Autumn Harvest Pie

Good Tuesday morning!

The Gallery Pic already has an explanation. I will say Roxie gave her blessing for me to use it on the blog today. Shocking, I know.

RANDOMNESS #1 - It was very difficult to go to school yesterday. I had planned on getting the majority of the decorating done, but cleaning the house after a week off from any and all routine whatsoever left a little less time than I needed.

I'm thinking pretty green trees with twinkly lights might make the prettiest Christmas trees. No boxes and boxes of ornaments! I'll call it a "natural" Christmas. (My kids will NOT go for this at all!)

RANDOMNESS #2 - By this time each year, I am usually addressing my Christmas cards (I haven't picked out my card template yet), I have bought three-fourths of my Christmas gifts (I may have one-eighth purchased, but I doubt it) and I am already wrapping two or three gifts a day (I don't have anything to wrap). I am relying heavily on my "Austin Went to College, Josh is Driving AND Regularly Using a Chainsaw and Roxie is a Teenager" meds to get me through the day.

RANDOMNESS #3 - I wanted to share five of my favorite Thanksgiving "memories" from this past holiday.

1. On Tuesday night when Austin arrived home, the Faulkner Five went to a movie together, and it was so much fun.

2. I loved sharing Thankful Letters at Grandmother's after Thanksgiving lunch. MamMa (my Grandmother) didn't write a letter, but when everyone was finished, she talked for a few minutes about her childhood, her marriage to my Granddaddy and the many things for which she was thankful. It was so touching, and I'll remember it forever.

3. Black Friday with Roxie, Bev, Katie, Amy and Monica. These chicks are growing up so fast, and they are such wonderful girls. They are funny, sweet, smart and so, so pretty... inside and out. I love spending "girl time" with them, and I'm thrilled the last thing they say to each other as we are leaving the Wynfrey is, "I can't wait until next year."

4. Cutting down our Christmas tree this year was even more fun than usual because I was able to watch Josh at work. It was so exciting to stand back and observe.

(I went to Chick-Fil-A a few times incognito when Austin first began working there, too. Unlike Josh, I didn't take pictures of Austin behind the counter. I gave my camera to a co-worker, and she took the picture for me. And guess what? He smiled and posed and several of the other employees jumped into the picture. It was sweet and very non-embarrassing! Of course, I later "Photoshopped" the other employees out of the pic, but that's another story.)

5. Austin took Roxie to a movie Sunday afternoon... just the two of them. (Josh would have gone, but he had to work.) They had a good time together one-on-one, and I'm thankful they enjoy spending time together.

CONTEST! CONTEST! CONTEST!

I have a little surprise for you today. Share your favorite Thanksgiving holiday memory, and I'll put your name in a bowl for a drawing. The prize... THE NEW CHICK-FIL-A CALENDAR WITH ALL THE MONTHLY COUPONS!

The rules are as follows:

1. You only have to share one Thanksgiving memory, and it can be from any Thanksgiving. Not just Thanksgiving 2010.

2. You can leave the memory under the Comment Section of A Simple Life, on Facebook OR e-mail me!

3. You have until midnight on Thursday, December 2 to leave your memory and name.

4. I will draw the winner of THE NEW CHICK-FIL-A CALENDAR WITH ALL THE MONTHLY COUPONS first thing Friday morning!

Happy Thanksgiving AND Merry Christmas!

Autumn Harvest Pie

As I said yesterday, my sister-in-law, Becky, brought this pie for Sunday dinner. It was so pretty... and delicious. I kept asking her what kind of crust she used. She told me to taste it first (which can be dangerous), but I did and it was wonderful. Guess what? The crust is made from cake mix! And it bakes up over the edge of the pie! And it looks as amazing as it tastes! And Josh now eats pumpkin pie because this recipe is so good!

You will need the following:

Crust:

1 box yellow butter cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter (melted)

Mix and press into two 9" pie dishes.

Filling:

1 8-ounce bar of cream cheese
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick butter (melted)
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Mix all filling ingredients and pour into the prepared crusts, divided.

2. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until just firm in the middle.

3. Cool and serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Becky found this recipe in the Alfa Friends & Family magazine. They had a contest, and Carol Simpson of St. Clair County won first place with this recipe, as well she should.

I'm making the pie tomorrow for Josh and Mikie, but I'm also going to experiment in the future with the crust. I want to see what other pies go well with "cake mix crust."

I hope you have a terrific Tuesday. Look forward to Wednesday Wisdom, a Christmas Party, Tradition OR Devotion (surprise, surprise) and pics from tonight's Christmas Choir Concert (Josh) and the Volleyball Banquet (Roxie).

Don't forget to enter the CONTEST!

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda