Fall Weekends Are For Baking

I don’t know about you, but when the weather gets a bit cooler all I want to do is bake, bake, bake. Which is grand and lovely in theory, but kind of difficult when you live in a small apartment and have less than ideal counter space! But I make do with what I have. This weekend was ideal baking weather: rainy and chilly. So I decided to whip out my pie pan and get baking. 

prepping my pie crusts 

I decided to make three things, chicken pot pie, Asian pear and apple pie, and slow cooker turkey chili. (I know this one isn’t technically baking but I don’t care 😉 )

I’ve never made my own pie crust before *gasps* simply because growing up my mom never did so I never learned properly. But, I recently bought a bunch of flour at the grocery store thinking if I bought the flour I would be inspired to learn. It sort of worked?

I found the pie crust from Serious Eats through a Google search. And let me tell you. THIS CRUST IS MAGICAL. DELICIOUS. AMAZING. ALL OF THE WORDS.  I know it was that good because I got a text from the boyfriend as he was eating leftover pot pie saying “omg this crust is so good.” 

The chicken pot pie recipe I used was from Taste of Home, and it was also a result of a Google search. (do you see a pattern here?) It took me a while to find a recipe that I liked, and I’m VERY happy I decided to take a chance on this one.

pot pie before the oven. YUM!

 

The recipe calls for enough to make two big pies, but since I was only cooking for two people I just halved the ingredients and there was more than enough for us. I also omitted the corn, and added frozen carrots instead of fresh carrots. The one thing that I would do differently for next time would be to add a little more chicken broth because the sauce was a little too thick for my liking. But other than that no complaints! I made it on Saturday and it was perfect comfort food for a rainy night.  

the final result

 

On Sunday morning I woke up early, around 7:30, and started prepping everything for my turkey chili. I never follow a recipe for my chili and I’m always adding or omitting things here and there every time I make it. So it’s never really the same twice. Which I love. I decided to put the chili in the slow cooker because I knew I would be making a pie later that day, and I wanted my oven/stove area freed up for that because small kitchen probs.

This time around I used:

1 lb Jennie-O Ground Turkey
1 yellow onion
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 8-oz of tomato sauce
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of chili beans
4 small cloves of garlic, chopped
onion powder & chili powder (I just gave a good sprinkle)
pinch of salt & pepper

I cooked the chili on low for about 8 hours. 

chili at about hour three

 

It turned out so good. With a little cheese and sour cream on top, yum! Since it was rainy on Sunday too it was perfect chili weather. Granted, I made enough for a small village, but that’s what freezers are for! 🙂 

 

On Sunday afternoon, while the chili was cooking away, I made my Asian pear and apple pie. I used the recipe from A Cozy Kitchen, and if you are not following Adrianna’s blog or Instagram you need to right this second. She makes the most delicious pies, soups, and all around comfort food. Plus she makes step by step videos on her Instagram stories that are fun to watch! 

all of the stuff for the pie

The recipe was super easy to follow and didn’t require a lot of ingredients or a lot of steps, which I LOVE. I’m a big fan of recipes with not a lot of steps or ingredients because I don’t have the time or money.

Looking at you Ina Garten. Love ya, but ain’t nobody got time for that.

For this recipe, you peel the apples and pears and throw them in a big bowl, and dump all of the other dry ingredients in with it, give it a good mix, and let it sit while you roll out your pie crusts. that’s. it.

After you have constructed your pie, the recipe instructs you to put it in the freezer for 20 minutes before putting it in the oven so it can firm up a bit, and it helps prevent shrinking. I have a small freezer that is currently chuck full of frozen food at the moment so I put mine in the fridge for only 10 minutes before putting it in the oven. Mine turned out just fine, but I also used a different crust than what the recipe calls for, so keep that in mind! 

 

swoon worthy

 

Needless to say it was a fun weekend of baking and cooking up a storm, but I did tell the boyfriend to not expect this ALL of the time. 😉 

 

 

Until next time!