven makes sense. All the words rhyme."

It made sense, and it was beautiful.