apples – Loving Food, Fashion, & Life

Double Danish

Posted on December 15, 2013 by LFFL

Cream Cheese and Apple Danishes

Look at these things! I just couldn’t mind my own business while I was out Costco shopping–oh, nooooooooo. Not me. I have a distinct list in my hand to follow—5 things! Nowhere on the list does it say anything about danishes, pastries, or anything of that nature.

But when I happened near the pastry area and see these beauties, I just had to stop and take notice. Oh my! What to do, what to do? I stared with delight and could only imagine how my taste buds would dance about if one of these lovelies ever happened into my mouth.

Then I figured—why imagine something that I could easily make into reality? So I decided I deserved my own box. But what ever shall I do with the variety of choices presented before me? Ah, my rule of thumb.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, find yourself your own box of Costco danishes in cream cheese, apple, raspberry, and apricot.

Take-Away Life Lesson: There’s always a surprise waiting for you at every corner you turn in life—or in a Costco.

I Had A Blast In Culinary Class

Posted on November 11, 2013 by LFFL

My assigned table.

Starting ingredients for the apple pie.

The culinary kitchen.

Other students at my table.

Making an apple pie.

I made a pie crust from scratch for the first time ever in my life! What an accomplishment for me. If you know anything about me, you know I’m one to buy my crusts already made in the store to save myself a year of my life.

But if you’ve never gone to culinary school before, I’d suggest it. It was actually fun. When I saw an apple pie making class on the schedule, I hopped right on it so I could try my hand at crust-making.

I was a late enrollee so the class was already full, but the teacher said she had enough ingredients and space that they could go ahead and squeeze me in.

I arrived early bird style. And first off, Egads!! I wasn’t thrilled with the choice of ugly green aprons they had for us to borrow! You could say I was a little disturbed. But there was clearly a bigger purpose of me being there. So I let it slide—after all I am there to learn pie crust making. Let’s FOCUS.

But, heretofore, let it be known I will definitely be bringing my white Betty Boop apron with me to wear should I find myself at any of these future classes! (Now where were we?)

Fresh cut apples in the baking dish.

Rolling the dough.

Ready for the oven.

First off, the instructor had us gather ’round her as she made an entire pie and gave us detailed instructions while we asked our questions. Then we went back to our stations and got to work. The instructor and her assistants constantly walked around and were great at helping us along.

When it was time to make the pie crust, it reinforced upon me WHY I always buy my crusts pre-made in the stores—there was just so much work involved! Yeah, there’s nothing like crust made from scratch—but only if you have time on your hands you want to fill up.

The only thing I kept thinking and saying out loud at my table was how much quicker this would have gone and at what point we would all be at in the apple-pie-making process had we a pre-made pie crust in front of us.

Granted, I know that was the purpose of the class and it was actually fun to make in the class—but at home?? I had visions in my head of my patience levels and thought ‘I don’t think so.’

Making crust from scratch will be a once-in-a-blue-moon thing for me, sorry to say. Later in life, that could change.

The finished product had to be taken home for baking in the oven. The instructor suggested baking it straight away, but said it was fine to do the next day since we’d be getting home late in the evening. As you can see, I put a lot of lovin’ into this. Ain’t she a beaut? It turned out really good.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, find different classes you can take at your local culinary center. You’ll have loads of fun.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Bring your own Betty Boop apron from home to these classes, lest you get stuck wearing an ugly green one.

The Extent Of My Day

Posted on July 6, 2013 by LFFL

My daily Dairy Queen Butterfinger Blizzard and add a Heath bar, please.

As if there’s not enough hydrogenation and partial-hydrogenation going on inside that cup that I had to go and have them “add a Heath” candy bar to the mix like the Butterfinger with the ice cream wasn’t enough.

To top it all off, they ask if I want my “usual.” Just because my car shows up in your drive-thru area for the same thing every day doesn’t mean I have a “usual”, lady!!

And later, I hook myself up with these caramel apple blossoms from the Whole Foods store that I had in the freezer. Pop them in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. They were so on point! Delicious.

I’m satisfied with how my day went.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, fetch yourself a Dairy Queen Blizzard along with a Caramel Apple Blossom. Lounge around the house, savor every bite, and enjoy them with your feet up.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Apparently if you show up at an establishment on a regular basis and order the exact same things every single time, you have a “usual.” The jury’s still out on whether that gives you a good name or a bad name.

Lovin' A Pimped-Out Sandwich

Posted on May 23, 2013 by LFFL

Made with 15-grain bread, sliced turkey, sliced Virginia ham, Swiss cheese, butter, eggs, milk, salt & pepper, and topped with confectioner’s sugar.

I, for one, love a well-made sandwich with a side of sour cream & onion potato chips. It was a little bit of work to make this Monte Cristo Sandwich, but it was worth it. I used 15-grain bread for my tasty sandwich, though, instead of white bread—and it was just as delicious.

I had doubts at first about sprinkling the confectioner’s sugar on top (I thought it would mess it up as far as the taste goes—sugar with turkey?)—but it was actually right on time! The touch of sweetness with the sandwich was perfection. Who knew?

