(Week 33) A New Form of Punishment October 31, 2010

Before we get in to the real meat and potatoes, let me begin by asking for your votes.  I am in a competition to be the next Good Mood Blogger and I need your daily vote through Dec.  It’s free, just click this link and click vote:  www.sam-e.com/job/entries/108.  Now, on with the show!

It all started out as an innocent afternoon in West Michigan. I was visiting family for a few days and we had scheduled our annual Fall visit to Cranes Apple Orchard. A day at the orchard pretty much defines Fall up north. Changing colors, crisp weather, displays of pumpkins and hay bales that get their five minutes of fame from Oct. 1-31st, it’s my childhood and I love it!

I was excited to share the tradition with my nieces and nephew that were visiting from outside of the States. We stormed the orchard with an enthusiasm that would have made Richard Simmons proud. A woman dressed in her best barn-gear-get-up, offered to let us sample slices of each apple they had in season that week. We aren’t a modest family when it comes to free samples; I think that all six of us asked for a nibble of each variety: Cameo, Empire (a cross b/t a Mac and Red delicious!), Honeycrisp, Jonagolds, Macintosh, Mutsu…… Some of the apples we planned to pick had a prearranged marriage with apple sauce. For that project we chose the Cameo. For extra noshing we chose to pick the Jonagolds and Honeycrisp.

Each of the adults grabbed a wagon and a child laborer, to pair up with. With no further communication , we were off. I should have predicted that things could get out of control. We egged each other on through the rows of apples. “We’re gonna win.” “Ours look the best!” “Our bag is the heaviest!” I think I may have even heard a “You stink!” as someone’s last-resort comeback, you know, typical family encouragement.

By the time we had filled our bushel bags, my mom and I were literally racing down the aisles of the orchard, each with a child and bushel in tow-’Amazing Race Style‘. When all partners made it back to base camp, the kind barn clad woman began weighing our bounty.

It was quite the surprise when it was announced that we had picked over 160 lbs. of apples! In case you’ve considered doing this yourself, it will cost you approx. $80, even at the bargain basement prices found when you pick your own. In my frugal mind I was trying to calculate a clever way to stick some of those apples back on the branches. I had nothing.

What on earth were we going to do with that many apples?!!

One bushel (approx. 42 lbs of apple, some sources say as much as 48 lbs) went to my mother’s friend for her apple sauce recipe; I used another five pounds to make two apple crisps from a Pampered Chef recipe that I’ve been making for years; and the final 115 pounds will be residing at my parent’s house for quite some time.

My nieces and nephew have a new house rule they must follow while staying with their grandparents for the next month: Everyone eats an apple a day. If you misbehave you eat five. This should take care of the ‘ol “apple situation” by Christmas.

Recipes and Reviews:

Quick Apple Crisp: A+, This apple crisp really is simple. ‘Quick’ may be a small exaggeration simply because it takes some time to peel and slice the apples, but the rest of it takes about 3 minutes to put together. There are not too many flavors to overpower the delicious apples, which I like. Enjoy warm with ice cream. Many have said it is the yummiest apple crisp they’ve ever eaten. If you don’t have Granny Smith Apples, try subbing in a different tangy variety that stand-up to the heat.

(Week 32) Know a Celebrity; Eat Like Royalty October 18, 2010

Every week I freely offer recipes, ratings, and the real reason most of you stop by–plenty of opportunities to laugh, generally at our expense.  I willingly share to make you smile.  The site reached over 1,000 views this week and I want to say thank you to family, friends, and those fortunate enough to have stumbled here due to higher internet powers.  I am rewarding you with a fabulous recipe this week.  One of the easiest, tastiest treats of the year.  But this one is going to cost you.  Not of your hard earned assets but of a few measly seconds of your day to vote for me.  One less glance in the mirror at your backside, or one less SportsCenter update, and you’ve got it (This is a joke. I don’t believe for a second that I could rank before SportsCenter during football season)!

Why do I need your votes?  I’ve applied to be the next Good Mood Blogger!  This would mean I could entertain you all week long;)  Initially, I wrote a bio on The Good Mood Website explaining why I would be a good candidate:  http://www.sam-e.com/job/entries/108.  I have to stay within the Top 20 candidates to be considered (currently in 21st place-Eeeek!).  Along with the job comes an extravagant writer’s salary for six month and a new laptop.  Click on the link above to vote-do it daily from every internet source you can get your hands on (phone, laptop, desktop).  Then blast the link out to everyone via Twitter, FB, email, sky banner, smoke signal, you get the idea.  I’ve even added a place to click to vote on my blog’s sidebar so you can remember to vote DAILY.  You already read my thoughts via onenightaweek, why not vote for someone you know to win?  If I win you can tell ppl. you know a celebrity. I figure pro blogger counts as celebrity status if Lindsay Lohan counts and she hasn’t done anything productive in years.

