This week is easy. I’m thankful for new experiences, the Pacific ocean, and the fact that work flew Jen and me to LA. Oh yes, I’m also thankful for Guster’s new album Easy Wonderful. Concert Sunday!!
Author Archives: Julia
Fake Empires Apple Pie
First off, my friend/coworker Jen and I are taking a work trip out to L.A. on Thursday and Friday. We’ll be carrying four giant checks with us to present to a school as prizes for our art contest. Two of my close high school friends live in L.A., so we’re going to spend some time with them. Does anyone have any suggestions on must-sees, amazing restaurants, or anything else for us? This’ll be my first trip to L.A., and California, and Jen’s second I think.
I’ve kind of wanted to name baked goods after songs or bands. Saturday night, as the National rocked my world in concert (I may have had a religious transcendental experience or two … I swear, and I totally touched Matt when he came into the crowd and walked around as he sang the last song), I came up with my first baked good with a song name after The National’s “Fake Empires.”
Stay out super late tonight
Picking apples, making pies
Put a little something in our lemonade and take it with us
We’re half awake in a fake empire
Hence, Fake Empires Apple Pie. Oh hey, and it doesn’t hurt that there’s an apple called the empire apple.
I don’t have a strong attachment to how apple pie should taste. It doesn’t evoke childhood memories for me. But I know it does for so many people. Apple pie is one of those dishes that people feel very strongly about. It’s a classic, an all-American standby. So, though I contemplated doing things like throwing in some rum or mixing in ribbons of caramel sauce, I didn’t. I figured best to get down the standard, delicious apple pie first because that’s what people love. You don’t mess with a classic until you know it well. So I figured I’d need at least two attempts at this pie before it was worthy of bringing to a Coffin or Goodman Thanksgiving. Lo and behold, I fricking hit the jackpot on my FIRST TRY. You guys, this pie, it’s sweet and tart, it’s gooey, it tastes like autumn, dare I say it? It’s a classic.
A quick note on the apples you may want to use. I highly suggest either finding a local orchard and picking your own or buying local apples at your farmers market or grocery. You usually want to use some tart apples and some sweet apples. You can’t go wrong with Golden Delicious/Granny Smith mix. If you want to get creative, here are some tips. For a nice mix of sweet and tart, use Jonathan, Stayman-Winesap, Cox’s Orange Pippin, or Jonagold. Straight up sweet choices are Golden Delicious Braeburn, Fuji, Mutsu, Pink Lady, Suncrisp, Rome Beauty, or Empire.Tart baking apples are Idared, Macoun, Newton Pippin, Granny Smith, and Northern Spy. Stay away from apples that become mushy when cooked like McIntosh and Cortland.
And a quick note on your filling not being soupy. (I’ve had this problem and it BLOWS.) Bake the pie until the filling is really bubbling. This will give your thickening agent (flour, tapioca, or cornstarch) time to activate and work. To prevent the crust and top from burning, make a little tent over the top of the pie with foil about 15 minutes in. Let the pie cool ALL THE WAY, like an hour at least, before you slice into it to let all the juices thicken up.
Song of the Week
I have this AMAZING apple pie recipe to share with you guys, but today I can’t. This pie deserves to be written about with the same excitement and enthusiasm with which it was eaten. And today I just do not posses any excitement or enthusiasm. Only a sense of weirdness and unfairness. So, I’m begging you to please stick with me with great anticipation for the apple pie, the one that will be gracing your Thanksgiving table this year. Instead I’m giving you a song of the week.
The National
I’m sorely behind on songs of the week. They’ve been more like songs of the month during September. I give you no excuses. Instead, as an apology, I give you The National. This is quite a gift I give you, and I hope you cherish it. The National is this super band with kind of a haunting sound. The lead singer, Matt Berninger, has a very unique, deep voice, almost calming in a weird way. I think I must have first heard these guys when I was working in the coffee shop in Raleigh. The manager had good taste in music and our playlists were always filled with the newest and coolest bands. When I moved home and met Adam, I was excited to find that two of his friends were also into The National. Lucky us, we’re going to see The National in concert on Saturday with those friends! I’ll try to take some pics or vids. (haha, see how I shorten things to be cool?)
