Apple Pie and Huge Trees

So, did you get out to do your Black Friday shopping today?  I didn't.  I just can't bring myself to torture myself with that many crazy people to save a few bucks.  I really hated that certain stores chose to open Black Friday while it was still Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving should be about spending time with family, not trampling people to get to the hot item.  That's just me though.... and I hate shopping and crowds in general, so you can take it for what it's worth.  =)

I have an apple pie in the oven right now for my husband.  My side of the family really doesn't care that much about apple pie... our Thanksgiving dessert menu is always pumpkin, pecan, and chocolate (and I only eat chocolate.  I can't stand pecan or pumpkin.  Gag).  And fruit salad, but for some reason that always gets served with the meal.  I never really understood that, but who am I to complain about it?  My mom makes the best fruit salad ever (actually, my sister now... the torch has been passed LOL).  Probably the most unhealthy fruit salad ever, as well, but oh well.  It has mayonnaise in it.  Sounds nasty, but, man, is it good.

I don't brag much about my cooking, but I do take pride in my apple pie.  I'm trying something a little different this time... I'm making it in a skillet.  But the filling is what matters, really.  I think there are two important keys to a good apple pie.  First, you have to use the right apples.  Granny Smith.  They have to be tart apples or it's just too sweet.  Secondly, and most important, is ground cloves.  Just 1/4 tsp is all you need, but you do need it.  Cinnamon and apple pie spice just isn't enough.

I got our tree put up today.  My husband won't let me do it any sooner.  We tried the whole real tree business last year and I vowed we would never do that again.  It was such a pain getting it home and I swear it was in the back of my husband's truck for weeks after we took it down until one of his coworkers got rid of it.  We did the real tree thing because all I had was a white artificial tree and I hated it.  So, when Christmas was over and everything was on sale, I bought a new one. 

Now, here's another handy fact about me... I am a terrible judge of measurement.  It's probably one of my downfalls in cooking, to be honest.  So, all those numbers on the box really didn't mean much to me.  I didn't care how tall it was because I couldn't tell you how tall the last tree was.  I really should have done some measuring or something...

It's a 7.5 foot tree.  Our ceiling, as I discovered today, is 7.5 feet.  The thing takes up half of the living room.  I've been trying to rearrange things to make it fit, but we have two couches and I can't move the entertainment center because the cable cord won't read anywhere else.  It's 4.5 feet wide.  My kids can stretch out beneath it.  Dude.

I also took the girls' picture for our Christmas card.  I loved the pictures I've seen of kids wrapped up in lights, so I stole the idea.  I liked this one until I realized how demented Olivia looks:

I'll probably use this one...  maybe.  Or did I upload the wrong one?  I don't know.  It's not as sharp and they had messed up my lights by then.  Uncooperative children, they are.

I didn't get too many decent shots. I have one other idea, something I wanted to do when Olivia was a baby and didn't get to do because she scratched her face something terrible the day before I put up the tree.  So we will see.  I have to decorate the beast of a tree first.