We are looking down the barrel of U.S. thanksgiving which is really not a thing at all here in Canada. It's just something we are aware of... and maybe do a little black friday shopping on Amazon.   We are in the dead of winter as far as weather is concerned.  Biking has been off the table this week and temperatures have dipped way below what we are used to.  I'm working really hard at not letting this affect my mood greatly.  I am looking at weeks of crazy christmas concerts and events and things that I have to plan and attend and still get organized for January work... and my family is currently checking out the 2015 potato calendar.  It's a real thing.
Here are some things that I thought were noteworthy over the last month:
1.  The Oatmeal's take on Net Neutrality
2.  Thanks to a Canadian quasi-celebrity we have all been talking a whole lot more about sexual abuse and harassment.  Let's hope that this talking continues and turns into a real change in the way society views the women in it.
3.  I've been geeking out to this song
4.  If I don't make this and this soon I just don't know what I'm going to do.
5.  This blogger beautifully summed up a lot of the food lies that women believe about other women. You know all of those food shots where an incredibly beautiful and thin woman about to eat something big and crazy.


I made this ice cream a good while ago and, in the spirit of not spreading food lies, I didn't eat very much of it.  I tested it and it was good.  Truth is I'm not much of an ice cream person.  In fact, lately food and I haven't been close but that's another story for another time.  Kid #2 won't go near this kind of ice cream if it were the last thing on earth to eat.  D basically won't touch ice cream unless it's chocolate or good quality vanilla (I totally get behind that).  So that left Kid #1.  She dutifully had a bowl or two but let out a sigh of relief when we had guests over because we served this ice cream with apple crisp.  It's pretty rich stuff and the texture and tastes worked well together.  Feel free to adjust the caramel to apple ratio if you think it might be too sweet for your liking.



Caramel Apple Ice Cream
makes 1 litre (or so)

1 1/2 cups whipping cream (the heavy stuff)
1 cup milk
4 egg yolks, whisked together in a bowl
1 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla or vanilla paste

Caramel Apple Sauce

3 - 4 sm/med apples - peeled, cored and diced
2 tbsp brown sugar (optional - depending on the sweetness of the caramel that you are using)
pinch of salt and cinnamon
1/2 cup caramel sauce (I made my own from here but you could even melt in some kraft caramels if it came down to it)

Add the diced apples to a heavy bottomed pan and heat over med/low heat.  As the apples start to cook you might want to add a dash or so of water to prevent sticking.  Add in the brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.  Cook until the apples have gotten all mushy and soft and the liquid has cooked down (I simmered mine for about 10 minutes to dry it out a bit)  Remove from the heat, add in the caramel and mix well.  Set aside.

Ice cream:
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the sugar gently over med/low heat for just a minute.  Add in a little of the cream and mix well to dissolve the sugar.  Once dissolved, add in the rest of the cream and all of the milk.  Continue to heat until it almost comes to a boil, turn the heat down to about a half of what you started at and add a little of the hot cream mixture to the egg yolks, stirring constantly.  Continue to add the hot cream to the egg yolks in a very small, steady stream until the yolks are warmed up (about a half a cup of the hot cream).  Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the hot cream. Place it back onto the stove and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture heats up enough to coat the wooden spoon (you should be able to run your finger over the back of the spoon and have the mixture remain in place without running).
Remove from heat and run it through a sieve and into a bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap (press down so it is right on the warm custard mixture all the way around and even stuck to the sides of the bowl) and cool completely to room temperature.  Place in the fridge overnight.
Once refrigerator cold, pour into an ice cream maker and run for about a half hour or until the mixture reaches a soft serve consistency.  Pour everything into a freezer container and stir in the caramel apple mixture.
Freeze.
Soften for a few minutes before serving.