Now that you’ve sat through my timeshare presentation, it’s time for your reward; the most divine Fall lunch option I’ve tried in months.  Cooking Light‘s recipe for Brie, Apple, and Arugula Quesadillas, found on myrecipes.com is a lunch fit for a King.  If you’ve never put crisp apples, gooey brie, zesty arugula, and fancy sauce together, you haven’t done your body justice.  From my happy belly to yours, I beg of you to try this recipe.  You can thank me in the form of votes–no flowers please.

What’s the best meal you’ve had recently, either homemade or at a restaurant?  Feel Free to include a link to recipes or restaurants so we can all indulge.Recently for me, it has been the quesadillas for homemade fare and the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich with maple bacon on it from Local in Memphis in the restaurant column.  Your turn.  Oh.  Did you vote yet??  http://www.sam-e.com/job/entries/108

Recipes and Reviews:

Brie. Apple, and Arugula Quesaillas:  A+, these bits of goodness are easy to make (10 minutes!), taste amazing, and will really fill up your guests without them realizing it’s a vegetarian creation.  It’s unique, rich flavor will please all those over twenty-one (I think that’s the time palates begin to refine-once the taste buds grow back).  The sauce is made with apple cider, Dijon mustard, and pepper.  I have to stop talking about it, my stomach is starting to growl.

(Week 31) It’s Better to have Loved (food) and Lost (your lunch), than to Never have Loved (food) at All October 15, 2010

I have a problem.  Food excites me just a little too much.  It can strike at any moment.  On this such day it was in the doctor’s waiting room.

As I sat with Mr. in the stark room waiting for the doctor, hoping he would  finish-up his game of Connect Four with the two blind mice backstage and call Mr.’s name from his list of one, I indulged in the October issue of Cooking Light.  Every picture in the magazine got me cooing like a school girl head-over-heels in love,  “Oh my goodness, Hmmm, Wow, I want it!”  My mouth moistened while my entire body began to tingle with anticipation, I was officially experiencing a food-gasim.  I’m not purposefully trying to make the 40 and over crowd squirm; I’m simply describing how passionate some of us can be about what touches our lips.  And why shouldn’t we be?  In a lifetime the average American eats 87, 520 slices of bread.   Sounds a little boring if you ask me.

Now, Mr. enjoys a good meal, but its come to my attention that a food magazine is never quite going to “do it” for him like it does me.  After the 5th time I interrupted his read to show him a picture of a tantalizing dinner choice it was apparent that I was the only one food-gasiming here.  The dinner choice was all mine.

After much debate between me, myself, and the recipe photos battling for my attention:  a mushroom patty melt, potato soup, and caramel apple recipe clearly came out on top in honor of Memphis’s first fall-like day.

Two hours later Mr. still had an aching ankle, we had no caramel apples due to two failed attempts, our potato soup’s texture closely resembled whipped potatoes, and we had sandwiches that consisted primarily mushrooms-Opps!  We don’t even like mushrooms!

It was no one’s fault really.  The potato soup and sandwiches actually tasted just fine by normal standards.  But after all we had just been through to get them to our dinner plates, I think we were expecting to bite in to some sort of nirvana.  The truth be told, dinner doesn’t always turn out indicative of my enthusigasim toward food.  But, if you love food, you understand that sometimes half the fun is in the anticipation and surprise.

If you rarely get excited about food, it’s rather difficult for your taste buds to reach the climax of their potential.  Enough said on that topic, some of you have wandering minds….

Recipes and Reviews:

Mushroom and Provolone Patty Melts: B, The provolone Patty Melts were a hearty choice for a cold day.  Neither Mr. or I are big mushroom fans, and I’m not sure if I have ever eaten a patty melt, but the picture got me-so I took a leap of faith.  The rating of a B reflects my personal feelings toward mushrooms, but don’t let this discourage you.  This is defiantly a healthier version then I see on restaurant menus so it’s defiantly a good bet if this is a staple type of sandwich in your world.

Loaded Potato Soup: B, After reading the ingredeint list I had the brilliant idea to add in 30% more red potatoes to get in more of nature’s goodness.  If I would have thought that through I would have realized I was going to be making gloried mashed potatoes.  By the time I was done, there was little liquid consistency left.  It obviously tasted fine, it’s pretty had to mess up a potato beyond repair, but we didn’t succeed at making soup.  This recipe is great in terms of prep. time.  I loved that I didn’t have to peel the potatoes and that the recipe called for red skins.  I thought the soup lacked a little flavor.  I would doctor it up with more spices to get it to a rating of an “A” next time.

Carmel Apples, Not Rated, This recipe never came to fruition.  In the first batch Mr. put all the ingredients in at once and later realized he had to start again.  The next batch was even worse.  The “caramel” that we were making from scratch burned to the bottom of the pan and stunk up the kitchen.  I guess the candy thermometer they suggested was more then a casual tip.  Honestly, this version takes a long time and it’s still made with unhealthy ingredients.  Save yourself the trouble by buying the premade Kraft candy caramels at the grocery store to coat your apples.