Hey, friends! Do you love pie? I can take it or leave it. But I’m making an apple slab pie to take to the Thanksgiving dinner my mom hosts for me and my siblings (and her 3 kids-in-law and 5 grandkids) because when I asked my kids if they really care about the pie or can I try Ina Garten’s pumpkin mousse parfait instead (it looks so good!), they said, “You only make apple pie once a year.” And then some other things. And so I’m doing it, even though I really hate peeling and coring and slicing apples. (This is the recipe I use – I skip the raspberries).
(P.S. I love photos of fancy top crusts, but I never ever ever fuss with that when I make a pie. I’m concerned as it is about certain parts over-browning, etc.!)
Delicious + Easy Holiday Weekend Breakfast Recipes
Will you have houseguests next week? I won’t. But on a nice long weekend, I enjoy having something special for breakfast as long as I can prep it ahead of time. Here’s a couple of my tried and true favorites:
Ham and Cheese Hash Brown Casserole
What’s great about it: Few ingredients, most of which are canned or frozen so you can put this together quickly. You can prep the entire thing the day before then cover it and keep it in the fridge overnight. For a gluten-free casserole, just make sure your cream-based canned soup is a GF one (I use gluten-free cream of chicken soup).
Overnight French Toast Casserole
What’s great about it: This recipe is so simple to assemble ahead and MUST rest overnight. I like to make it more special by using Great Harvest cinnamon chip or cinnamon swirl bread, but any cinnamony bread would be fabulous. This recipe is simple enough that kids/tweens can prepare it. If you use GF bread I’d recommend increasing the liquid by maybe half.
Baked Oatmeal
What’s great about it: This isn’t an overnight recipe per se, so what I do is prep all of the dry ingredients together in one dish that I cover and set aside, then combine the liquid ingredients into a mason jar that stays in the fridge overnight. I also get out my 9×9 baking dish and grease it the night before. On the morning of, I put everything into the dish (including the frozen fruit, which I don’t thaw) and put it into the oven. So good, and you can customize it to your family’s preferences with the type of fruit and nuts that you choose.
Creating Coziness
Shorter days find me amping up the hygge in my house. And taking extra Vitamin D. And getting an outdoor walk in, no matter what the weather (even if it’s just 15 minutes! No bad weather, only bad clothing!). A few years ago I read that paraffin candles cause indoor air pollution. Shortly thereafter, I bought pillar candles from Zak’s Beeswax and I love them. I burn them in simple glass hurricanes and use a wick trimmer to keep the cotton wick from creating extra soot.
Related: Beautiful Winter + Christmas Printables on Etsy
A Great Gift Idea
I bought the Five Year Journal from Natural Life for myself at the end of 2021 and then my daughter wanted one. It’s on sale for $15 from Natural Life right now. I have never in my life been consistent with journaling, but this book only gives you 5 lines per day so you have to pick and choose a highlight or two from the day which only takes minutes to record. I only missed 15 days this year when we were on vacation and I chose not to pack the journal (I wish I had. It’s not that big and I want to remember my vacations too!) My daughter and I are both excited to start in on 2023 and be able to look back at the year before as we go. I think especially for a teenager or parents of small kids, this book will be a valued keepsake.
What I’m reading: Love Your Home Again by Ann Lightfoot and Kate Pawlowski. (Note: this book was JUST PUBLISHED but somehow they have lots of photos of bookcases FILLED with VHS cassettes. I don’t get it! Nonetheless, I’m getting some good nuggets from this book.)
What my 13-year old son is reading: Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel by James Luceno.