Oh yes, nuts really add something wonderful to an apple pie! ... CLICK on the picture for the basic step-by-step recipe
We’ve had a very strange year around our apple ‘orchard’ ( now two trees). What makes it strange is that normally we have the stove going continuously baking pies and then apple sauce. Two years ago, after making a dozen or so pies, I filled one entire freezer with prepared apple sauce that lasted until about 6 months ago. Laura didn’t complain as home made apple sauce is her favorite snack after dinner.
I rushed this pie out as I had a bunch of things I am preparing for the fall, but I think I am unlikely to get more than one more pie from our trees. Weather does that sort of thing around here. Normally I like to glaze almonds for the top of my pies , but I used what was at hand and I think it will be fine. This pie will go into the freezer for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
When the weather turns a little cooler, you'll remember why you have an oven! Above are a few delightful things to make this season: a Beef Wellington, Turducken ( and all the various combinations), Key Lime Pie, Chocolate Pie, Cherry Pie and George Washington's Egg Nog if you dare!
With Thanksgiving and Christmas, I will definitely be making one of those glorious bird-within-a-bird meals and to make it special… I have ordered a simply largest bird I can find! Looking at the Turkey above, it looks for all the world like a turkey that has been tied up a bit; however, with the exception of the legs and wings, there are no bones in this turkey. This is a Turducken!
Turduckens have been a yea old favorite for a long time. For hundreds of years meals of birds within birds have been served. The key for me is to de-bone them and remove all the skin but the outer turkey! The trick is to start assembling with the largest bird and add each bird until you get to the smallest while not forgetting to add the appropriate stuffing at each layer. Laura likes to refer to my effort as a fancy ‘meat roll’, but I think it is delicious every time! It also has a habit of attracting my daughters from wherever far flung environment they may be… which is nice.
Here’s the basic composition:
Turkey – corn bread
Goose – chestnut stuffing
Chicken – mushrooms and saffron white rice
Pheasant – cashew stuffing
Duck – wild rice
Besides a Turducken, I have a prime rib aging right now, a whole leg of lamb ( I have some Greek tenderizing ideas for this), hams and , of course, there will be dessert. Desserts are usually special in most families and so it is with us. Pumpkin pie is a staple and Christmas Cookies are varied… but we always find a time for George Washington’s Egg nog!
Stating thinking and planning, because August heat doesn’t last forever!
Jenny Craig, what were you thinking? CLICK on the picture for some enlightening research on High Fructose Corn syrup and obesity
Laura and I have enjoyed the past five plus years or so on Jenny Craig. We lost a ton of weight in the first 10 months, then we began to follow their ‘maintenance program’ which — I believe — has been the key to a dieters long term success. It is clear that Jenny Craig is head and shoulders over the diet offerings as confirmed recently by a recent article in Consumer Reports. However, they won’t last long if they continue to put High Fructose Corn Syrup in their food… this is a red flag for me and many others … and there also some very disturbing research on this sweetener:
Okay, okay… the study was done on rats, but it would be somewhat ethically challenging to do this experiment on people. Imagine if you sent old great aunt Maude on an expensive diet program and she came back as a blimp, because unfortunately, she was the one fed on High-fructose corn syrup.
Jenny Craig, I am not asking for organic brown rice syrup — which I think is hype anyway, but the jury has already come back on this stuff and it isn’t good, High Fructose Corn Syrup has got to go.
Chocolate Bacon at the California Midstate Fair CLICK on the picture for a fun recipe using Nestle Toll house morsels
I love to use bacon in many of my recipes and if I don’t use bacon I will use bacon fat and butter. Naturally when I saw this chocolate covered bacon at the California MidState Fair, it was very tempting. Searching the internet, I found a recipe that seemed the most fun, this included bacon (of course), Nestle Toll house Morsels and white chocolate. Obviously, if you wanted to take it up a notch or two you could use Lindt or Peters Chocolate!
white and semis sweet chocolate on bacon!
Surprisingly yummy… but then some folks were surprised with how well the combination of peanut butter and chocolate were!
Yellowtail with a citrus salsa CLICK on the picture for a fun recipe
There were two types of fish that I loved to catch as a boy. The more plentiful was the ‘Perch” that was relatively easily to catch where the waves broke near the beach. The second — and in my opinion — more delicious was Yellowtail. “Smoked” Yellowtail could be purchased almost anywhere in the beach communities of California. This brings me to where my favorite Olde Port Seafood market in Avila Beach is offering quite a deal on Yellowtail this weekend!
What I like about these folks is the fact that they also post recipes of their favorite finds on the internet and they have one they ‘borrowed’ from Epicureous that is well worth the effort!
Macadamia-Crusted Yellowtail with Mango-Papaya Salsa