Recipe for—Monte Cristo Sandwich

Grilled Turkey Reuben Sandwich

Made with 15-grain bread, Thousand Island salad dressing, sliced turkey, Swiss cheese; topped with angel hair coleslaw mixed with butter, white vinegar, sugar, and salt & pepper.

Boy, now this here Grilled Turkey Reuben Sandwich was DELISH! I think the Thousand Island salad dressing is partly what set this off in the mouth. ‘Yum Yum’ is all I can say. Again, I used 15-grain bread instead of the rye bread. I’m not too fond of rye.

I’m also not a coleslaw person, but the coleslaw together with the salad dressing made this sandwich divine. I ate at least 3 of these sandwiches that day—with two of them being eaten back-to-back.

And I absolutely love, love, love my panini maker. I love the grill marks it gives to sandwiches—and, frankly, it’s just fun to use and press things inside it. I love warming and making sandwiches with the panini press. You should get one, too.

Recipe for—Grilled Turkey Reuben Sandwich

Ham, Gruyere, & Apple Panini Sandwich — Ham, Gruyère, & Apple Panini Sandwich

Made with 15-grain bread, Black Forest smoked ham, Granny Smith apples, butter, fresh thyme, shredded Gruyère cheese, and whole grain mustard.

I was, at first, concerned with putting the apples onto this Ham, Gruyère, & Apple Panini Sandwich—but it actually turned out ok. I’ve just never done the fruit thing on a sandwich before so I was having second thoughts.

But, we all know I like trying new things out—you only live once. Glad I did. It was a new and different experience for me. Once again—I used 15-grain bread instead of the white bread that the recipe calls for.

Recipe for—Ham, Gruyère, & Apple Panini Sandwich

This is just your basic homemade Turkey Sandwich with toppings I threw together myself.

Whole grain 15-grain bread
Oven roasted turkey
Co-jack cheese
Tomatoes
Romaine lettuce
Mayonnaise
Mustard

Eaten with a side of red grapes, sweet potato tortilla chips, barbecue potato chips, and organic strawberry lemonade. Mmm, hmm, yeah.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, throw together a homemade sandwich for yourself and pimp it out with all your favorite delicious toppings and sit back and enjoy that bad boy! Or better yet, try a new sandwich recipe you’ve never had before. You’re missing out on so much yummy goodness.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Invest in a panini press/maker. It makes your sandwiches look beautifully and taste crunchy scrumptious.

RELATED ARTICLES:
Drunken Goat Grilled Cheese
Jip Chips

Homemade Dessert Goodness

Posted on April 23, 2013 by LFFL

Butterscoth Apple Crisp — Butterscotch Apple Crisp

Made with Granny Smith apples, butterscotch chips, light brown sugar, flour, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, juice of a lemon, butter, quick oats, salt, and chopped pecans; served with butter pecan ice cream.

OH – MY – WORD! Talk about yummy fabulousness! I absolutely loved this Butterscotch Apple Crisp so much I made it several times over within a matter of weeks. It’s what I do when I love something and it disappears too quickly. Now whether it disappearing quickly is my fault alone or several other people’s fault that have shared this with me is up for debate.

But if sweetness isn’t your thing, don’t bother. It’s yummy sweet! I always throw in some extra butterscotch chips when I make this. I mean, the butterscotch combined with the Granny Smith apples and the crispness of it all—oooohhhh, man! And then to have the nerve to serve it with Butter Pecan Ice Cream—HEAVEN! Say it with me now.

It’s hard to share something like this when you realize you can only get 2 or 4 slices out of it. That the pan is a 3-quart 9″ x 13″ is neither here nor there. It’s all in how you decide to slice it up.

Who came up with what a serving size should look like anyway? My serving sizes NEVER look the same as what the so-called “experts” say a serving size is. They really need to rethink that whole thing.

Made with sliced peaches, almond liqueur, nutmeg, brown sugar, corn starch, flour, granulated sugar, salt, baking powder, butter, buttermilk, and egg white.

Moving on to the Peach Cobbler. Wow! I loved this, too! The almond liqueur is what sets it off. And, as per usual, I could only see getting 2-4 servings out of this at the most. So share as you see fit.

If you ever need:

a way out of a traffic ticket
a way to get a man or a woman
a discount on your groceries
front row concert seats
a job promotion
free gas refills for your car
to prevent someone from shooting you

THIS IS THE WAY TO GO, my peeps!! Always keep a slice of this peachy bad boy on you for situations such as these and you’re good-to-go!

Made with graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, chopped pecans, butterscotch chips, semisweet chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and sweetened condensed milk.

These Five-Layer Bars were ok to me but I didn’t really want a lot of this. Kids would probably like it more than I did. It was good, but not good enough for me to keep the recipe in my permanent recipe binder that I have going.

If a recipe can get a permanent spot in ‘the binder’, it’s doing pretty good—because that means I think it’s fabulous enough to keep and make again one day.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, definitely make yourself some of that Butterscotch Apple Crisp and Peach Cobbler because you’re really missing out on life if you don’t. (See the links above for the recipes.) And if that’s not your thing, just head towards the kitchen and make any dessert you’d might like to have or try. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to keep the whole 9″ x 13″ tray for yourself.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Where one person sees getting 20 servings out of a dish to serve—another may see only 2 or 3 servings coming out of it.

RELATED ARTICLES:
A Peachy Breakfast