It seems fitting that on this last day of summer I post these muffins.  There is just something right about it.  Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg... it's screams 'Fall'.  Otherwise, there isn't a whole lot out there screaming Fall just yet... unless you count the Christmas crap all over the stores.
This weekend happened like many others - me having no plan whatsoever for what I want to accomplish.  I thought about painting a room... didn't happen.  I considered cleaning out the junk drawer... nope.  I did (fortunately) clean some clothes and get the floors swept a couple of times.  We also managed to throw in a play date.  Kid #2 has changed schools and now attends the same school where I teach/work - yes, that is just a little crazy.  Even though his old school is right across the street from us we haven't been able - for one reason or another - to get together with any of his old friends.  This past weekend though he got on the horn and had a friend over for a play date.  Play date sounds weird and formal.  They hung out together.  I don't particularly like play dates.  Mostly because it involves kids.  I don't hate kids or anything, I just don't particularly like them.  When I'm tired and it's been a long week it's even worse.  Kids are loud and messy and sometimes I just can't.  This weekend happened to be one of those times when I just couldn't.  Being a superlative Mom though means that you just suck it up once in a while and take one for the team.  As it turns out, indoor play dates can be wonderful motivation for me to get some much needed yard work done.  I happily spent a couple of hours of said play date outside while they yelled and had fun inside (so long as nothing gets broken I'm cool).  Two bags of clippings later and the yard looks great.  I suspect that if they had come outside my motivation might have disappeared.  It's possible that a mop and bucket might have looked tempting at that point - god knows, I wouldn't be able to turn on a tv screen without the couch magically filling up with kids.


I made these muffins before the play date.  Kid #1 knows now not to make a face when they ask what I'm baking and the answer is something involving fruit.  She knows because she has experienced my response on more than one occasion and she knows because she has tasted the results.  You can't always judge a book by it's humble, fruity cover.  Sometimes it tastes good.  Not every single thing has to have chocolate in it or on it.  She also knows that one bite will usually shut me up if I'm gotten all hissy about it.  Kid #2 - not so smart yet.  Doesn't even try to hide the face.  Won't even give that fruity thing a single bite.  Incurs the wrath of Mom every time.  The plate of muffins stayed on the table for the duration of the play date untouched.  Apparently mine aren't the only kids who believe that anything made without chocolate is probably not edible.  Comforting.


He ate a half a muffin before bed (couldn't stand the Mom attitude any more).  The entire half.



Apple Crumb Muffins adapted from Pip & Ebby

2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg

2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1/4 cup (generous) milk or cream
1 1/2 cups (1 lg) apple, cored and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Topping

1/2 cup unbleached, all purpose flour
1/2 cup oats (I used quick oats for this one)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350°F
Line a dozen (or so) muffin cups with liners and set aside.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg together.  Mix and set aside.
Combine the brown sugar, sugar and butter in a large bowl.  Beat (or mix) together until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs and continue to beat until well incorporated and fluffy.  Add the milk or cream and mix well.
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture.  Using a mixer or a large whisk continue mixing until the flour is completely incorporated and the mixture is thoroughly wet.
Add in the apples and fold until well mixed.
Fill muffin cups just to the upper edge.
Sprinkle each with about 1 1/2 tbsp (I used large spoonfuls) of topping and press it down just a little.
Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes or until a tester comes out of the middle muffins clean.
Cool before removing

Topping:
Mix the flour, oats and brown sugar together.
Add the melted butter and mix until it forms little clumps.  Set aside to use on the muffins.

