A Very Mandy Meal

Before the extravaganza that is the traditional American Thanksgiving, Mandy and I put together a sumptuous for our apartment. It featured Mandy's latest crock-pot concoction ('tis the season, after all): lentil & butternut squash stew. 

Of course, Tim will claim that his meddling monitoring not only contributed to the cook of the stew, but also to preventing the house from burning down. Alongside this hearty stew, I added a loaf of my usual no-knead, no-worry artisan bread, paired the meal with a rather dry, tart Spanish apple cider.

And for those of you not familiar with my aunt: crock-pot meal + mountain of fresh bread + green drink = a very Mandy meal (though I believe a sprinkle-encrusted bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream would also qualify.)   

A New Season of New Possibilities (and Pies)

It's been a long time since I posted here. What have I missed?

Visiting friends ...
A great concert ...
Good meals on rooftops and elsewhere ...

Regardless, summer is behind us and autumn has finally arrived in earnest. Although I would say summer is my favorite, I welcomed the new season by participating in a celebration of its bountiful harvest.



Mine = lower right; Mandy's = upper right

 Mandy and I sprinted to Brooklyn Sunday afternoon carrying two apple pies fresh from the oven. Our destination: Enid's 9th Annual Apple Pie Contest. The only rules: they must have crust, and must have apples. Though we followed those rules to the letter (and just barely got our pies on the table before the entry deadline), we did not come home winners. Not that our pies were bad, but out of the 25+ entries, ours fell short of the lard (just one of them many "useful prizes" awarded.)

Mandy baked a pie with a complex filling--Bourbon-soaked raisins accompanying a sugary/spicy medley of skin-on apples chunks--wrapped in a gorgeous crust decorated with star cutouts and handmade apple-shaped center piece. For my filling, I peeled Rhode Island Greening apples, mixed them with brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves (and a little lemon juice), and baked them in a thick, buttery crust adorned with an array of cutout NJ shapes. Whether they tasted any good, we weren't even sure. But they certainly looked damn good, though perhaps they could have been cooked a little longer to produce blue-ribbon golden crusts and softer fillings.



pickled egg on a stick? of course!

  Unveiled at Enid's, our pies received a few compliments from on-lookers, but we had to wait for the judges' assessment. In the meantime, we sampled treats from the bar (spike apple cider!) and the kitchen, including corn dogs, sloppy joes, apple fritters, and even pickled eggs on a stick.  Since the barroom was crowded with pies and hungry patrons eyeing them longingly, we took seats outside. The evening was appropriately chilly; a breeze rustled the leaves in McCarren Park, while strollers and cycling hipsters rolled by. After visual inspections and sample tasting, the judges reached a decision: they're were no perfect pies, but they had definite winners for each category. Mandy and I anticipated hearing our number called out. I can only assume she would have bounced with joy if #34 had won, while I would have proudly held my #29 aloft for all to see and behold. Though indeed beautiful, Mandy's did not win "Prettiest Pie." And although unique, mine did not win "visually creative." Feeling snubbed (though still proud of our baking prowess), we retreated to the bar with our umpteenth mug of cider and two hearty helpings of assorted pies. Crust and fillings mashed together, and no one could tell what pie was what, whose was whose--winner or loser.  Drunk and full of pie, we collected our pans (with their delicious dregs), our critiques, and even a corn dog for Tim before heading back to New Jersey.

The air is crisp, the apples ripe, and a new season's potential is palpable and welcome. Our pies can be better, and so can we: so long as we try, fail, learn, and fail better the next time.

Apple Breakfast Bake

On Sunday I acquired four large Granny Smith apples—cooking apples—and I’m determined to try some new things with them this week, it being apple season after all.

I first decided to bake my apples into some sort of breakfast treat.  I considered the upside-down apple cake I have mastered, but I wanted to try something new.  So I looked at many recipes online and eventually selected the one requiring the least amount of time to prepare and no ingredients outside my own kitchen (this is probably the best way to select a recipe, but I often fail to consider both of these factors.)  So, I baked a moist cake full of apple chunks in a pie dish.

apple cake with whipped cream

Not too bad, especially warmed up in the microwave a few seconds, but I definitely should have churned up the cinnamon butter the recipe recommended as a condiment.  Three apples to go.