Falling Back on Island Time

[andiesenji]

So, both of us looking at things we might want to bake - realized we don't have any apples in the house (with the exception of one Fuji left over from the Ivan Ramen ramen.  

 

So hiked out before it got dark and picked a few.

 

DSCN3511.jpg

Wow.  Those look so much like the pink Duchess apples that at one time were grown all over Wisconsin, Michigan and upstate New York -

They were developed from Cox's Orange Pippin as a cooking and eating apple.  Growers have tried to grow them here but they require a hard, prolonged freeze during the winter to produce well. 

When my mother was still alive, she would ship me a crate of them from Wisconsin every autumn.  They stored well.

[Kerry Beal]

The redder of the apples?  I picked these from 4 trees this evening.  The ones up front in the picture had a very white flesh with a rose tinge under the peel.  The ones on the far right were also white fleshed but no rose tinge.  

[huiray]

This is perhaps a silly question - but what is it about apples that attracts you?  (And much of the NA/Western population)  I mean this as a sincere question.

 

I myself have little attraction to apples although I do eat then on occasion, of course.  I like apple pies, and apple tarts - but can't remember the last time I had either, for that matter.  (Probably when I bought an apple pie last from one of the Farmers' Markets)  I also don't remember the last time I drank cider.  Apple juice - ditto.  I've bought apples from vendors at the Farmers' Market before, ate one or two, and eventually thew away the others which sat on the counter or window sill for, um... a while.  So, personal preferences aside (or maybe not?) - what is it about apples that you find attractive?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Laird's.

[Kerry Beal]

Interesting you should ask.  I'm not actually a big apple eater - I'm birch tree pollen allergic - which means that certain raw foods don't sit well.  Apples being one of them.  Not a big apple pie eater either.  I enjoy it when I eat it - but don't go out of my way to do so.  

 

But right now I have a source of fruit that is costing me nothing, out of which I can make treats to take to work and provide a source of fermentable liquid from which I can make hooch.  Merely being practical!

 

I do have fond memories of sweet cider that we purchased from Waldale Orchard that sat where a bunch of stores and a movie theatre sit now - the first glass of that in the season epitomized fall.  

 

I know I hated it when someone handed out apples on Halloween - felt like I was getting gypped.  

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Late last spring when my son and I were on our way to visit Bartram's Garden:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartram%27s_Garden

 

...the topic of conversation turned to the cider press he was helping a friend build.  When we got to the garden we apprehended a tragic error of scale.  The eighteenth century landed lushes knew how to do things right.  As long as you have enough draft animals and enough boats to ferry apples from your orchards, you can produce a stupendous amount of hooch.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Smithy
Repaired broken link (log)

[andiesenji]

The redder of the apples?  I picked these from 4 trees this evening.  The ones up front in the picture had a very white flesh with a rose tinge under the peel.  The ones on the far right were also white fleshed but no rose tinge.  

Yes.  They have a pink tinge under the skin. 

[Kerry Beal]

 

Bourrote aux Pomme to be taken in to work when the call comes.

 

 

[Smithy]

IMG_1688.jpg

 

Bourrote aux Pomme to be taken in to work when the call comes.

Google has failed me. Is this an apple cake? It looks beautiful: a celebration of seasonal, tasty and free(!) produce.

[Kerry Beal]

Not been found on Google by myself either.  Recipe given to me by mother of a friend here on the island.  She has been running a delightful bed and breakfast and feeding people with her french treats.

 

• 60 grams cornstarch
• 100 grams all purpose flour
• 100 grams sugar (less)
• 75 grams melted butter
• 5 tablespoons milk, 75 grams
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• vanilla
• 4 cut up apples or pears

mix all then stir in butter. Bake 375º for 40 minutes. She bakes in a charlotte pan.

[Anna N]

Well I'm obviously not quite awake yet. I am quite sure that I posted a photo and description of my breakfast and my plans for the day. However there is no evidence of that.

Breakfast came as much out of my head as out of any recipe book. I wanted something savory, using eggs, and making use of some of the many field tomatoes we still have. I sautéed some garlic in olive oil added a minced shallot, threw in a chopped up tomato, seasoned everything well with salt pepper and let it sit on low heat to become companionable. I broke two eggs into the centre covered it and cooked until the whites were opaque. I sprinkled on some chopped parsley to be foo foo and voilà a tasty breakfast.

