Applesauce

Last week after I made my apple turnovers I had some left over apple mixture & started taking it in my lunch in about 1/2 cup portions. Delicious! So, this week, I decided to do it again. Last night I chopped up about 4 Gala apple (roughly 1lb) and put them in a sauce pan with about 1/4c water & let them simmer for a good 10 minutes. Added some cinnamon & then mashed them up. Nothing beats homemade applesauce - and it is so easy!

All this talk about apples...

All this crazy talk about apples got me hunting around for something appley... and when nothing presented itself... I decided to make some apple turnovers! I had read this cute vignette in Bon Appetit about a lady visiting Paris & how all she wanted was a chocolate croissant... but the bakery in her neighborhood had sold out so she ended up getting an apple turnover (which had a much cooler french name in the story) and how she fell in love. So, I made these apple turnovers.

So delicious yet not too hard either. Worth the extra work to boil & mash up the fresh Granny Smith & Gala apples.


A Tasty Treat that kicks the pants off the Apple Pie at McDonalds!

Can Can...

My Mom got me a canning kit for Christmas last year - I know what you're thinking but I actually asked for it. I was going through some weird phase and that was what I wanted. 8 months later, it has emerged from the box & I have completed my first few jars of fresh tomato sauce. The funny thing is that the recipe was supposed to make 6 jars.. mine only made 3 1/2 jars. Go figure. Still, it looks like everything worked out & the jars sealed up ok. Not bad for my first try! I am very excited.

We're going up to Paso Robles & San Luis Obispo next weekend for my cousin, Nate's wedding & we are going to stop in Avila Beach at See Canyon to get apples to bring back. There are so many great things you can make with apples: apple pie, apple cake, apple turnovers, apple butter, apple preserves, apple sauce... see, the list is endless! So, we'll go to See Cyn to pick up a peck or two of apples so I can can more delicious treats! Maybe this time I'll feel like sharing!

Oye Vey!

Now that we are pretty much moved in to our house.. and the parts that aren't moved in are just going to stay that way for a while.. I am back to baking.

First, I will start with the BAGELS!
Maybe it's the Jewish in us.. even though neither of us are Jewish... but Mark and I made bagels last week & I am just now getting around to posting - slow poke, I know! Anyway, here are some pictures of our process.


These are our bebes after resting & about to go under the broiler for 2 minutes.


Here are the bebes post broil, now boiling for 7 minutes. This is what makes them chewy on the inside!


Here's everyone out of the oven and resting.


We just couldn't believe how perfect these came out! They were so delicious too! Mark and I split one right out of the oven & it was delightful. I took the rest to work the next day with some home-mixed flavored cream cheese & they were gobbled up!

Next time we'll try some festive flavors but these were an excellent start!
Mazel Tov!

Absent...

I see now that it has been something like 2 weeks since I posted last - my apologies for my absence! It has been a busy couple of weeks!

Both sets of my parents visited back-to-back and that created a black hole for me and my internet use. A nice visit was had by all but we are now back to "normal."

I will try to be more frequent with my posts - no one likes an empty blog!

Happy Monday!