Thursday, December 24, 2015

My, oh My! Mini Apple Pies!

Hi All! I am getting ready for my trek up north for the holiday today. That should be an adventure. Before all of that, I am doing some winter cleaning, and finishing up some baking. Here's a post of my mini apple pies recipe :)

Mini Apple Pies

While I made my own dough (which I will add in a later recipe), store bought dough will work just as well. :)
Here is a conversion chart from U.S. to metric units too.


Mini Apple Pies

Ingredients
  • 1 package of store bought pie crusts - should have two dough rolls in it (room temperature)
  • 1.5 - 2 apples (chopped/sliced/diced -whatever suits you)
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (add a few dashes more if disregarding the nutmeg) (or 1 teaspoon of cinnamon / 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg)
  • 1/2 cup of sugar (or less depending on your tastes)
  • 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar for sprinkling on the pie tops

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven at 375 degrees (F)
  2. Grease a baking sheet with either butter, or baking spray (lightly)
  3. Roll out your dough to 1/8 inch thick and using a 2.5-3 inch diameter cup (or cookie cutter) cut out 24+ circles.
  4. Refrigerate the circles for 15 minutes
  5. Mix together the cinnamon (or cinnamon/nutmeg), sugar, and cornstarch in a separate bowl.
  6. Mix the dry ingredients with the apples. (You might have extra filling left over if you choose to make more pies later.)
  7. Beat the egg and set aside
  8. Add 2 teaspoons of filling to each bottom circle and lightly dab the egg wash to the edges of each bottom circle.
  9. Cover with the top circle and pinch to seal.
  10. Poke or slice four holes or slits in the top circle
  11. Lightly cover the tops with egg wash.
  12. Sprinkle the tops with sugar.
  13. Bake 20 minutes
I hope my recipe made sense to you. If you made some, post a picture of your creations in the comments below :)

Merry Christmas (eve)!

Till Next Time!

-Hachi

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Quick Updates! Happy Holidays :)

Christmas tree at Fashion Island
Hi All!

So sorry for another random hiatus! School and life have just been crazy these past two and a half months. I hope everyone has been well.  I am on winter break right now for the next 5 and a half weeks so that should be fun. I hope that gives me more time to blog. I miss it! This will be a quick update and the next post will be about my holiday baking adventures. :)
  • Just finished my first complete year of grad school! YAY!
  • I'll be attending Anime Los Angeles, next month and cosplaying as a Fairy Tail character. So expect a cosplay post as well, next month. :) 
  • I'm starting to get back into gym life again, and would like some tips on proper lifting form, if anyone has it.
  • Just finished another tutoring job at a different community college; that was an adventure.
  • I've found a new passion for driving through the canyons of Southern CA (mostly Orange County). 
  • I did my longest drive in my car yet (North OC to San Diego). 
  • Still applying for research conferences: 
    • I also went to a research conference in Chicago, IL during the week of November 17th. 
      • That was great. I saw some of my old research labmates from undergrad and my former mentor. 
    • I also saw some of my paternal family that I haven't seen in over 12 years for some and over 20 years for others.
  • I've experienced the loss of one of my college friends during the San Bernardino attacks, and had a great support system to get me through that. 
  • I also just celebrated my 26th birthday, last week.
That's about it for my update, I had some very good things occur and some very bad things occur in life these past two months.  Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope everyone has a great holiday season. :) Also, comment below and let me know how life has been for you recently. I hope well!



I tried out some pin curls, and failed haha
Snow in Chicago, IL 11/2015















Till Next Time!

-Hachi