Where it all started...

Yep, this is my mom in a nutshell. Definitely has one of those capes in her closet. The scary part is, I am approaching the age that I remember my mom being. Get it? Its really weird. But whats crazy is, I find myself saying at least 3 times a week, how did she do it? I don't remember all the mess and the craziness that
 I find myself drowning in daily. Hence the Supermom cape.
 Because I guarantee you folks, you won't find that in my closet. 
Just a lot of cake crumbs. 

A lot of people say to me " Ohmigosh, you bake so much. You have three kids blah blah blah...how do you do it?" Honestly guys, everything I know I learned from my mother. While my mother is definitely a queen of the kitchen, I'm not talking about techniques per se. I got one (out of many) crucial principle from my mother, and that is "I can do anything. " Seriously. It sounds tacky, but somehow, my mother drilled this into my head. And it comes so in handy! Anytime I am in the depths of despair, with cakes crumbling all around me, I hear my mother cheering me on " Come on, you can do it! I know you can." Its amazing. Like my own personal cheering squad. I'm sorry, I'm making you jealous. I hope your Mom is your personal cheering squad too. Because I'm not sharing. Anyways, point being, my mom is pretty cool. So is my father, because he photographed this weeks delicious recipe.Well, that's not the only reason, but this week its all about my mother. And she is pretty cool, because she took time out of her insane schedule for a delicious guest post. So without further ado....
My mother!

Crusted Baked Apples

8 baking apples  (Cortland, Ida Red, Northern Spy)

2 sheets pastry dough (10" X 15" X 1/8")

white sugar

cinnamon

Wash apples, pat dry (Do not peel them). Cut off the top of the apple, keep apple tops for later. Core the apples, leaving the rest of the apple intact. Measure approximately 1 cup sugar, with 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a ziploc bag and mix well. Pour a generous amount of cinnamon-sugar mixture into the cored section of the apple, up to the top. Cover with the "apple top." Cut pastry dough into 4 squares. Reserve extra pastry dough to garnish with pastry dough leaves at the end. Take a piece of pastry dough square , and cover the apple with it, draping it over the top. Fold the sides neatly around, and tuck ends under the apple. Shape extra dough into a leaf shape, score with a knife for veins. Garnish each apple with 2 pastry dough leaves. Roll up some pastry dough into a small "stem" and stick it on top. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and place apples on top. Bake at 375°, uncovered, for at least an hour, until it is golden brown,and the apple feels soft and tender.  Serve warm, with a scoop of your favorite ice cream or whipped cream. 

And just because I'm having so much fun Googling "funny mom cartoons":