Since then I have mixed up a banana apple loaf and it is in the oven baking. At some point today I hope to make bread either sourdough using my starter or plain white bread using commercial yeast.

For dinner tonight I am planning on doing David Lebovitz' mustard chicken with a side of roasted asparagus.

But you all know I know my plans very rarely materialize. We shall have to see.

[Anna N]

So far the universe is unfolding as it should. Here is the banana apple bread

The Bertinet dough was made by hand:

And dinner is progressing:

Chicken in Dijon

Home made bacon lardons.

[rotuts]

I take it that pan is on a Burton ?

 

what pan is it ?  it looks like something Id put on my list.

 

thanks.

[Darienne]

Your banana nut bread looks divine, Anna.  And so glad about the universe thing...

[CaliPoutine]

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Did you two just not feel like making turkey?

[Anna N]

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Did you two just not feel like making turkey?

You mean non-vegetarian tofu? Sorry but turkey is one meat I avoid at all costs. Kerry is not so adamant but still... We'll be having chicken if Emerg doesn't demand Kerry's skills right at dinner time.

[Anna N]

I take it that pan is on a Burton ?

 

what pan is it ?  it looks like something Id put on my list.

 

thanks.

It is on a Burton and I picked up the pan in an Asian store. Once it is empty I will see if there is a brand name on the bottom.

[Anna N]

Your banana nut bread looks divine, Anna.  And so glad about the universe thing...

Actually there are no nuts in it this time. There are, however, apple chunks sauteed with butter and brown sugar and spiced up with cinnamon and vanilla. It will find its way to the hospital at some point.

[Kerry Beal]

The ER has required my attention only twice so far today (but wait until dinner time) - so I've been putting together some chartreuse knock offs.  

 

 

 

They will require some attention when I return home - but they can start soaking today.  

 

[Kerry Beal]

Back from the ER in time for dinner -

 

Edited October 13, 2014 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Shelby]

Lovely chicken.  

 

You guys have it so much more together than I do.  I can rarely get dinner done before eight.

[Anna N]

Lovely chicken.  

 

You guys have it so much more together than I do.  I can rarely get dinner done before eight.

By 8 pm I am seriously thinking of bed not dinner. Kerry and I am not really on the same wave length in terms of the proper time for dinner so we largely compromise. Kerry eats early at home and often seems to be finished dinner before I've even considered what I might be eating! Up here there is no set time for dinner. When Kerry is working and could be called in at any time we simply try to fit dinner in. When she is not working we can sometimes be a little more on the clock but the nice thing is we can pretty much please ourselves. At home Kerry must consider both her husband and her child but I am free to eat whenever I feel like it.

She had just finished her dinner when she was called back in to Emerg but when she gets back we will be digging into a dessert she made earlier in the day.

[Shelby]

I'm kinda like you, Anna, I only have myself and my husband...and he has to eat when I say (lol).  I enjoy cooking and drinking my wine, so it's usually a leisurely experience. 

[Anna N]

It is on a Burton and I picked up the pan in an Asian store. Once it is empty I will see if there is a brand name on the bottom.

Here you go

It has a lovely domed lid but I left that at home in favor of this IKEA lid which fits many pans.

[Anna N]

I'm kinda like you, Anna, I only have myself and my husband...and he has to eat when I say (lol).  I enjoy cooking and drinking my wine, so it's usually a leisurely experience.

I was raised by an extended family. All my aunts were married to men who held blue-collar jobs. In those days and I am talking about the 50s the men in my family expected to come home to "tea". This was their evening meal and was usually meat and potatoes. No matter what my aunts and I might be doing, about mid afternoon they would declare, "Must get home and make (insert husbands name here) tea". It was always said with a mixture of pride and fear. Some husbands would become quite abusive if their tea was not ready when they arrived home from their jobs. Even though my own husband frequently declared that he did not want or like to eat as soon as he arrived home I had a terrible time overcoming this early influence. Only on Friday nights when my husband was alive could I relax and enjoy a glass of wine with him before we began making dinner. It amazes me how these early influences have such an ability to continue to control our lives.

I am glad to hear that you can enjoy a leisurely glass or three of wine before making dinner!