Mini Apple Pies...Why Haven't I Made These Before?

Mini Apple Pies---the lazy pie-maker's answer to not enough time, ingredients and half-eaten pies.

A few weeks back, Jaren found a handful of apples in the fridge. He wanted me to make apple pie. I didn't want to make apple pie and there sure weren't enough apples to make one, so I put him off. Well, he hadn't forgotten. Yesterday, he grabbed all the apples in the fridge and put them on the counter. He then told me that there were enough apples and I could now make apple pie. Well, there were only five apples, two Granny Smith (one already with two bites in it) and three Red Delicious (one also with bites in it). Red Delicious are not the best baking apples, but I had some refrigerated pie crust and a muffin pan. Do you see where this is going? So, I decided to make mini apple pies. I went to the computer and googled "mini apple pie" and found a recipe that worked for me. It was super easy, and so good. I HIGHLY recommend using some apples for this very purpose. I used one Granny Smith and one Red Delicious. Mmm, it was sooo good!

For the filling:

• 2 large baking apples, peeled and sliced into small pieces
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/8 cup white all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• dash of salt

I used a single refrigerated pie crust because that's all I had, but I recommend using a double pie crust recipe or refrigerated pie crust. I only had enough pie crust for 3 mini covered mini apple pies and 1 uncovered mini apple pie.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside. Use a cereal bowl or small Pyrex bowl to trace out a circle for the bottom crust. I used a 3.5 inch round cookie cutter for the top crust. Place it inside the muffin pan and fill with the apple filling. Make sure the bottom crust overlaps the rim of the muffin cup by about 1/2 inch. You'll need it to pinch down over the top crust and make cute fluted edges. Mine didn't turn out so cute because I didn't have enough crust to pinch. After all the mini pies are filled, throw it in a 350 degree preheated oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until the crust is the color you like. Then scoop it onto a plate or bowl and eat with French vanilla ice cream. Trust me, it was delish! The best part about these mini pies--no leftover pie sitting on the counter calling my name saying , "Eat me, eat me!" until it either goes bad or gets eaten.

Marriage and the Temple

Last night, Jaren and I had some one-on-one time. We were really just going on a simple errand, but he and I had a special and sweet moment. It all began when Jaren noticed the stars in the sky. The following conversation ensued:

Jaren: "Look Mom, there's Jesus' star."

Me: "Oooh, wow!"

Jaren: "Jesus is coming to our house tonight Mom."

Me: "Is he now? Hmm, I don't think Jesus will be coming to our house today Jaren."

Jaren: "Mom, it's night time."

Me: "Oh sorry, I mean tonight. He probably won't come to our house but his spirit can be in our home."

Jaren: "But he is coming to our house tonight. Does Jesus live in the temple?"

Me: "Yes, it is his house."

Jaren: "Was Jesus at your temple when you got married to Daddy?"

Me: "Well, I didn't see Him, but His spirit was there."

Jaren: "I want to go to the temple Mom. Can we go there tonight?"

Me: "I would love to take you there right now, but we can't. Maybe we can go together as a family and walk around the temple."

Jaren: "I want to go inside the temple."

Me: "Well, you're not old enough to go yet. When you're old enough and worthy, you can go. And one day, when you find a nice girl to marry, you can marry her in the temple."

Jaren: "But I want to marry you in the temple Mommy."

Me: "Oh, that's very sweet Jaren, but Daddy found Mommy and married her in the temple. You need to find your own wife."

Jaren starting to get a little upset and crying: "But I love you Mommy, you found me. I want to marry you in the temple."

At this point, I'm flattered and happy that I have such a sweet sensitive little boy. I'm not sure how to proceed as he is very insistent on marrying me and he is obviously a little upset about it all. So, I tried to explain that Daddy didn't marry his mommy, and Mommy didn't marry her daddy. That seemed to work. Come to think of it, I think I dreamed of marrying my dad when I was younger too!

The Mommy Brain...We are Superheroes Afterall

While attending school at BYU, I would pass mothers pushing strollers around campus, pregnant bellies of all sizes, and sometimes there would be a mother and a baby sitting in the back of the classroom while the mother simultaneously kept her baby calm and attempted to take studious notes. I always admired these women, but there was a stigma (yes, even at BYU) against having kids in college; that once you become pregnant your brain turns to mush. One of my friends even had a professor tell her that he does not like to have pregnant women taking his classes because they get "mommy brain". As rude as that professor was, I bought into it just a little bit. I didn't want to ruin my grades and I wanted to graduate. So, I was secretly happy that I didn't get pregnant even though we had been trying for a few years.

Turns out that "Mommy Brain" isn't such a bad thing after all. I was reading in a scholarly journal, ahem, I mean Babytalk magazine about this phenomenon. The article "The Supermom Transformation" highlights the book The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes Us Smarter" by Katherine Ellison. (I will definitely have to read this book!) She utilizes the latest scientific research to prove that from enhanced memory skills to increased emotional intelligence, motherhood actually makes you smarter. (I also might add multi-tasking skills.) She says,

"If you think about it in evolutionary terms, there's no other time in a woman's life when she needs to be quite as smart as when she's looking after young children. Nature takes over and changes her brain at that time on a scale as great as or greater than the changes that take place during puberty and menopause."

Now, I've been out of school for a few years and sometimes I do feel that my brain has turned to mush, but I have known countless women who after having kids, return back to school and maintain 4.0 GPA's, all while taking care of their children, husband, household etc. If you take into account (and as any mom will tell you, once you have kids you can say goodbye to sleep) these moms are also able to do this while getting less than satisfactory sleep. These moms put the "super" in "Supermom".

If you're like me and cannot claim such great accomplishments, you can still feel good about yourself (if you're a mom). Allow me to throw out a few of my favorite quotes from the article.

"Many of us grew up imagining ourselves in the role of a costumed crusader, from Wonder Woman to She-Ra. Little did we know that years down the road, we'd be inducted into an amazing force of lesser-known superheroes known as moms...whose collective powers directly shape the fate of an entire generation."

"Disguised in bathrobes, marked with bags under our eyes, and toting around mini-sidekicks, we Supermoms take on challenges and responsibilities that would bring the Man of Steel to his knees. Leap tall buildings in a single bound? Fine, but can he quiet a colicky newborn at 3 a.m.? That my friends, is a job for Supermom--the perfectly imperfect superhero who is unleashed when we rise to the very real challenge of loving and protecting our children."

"Women are discovering new powers--heightened senses, increased vigilance against harm, enhanced brainpower--and using them to combat the challenges facing every new mom."

"It may not have the same visual wow-factor as Bruce Banner's shirt-shredding Incredible Hulk transformation, but the evolution from woman to Supermom is just as amazing--and difficult."

"Spider-Man may be able to shoot webs from his wrists, but Supermom can shoot vitamin-packed milk right out of her breasts, nourishing her baby and protecting him from countless threats."

Just some food for thought when you're feeling less than super. It also made me laugh.