Sometimes I feel guilty that I'm not making burger paties with lentils or quinoa.  I feel that if I really were a healthy person or a caring person or a concerned person that I would be making quinoa burgers.  Maybe with black beans.... and kale.  That sounds right, doesn't it.  Quinoa burgers with black beans and kale.  Definitely has a ring to it.  Secretly, I feel weird about calling it a burger though.
The guilt never wins over the desire for pork.  Local and well-reared pork but still, it's pork.  I tell myself that the only way everyone will eat something with so much vegetable matter in it is with the power of pork.  This did not work last week when I made asian kale with mushrooms and bacon... it's still sitting in the fridge.  Truthfully, sometimes they just don't eat stuff.  Sometimes nothing is more appealing than pizza or chocolate.
I was afraid to admit it until I read this blog post.  She was so honest about how she felt when time after time, the family did not eat the cake.  They turned to everything but the cake.  Here's my story.  A couple of weeks ago, one of my voice students came in carrying a big bag of Chips Ahoy 100 calorie packages of death.  There were about 50 little packages of terrible in the big bag.  I hustled her downstairs to the studio before the kids could see it.  She told me she went to the outlet store and thought it would be nice to bring them for the kids.  It was very thoughtful of her.  I wish that it could have been peanuts or a dozen eggs or maybe even kale.  Chips Ahoy.
Of course, the kids saw the bag and were down stairs claiming their prize before the end of the lesson.  The said huge 'thank you's' and I think that Kid #2 thought that she might be Santa.  No word of a lie, this applesauce bread was cooling on the cooling rack.  It had just come out of the oven.  It looked beautiful.  It smelled beautiful.  I even glazed it because we all know that icing translates into 'gobbled up'.  Maple glaze - you can't beat that.  Except apparently you can beat that.  Apparently, 100 calorie Chips Ahoy mini's beats maple glaze and homemade applesauce bread.  I don't think that chocolate chips or hand dipping each slice into chocolate ganache would beat Chips Ahoy.  So I thought that the applesauce bread/cake was being eaten.  Being carried to school for snacks.  Thickly sliced for a lovely after school treat.  Eaten as a before bed snack.  I realized on Friday morning that the bread was still nearly whole on the counter top.  One slice taken, re-wrapped and left.  I checked the bag of 100 calorie Chips Ahoy mini's... there were 5 packages left.

Maybe there wasn't enough glaze?

The moral of this story:
Icing is no guarantee of consumption.
Take your baking to work where people are busy, depressed and desperate.  They will eat anything and be happier for it... unless they have 100 calorie Chips Ahoy mini's.


Red Fife Applesauce Bread with Maple Glaze adapted from EatLiveRun
makes 1 lg loaf cake

1 1/4 cup whole wheat or red fife flour
1 cup unbleached, all purpose
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Butter and flour a med/large loaf pan.  Set aside.
Combine the whole wheat and all purpose flour together.  Mix.
Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom to the flour.  Mix well and set aside.
In a large bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar and sugar until mixed and fluffy (you can whisk or use a mixer)  Add the egg and vanilla and continue to whisk or mix until fluffy and well combined.  Add in the applesauce and fold until combined.
Add the flour mixture and mix until everything is well combined and flour is entirely incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool on a wrack.

I realize that making mistakes is not just a part of life but an integral part of learning.  I know at every level of my being that I am not perfect and make mistakes frequently.  We tell our kids (especially Kid #1 because she's at that age) that not only are the mistakes going to happen but that they should motivate you to continue learning so that you don't make the mistake again.  And despite all of this, I absolutely HATE making mistakes.  It doesn't matter when, where, how, why or what happens.  Nothing altars how much I hate it when I make a mistake.
I've made a lot of mistakes lately.  Things like not biking to work when I should have because I thought that the weather might be bad but it wasn't.  Not letting the kids finish a sentence before interrupting them with some sort of answer.  Giving one of the choirboys the wrong music to work on because I didn't read the service music properly.  You get the idea.  Making mistakes when it comes to food has the effect of seriously altering what we'll be eating for the week.  If something doesn't work then either I have to make something else or we just go without.  The last time I tried pumpkin bread it failed miserably.  MISERABLY.  The gooey, puddingy mess was almost unsliceable.  Yuck.  I put the rest of the pumpkin puree in the freezer and took a break.  We needed some distance.  The damn stuff stayed in my psyche though.  Every time I read yet another food blog with some kind of devastatingly gorgeous incarnation of pumpkin bread I would cringe.  Every time I walked into a Starbucks and saw their pumpkin bread I would curse to myself.  The wound was still smarting.
Today was the day.  The day where I be the example to my kids.  The day where I put my money where my mouth is.  The day where I pulled out that pumpkin puree and tried again.  I was careful this time.  So careful.  I didn't watch a Bollywood film or any other film/tv or screen involved device - well, except for the recipe itself.  The kids both read quietly in the other room.  D was out at a rehearsal.  There were no excuses.  This was going to be it.  If this didn't work for me then I was done.  If I used pumpkin puree again it would either be in a sheet cake form or muffin, something smaller, thinner and therefor easier to get a better texture.


