I promised this recipe over a week ago, and wanted to come through. This is a tender, sweet, crumb-topped apple pie. Always a hit in our house.

See also Easy Apple Turnovers.

1 good quality pie crust (I like Oronoque Farms)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
dash of salt
8 cups peeled and sliced apples (about 1/4 inch thick)
1/2 tbsp vanilla

Crumb topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup firm butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in apples.

Pour apple combination into the pie crust, making them slightly higher in the center than on the sides. Sprinkle vanilla over the top of the pie.

Place pie in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar for the crumb topping. Cut in the butter and mix until crumbly.

Remove pie from the oven and sprinkle crumb topping over the apples. Place pie back in the oven and cook for an additional 30-35 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm…with vanilla bean ice cream.

When I realized I wouldn’t be getting home until late tonight, I decided that takeout was the best route to go. Although I had defrosted meat, I just couldn’t stomach slaving over the stove at 8 p.m. So I conspired with the husband and had him call in a deliciously sinful pizza.

Why sinful? Because I am working hard on my healthy eating habits to shed the marriage weight (the baby weight is thankfully already gone. But, being the good dieter I am, I already know I had enough spare calories in my daily budget for a few slices…

And boy were they good.

But let me rewind for a moment.

Penance.

Yes, penance. And I paid penance before even picking up the deliciously sinful pizza.

The pizza place, which had the nicest staff and a wonderful pie, didn’t take debit or credit…which meant I had to do the bank sprint down to the nearest branch. I. Had. To. Walk. To. The. Bank. For. Money. To. Get. My. Pizza.

Ahhh, but the exercise was totally worth it.

As promised, here is my recipe for salsa cruda. It’s got that fresh taste that goes so well with dishes that have clean tastes. It was fantastic with my black beans.

I think it would also be delicious with a fresh taco salad, grilled chicken or a firm fish (like swordfish), seared. That will be my next application, I think.

Salsa Cruda
yields about 2 cups

3 medium tomatoes, diced
2 small mild peppers, finely chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 small red onion, finely chopped

Combine all the ingredients in a sealed container and shake well. For best flavor, let sit at least 30 minutes before serving.

I just wrote a whole post and with a flick of the finger accidentally erased the whole thing. Don’t you hate when that happens? And of course this is blogger so I can’t just hit ‘undo’ and make everything right again. Oh, the horrors.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed
1/4 cup apple cider
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper
ground cumin

Sometimes there are little lessons to be learned in both the kitchen and life. These little lessons sneak up on us like monsters in the night, leaving a lasting impression that cannot be ignored. In short, they are important.

Here are a few recent examples from my kitchen and life:

Lessons Learned:

• Beware the overspray. Don’t stand too close to the sink in public bathrooms.
• Takeout containers left in the car will begin to stink. Quickly.
• Paper cups from fast food joints aren’t meant to last…the bottom falls out.
• Hide the evidence after a snack attack otherwise everyone will know who polished off that delicious bag of Doritos.
• Leaving the pantry door open, revealing the giant bag of kibble to the two hungry beagles is ALWAYS a bad idea.
• If you think it’s spoiled, STOP EATING IT!
• Don’t send links in emails when you are sick. You will inevitably send the wrong one.

What do you do when you are given a gigantic green beefsteak tomato? Make a giant batch of fried green tomatoes of course!!!

I’ve only attempted fried green tomatoes once before and they were a disaster. This time I was determined to create something that would wow even myself. I’ve read many recipes for this culinary delight that was made famous by the 1991 film of the same name. In fact, I have wanted to create something even half as delightful as the ones shown in that film ever since seeing it when I was 11.

So it’s been a long time coming.

What are green tomatoes?
Usually they are unripened tomatoes. However, this site says that you can purchase riped tomatoes that happen to be green.

How do I store tomatoes?
On the counter is best, but fully ripened tomatoes can be kept in the fridge so they last longer. Unripened tomatoes should never go into the fridge though.

