The Vilula Tea Garden

December 27, 2012

Repotting Orchids

I love orchids...I have four regular sized ones and one miniature one! I have been afraid to repot them, though, so they haven't bloomed again, although they are looking good. My daughter posted this on my Facebook page, so I am ready to repot them and watch them bloom. Can't wait! How 'bout you?

December 11, 2012

Apple Pies In a Jar!

Too much has been going on in my life for a while...staying a lot with my elderly Mother in another town; my son just left to go to Afganistan with the Air National Guard(he volunteered); and other things too numerous to mention...so I have neglected my blog. Anyway...here is a wonderful idea for Christmas gifts from Tara of Tara Cooks Blog at http://taracooks.com/ Make some!

From Tara:

I think these Apple Pie in Jar gifts are my favorite so far – I’ve eaten a couple of them already. I had a set of these cute little 4 oz jars to use for this project. These babies can be baked and given as gifts right away or they can be assembled and frozen in the jar and cooked later. Although I lined each jar with some portions of refrigerated pie crust, I think these could also be made with just the apple pie filling and the crumb topping. Either way- cook’s choice.

You will need:

8 4 oz canning jars
1 package of refrigerated pie crust – allowed to set at room temp for handling

For the filling:

4 Granny Smith Apples peeled and diced
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

For the crumb topping:

3/4 cup plain flour
1/3 sugar
1/3 cup soft butter no substitutions

Roll out pastry circles and cut into forths.

Press each piece of crust into a 4 oz jar.

Mix the apples with the sugar and cinnamon and spoon filling into jars, leaving 1/2″ headspace for the crumb topping.

Mix the flour, sugar, and butter together with a pastry tool or with your hands until well blended and spoon mixture into each jar.

Place jars on a cookie sheet for easy transport and place on center rack of a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake jar pies for 25-35 minutes or until crumb topping and crust is golden brown.

Remove pies from oven and allow to cool before sealing with lids and rings.

For frozen pies, allow pies to thaw at room temperature and follow baking instructions above.

November 16, 2012

Easy Peasy Ruffled Scarf Tute

Check out this great ruffled scarf you can make in around 30 minutes by Maggie Weldon! Can't wait to try it! Here's the link to her page and blog: http://www.maggiescrochet.com/index.php. Let me know if you try it out...I'm going to make Christmas presents for my family using this tute...happy hooking!

The Vilula Tea Garden