When the loaf was done baking (and I left it in for longer than I should have probably), I waited impatiently for the loaf to cool.  A lot of nail biting was happening.  I worked hard to distract myself for the appropriate period of time.  I kept checking it, feeling the pan, sticking the tester in.  Hell, if I thought that putting it in the fridge would've worked, trust me, I would've gone for it.  Thankfully an hour or so was all I had to suffer through.  I can't imagine it being any longer.  I was finally time to place the bread out onto the cutting board and put knife to loaf.  It was agonizing.  I can't remember being so anxious about the outcome of a baked good.  The first slice would seal it, if there was any sign of goo then I would throw my hands up and then wash them of all pumpkin loaves ever again.
Then it happened.  All of a sudden the first slice was done.  Then the second and the third.  There was no goo.  No goop, no squish.  I didn't need to wring it out.  Textural success!  But how did it taste?  I broke off a little piece and it was... GOOD.  I loved it in fact.  I ate the rest of the slice just to make sure that first bite wasn't an aberration.  Nope, it was all good.


And that, my friends, means that I have now achieved pumpkin bread redemption.  I can now hold my head high in a room of food bloggers or home cooks.  I can stare into that case at Starbucks and give that bread the brush off.  Doesn't intimidate me anymore.  My kids are getting their real life lesson about dealing with mistakes while they eat the results of my tenacity.


Whole Wheat Pumpkin and Applesauce Bread adapted from weeklygreens
makes 1 loaf

3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (I used Red Fife in mine)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 lg eggs OR 1 egg and 2 whipped egg whites (thank you homemade ice-cream)
1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin or winter squash (if it's homemade you might want to drain it a bit through a sieve so that it's as dry as possible)
1/2 cup applesauce (unsweetened or barely sweetened)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) melted butter or coconut oil

Streusel topping:

3 tbsp whole wheat flour
1 - 1/2 tbsp quick oats or oat bran
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp sugar
dash of salt
2 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Combine all the ingredients.  Using your thumbs pinch together until the mixture forms a crumb.  Should be lumpy and holding together.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour a regular sized loaf pan and set aside.
Combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg.  Mix well.  Set aside.
Optional: Whip the egg whites (if you haven't already) until light, fluffy and nearly stiff (will have at least doubled in size)
Combine the egg(s) - not the egg whites if using - pumpkin puree, apple sauce, brown sugar and melted butter.  Mix well until all the ingredients are combined.  Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture.  Mix well.  Add in the egg whites and whisk in slowly until combined.  Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.  After 25 minutes of baking add the streusel topping and continue baking for the remaining 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before slicing.

It has come to my attention that there are a few of you out there who actually suspend your lives for a few minutes to look at my blog.  This is awesome and I love and appreciate you.
I have learned recently that there are others from this same group who not only stop on this blog for a few minutes to scroll through the pictures and see if sugar and chocolate are involved in the recipe but who take the time to read what I spew out in these paragraphs.  Just knowing this scares me.  You are the people who send shivers down my spine.
You see, I don't think about who is going to read any of this while I'm typing.  I'm not typing to a demographic.  I'm not typing in response to an expectation.  The way it usually works is that I think something and then start writing not.  I'm not even joking.  This post is a great example of my lack of planning.  I didn't even know what I was going to write literally as I started typing.  The first sentance just sounded good to me and I went with it.
I'm sure that this knowledge explains a lot about my writing to you.  It might explain the typo's (maybe - that's just not re-reading though).  It might explain the rambling.  It might help you understand why my paragraphs are so bloody short.  It doesn't, however,  explain why I keep doing it and this is the embarrassing part for me. I don't even know why I keep doing it.  Why does anyone keep doing something that they don't really want to do and think is lame?  Why do I keep telling myself that I can book that night out with a friend and then have to cancel every single time?  Why do I tell myself that I'll totally get to folding the laundry that's hanging on my hall railing this week and it still hangs there until Thursday or Friday... every single week.  Why do I keep ordering apples, telling myself that this week I will take them for lunch,  when I know that none of us really really like eating them and that they will probably go soft before we remember that they are there.
And that my friends is the real point of this post.
Apples.


