Our Week in Pies

It's beginning to *feel* a lot like Christmas! 

Here in Arizona, you can't go by looks, because it always looks the same in the desert. So I guess you could say it always looks like Christmas... ;)

Anyway, it is becoming quite chilly down here. It's only 60 degrees right now, and I'm sitting here all bundled up and drinking a nice hot cup of tea. It's about time for a reality check though, as we are heading North for the holidays. I keep saying that I'm worried about how Charlotte will deal with the cold, but I think in reality, I'll be the bigger wimp about it!

Sadly, the weather kept us from getting another hike in last weekend. On Saturday, it was dreary and raining all morning. It was disappointing, but we know it would have been miserable hiking weather. I keep thinking about how much has changed since the beginning of 2014, and how during our first peak hike all I was thinking was that there was no part of me that would ever enjoy hiking...then fast forward to now, and I'm genuinely sad to miss out on an 18 mile hike that doesn't have any letterboxes. Who would have thought?! :)

But I don't want to look back on last week and think of it as not adventurous. Last week was an exciting time of new adventures, learning new things, and having new experiences. 

New adventures... in the kitchen.

 Learning... new recipes. 

New experiences... in the form of 3 different, new-to-us pies.

How could you look back on a week that included 3 different pies and think that "nothing exciting happened?!?!?"

Oh, and then there were the churro waffles. Churro Waffles! We were hungry for churros and I wanted to make some, but I quickly called off that operation when I discovered that I could make churro waffles. They are just as delicious as they sound! All I did was make my favorite waffle recipe, left the waffles in the waffle iron until it was golden and almost crispy, dipped them in melted butter then covered them in cinnamon sugar.

Churro Waffle making station!

Churro Waffle - finished product!

On Tuesday night, we went over to Mitchell's house for dinner. Mitchell is an amazing chef and made a delicious roast beef. I always like to bring a dessert along because I think that being the one who brings dessert to a party is my calling in life.

Strawberry/Blueberry/Peach Pie!

I made my strawberry pie with Curtis' favorite homemade butter crust, but this time I added blueberries and peaches to the mix. It was delicious and completely devoured after the meal.

On Wednesday, Curtis had his last day of classes. I can't believe how fast this semester has gone! (He can) :) I'm so proud of his hard work and perseverance throughout this fall.

On Friday, I decided that we needed to celebrate the end of school and the beginning of finals with a new pie. I made this Chocolate Chip pie that I had been saving for a special occasion, and it was incredible! I used Curtis' favorite crust again (it works so well with everything!) and somehow, between the two of us, it was gone by the end of the day... Weird! ;)

On Saturday, we chose to skip the hike and went for plan B, which was have friends over. Mitch, Austin, and Seneca came over in the afternoon, and while the guys played Axis and Allies, Seneca and I decided to try another new pie recipe. Baking with friends is so much fun!

We're kind of in this awkward stage at home right now where I don't want to buy groceries because we're going to be away, so I am trying to be creative with using up whatever I already have. Thankfully, we had most of the ingredients to make this Chocolate Cream Pie though!

Chocolate Cream Pie - aka S'more pie!

I altered the recipe by making a graham cracker crust instead of the butter one. Also, we didn't have any Cool Whip, so we covered the top with marshmallows and put it in a warm oven to soften them before refrigerating. So maybe we'll call it a S'mores pie, but whatever it was, it was a hit with all the guys!

We wrapped up the day with meeting up with Alex and Kathy for dinner and to celebrate both of their birthdays. We're so blessed by all our friends down here! They all make our life so exciting. :)

And that is the story of our week, told through pies. I hereby declare that from now on, every week should be remembered by the dessert that we ate!