Vanilla Icing

Potato Chip Makin'

"Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself."  Michael Pollan, Rule # 45, 'Food Rules'

I've been mostly following this rule before I even read Michael Pollan's book because I like to know for certain what exactly is in the food that my family and I eat.  No red dye #40 or hydro-ethyl-acid-sulfite-propyl-benzoates for us!  And besides....homemade just always tastes better.

There's still a few foods I'm still buying prepared and this is something I'm working to change.  The three big items are hard pretzels, salad dressings, and potato chips.  The first one I've not found a recipe but I've not searched too hard because out of all the snack foods out there, pretzels seem to be the one relatively simple and unadorned foods.   Last week I made my first salad dressing and it was so easy that I can't believe I've not done it sooner.  I plan on trying a homemade ranch dressing tonight.

The last one--potato chips--is something we don't eat very often around here but we all do enjoy on occasion.  Tristyn has been asking and asking me if we could make them and I agreed but marching band and cheerleading practices and that whole pesky school thing has been getting n the way.  An unexpected cancellation of practices last night gave us a chance to finally try making potato chips.

It was very simple to do.  I peeled potatoes while Tristyn sliced them with the mandolin.   Then we soaked the slices in water for about 30 minutes to remove excess starch while the oil heated up to 350 degrees.  The potato slices were drained, patted dry and slipped into the oil.  The chips were fried until they were golden brown.  I dumped the fry basket out on paper towels to drain away the oil and Tristyn brandished the salt shaker.  That was it!

Of course, Tristyn and I popped hot crunchy chip after hot crunchy chip in our mouths.  A freshly fried potato chip is something everyone who rips open a bag of potato chips from the store has been missing.  There's a loud crunch, an explosion of salt and potato shards, and then everything just melts in your mouth.  Literally.   

The chips cool quickly and are ready to serve plain or with a favorite dip.  They can also be stored in an airtight container for a few days.    Potato chips also make an excellent sandwich companion.....if...

...you don't eat too many hot chips and fill up!  I ate plenty of chips during the making of them that after I took the picture I had to slide the chips back into the bowl--I only had room for the sandwich!  Maybe that's why the rule states "...if you cook it yourself," because by the time you've cooked and sampled the food you don't want anymore.  The onus of consuming the finished product is on everyone else!  

Hmmmm....

Knitting & Reading

With the weather turning cool again, I've been picking up my knitting needles again and decided to start off my 'knitting season' with trying mittens for the first time in my self-taught-and-often-wonky knitting career.  

I'm working on minimizing some of my small stash of yarn because it's probably nice to be frugal but mostly because most of it was purchased before I had a clear idea of what I like to knit.  Now that I know, I'd like to use up my old stash so I can...ahem!....replace it with a newer, more useful stash.  This yarn is Crystal Palace's mini mochi rainbow yarn.   It was the soft rainbow colors that tempted me to pick up two balls of it at one of my local yarn shops on a whim.   The yarn is one ply and extremely splitty and I've not had success knitting it into anything until I finally decided to look at their website and see what they suggested to do with it.

Mittens seemed like a good idea for displaying the colors, using up the maximum amount of yarn and also the challenge of trying a new type of project.  I've been wanting to try mittens for a long while now but frankly the thumb always frightened me.    As it turns out, this 'thumb business' as I've so often referred to it in my head was a lot easier than I thought it would be and once I slid the stitches from the holding yarn and back to my needles it knitted up in a snap.   I'm a litle disappointed that that the first ball of yarn had such a large yellow and orange swath in the middle of it because nearly four of the rings on the first mitten are all very similar colors.  The yarn on the wrist of the second mitten is behaving in a much more satisfying way.

Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series has been around for quite some time and I've read most of them a few times but I've always borrowed someone else's copy.  When I saw the first one on clearance the other day I just knew I had to pick it up because I enjoy this series a great deal.   I began to reread it the other day and again I am struck by how much I enjoy the strength of the main female character.   The author writes her well, tempering her strengths with weaknesses just like any real person and never portrays her obnoxiously or thoughtlessly headstrong for no reason other than writing a 'strong female' like so many other books and movies often do.

I recently recommended it to a friend and she borrowed a copy from the library and it came with a CD of songs from the musical.   A musical!  I'm not so sure how I feel about the idea of Outlander being a musical.  I love the old Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals but I'm don't think I'm ready to see someone else's interpretation of Jamie & Claire's story.  Plus...historical fiction?  romance?  time travel?  That's an awful lot to pack into a musical!

I've joined with Ginny for her Yarn Along and am looking forward to seeing what everyone else is knitting and reading!

Brown Butter Apple Cake

Apples, apples, and more apples!

It may be a few more days before the First Day of Fall but I think as soon as the temperatures dip at night to that perfect sleeping weather that we've all been craving these last few months then it's time for Fall Baking.

This rich coffee cake is full of chunks of  tart apples and iced with a salted brown sugar icing.  It's not too sweet--some of us here may be known to have a wedge of it for breakfast--with delicate notes of cinnamon and cloves that's just right for a Summer gently spilling into Fall.   

I prefer this cake to be made with Granny Smith apples but any baking apple or combination of baking apples will do.  Also, if you aren't fond of cloves (how could you not be!!??) another spice such as nutmeg or ginger would do nicely as well.  I've often wanted to experiment and toss in some toasted nuts  but my family prefers not to have too many add-ins  in baked goods which is why I originally decided to brown the butter to add a slightly nutty taste since I couldn't have the real things.  If you use nuts, I'd sure love to hear how it turns out!

The gooey icing is made of brown sugar, cream, and butter and a little goes a long way on this cake.  I like to add a sprinkle of sea salt on top because it reminds me of caramels and caramel is much better with a little salt!

 

Brown Butter Apple Cake

                     by Michelle

 

3/4 cups butter

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla 

10 ounces sour cream

4 1/2 cups flour

4 tsps baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2 1/2 cups diced apples (4 small)

       ~Brown Sugar Icing~

            1/3 cup packed brown sugar

            3 tablespoons of flour

            4 tablespoons of butter

            1/2 cup of cream

            1 tsp vanilla

1.  Preheat oven to 350.   Grease and flour a 9 by 13 pan.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.  Set aside.

2.  In a small saucepan, slowly melt the butter over low heat.   Once it melts, increase the heat slightly.  The butter will begin to bubble and foam.  Swirl it every so often until it's starts to brown.  Be very careful not to burn it! Remove from heat and  let cool slightly.

3.  In another bowl, measure out the brown sugar.  Pour the browned butter into the sugar and mix well.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Thoroughly mix in the sour cream until there are no white streaks.    Slowly stir in flour mixture and then the apples.

4.  Spread in a pan and bake 40-45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Set on a wire rack and let it cool a little while you make the icing.

5.  For icing:  In a small saucepan, combine the  brown sugar, flour, butter and cream over low heat.  When combined, turn the heat to medium and stir and cook until the icing is very thick.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Spread over still warm cake and sprinkle with sea salt if desired.  Serve warm or at room temperture.

                               Try not to torture your dog.

Bright & Beautiful