I know it took a while and I bet your head is still spinning a little.  Don't try to figure it out just accept it.   Don't sit back and wonder why I wrote 4 paragraphs just to get to apples.  It's fruitless.  I couldn't give you a decent reason but either way apples were the point all along.  I buy them and them we both look at each other and think 'later'.  And then they're soft.  So last week I made apple crisp with honey and I felt so awesome for being all 'whole wheat and honey'.  This week I've added egg whites because when you make your own ice cream (and yeah, apple crisp  absolutely does NEED vanilla ice cream) you have a lot of egg whites slowly getting freezer burn.  So it's begun.  The mission to empty my freezer of egg whites and to use up this week's apples.
Just for the record, apples are coming with my food box again tomorrow.


Apple Spice Bread with Egg Whites adapted from 'Great Good Food' by Julee Rosso
makes 1 lg sized loaf

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat or red fife flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg, cardamom
zest of 1 small lemon
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 tbsp plain yogurt or sour cream
juice half a small lemon (probably about 1 tbsp)
1 egg
2 - 3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups apples coarsely chopped but not necessarily peeled

Preheat oven to 350°
Grease and flour a loaf pan (I used a smaller one but should have used a large one) and set aside.
Combine both flours, the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and lemon zest together.  Mix and set aside.
Combine the buttermilk, yogurt and lemon juice together and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk or beat the brown sugar together with the melted butter until there are no lumps and the butter is completely incorporated into the sugar.  Add in the egg and the egg whites.  Beat at a slightly higher speed until the mixture has increased in volume just a little.  It should feel like one big combined light paste.  Add in a bit of the flour and continue beating or whisking until it's all mixed in.  Add a little of the buttermilk mixture and beat until it's all mixed in.  Continue to alternate the two until everything is used up.  Try to end with the flour mixture.
Gently fold in the apple pieces and stir until they are well mixed into the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool completely before cutting - although I couldn't quite accomplish this... Kid #1 and I shared a piece quite a bit sooner than 20 minutes... totally worth it.

I don't know if you ever find yourself doing this but I've been noting for a while now just how much I over think some things.  Not everything... just some things.  Food and activity are at the top of my overthink list.
- What is 'overthinking' you ask?
Overthinking is the act of thinking too much.  More than a subject or situation requires and subsequently gets you more stuck on the thinking than on the doing.  (I did not get that from a dictionary or anywhere online - I just thought it up myself)
 - But isn't 'thinking' always a good thing?
Well... usually.  I can recall many occasions throughout history where thinking was actually quite dangerous.  For most of us though, thinking keeps us alive and alert.
- So why is 'overthinking' something you are concerned about?
Well, you see, when I over think then I spend too much time in my own head.  I ask myself too many questions.  I give myself too much leeway and consideration when I really should just get over it and move on (usually just get moving).  Later I feel like crap.  I have learned not to ever ask myself if I 'want' to do something. (especially exercise related or eating of 'healthy' food) It inevitably results in at least an hour of wasted time pondering all of my possibilities... then I usually just go and do it anyway.
...
As you can tell, it's pretty easy for me to start overthinking pretty much anytime.  That is precisely what happened for me yesterday.
...


It was a quiet day.  Finally a quiet day.  The kids were quietly playing or finishing homework.  D was out at a rehearsal.  I actually got myself out the door without too much fuss and ran a decent 9 k.  And then there was this bowl of apples.  They were just there on the counter quietly taunting me.  And I started to think.  I thought about the apples a lot.  Why don't I eat more apples.  Some of them are going really soft.  I should pick one up right now and eat it.  But I don't want an apple.  That's why they're sitting there slowly going bad... nobody really wants to eat them.  That sucks because apples are kinda awesome.  But I still don't want one right now.  It's really not good that I don't want to eat apples.  I think my lack of desire for fruit says something about me.  If I did eat the apple... And so on.
It went on like that for about an hour.  I was completely caught in my thoughts - trapped, immobilized.
It wasn't until kid #2 came along and said that I should make some apple crisp because she wanted to try it (for real... I've never made it for her) and because we had some homemade vanilla ice cream in the freezer.


I won't tell you how long it took me to sift through some recipes and decide what to do but I finally got there.



