My dad is an amazing cook/baker. He's very innovative & loves to figure out recipes from scratch--I could never do this. Over the Christmas break, I had him walk me through his famous Apple Pie recipe. I thought of the idea to make this happen when I passed by some lucious apples at the farmer's market here in Philly. So, I rounded some up & took them with me to Ohio to turn "these here apples to make some good ol' pie."

I took a lot of visual documentation (aka: photographs) of each step, so I warn you this is a long post, but it will hopefully be helpful if you're interested in trying a new, homemade apple pie recipe. Because, if you're like me, you need visuals over words & descriptions to help you through each step when reading a recipe.

Warning #2: you may drool at some point during this post.

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First things first, start with the insides (we'll get to the pie crust later):

You need:

-About 14 Medium apples, or 6-7 Large apples. Phily makes "large apples," apparently, so we stuck with 7.

-Juice or 2 Lemons

-1 Cup of Sugar + more for sprinkling later

-2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon

-3 Tablespoons of Chilled, Unsalted Butter

-1 Large Egg Yolk

1. Rinse the apples, & peel the skin off of each one (this is probably one of the most time-consuming steps if you have a lot of apples).

2. Sprinkle a little bit of lemon juice overtop of apples to prevent discoloration.

3. Cut each apple in quarters, then thinly slice each quarter as seen below. Place these slices into a large bowl as you go along so you can mix the ingredients thereafter.

4. Next is the sweet part (no pun intended). Add 1 Cup of Sugar to the finished pile of sliced apples. Just completely dump it on like snow.

5. Then, add 2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon. Mmmm.

6. Next is the fun part: take the pile of apples, snow..I mean, sugar, & cinnamon with your hands & mix them all together. This is a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. If you lick your fingers afterwards, please wash your hands before proceeding. Please, & Thank You.

Set this pile of sweet everything's to the side, & proceed to the Pie Crust! You will feel so accomplished if you make the pie crust from scratch (I'm sure my dad does).

Pie Crust:

You will need:

-2 1/2 Cups of Flour

-1 Teaspoon of Salt

-2 Sticks (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter (Cold & Cut into Small Pieces)

-1/4 Cup of Ice Water (More if Needed)

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1. First, in bowl, combine 2 1/2 Cups of Flour & 1 Teaspoon of Salt. Sift together.

2. Add all butter pieces to the mixture. Mix & mold with your hands until the size of the crumbs are about 1/2".

3. Add Ice Water until the texture of the dough is crumbly & just holds together.

Note: Dough should not be wet or sticky. If it is too crumbly, add 1 Tablespoon of water each time until it's right consistency.

4. Make 2 molded blocks out of the dough & set aside.

5. Roll out (Ludacris?) one of the dough blocks to make the bottom layer of the pie crust. Use as girly of a rolling pin as you'd like. ♥

Trick: Use rolling pin to assist in rolling the dough perfectly over the pie pan.

Also, be sure to trim the edge of the pie dough about an inch away from the pan.

6. Remember those apples you sliced & poured sweetness all over? Yes, those. Take those & strategically place them inside the bottom portion of the pie crust. Make sense? Here, take a look below: 

Hang on, let's take a break. Let's look at the shiny, juicy, sweet, scrumptious, mouth-watering pile of greatness:

Okay, break's over. Refer to above image for carrying with the next steps.

7. As if this pile of greatness couldn't look any greater, what do we do? Add butter, of course! Now it's a pile of Grandness! Add just 3 slices of stick butter.

8. Next, roll out the other dough block for the top portion of the pie crust. Once it's flattened & ready, create your own design for the "peep holes." 

Trick: Same as above; use the rolling pin as an aide to roll perfectly overtop the pie.

Next? Are we done, yet? No really, the next step is to:

9. Trim the top portion of the pie dough an inch from the pan, then

10. Fold & Pinch the edges of the pie dough together to make these cute little rounded, frilly edges. 

Last step: 

11. Whisk egg yolk & 2 Tablespoons of Water & use a brush to glaze over the top of the pie dough. 

12. Sprinkle some sugar overtop of the egg + water glaze.

13. Set this entire, carrier of grandness pan on a baking sheet, & stick her in the oven at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes (or until golden). Then, lower to 350 degrees & let bake for 45-50 minutes (or until golden brown). 

There. It. IS! Is your mouth watering, yet? If you read through all of this, I thank you--it is a long one, but necessary to describe this homemade creation. I hope when you try this yourself it's as good as you imagined!

There is one more step, however. It's an important one--one that may be the reason you make this in the first place. Ready? 

14. Grab a bowl of vanilla bean ice cream. You can't have apple pie without vanilla bean ice cream, can you?

Enjoy this recipe! It was fun learning from my dad how to do this--just a few more steps toward the direction of becoming a cook myself!

Who knows? Maybe you can make this for your sweet pie..I mean, pea!

Who doesn't love landmarks? One of the most important items on one's travel agenda is to visit a major landmark. Why is that? Is it because of the historical factor, its beautiful, unimaginable architecture, its appearance in a favorite movie? It could be a million things that make landmarks so special to each of us, & why we love them so. So, I thought it would be fun to play around with some photos of these landmarks to help express our deep love & wonder for them (& focus on language-specific expressions...it's good to learn "I Love You" in different languages. Thanks Google!). It is a special & playful shout-out to them--these magnificent reasons we travel!

So, do you have special moments with any of these, or dream of visiting one someday? Would you like to have a print-out of it to keep as a reminder of this memory or dream? GOOD! Because they're free to download for the Valentine's season! If you'd like one, just click on the one you'd like below...

