Mila's Rose Photos, Volume 8

Context: I do half-birthday photos of the girls each year. The setup stays the same - a simple white dress, a plain white or black background, and a bouquet of flowers. Mila gets white roses, though there is no significance to that choice. It's what was available the first year when I tried to do these in late November. Which, fun fact, they have become increasingly difficult to find in late November/early December. It's almost as if the universe tried to trick me.

ANYWAY.

Technically the kid's half-birthday is November 27th. That would make this a month late, except THEY WEREN'T! I actually took them a few weeks ago but hadn't gotten around to posting them. So, they were late, but not LATE.

Anyway, let's start by revisiting years gone by.

And now, here's the 2021 entry.

FWIW, I still don't have any of these printed and hanging in our house. Alexis' stop right around the time Mila was born and it's as if Mila doesn't exist. Maybe I should work on that whole print and frame thing?

Salted Caramel Apple Bars

Now that we're on the other side of Christmas, I think it maybe is time to consume some fruits and vegetables? Maybe? I don't want to rush straight from an all sugar diet to healthy eating too quickly, though, so let's inch into things.

Salted Caramel Apple Bars.

There's "apple" in that name! That means they're healthy! Or something.

They really are good, even if they aren't quite good for you.

Salted Caramel Apple Bars

Crust
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Apple Filling
2 large apples, thinly sliced (the peeling thing doesn't seem to matter)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon all ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping
1/2 cup quick oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cold and cubed
Caramel sauce (Recipe here or just use ice cream topping. I'm not judging your decisions in this matter.)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8" pan with foil. Yes, this matters. This stuff sticks, so life is easier if you use foil and can just lift it out.

2. Make the crust. Add the sugar, vanilla, salt, and flour to the melted butter and stir until well combined.

3. Press the crust in the bottom of your pan.

4. Bake for 10 minutes, or however long it takes for you to make the other parts of this masterpiece. (Yes, this is a variance from the original recipe. I accidentally learned that it doesn't matter if you use a bit higher temperature, so I'm rolling with it.)

5. While the crust is baking, toss the sliced apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl until the apples are well-coated. Set aside.

6. Make the streudel topping stuff by combining the oats, sugar, cinammon, flour, and butter in a large bowl. The butter needs to stay a little chunky, so mesh the ingredients together using your hands.

7. Layer the apples on top of the cooked crust. Press them down until they're nice and level.

8. Layer the streusel on top of the apples.

9. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the streusel looks slightly browned.

10. Allow the apple goodness to cool thoroughly before drizzling caramel over top.

11. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas, Everyone