Apple Crisp with Honey adapted from 'A Small Snippet'
makes 1 8x10 dessert

8 apples (I used a mixture of Gala and Granny Smith)
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat or red fife flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or almonds)
1 - 2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/4 cup unsalted butter
6 tbsp honey

Combine the oatmeal, both flours, wheat germ, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves together and pulse in a blender or food processor just until the oats and nuts have broken down a bit.  Set aside.
Butter a large baking dish (almost a 9x13 size).
Peel and slice the apples (I left some peel on mine to get the nutrient benefits).  Place the apples in the buttered baking dish.  Toss the apples with the brown sugar and lemon juice.
Melt the butter and then add in the honey.  Stir until the honey is mixed well.  Add the butter mixture to the oatmeal mixture and mix until everything is wet and crumbly.
Pour the oatmeal mixture over the apples.
Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until the apples are soft and bubbly.
Cool for about 10 minutes before serving... with homemade vanilla ice cream.

I'm sitting on the hardwood floor in my living room.  There is glass of red on the floor beside me and a 'touch of sea salt' dark chocolate bar calling me gently but persuasively.  It sounds idyllic. It should be one of those moments in life which bring me deep satisfaction... except I feel like I've been hit by a truck.  One of those big ones withe more wheels than you can count.  Not those little things that people call trucks but are really just little SUV thingy's.  Nope a big, fat, hairy tractor trailer truck.
Yep.  There it is.  I'm not even sure why exactly.


One of the bright spots in this 'short-work-week-that-feels-like-two-work-weeks' was this bread.  I've made this bread before.  Hell, I've even blogged this bread before.  This time is a little different though.  I'm using pears this time.  Those crazy canned pears that I made last fall.  Those crazy pears that I made wayyyy too much of.  Those pears that I still have 7 jars of in the cold room.  Yeah.  Those pears.  Hindsight being 20/20 I totally could have used 3 cups of pears here.  If you were using fresh fruit then 3 cups would probably be about 3 large or 4 med/small pears.  In jar units that would be about 3/4's of a jar.  It would make for a slightly more moist bread and might therefor increase the baking time.  If it meant getting through almost an entire jar of pears then it would be worth it.


Work is in an odd place for me at the moment.  It's equal parts completely exciting and awesome and absolutely frustrating.  It took a lot of years to get to the 'exciting and awesome' part of the job that I'm starting to see now.  I'm trying to figure out a way to keep the 'absolutely frustrating' part from completely tainting the other part.  I understand that every job has it's 'challenges' and I'm more than willing to accept that and work with it.  This 'challenge' is really starting to rock my core though.  It goes a little deeper for me than just something that bugs me.  I gotta figure out how to turn this around but just at the moment I'm stumped... and utterly empty.


I won't tell you how big the slice was that I took to work with me today but I will tell you that it was what got me through the day with my hair intact ie. not pulled out of my head via their roots.


Pear Bread with Streusel adapted from 'More with Less'
makes 1 loaf

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup sour milk or buttermilk
2 cups diced pear or apple
1/2 cup streusel (find recipe here)

Butter and flour a loaf pan.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the four, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.  Set aside.
Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs and mix until all fluffy and well combined.  Add the vanilla and mix.
Add the flour mixture and the sour milk alternately beginning and ending with flour.  Mix thoroughly.
Add in the pear and stir until mixed.
Pour the batter into the greased/floured pan and bake for about 55 - 60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean (I think mine took about 65 - 70 minutes this time around).

Oh my.
We decided to end our March Break with a bang.  We had planned a trip up north of the city last weekend but kid #1 was sick so we postponed it to the very last day of the break.  Honestly, it was the best thing we could have done.  The weather was perfect (if it were June) and it was inspiring to see my friends again.


I've talked about these friends before.  I feel lucky to have people like this in my life.  People that just 'get it' and 'get me'.  When I'm with my friend C I feel like I can let all my crazy cook/gardener/conspiracy theorist/ apocalypse prophet out - right out there.  In public.  In conversation and all.  We talked about her garden  - which makes me nuts coming from the city and realising the ridiculous amount of work that goes into her garden.  It's hard to take in.  We talked about the fruit trees and the nut trees that they're planting.  We talked about the chickens and turkeys that they're going to start keeping.  We talked about how their solar panels are actually putting energy back into the grid and making them money.  We talked about the dogs and about how I can get a side of beef from their closest neighbours any time.  C gave me a bunch of seeds.