1. La Tour Eiffel

2. Big Ben

3. Gaudí

4. Torre Pendente Di Pisa

5. Firenze

6. Musée du Louvre

Awesome, clean, & fresh packaging design from Bradley Rogerson, based in New Zealand. I like the use of white bottle caps for the lighter drink vs. the black bottle caps for the "darker" drink--a nice touch!

I finally get to share some of the projects I was able to work on for others over the Christmas holiday! As I always say, it's such a neat feeling to be a part of a meaningful gift--it's a feeling I didn't think about when I started my etsy shop, & I'm always thankful for the chances I get to make someone's gift just a bit more thoughtful & special (I know, so mushy!). Custom maps were a pretty popular gift for Christmas, & if I had to pick a favorite (which is honestly a hard thing to figure out when asked), it would be this custom map of South Africa.

When I first got the order to draw many animals, my initial thought was, "how are they all going to fit?" Somehow, someway, they all did, & I am glad their arrangement gave the feeling of a real African safari. I think making the elephant larger & sticking him right in the middle helps give it a focal point, & feel less cluttered--I don't think you'd want to get in the way of that big guy! Plus, I'm mildly obsessed with elephants. I will admit something, though: I had never heard of this animal, & let's see if I'm alone...can you find a "Kudo?"

Who's up for taking a trip to South Africa?

Me, too! Let's go!

I'm excited to share a little update I worked on over the weekend to my blog's design layout!

I have been pondering on a new layout for a long time, now, & I knew I wanted to change some things; yet, keep a lot of the same elements in place. I kind of put it on my tentative schedule to update it a little once it turned 2 years old. I liked the general layout of it, I just started to feel a little crowded & unorganized with the information I was beginning to add to it. So, after playing around with some ideas, I realized breaking my three columns apart would help distinguish what I want to display within the content & sidebars, while letting the light, canvas texture background show through a bit more--this way, not every bit of information was placed on a plain, white background where it could possibly become lost among the rest. So, it's nothing drastic, but I definitely feel more organized when posting from here. Hopefully it will be a more "pleasant & tidy" experience for you, as well as you browse through the blog!

I will be adding periodically some more items to the sidebar that should be fun, too--these items are being drawn by hand, so they may take a couple of weeks!

I hope you like the little update!

Don't you just feel like throwing confetti in the air because it's finally Friday? Me. Too. Here's a great DIY on how to make these adorable little confetti canisters. You can use them for just about any event, or even just for yourself to throw in the air whenever you feel like it. I love the bold lettering placed on these, too--it gives for a more festive feel. Hooray! 

What a clever name to call these deliciously creative sweets--the folks over at Dynamo know what they're doing. Aren't these chocolate bars mouth-water--I mean, beautifully made? I always get a kick out of seeing typography on surfaces other than paper or the web. It makes for a real treat, wouldn't you say? Yes? Oui!

See how it was made here.

If you've never been to FAO Schwarz, you need to put it on your "things to see & do" list. It is so much fun! No matter your age, there is something for everyone at this place. Whether you're a child at heart, or you feel like going down memory lane with what was important to you as a child, there's no better place to visit than here--from classic games, legos, Miss Barbie; to dollhouses, creating your own crayon boxes, & of course, that famous, "Big Piano," it's a real-life ToyLand. I Miss it! Who wouldn't want to spend a day just playing in this monstrous store?

When my family & I browsed down Fifth Avenue in New York a couple of weeks ago (we had an hour to shop, remember?) Some of the newer items (at least since I'd last been) I noticed were both strange & awesome. The strange item first: Barbie Foosball. Perfect for the tomboy, perhaps? I am not sure I'm sold on the idea--the armless Barbie's creep me out. Plus, it's selling for $2,500, so I'm not in any hurry to save up for it. It's still awesome, in a strange sort of way. Real Awesome item: Pantone Barbie (sold only in stores). Barbie gained brownie points on this from the creepy foosball table--even if you have never been into Barbie as a child, you almost have to have this if you're a designer...especially if your favorite swatch is PMS 219C!

Aside from the current day fun at FAO, did you know that, "Today, FAO Schwarz is not only the oldest toy store in the United States, but one of the oldest retail establishments of any kind?" FAO first started in Baltimore, Maryland, & 3 additional locations were added ("Toy Bazaars" as they initially called them) in Philadelphia, Boston, & New York. The rest is history! 

If you've gone to FAO, do you have any fun memories from it? The "Big Piano", talking to pretend lego people, playing board games? Who wants to go to FAO with me & forget about this brisk, cold weather for a while?

I couldn't think of a better way of playing cards than with not just any map printed on them, but subway maps..."Ooooh." You know that has my attention! You can get any set of Paris, London, New York, or Tokyo.

Now, Go Fish you some cards!

I am just hilarious.

photo by The Tasteful Life.

This first full week back to work wasn't as long as I anticipated--it's good to get back into the swing of things after the Holidays & Christmas; although, I'm already looking forward to Christmas 2012. Enough about that, how many of you coffee drinkers like (or pretend to like) espresso? I've been trying it lately, & I must say it is an acquired taste, & is going to take some time to get used to. I want to like it because it makes me go from sleepy to wide awake in 60 seconds; whereas, coffee is more of an enjoyable, cozy progression to waking up. But on mornings when I can't wait & need to be up & at 'em, I think espresso would come in handy. Maybe I should just pour 5 packets of sugar in it to make it more tolerable? Kidding!

If you like espresso, do you put anything in it, or do you just drink it (or shoot it) as it comes--authentic, natural, & bitter? I'm curious because I want to start off right, & I mind as well get used to whichever taste is best in the long run.

Happy weekend, & here's to me staying up all weekend with taking shots of espresso! Vroom Vroom!