apples bring cider... & applesauce... & bread!

 

We inherited apples, is it bushels of apples?

I've really been wanting to make apple cider from scratch.  So, I did.

It's a bit messy and naturally you need a lot of apples to make a decent amount of cider, but it's fun and makes your house smell like a home to come home to.

  

Apple Cider

 lots o' apples

water

4+ cinnamon sticks

4+ T. allspice

optional: orange +/- lemon peels

Quarter all apples and place them in a large pot; add enough water to cover apples.  Less water will make stronger cider that can always be watered down at the end.

Boil apples and water, stir often.  Wrap cinnamon (and optional peels) in cheesecloth and drop into apples.  (I tried to use ground cinnamon and the cider results with a grainy texture.)  Add allspice to taste and keep mixture boiling for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on size of batch.

When apples have cooked down, reduce heat to low for another hour.  Turn off heat and you're ready to separate the cider from the solids, aka, applesauce!  Use a strainer... this is the messy part;)

{applesauce}

 {cider}

The cider and applesauce keep for a week.

As I said, you end up with a lot more applesauce than cider.  We couldn't possibly eat all of the applesauce so I used it for the base of a spice bread recipe.  What's great is that because the applesauce can be used to replace butter/oil, the bread is very healthy.

Applesauce Spice Bread

2 c. applesauce

1 c. white sugar

2 eggs

3 T. milk

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

1/4 t. ground allspice

4 T. flax seed

optional: 1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. 

In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, sugar, eggs and milk; beat well.  Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt; stir until smooth.

(You may choose to omit spices that already were used in applesauce recipe.)  

Fold in the pecans. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. 

Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes.

Recipe loosely adapted from here.

what we ate

 

Fall apples yield cake! 

Of course, what do you think they are for... eating without additional sugar?  Ha.

I modified a recipe I found on trusty Cooks.com, and here's what I came up with:

Fall Apple Cake

For those of us who associate fall with guilty indulgence!  So much so, I made a double batch.

batter:

1 1/2 c. flour

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg

1/2 c. milk

1/4 c. oil

1 1/2 c. chopped apples, raw

Preheat oven to 325.  In large bowl, mix dry ingredients.  In another, combine egg, milk and oil; pour into dry mixture.  Fold in chopped apples.  Pour into 9x13" greased pan.

Now the good part is what I added.

The Cooks recipe calls for an icing, but I replaced it with homemade caramel dolloped onto the batter before baking.

caramel:

1/4 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

The caramel creates pockets of heaven within the cake.

Cook for 30 minutes.

So far September is tasting pretty, pretty good.

brown eggs

M just walked in and said, "I can't believe you're posting pictures of eggs."
I never, ever said I was very interesting or had complex interests.  I think eggs are about as simple as you can get, but brown eggs, now they're a step above.  Don't they just say, "From the farm eatin'!"?

Like when you watch Martha bake, she'd never be caught with a neutral, white egg.  No, no.  Each egg must have a different tan tint to distinguish them as natural, fresh, and wholesome.

I've been making frittatas (or nelly frittatos as M calls them) lately and would like to try quiche.  Even using brown eggs to make chocolate chip cookies makes me feel a bit ritzy.  (You know from Nestle Tollhouse.... remember that episode of Friends when Monica tries to figure out Phoebe's family recipe, and it was the one on the package?  Ha-to-the-ha.)

So check back for my upcoming egg-celent recipes of what I make this weekend.  If you like eggs, anyway.

last friday night

A lot of people's Friday nights are reserved for dramatic "Thank God!" activities, like dinner, dancing, movies... craziness.

Here's how I spent last Friday.

First, I made a raspberry coffee cake.  Raspberry's are becoming my new hydrangea, I love to photograph them.

After, I headed to the backyard with a cold chai latte (the first of many).

I sat beneath our healthy tree.

With a good read.

Soon after reading the contents page, I got distracted by how cute my dog is.  Sorry, but I'm obsessive.  But really, I don't take pictures of myself, so my dog is really the next best thing.  There's a lot.  So feel free to zone out.  Now.

How does an animal lay like this and remain comfortable?  Wish I could ask her.

I own this grass!  And I should mow it... or M should mow it;)

I like these in-the-grass shots.  The life of a dog is goo-oo-ood.

 Scared of the edge... aren't we all?

 Daydreaming.

So that was my Friday night, what'd you do?

you know, domestic things.

Lately....

I've made cupcakes.

Forgetting to use baking cups lends cupcakes that are a bit clumsy looking, with random pieces left in the pan.  Oh well.  I admit they came from a Trader's Joe mix, vanilla bean, but I made the frosting.  And regardless of their appearance, the cake stand redeems them.

I've also made granola.

 Combine old fashioned oats, brown sugar, and maple syrup or honey until clumpy.  Spread on cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes at 375f.  Let cool, maybe add craisins, raisins and/or almonds for excitement.  Serve with yogurt or milk.

 I've been upholstering a chair.  Finished before and after soon, if all goes....

 I've been cooking just to use up my herbs.  (I didn't know they're annuals, what a bummer.)

 I've been making bouquet after bouquet of hydrangeas.  I've also (as you know) been taking a lot of photos of them.  Sorry, take comfort I've only include two in this post!

M & I have played Monopoly and I wish I could say I've won.  He's the Mr.Potter of the board, a real estate tycoon and owner of some very expensive hotels.  Maybe next time...

 Lastly, I've made more pillows, one for each dining chair.  You have no room to sit down, but at least the pillows have a nice seat!

 And I've watched Netflix, but I didn't think you needed a picture of the TV to get the visual. :)

So, what have you been up to?  I'm betting cooler things than I!
(Things that maybe require leaving your house!)

what we ate

Strawberry Rhubarb Messy Cake

(Adapted from All Recipes Entry) 

filling:

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch (flour works)

2+cups chopped fresh rhubarb

1 plastic container of fresh strawberries

2 tbsps lemon juice

cake:

3 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Start with cutting up rhubarb and strawberries; bring to boil over medium heat for 2 minutes to thicken.  Stir in lemon juice and let cool.  Any extra filling is great on ice cream.

Make buttermilk: 1 cup milk to 1 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

Make cake; in large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.  Pour in melted butter and mix until mixture is crumbly.  In a medium bowl beat eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.  Stir into crumb mixture.

In greased, ceramic casserole (roughly 13x9x2 inches, though I used a circular pan) add two-thirds the batter.  Pour in cooled filling and add remaining batter.

Bake at 350f for 45 minutes, or until edges are browning.  All Recipes calls for an additional crumb topping to make the cake a crumb cake; I think that'd be too much.  You'll see, it's pretty decadent!  

My initial plans were to make the cake and flip it onto a cake stand.  As you can see, there's no way it was going on the stand, it barely stayed in the dish I cooked it in!