In Between Holidays...and My Favorite Apple Crisp

I know we're all Christmas-minded these days, but I just had to post some pictures from our past couple of weeks.  We've been busy! 

I am proud to say that my husband ran the Philadelphia Half-marathon two weeks ago.  He did a great job!



A few days after the race, we had our family in town for Thanksgiving and some vacation time together.  They were so gracious to drive for two days both directions to spend this precious time with us!  For all of their driving, we could at least share a delicious meal with them:

And the turkey!  It was one of the best roast turkeys I have ever had! 

We actually ate that meal on Wednesday, and then packed up to spend Thanksgiving day in New York City.  We enjoyed exploring the city, watching Macy's parade, walking up 5th Avenue and window shopping, wandering through bustling Rockefeller Plaza, and heading back down Broadway through flashy Times Square.  There's just something exciting about New York during the holidays! 

After watching the parade, we ate a lunch of turkey sandwiches, broccoli salad, sweet potato chips, and chocolate dipped pecan bars in Central Park. 

On Friday, we did a quick tour of Philadelphia, including a trip to legendary Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's for cheese steaks, the Rocky Statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, the light display accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ at Macy's, and lunch at Reading Terminal Market. 

Last week was full of paper-writing and late night studying, but I won't bore you with the details of that.  I am just happy to say that all of the papers are in, and we just have exams to go!  Everything will be done by next Friday, and we will be homeward bound. 

I haven't quite moved into the Christmas baking and goodies yet; exam time just doesn't allow enough time for everything.  That means that our break time with family, and the food we eat then will be all the more enjoyable (and we can really splurge!)!  If I only get to make one thing this year, I'm hoping to make my favorite gingerbread cookies before the season is out. 

I made this apple crisp long before Thanksgiving, but I think it's a great low-fuss dessert that carries right through the winter.  My husband calls it "apple deliciousness," but I just call it perfectly comforting. 

Apple Crisp

From The Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook

Filling:

5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Topping:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup flour
1/3 cup rolled oats

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Stir together the filling ingredients in a small baking dish (8 inch square or equivalent).

In a small saucepan, melt the butter.  Remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar and salt until well combined.  Gently stir in the oatmeal and flour until just incorporated.  Crumble the topping  over the apples. Bake until golden brown and bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes.  Serve with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

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Creativity with a Bulk Bag of Limes: Cherry Lime Bread

Being both at home (in the south, at my parents' house) and away from home, means that some things are incredibly comfortable, but there are some things that I will have to get used to (again).  Well, I have been back home for about two weeks now.  In that span of time, I have gone with (or on behalf of) my parents to Costco twice, and Sams Club once.  Add another trip to Costco that my parents took without me, and you have a bunch of bulk buying.  And considering that at any given time within this short stint of time home there has been a maximum of five people at my parents' house, much of that bulk buying is a little in excess.  But sometimes my dad cannot help himself; he just has to have that giant bag of limes. 

So that leaves me trying to come up with good uses for all of these limes (or peppers, or mushrooms), before they all go bad!  We've had lime bars, mojitos, gingerale with mint and lime, coconut banana bread with lime glaze, sweet tea with lime, greek yogurt with fruit and a squeeze of lime, and more.  My latest endeavor is a bit experimental (as many of these have been), but I think that it turned out pretty well.  Should you find yourself with an excess of limes, I think you should try it too!

Cherry Lime Bread

1 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest of one lime
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 whole eggs, beaten
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons wheat germ

In a small bowl, stir together the lime juice and dried cherries.  Let the cherries soak for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. 

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, soda, salt, and lime zest.  In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, butter, eggs, and the cherry/lime mixture until well combined.  Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. 

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.  In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and wheat germ.  Sprinkle over the top of the batter.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. 

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Celebrate with Cake...Lavender Amaretto Pound Cake, that is.

Since I have been away from home for almost a year now, there are lots of things that happen in the lives of my friends and family which I have inevitably missed.  I have known about the baby born or the announced engagement, but it is difficult to celebrate over the phone or e-mail.  So this week I have spent some time celebrating.  Not only am I celebrating the end of exams and my first year of seminary, but I am celebrating being with family!  I have missed them so much and am especially happy to be able to spend some good time with my grandparents.  I am also celebrating with my friends; the addition of babies to families, the changes in vocations, or even a good hug after a long absence. 

I have made this cake four times in the past month.  The first time I made it was a trial run; the successful cake was shared with several different friends from school.  I then made it at an engagement celebration for two of our friends who are getting married this summer.  I made it again almost as soon as I arrived home, and I made another today for some friends who recently had a baby. 

Lavender Amaretto Pound Cake

1/4 cup sliced almonds
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons lavender flowers
6 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon amaretto liqueur

1/3 cup water, boiling
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur

Preheat the oven to 325.  Butter and flour a 14 cup bundt pan.  Sprinkle the 1/4 cup of almonds in the bottom of the pan.  In a mini food processor or a blender, blend the lavender flowers with 1/2 cup of the sugar, until the lavender flowers are finely chopped.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese.  Add the lavender sugar and remaining 2 1/2 cups of sugar, and beat on medium-high speed for seven minutes.  Add the eggs, one at the time, beating until well combined.  Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed until just combined.  Add the almond extract and 1 teaspoon amaretto and mix until combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. 