Moss in Bloom

We also talked about maple syrup mostly because we took the kids to a sugar bush which felt totally weird because it was no less than 23 degrees outside.  We couldn't quite take a walk through the bush because it was pretty wet and muddy.  We did, however,  take a horse wagon ride (in which the horses had to trudge through a lot of mud - awesome for kid #2) and ate some pancakes and beans after that.

The story wouldn't be complete without a picture of the horses from our perspective.

After heading back to our friends place we took a long walk in the gorgeous sun and let the dogs (read: kids) get tired out.  Of course I couldn't show up empty handed so I made some bread.  Bread is a funny thing because I find that sweet bread can quite quickly become too sweet.  I was skeptical about the need for glop because of my previous experience with sweet breads.  I had also sprinkled the top of the bread with some candied nuts just before baking.  So with that in mind I kept the glop on the side.  After taste testing I can tell you honestly that the glop made this bread sing.  Absolutely sing.  In lovely dulcet tones.  We all agreed.

The Bread before the Glop.

The Bread after the Glop.  I must add that this picture was taken by Kid #2... he's 5.

Apple Loaf with Glop adapted from Pass the Sushi

1 1/2 cups shredded apple (peeled first)
1/2 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 lg eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup candied walnuts or pecans coarsely chopped

Glaze:

3/4 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp heavy cream
3 - 4 tbsp maple syrup (not table syrup)

Grease and flour a regular loaf pan.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cardamom together in a bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl mix together the apples, brown sugar, buttermilk, oil and eggs together.  Mix thoroughly.  Add in the flour mixture.  Mix until thoroughly combined.  Pour into the loaf pan and bake for about 45 - 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Glaze:
Sift the icing sugar (I skipped this though) into a bowl.  Add the cream and 3 tbsp of the maple syrup.  Mix and add a little more maple syrup if needed to get the consistency you like.  Gloop onto the top of the loaf only once the loaf is completely cooled.

The kids weren't the only ones tired out.

It still happens.  I learn stuff.
Here are some of the things that I've learned this week:
1.  If I boil old, nasty smelling kitchen wipe rags then they're good to go and they won't smell.  Very Handy.
2.  Don't go food shopping when you have a head cold and are craving comfort food.  Very Bad.
3.  Doing a long run when you think you might be getting a cold might just bring it on.
4.  I can make my own saline solution to spray up my nose so that my head cold feels a little less wretched.
5.  Sometimes it can be 26 degrees on October 8th in Toronto but if you have a nasty sinus cold then you might not enjoy it as much as you wish you could.

As you might have been able to deduce by now... I HAVE A COLD... and it BITES.
So, yeah, I had all these plans for my Thanksgiving weekend and the only thing that I'll really be digging into is doing a whole lot of nothing and spraying crap up my nose, praying that by tomorrow I won't feel like every crevice above my teeth has been stuffed with socks (I don't know why socks... it just makes sense to me right now).  This truly bites because it is uncommonly warm here.  I'm not going to go into how it makes me feel about the state of our climate these days because it makes the knot in my stomach a little tighter.  I'm going to do my best to live in the moment and stare at the sun through my bedroom window, feeling just a little bit sorry for myself.


However, doing nothing isn't all bad, I caught up on some movie watching that had been badly ignored over the last few weeks.   Secondly, I had to make this cake.  I had to make it because we were having dinner with my parents.  It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada.  That means dinner with family and I had to make stuff to take.  I can't show up at someone's house (even my own parents place) without something in my hand to give them.  I volunteered to make a dessert and a veggie dish.  I still haven't figured out the veggie dish yet but I'll be sure to take pics and get it up here when I do.
This cake has been sitting in my 'must try' bookmark for a long time and for some reason I just haven't gotten around to it.  It sounds easy and looks great in the blog picture.  As usual, I don't have the exact ingredients but I figure that anything with honeyed pecans and glaze on the top will be pretty forgiving, so I'm forging ahead.



