Ready for the Holidays

Happy Halloween! My clinic did an 80s fashion theme for work today. Since I had no other excuse to get dressed up this weekend tonight, I was definitely on board.

We’re handing out candy to the kids and playing Halloween music all day long at work. It’s like, totally righteous, man. Tonight, I’m looking forward to watching some Halloween movies while I hand out candy to the kiddos. I wonder how many Frozen characters I’ll see? (I still haven’t seen the movie!)

Here are a few pictures from our Halloween day at work:

Now that Halloween is here, it’s time to start thinking about my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving! I’m trying to be organized and get a head start this year, so I worked on my apple pie yesterday.

I saw an idea for a cinnamon roll pie crust on Pinterest, which gave me a good idea. Cinnamon rolls definitely have their time and place, but not in my apple pie.

I made my pie crust (I use my food processor, which makes it a cinch), rolled it out and cut it in a rectangle, then topped it with a butter, cinnamon, and sugar topping.

Then I rolled it up and sliced it into 1/4″ rounds, which I pressed into the pie plate.

So pretty! I realize that it’s a little crazy to make a pie crust bottom that no one will see, but I will know it’s there, and that’s good enough for me.

My apple pie filling was made with some mixed apples from an orchard my parents visited on their anniversary, and I added a dried cranberry and goji berry mix for a bit of a twist.

I was going to make a lattice pie crust, but then I remembered we still had some apple cake with walnuts left that our friend brought over, so I crumbled it with a little flour and used it as a topping.

Now it’s going to be heavily wrapped in foil and frozen to save for a few weeks! I know fruit pies freeze very well, so I’m not too worried about it. Next up on my Thanksgiving pie list is a a pecan pie cheesecake, which I can also freeze, and key lime pie, my mama’s favorite.

Since I was up to my elbows in apples yesterday, I decided to make some apple pie cookies for a work party on Monday.

I basically made a huge pie on the counter, then cut it out into rounds using a glass.

They were kind of a pain to get off the counter and onto the pan, but they are cute individual-sized pie cookies that taste great.

After all this baking, Dave was fully prepared to order takeout for dinner, but I was still in cooking mode. Plus, the recipe I wanted to make promised to be pretty easy: Sage Polenta Bowls with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms.

I made some polenta with vegetable broth, milk, and dried sage and popped it in the slow cooker for a couple hours, and in the meantime I roasted the Brussels sprouts and mushroom with olive oil and salt.

When the polenta was done, I stirred in a can of Northern beans for some protein and some Asiago cheese because…cheese, then topped it with the veggies.

Total comfort food and perfect on a chilly fall day. I highly recommend it!