Mum went Scrumping

My mums staying at the moment, not only did she bring loads of fabric, magazines, a massive hamper, a beautiful bracelet, mugs, a spoon rest, cocktail glasses and loads more, she's given me a massive bag of apples! Someone she knows has four or five apple trees and is away for half of the year - if no one took the apples they would just rot. The lady is happy for people to take the apples so mum went round and collected six or so carrier bags full of apples. This is my bag -

The picture is quite deceiving I think - there's an absolute ton in there! I took the picture after taking some out for a crumble as well. The apples are huge!

Mum and I made a apple crumble last night, I'm going to find a few recipes for other things and probably freeze stewed apples this weekend.

First off, I peeled the apples and mum chopped them -

Then I stewed them with sugar, cinnamon and cloves with a little bit of water (excuse the state of the hob...)

 While I did that, mum made the crumble topping -

 Then, once the apples and topping were done I put everything in here -

Forty minutes later we had the most amazing apple crumble! It smelt fantastic too!

Here's the exceptionally simple recipe - 

Apple Crumble 

Ingredients

For the filling -
900g apples
25g brown soft sugar (I used dark but my recipe says light >.<)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves

For the crumble -
110g almonds, chopped
75g salted butter
175g self raising flour
1 dessertspoon cinnamon
110g demerara sugar

Method

Simmer the apples in a little water for 20 minutes or so, until they are all mushy. Stir in the cinnamon, cloves and sugar and simmer for another 5 minutes.

For the crumble, rub the flour and butter together until it resembles crumbs. Mix in the sugar, cinnamon and almonds.

Place the apple mixture into an oven proof dish, put the crumble mix over the top and bake for 30-40 minutes at 200ºc, until golden on top. Leave to stand for 10 minutes then serve with custard or cream or ice cream - whatever you want!

Yum!

Autumn Decorations Galore! Part One

As we're well into September, the harvest and Samhain isn't far away I've been looking through Etsy at some of the wonderful handmade Autumn decorations and thought this would be a perfect time to share some of the things I've found, as I wanted to post so many I decided to post it in two parts, the next part will be posted soon so keep an eye out!

Pumpkins are a must at this time of year - autumn wouldn't be the same without those colourful squashes with scary faces! Here are some amazing felt and fabric pumpkins I found on Etsy -

Autumn Pumpkin 4x5 Waldorf Inspired

This 4x5inch needle felted pumpkin is a Nushkie Designs creation, capturing the wonderful orange colouring of the much loved Halloween decorations. Pumpkins aren't the only thing that Nushkie makes either - check out Nushkie's shop to see a enchanting collection of needle felted fairies that would make wonderful additions to any ones home all year round.

The second pumpkin I'd like to share is again a needle felted one, a different style to the first but just as beautiful - 

Orange Pumpkin - Needle Felted Halloween Decoration

This one is made by Felttess who currently has an amazing array of Halloween themed designs for sale in her shop. Felttess also does custom orders so don't hesitate to get in contact with her via Etsy.

Here is the last, but not least, pumpkin I wanted to share with you -

Farmhouse Fall Decorations Halloween Thanksgiving Decor Harvest Pumpkin

Perfectly described as a "Farmhouse Pumpkin" this is made and sold by Miss Hettie who specialises in all things vintage, from furniture to children's clothing as well as one of hand made items, such as this paper mache pumpkin. I love the use of the raffia! Check out her Etsy shop for some amazing finds!


Wreaths aren't just for Yule ladies and gentlemen and this next Etsy listing I'm going to show you will prove it! 

Beautiful, Cornucopia, Thanksgiving, Fall, Door, Wreath, Harvest, with FREE US Shipping

Look at those colours! It really does capture the colours of autumn in such a fantastic way! This wreath is one of many made and sold by Sherry Buckner in her shop, Petal Pusher's Designs. Sherry also has a website and you can follow her on Twitter @werpetalpushers and don't forget to check out her Facebook Page!


And now for one of my favourite type of decorations - a garland.

Spooky Halloween Decoration Garland Vintage Inspired

This spooky garland is made by the lovely Christine and sold in her shop, Flappergirl
this is just one example of an amazing collection of retro paper garlands so make sure you check out her shop - there are also some cute little aprons that I've fallen in love with! Christine has a blog and a Facebook page where you can keep up to date with her latest retro designs.

What witch doesn't have a love for candles? These candlestick holders would be wonderful additions to any ones autumn decorations -

Thanksgiving Home Decor Fall Harvest Candle Stick Holders Rustic Chic Distressed Wood Set of 3

These Morgan Hill Design Candle Stick Holders are brought to you by a husband and wife team (the perfect kind in my opinion!) and sold in their Etsy shop, BraggingBags. I've never seen a better set of autumn candle stick holders and might have to buy them for myself!

I have to say, this last autumn decoration I'm going to show you is my favourite - this little evil mouse witch Gwendolyn has stolen my heart! Wort's 'n' all!

Halloween Witch Mouse Ornament felt rat hamster mice cute gift for animal lover or collector by TheHouseofMouse - Gwendolyn

You must, must, must read Gwendolyn's interview in the listing, its adorable! The creators of this wonderful little mouse, as well as more mice than you can count, are Naomi and Anna and to get your hands on one of these little mice pop along to their shop, TheHouseofMouse.

I hope you enjoyed the photographs and that you will be whipping out those PayPal accounts and clicking your way on over to Etsy. It truly is a treasure chest!

Apple Spice Cookies

With the three autumn harvest festivals coming up I'm going to be sharing a variety of tasty recipes using seasonal foods, starting with cookies and biscuits. Whether you make up a batch for your seasonal celebrations, as a gift for a loved one or just for a tasty snack with your afternoon coffee or tea, I hope these spiced cookies with an apple filling will be a hit with everyone!

Apple Spice Cookies

Ingredients

• 225g butter, softened
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp apple juice
• 280g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• pinch salt
• 100g dried apple, finely chopped

For the Filling

• 1 tbsp caster sugars
• 1 tbsp custard powder
• 125ml milk
• 5 tbsp apple sauce

Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg and apple juice. Sift the flour, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt into the butter mixture then add the dried apple and stir until combined. Half the dough, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 40 - 60 minutes (the closer to 60 minutes the better).

Preheat the oven to 190°C and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper. Roll out the dough and cut out the cookies with a 5cm square cookie cutter and place them on the baking sheets ensuring that they are well spaced. Bake for 15 minutes or so, until they are golden brown. Leave to cool. 

To make the filling, mix the sugar custard powder and milk together in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring continuously until the mixture is thick. Remove from the heat and stir in the apple sauce. Cover the surface of the pan with clingfilm and leave to cool. 

One the cookies and filling are both cool, spoon the filling over half of the cookies and top with the remainder. Ta da! Lovely, sweet sandwich like cookies!

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I want to add a thank you to this post as well -  to the lovely Tamara  at Riding on a Broomstick who gave me this award -

Thank you! You made me all proud and happy that day and definately glad that I started this blog!