The cake rises beautifully, this tempting, bubbly brownness that makes you want to put your finger into it.  Once you add the stuff on the top... it's a beautiful thing.
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves...
except for kid #1 who declared that he doesn't like nuts... so he got gross rolo ice cream instead because apparently that's what kids get when they are at their grandparents place on Thanksgiving.  Another thing that I learned this week.


Pear and Apple Cake adapted from 'In Praise of Leftovers'
makes 1 9x13'' cake

2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 med apples (or pears or mixed), cored and sliced thin
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
3 cups all purpose flour

Glaze:
1/2 - 3/4 cup candied pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
4 tbsp melted butter
1 cup icing sugar
2 - 4 tbsp milk or cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Lightly butter or grease a 9x13'' cake pan.
In a large bowl combine the sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla together.  Mix until well combined.  Add in the fruit and mix until the fruit is incorporated well.
Add in the nuts and the flour.  Mix until the flour is completely incorporated.  The batter will be pretty thick.
Pour into the prepared pan.  Bake for about 1 hr 10 min but start checking after an hour.  I gave my cake a quarter turn after about 35 minutes too.  Once the cake looks good and a tester comes out clean (test the cake in the middle of the pan please people) then remove from the oven and cool for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime:
Mix together the butter, icing sugar and 2 tbsp of the milk or cream.  If you need more milk or cream then add it until the glaze is the consistency that you like.
Sprinkle the chopped, candied nuts over the 20 minutes cooled cake and then pour the glaze over top of everything.

It feels to me like it all happened at the same time.  You know, we had this long weekend and then school started.  Everything fun stopped.  The weather changed.  People became just a little bit insane again.  I'm wearing jackets to run to work in the morning.  And it's Fall.  I haven't adjusted yet.
Just like that.
I'm not a fall hater or anything.  It's just that I'm a summer lover.  Now that I'm thinking about it, I would probably like fall well enough if I didn't know that it was the predecessor to winter.  I'm not a fan.
Admittedly, with my pantry more stocked than it's ever been in my entire life, I guess that I feel ready.  Do we ever feel truly ready for all the craziness of fall.  It's not the season it's the getting back to everything'ness' about it.  I wrote a post back in July or August or something about not getting a chance to eat lunch because... I was sitting outside reading all afternoon.  Yeah, crazy.  I wonder if I would get sick of doing that if I could just do it anytime.  It wouldn't be a novelty (this is me wondering still).  Nah.  That's dumb.  I bet it would still feel great 6 months, 2 years... hell, 5 years in.  I don't think that I would ever miss the hustle of the morning rush.
So, fall is apples right.  Partly.  Somewhat... at least.
Yeah, we have this on/off thing with apples goin' on here.  Right now we're in the off phase.  So, these perfectly beautiful Paula Reds were slowly shrinking into those funny heads that we used to see in the eighties.  You know, the ones with cloves for eyes and these weird mouth and nose things.  So, I decided to make some apple cake.



I saw this recipe in the Baked book and for some reason it just made sense to me.  I figured that if I left out the chocolate chips, added in some nutmeg and ginger, subbed out the cream cheese icing for apples slices and streusel that the whole thing would be amazing.  It never really occurred to me that I could just try for another recipe.  That seems weird to me now.  Here it is though, all made and with all those bizarre inclusions and exclusions.  I'm not missing the icing at all.  Mine burnt a little on the bottom FYI and on the sides too.  Voila... le proof.


I'm not all freaked about it, I just cut the crap off and moved on.  Black crunchy edges aside it came out quite nicely.


Apple Oatmeal Cake adapted from Baked Explorations
1 9x13 inch cake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature and cubed
2 eggs slightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 dashes each of nutmeg and ground ginger
3 med. apples (I used Paula Reds) cored and sliced thin
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp streusel

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Butter a 9x13 inch cake pan (glass or light metal)
Heat 1 1/4 cups water to boiling.
Combine the oats and butter together in a bowl and pour the boiling water over.   Mix well and set aside for about 25 - 30 minutes.
In another bowl whisk together the eggs, sugars, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.  Mix well.
Add the cooled oatmeal mixture and mix well.
Fold in the flour and mix just until incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Place the apple slices on top of the batter in one layer.
Top with the streusel topping.
Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Cool for about 30 minutes before eating.