Whatever Girlfriends

I want to share this really easy recipe with you.  It is from the September 2011 Southern Living Magazine.  I made it for a co-workers birthday.  While it was baking in the oven our mouths were watering big time.  Yum!  Apples, sugar, cinnamon, butter, egg whites, and pie crusts.  Basic pie! Ingredients: 2 lb. Granny Smith apples 2 lb. Braeburn apples (my grocery store did not have Braeburn so I used Gala) 1 tsp. cinnamon 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup butter 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1 (14 oz) package refrigerated pie crusts 1 egg white 2 Tbsp granulated sugar Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Peel apples, and cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges.  Toss apples with cinnamon and 3/4 cup granulated sugar. Melt butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar, and cook stirring constantly 1 to 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and place 1 pie crust in skillet over brown sugar mixture.  Spoon

I just had to do Mark's idea - and he helped me - to make a gift for Nancy for her birthday.  I had seen this little poem about growing up with a sister and thought it was perfect.  So we went to several thrift stores looking for the perfect sized canvas picture and after only two stops - found it! This is the canvas with the letters I stuck on it and I began there in the bottom corner to paint it a dark brown.  The canvas is a golden with thin trees and some words in cursive in a light brown.   As you see, I was using a paint brush, but I changed to a small roller.  It worked much much better. Completely painted the top and the sides of the canvas a brown color.  Then I let it dry - probably about 30 minutes.  Then pealed off the letters! Here is the finished product: And it's true.  I did tell on her - it was for her own good. :) 

This year our family drew names for Christmas gifts.  Mark is very creative and he has followed his sisters and I onto Pinterest. He made Lindsey some pretty great gifts.  The first one he made was the lighted bottle.  His first attempt was with a bottle that we bought at a flea market and used as a flower vase at Lindsey and Joey's wedding reception.  Mark took it and put etching cream all over it to give it a frosted look.  Then he and his daddy worked on drilling out a hole toward the bottom of the bottle.  The glass drilling takes awhile to do.  When it was almost drilled through big enough to insert the string of lights, the bottom of the bottle broke completely off.  So we went to Wal-Mart, bought a 3 dollar bottle of wine, poured out the wine and started over.  This bottle was already frosted so he could skip this step.  Once the bottle was drilled he took some jute and wrapped on the neck of the bottle, put the lights in and viola!  Looks great!   Can you think of other