Fall

You can tell it's finally fall when there is a big pile of leaves in your yard.

Got Apples? Make Apple Pie Bars!

A couple of weeks ago, the four kindergarten classes at Kara's school went on a field trip to a local orchard. By the way, kudos to the teachers and staff who took 80 5 year olds on a school trip only two months in to school - Teachers really need to be paid more to organize and then endure days like that. But I digress...the trip, from what I could gather, was a chance to see how a real orchard works. They got to ride the tractor, pick apples and pumpkins. Plus they learned a bit about how the farmers make all of these delicious things come to life year after year. At the end of the day, each student got to bring home a pumpkin, gourd and several apples.

One of the parents who volunteered to go on the trip gave each student in Kara's class a little card with a recipe for apple pie bars. Such a great idea!  Kara and I decided to give this recipe a try last weekend. Our family declared it a smashing success. This is a very kid-friendly recipe and, of course, a great way to use some of fall's finest apples.

-Defrost or take out of the refrigerator 2 pre-made pie crusts. (I suppose you could make 2 crusts from scratch, but I generally don't have the energy for that unless it is a special occasion.)
-Peel, core and slice 4-5 apples. You could use anything you have around, but if you want to see what kind of apples work best check out this chart from PickYourOwn.org.
-In a large bowl, toss apples with 3/4 cup sugar (We used 1/2 cup white and 1/4 cup brown.), 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and a dash of salt.
-Roll out one crust onto a sheet pan. Cover with 1 cup of crushed corn flakes.
-Pile apples on top of corn flakes and cover with second crust.
-Pinch or roll edges to seal. Brush the top with egg white to give it a shiny look.
-Use a small knife to make several vents in the top.
-Cook at 350 for 50 minutes.
Yum! It's like a big apple dumpling.

Halloween

Despite her disappointment that we didn't decorate our lawn with cobwebs, Kara had a great Halloween last night. Somehow, Halloween has expanded to become at least a week long event. Starting with pumpkin carving at Dave's parents, continuing with the classroom party, school parade and culminating with a walk in the neighborhood.

I think Kara's favorite part was getting to wear nail polish and the "creepy" rings her Nana always gets the kids.

 As you can see, Dave's parents get into the spirit. Kara's comment: "I wish our house looked more like Nana and Poppy's." (Note to self: Get the cobwebs next year.)

And I am a little disturbed by how excited both kids were to see that our neighborhood got tp-ed.

Pumpkin - Part 1

Gary, my neighbor down the street, runs a little farm stand that he stocks by going out to Lancaster County once a week. He buys fresh produce from local farmers and sells their goods right outside his house. This old-school  farm stand is one of the many things I love about my neighborhood.

After living here for over a year, I finally clued in to the fact that I might be able to place an order with Gary. I was really looking for a cheaper way to score good eggs for my family. I can get local eggs at Maple Acres, but they charge $4.00/dozen which is pretty steep. Gary was happy to oblige - and he found me eggs for $1.75/dozen.

Now that Gary and I have a relationship that goes beyond "Hi" and "Thanks," I have gotten up the nerve to ask him to find some other things like cooking apples, tomatoes, honey and a cooking pumpkin. Yep, I have this idea that I will make my own pumpkin puree. And the pumpkins we buy for jack-o-lanterns aren't especially good for eating, I am told.

 

This is what a cooking pumpkin looks like. I will admit that when I saw this, I considered that Gary was just messing with me. But he doesn't seem the type. And his friend, Nancy, was there and she said that this was in fact a baking pumpkin. Perhaps they were in it together?

Do you like how they wrote my name on it? In case there was a run on crazy looking pumpkins, Gary was looking out for me. Though we have clear rules about drawing on paper only, Kara decided that writing on a pumpkin that was already written on was fair game. I concurred.

By the way, it's huge. Here is Kara holding it for the purpose of perspective. She declared it to be one funny looking punkin'.

Dave's comment:  "How are you going to cook that exactly?" Part 2 with all the info coming soon....