So please, soak in fall with this band, and dream about apple pies.
The National, Secret Meeting
Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce
I was about to spin this recipe as a good end of the summer dish. Then I realized that it’s almost October. Not so much summer anymore. When the hell did that happen?? (sidenote, I’m incredibly excited about October. Three concerts this month!!!!)No worries, I have plenty of fall recipes in my queue already (think apple pie and pumpkin bread). I love autumn for two primary reasons: scarves and comforters. My scarf collection is very large and awesome and cozy. I pulled out my comforter last night and my sleep last night was also very cozy. Anything that encourages coziness as the weather cools off makes me happy.
So a week and a half ago (even last week really) summer was still clinging on desperately in the form of 90° weather. I certainly did not feel like making fall-like dinners.
This pasta is easy and yeah, you have to have the stove on, but not on the kind of heat that heats up your kitchen.You most likely have everything you’ll need in your cabinets and fridge now.
It’s kind of a pumped up pasta with tomato sauce. And by pumped up, I mean awesome. And isn’t everything from Ree, the Pioneer Woman? Sexy cowboys, adorable kids, delicious food, and horses. Yes. Please.
OK, so make this pasta for dinner one night during the week. And, as usual, I used soy milk, but clearly, as the word “cream” is in the title, you can sub in cream.
thankful #2
OK, I am clearly not thankfuling every day. I decided that would be too much for both me and for you. I’ve trimmed it down to every Friday the things I was thankful for this week.
This week I am thankful for apple pie (yes, I know I was thankful for pie last week, but that was someone else’s pie. This week I’m thankful for my own delish pie), rain, and new music from Jen.
simply irresistible chocolate chip cookies
Adam is my best critic of my baking. He likes good baked goods (really good food in general, how lucky?!) and he’s not afraid to tell me exactly what he thinks about a pie, brownies, or cookies that I’ve made. He’s always able to pinpoint the not so great aspects, such as “this pie is too watery, and I can taste the chunks (that’d be the tapioca beads)” or “the caramel on top of these brownies is just too much. The layer is too thick. Besides, don’t change the brownies, they’re perfect the way they were.” I really do value his judgment and opinions. So when he proclaimed my most recent batch of cookies “simply irresistible” I was thrilled.
What makes these cookies so irresistible? Well, first, as a baker, I find the fact that they hold their shape irresistible. You know how most chocolate chip cookies spread as they bake? These don’t. I kind of want to attribute that to the oatmeal in them. Oatmeal cookies always seem to hold together much better than choco chip cookies. Also, and this wasn’t in the original recipe, I left out the vanilla. I read this in a recipe somewhere on the internet (damned if I remember where), and while you’d think taking the vanilla out would take away flavor, I think the exact opposite happens. The brown sugar, butter, and chocolate flavors really shine. Lastly, I love the texture of these cookies. They’re not chewy, but not crunchy and hard. They live in that in between, crumbly cookie land.
Thankful #1
Because it’s so easy to get down in the my-life-sucks-balls dumps when it really doesn’t, I’m going to make note of at least one thing I am thankful for every day. Though I may not on the weekends because sometimes it’s nice not to be at the computer on the weekends.
So today I am thankful for delicious pie at lunch and for my best friends and how much we think alike. You’re da best 🙂
My first movie crush
Let’s talk about movie crushes. You know, like Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, yes?), Ewan McGregor (ooh I had a big crush on him after Moulin Rouge! BIG.) , Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen (his love of horses does not help things)…
But what about your first movie crush? You know, the first time you watched a movie and thought Oooh he’s cute! I wonder if that man sets a precedent for all future movie men in your life.
