An Apple Pie a Day Makes Me Fat!

I bought another bag of Honey Crisp Apples yesterday at the farmers market. Teegan was a little concerned because I still had a few left (6) from the week before. I informed her that she had nothing to worry about because I was going to make a apple pie and perhaps some applesauce.

So here we are.

I used the same dough and filling recipe as my peach pie made a while back. If interested click here to see the recipe.

I ended up using 6 monster apples and had some left over which with my left over dough, I created a little apple tart/box which was consumed, pretty soon after it came out of the oven - probably a little to soon - my tongue is a little worse for ware.

I am looking forward to breakfast tomorrow! Yes, I eat pie for breakfast!

Rollkuchen

I have to confess, that I have never made Rollkuchen before (Please don't think less of me), I haven't needed to. My parents on average make it once a month during the summer. Sure I have helped here and there with the process - but I never have stamped my name on the product.

This being said - today was the day. I know it's a bit late in the season, but better late then never.

The recipe my family has used for years goes as such:

4 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 c sour cream
1 c milk
4 eggs

I was lucky enough on my first attempt to nail the right consistency - a perfect crisp outer shell, with a just perfectly cooked chewy dough on the inside. This is my preference, a middle ground between fluffy and flaky.

Pumpkin Bread

Last week my Sister in Law (Jen) pointed out that my blog was lacking a pumpkin recipe. So not to disappoint - here is a pumpkin bread recipe I came up with after pulling together some ideas from a few other recipes.

2 c pumpkin puree (preferably from a nice roasted pumpkin, instead of from the can)
1 c vegetable oil or butter
2 c white sugar
3 eggs
2 c flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 of a whole nutmeg grated
1 teaspoon allspice
1/4 ground ginger

Split the batter between 2 - 4.5 x 8.5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes to 1 hour until a toothpick comes out clean.

Thanksgiving Weekend

This past weekend Teegan and I made a trip down south (To Kitchener) to visit our friends and have a make shift Thanksgiving dinner. Little did I know that the chicken I was planning on cooking (That David was going to buy) turned into a full fledged turkey (7 Pounds anyways). I was initially skeptical (mostly due to the fear of never having cooked a turkey before), but after a little thought and perusing of "The Joy of Cooking", David and I launched in with full force.

We ended up just stuffing the turkey with lemon, garlic and rosemary. Once our bird reached a perfect 180 degrees - we pulled it out of the oven and it was a perfect crisp golden brown.

I realize now, that a turkey is nothing to be feared. It's quite simple to roast, and quite fun to baste!

Alexis also pitched in and made some cranberry sauce, which turned out quite nice.


With Kitchener being so close to our former stomping grounds of Stratford, Milverton and St. Jacob's, we decided to take a drive/trip down memory lane. To be honest, Teegan just wanted an excuse to visit the yarn outlet store in Listowell. This in turn gave me an excuse (not that I should need one) to visit my favourite Amish restaurant (Anna May's in Millbank). The food is great, but what's better are the PIES and DOUGHNUTS - which are among some of the best things I have ever eaten in my life.

On our way back to Kitchener, we came across a local apple orchard (just outside of St.Jacobs) that had some of my favourite apples "Honey Crisp". I tried this apple 3 years ago in Halifax for the first time, and became quite smitten. I was overjoyed to find them at the local farmers market a few weeks ago, and was even more overjoyed to find an orchard that grows them in Ontario. So perhaps I will make a pie this week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pasta

I have never attempted to make pasta before, I think partly because it's quite easy just buy the boxed variety and toss in water. Especially now that there is whole wheat pasta readily available, not to mention, spelt, kamut, brown rice and so forth and so on.

The pasta wasn't to hard - It was pretty easy actually.

1 c flour
1 tsp salt
3 eggs

Mix, knead (dusting with more flour as you go - I used close to 2 cups when all was said and done), rest, roll then cut the size you would like. Boil for about 3 minutes or so.

My Sauce:

1 Can whole tomato's (blended)
4 Garlic cloves
1/2 Onion
1 tsp Oregano
A handful of fresh basil
3 Portabello Mushrooms (chopped)

Caramelize the onions then add the garlic till it smells then saute the mushrooms till they are soft then add the rest.

Avocado UPDATE

A few weeks ago, I planted my avocado seed in a soil filled pot. I would have left it dangling above the water, in its cup a little longer but I was afraid the seed would split and leave me with nothing (I wasn't having any of that after so much patience and tending). Once in the pot, the shoot popped through the top and is now growing at turtle speed (Slow and steady).

You can also see one of my lemon tree's in the background. They also grow quite slowly. The tree that isn't seen has developed another set of leaves and is a bit bigger.

Cardamom Coffee Shortbread

I was in the mood for some shortbread cookies today - this is funny cause I am not to big of a fan of shortbread. While perusing recipes, I came across a recipe for coffee flavoured shortbread and I jumped on board. I ended up using a basic shortbread recipe and adding my own ideas (being Cardamom - because it's Coffee's best friends).

2 1/2 c Flour
1/2 c Brown Sugar
1/4 c Sugar
1 c Butter
1/2 tsp ground coffee
2 T liquid coffee
(Most recipes call for 2 T of instant espresso powder - instead of what I added).
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom

The topping is just an icing sugar glaze and melted chocolate.

Bake 300 for 20 min.

They turned out really good. I could of baked them longer for a more original shortbread dissolve in the mouth texture, but I am liking them a little softer. I would make these again in a heartbeat.