Brinner

Driving to school the other morning, I asked Kara what we should have for dinner that night since daddy was going to be at a work. Without skipping a beat, she said, "Mommy, can we have brinner?" To which I replied, "Absolutely!"

Brinner, for the uninitiated, means breakfast for dinner. I know this is a tradition in many households. When I was little, my mom would sometimes make corned beef hash with eggs and toast for dinner. Dave remembers his mom making pancake dinners from time to time as well. Dave and I first heard this called "brinner" on the sitcom "Scrubs"  many years ago. (Here is link to a clip.) Needless to say, the term has become part of our family vernacular.

The excellence of brinner cannot be understated. Brinner is your go to meal when you don't feel like cooking. I always have the ingredients from brinner in the house.  Brinner takes about 20 minutes to make and less than that to clean up. And as fast dinners go, brinner is pretty healthy. Finally, when I say we are having brinner, my kids cheer. It is a complaint free meal. How many of those do you have in your repertoire?

Our most recent brinner included eggs, bacon, orange slices and, because its fall, pumpkin pancakes.

Here is the pancake recipe. 

Super Easy Version
Make pancake batter and add 1/4 to 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, a dash of pumpkin pie spice or any combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, ground cloves, alspice. Trader Joe's multigrain pancake mix is particularly well suited to this "method."

Easy Version
-In a mixing bowl combine:

• 2 cups flour (white, or a mix white and whole wheat)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1tbsp baking powder
• Dash  each cinnamon, nutmeg, alspice, ground cloves, OR about 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

-In a separate bowl beat 2 eggs and add 2 tbsp melted butter or canola oil.
-Pour egg mix plus 2 cups milk into dry ingredients; stir until just combined. Add 1/2 cup pumpkin puree. Stir to combine.

Smitten Kitchen Pickles

The weather in the Philadelphia area has been strange this week. Despite the fact that we are a few days from Halloween, it has felt almost tropical since Sunday. Wet, sticky, rainy, all around it's been more like a week in August than October. Feeling like summer outside inspired me to seek out some of the last summer vegetables. Kirby (or pickle) cucumbers are still around at my local farm stand, so I decided to stock up before fall arrives for real.

One of my favorite discoveries this summer was the food blog Smitten Kitchen. Written by Deb Perelman from her tiny kitchen in New York City, SK is a gorgeous site with accessible, interesting recipes. I especially like that Deb is a seasonal cook - her recipes make the most of whatever is locally grown in and around the New York area. She even has her recipes archived by season.

Deb Perelman's Bread & Butter Pickles

Back to the cukes...I love bread and butter pickles, especially the homemade variety. I love sweet pickles so much that I will eat the scary florescent green ones from the grocery store, but I generally try to avoid foods that are a color I might see in Kara's marker box. My stepmother used to can her own bread and butter pickles which is probably what accounts for my current day addiction to them. I have never been able to replicate her success, however. One day this summer, to my great pleasure, Smitten Kitchen's post of the day was on quick bread and butter pickles. Here is the recipe. These are so good. So fresh and sweet and crisp. The perfect addition to a sandwich or burger. Or, as Deb suggests, a great gift for the host of a party. They will keep in your refrigerator for about a month, if they last that long.

We liked these pickles so much that I applied the same principles in her recipe to "quick pickle" jalapeno peppers. Also delicious. If you find some Kirby cukes that are hanging on from the summer, give these pickles a try. And if you can't find any decent cucumbers or, for some strange reason, bread and butter pickles don't do it for you, consider giving quick pickling a try with the vegetable of your choice. Carrots, cauliflower, onions, green beans are all good candidates in the fall.

Here are two other takes on the quick pickling: New York Times blog - Quick Pickling and  Mark Bittman's Quick Pickles.You can also Google "quick pickles" or "refrigerator pickles" and you'll find countless recipes. Give it a try. This is another one of those cooking techniques that is really easy and yields impressive results.