My first was Han Solo, and then after I saw Indiana Jones, just Harrison Ford in general. We watched Star Wars fairly regularly as far as watching movies go in my house. I think my dad really likes it. (Confession: I really like it too. In fact I may be a really big Star Wars geek.) After a few viewings and years of watching Han fly the Millennium Falcon all over the galaxy, save everyone’s asses, and win Princess Leia, I knew. I’d fly his ship any day. I mean come on, he’s a total bad ass, he doesn’t give two shits about what anyone thinks of him, he’s a scoundrel, but he’s still a softie underneath. I mean who responds to the woman of your dreams saying I love you with “I know”?? Han Solo, that’s who mother effers.
Oh, and Harrison Ford continues to be sexy, even in his older age. OK, maybe not these days, but even in Air Force One, hottie.
Now, just as an odd sidenote, I also really looooove Alan Rickman, but only when he’s playing villains like Professor Snape in Harry Potter or Hans Gruber in Die Hard (just watched that one last night). He does nothing for me in Love Actually. Nothing. I think it’s his voice and his subtle facial expressions that really lend themselves well to being evil. And let me just tell you, there was nothing more satisfying than watching Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber fall over the edge of the building last night. It’s like sweet, sweet revenge for the evil, sick thing he did in Half-Blood Prince.
So who’s your first movie crush?
Almond Cake with Raspberry-Lemon Whipped Cream
Well this is a huge embarrassment. I made this wonderful cake for my wonderful mother’s birthday and I forgot to post it. 
And now that summer is over, you may be all sad when you see the beautiful berries piled on top of the cake. But, don’t worry! This cake will be equally tasty minus the berries, add some other kind of fruit on top of the whipped cream, no fruit and just whipped cream, different flavored whipped cream (think vanilla, amaretto…), chocolate frosting or caramel on top…are you starting to understand the wonderfulness of this cake yet?
Birthday Momma and Pappy
OK, so back in August, my mom had a birthday. My mom likes berries, tortes, pies, coffee, things like that. Last year I made her this espresso chiffon cake with fudge frosting. Out of this world. This year I went with almond and David Lebovitz. Does FTW apply here?
So like I said, top this cake with anything really. It can even be sliced into two layers if you want to get fancy. Really the cake is the star. It’s got a rich but not overpowering almond flavor and an incredibly moist (sorry, sorry!!) crumb. Honestly, it’d probably be good all on it’s own. 
Just hop on past the jump and check out the recipe!
Song of the Week
Guster’s new album comes out in one month!! Excitement? Yes, I think so! They’ve put out a video of one of the songs on that album called “Stay With Me Jesus,” and it’s this week’s song.
This song really made me stop and listen. First off, Guster is not a Christian rock band. Quite the opposite in fact, as all three members are Jewish. So I wonder why they wrote a song basically all about Jesus.
A quick excerpt from their newsletter in which they debute the video. “Track 5, “Stay With Me Jesus” — sounds like a Christian Rock title on the surface, but it’s not. Guster is not Christian Rock. Guster had Bar Mitzvahs.”
I listened to the song and came to the conclusion that I really like it. And that the song’s not so much about Jesus in the Christian religious sense. It’s more about Jesus being the name for some inexplicable protecting force, the comforting idea that something is watching over you and snatching you up, or stepping in, or keeping you sane at the last crucial second. And that is a universal sentiment. I do wonder why they chose Jesus as the way to explain that feeling though. I’m not at all pissed. (though honestly, I may feel a little weird belting this one out at their concert. But hell I’ll do it anyway. It’s just a word here.) Listen to the song, I doubt you’ll be offended once you do, because you’ll probably be able to relate to the lyrics, whether you believe in the actual and literal words they’ve chosen to sing or not. And maybe that’s their point. It doesn’t matter what word, person, belief you associate with that feeling of being protected and saved. That feeling is still the same across the board.
Or maybe I’m reading way to much into this song. Just listen, OK? And leave me a comment. Tell me what you think. Because I’m extra curious about this song!
Piebelly 