Bake for 1 hour, 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.  Meanwhile, combine the boiling water, sugar, and 1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur in a small bowl.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved. 

When the cake is done, let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes.  Turn it out onto a wire rack with a plate or parchment paper below.  Baste the top and sides of the cake with the amaretto syrup, leaving the crusty bottom of the cake dry. 

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It's 5 o'clock somewhere...have some Grilled Island Shrimp Kebabs

Well, it has been quite a week!  Not only did we have the final week of classes and papers galore due (papers which always take a good twelve hours more than I expect), plus "good byes" for the summer to classmates, but also the honor of being the featured blogger on Tasty Kitchen, as well as my first blog award!  Unfortunately, I haven't really been able to spend much time thinking about these last two, nor my poor neglected kitchen, nor you, my friends, because of the tyranny of those papers and last classes.  And I'll be honest, I haven't spent enough time in my bed this week, either. 

But I am delighted to say that the papers are in, and all I have before me now is exam week!  So, in celebration of a Friday night, the end of the semester, an upcoming trip home, and my recent cooking accolades, and at least a little time to be back in my kitchen, I present to you Grilled Island Shrimp Kebabs, which are perfect for both a celebratory meal as well as one that whisks you away to the beach, if only for a little while, in a momentary denial of impending exams (or whatever you have coming up)!

Grilled Island Shrimp Kebabs

Adapted from Spicy Recipes

3/4 cup rum
1/2 cup pina colada mix
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
2 dashes Liquid Smoke
zest of 1 lime
Two pounds peeled medium shrimp

In a small bowl, mix the first twelve ingredients. 

Thread the shrimp onto double skewers (to make flipping easier).  Place the kebabs in a 9 x 13 baking dish, and pour the marinade over the shrimp.  Marinate for about 20 minutes (no more than 30).  Grill over medium heat for about 8 minutes, flipping half-way through. 

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One is Silver and the Other Gold

When I was a child, I listened to the “Wee sing” series of tapes. They had little songs for children; some silly, some Bible songs, some patriotic, etc. One song that was more of a proverb has been going through my head this weekend, “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” This is so true; what a blessing it is to have friends, old and new! We were blessed to have a wonderful group of friends before we moved, and while never forgetting or losing love for those friends, we are gaining new friends here, too.

I am convinced that one way to make new friends, and to show them how much we love and appreciate them, is by cooking. So that is exactly what we did this weekend. We served Boston butt with homemade BBQ sauce, two salads, sweet potato fries and strawberry shortcakes for dessert. All in all, it was a great meal, and we truly enjoyed the company.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take pictures of our dinner party in the midst of everything, so all that I have is a few photos of the shortbreads, sweet potatoes, BBQ sauce and the tomato salad.

One great side effect to having new friends over for dinner is that it lit a fire. That fire pushed us to finish setting up our living room (or at least what we can do until our sofa arrives), clean the apartment and ready everything for guests to actually see. So, here they are, photos of the final (or semi-final) product:

Our Bedroom

Another Shot of the Bedroom

The Living Room

The Bathroom

Progress, and another Versatile Salad

Here's a little bit of what I've been up to lately:

We bought this bookshelf from Ikea. I think that it looks pretty, don't you? Those two frames at the top hold two tiny little paintings that my husband and I bought in Montmartre.

This is some of today's handiwork. We hung all of these frames!

Our little kitchen table.

Our "hutch" and the plates that I hung last week.

Another part of our kitchen, and a painting that I also hung last week.

I've decided that I work best when I'm working on one thing at a time, or in this case, one room at a time. So, today...the hall. Tomorrow, I think I'll work on our bedroom. Hopefully I'll have some more progress to show soon!

Saturday night we went to a "mixer" for incoming students. It was a barbecue, and we brought a salad with us. I also made a similar salad last week, so I'll give you both variations here.

Mixed Green Salad with Pecans, Goat Cheese and Fruit

10-12 ounces mixed salad greens
8 ounces crumbled goat cheese (you could also use blue or feta cheese)
Fruit--I use 2 pears, cut into slices, or 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup white sugar
pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (I used "Pear Infused White Balsamic, you could also use Cider Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

For the Pecans:

Place a piece of parchment or wax paper on the counter. In a skillet over medium heat, heat the 1/4 cup sugar until it just begins to melt. Add the red pepper and pecans. Stir until the sugar is melted and the pecans are coated. Transfer to the parchment paper and sprinkle with salt. Allow the pecans to cool completely and break into small pieces.

For the dressing:

Mix the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, mustard, sugar, salt and peppers in a small bowl. Whisk well.

To serve, toss the greens with 1/4 cup of the salad dressing. Put the pecans, fruit and cheese on top, and toss lightly. Add more dressing sparingly, if needed.