Resources
Great site for growing and harvesting information.
Recipes from the California Tomato Commission.

1 gigantic green tomato or 2 medium or 3 large
all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp milk
breadcrumbs
parmesan, freshly grated
sea salt
cayenne pepper
vegetable oil

Slice the tomato thinly (no thicker than 1/4 inch). Set aside.

You need three wide bottomed bowls. Place flour in one wide bottomed bowl. In a second wide bottomed bowl, beat the eggs and milk together. In a third wide bottomed bowl, combine equal parts breadcrumbs and parmesan. Sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper, to taste. Mix well.

In a medium to large frying skillet, heat a generous quantity of vegetable oil (about a half inch is good) over medium heat.

Coat tomato slices in flour, then egg mixture, then breadcrumb mixture. Place in frying pan and cook until golden brown on both sides. When flipping, tilt the pan to prevent unnecessary splashing.

Place cooked tomatoes on a paper towel to drain and sprinkle with sea salt before serving.

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This post is for Weekend Herb Blogging, a weekly event originated by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. It is being hosted this week by Sher at What Did You Eat. Check out Sher’s site for a roundup of recipes later.

This is Scrappy.

He used to have a dog bed. Actually, he had a few. But Snoopy, my other beagle, figured out how to open the zipper and Scrappy pulled all the stuffing out of the dog beds – one by one. That’s why he no longer has a dog bed. After he ruined the last one I swore no more.

It’s been about a year since he ate the last one. He’s been a sport about it. Now he naps in his crate (which does have a soft mat in it). Except in the past month or so, Scrappy decided to improvise . . . apparently, the absence of a real dog bed, the laundry basket filled with freshly folded clothes will do.

Do you think he’s trying to give us a hint?

Oh, and I think Scrappy is looking for a vacation . . . in China. It seems that he’s discovered the groundhog hole and is going hog wild trying to investigate it . . . time to find some dirt to fill it in. Ugh. Nature.

(Snoopy’s the one checking out the camera.)

This post is for Weekend Dog Blogging. Check out Sweetnicks later for a roundup of other cute doggie shots.

Ok, so, I need to complain.

I went to the Friendly’s in Danbury, Conn., with my husband and son (just over a year old) today for lunch. Figuring that it’s a good, family friendly restaurant, I thought it would be a good place for a treat for my boy. He’s been such a trooper about going to daycare for the first time over the past month that I feel like he deserves it.

Anyway, back to the rant.

We were seated right away (yay!) but by the bathroom (boo! but someone has to sit there, and it really doesn’t bother me that much). We weren’t given a children’s menu (boo! toddlers eat too) until about 15 minutes later when our waiter decided to finally greet us.

Yes. It took 15 minutes to greet us.

Now, I understand that they were busy. And I can appreciate that it might have taken him that long to take our order, but he’d been within feet of our table at least twice without saying anything.

Finally we got to order…another 5 or 10 minutes later. Ugh. Cheesy mac and franks for Will, a barbecue beef sandwich for me (hold the ranch!), and honey barbecue chicken fingers for my husband (and the waiter asked if he wanted double fries instead of coleslaw, which Shawn was very happy about).

Another 10 or 15 minutes go by and our food finally comes. (Are you seeing the time issue here?!?) Despite the fact that it was the waiter’s idea, Shawn’s plate came with coleslaw and fries instead of the double fries. Despite my very clear request, there was a big squirt of ranch dressing on my sandwich. And poor Will, for whom this treat was all about, got a plate of mac and cheese that looked like it was at least a day old.

I sent mine back, and Will just ate the franks…he wasn’t into the mac and cheese at all. Frankly, I cannot blame him. Shawn sucked it up. Their fries aren’t that good anyway.

The food was otherwise a mediocre ok, though Shawn’s honey barbecue tenders looked NOTHING like the photo in the menu (ahhhh, false advertising?).

What else bugged me? The fact that despite my name clearly being embossed on the debit card, the waiter handed my husband the receipt to sign, for one. The fact that my son’s food was so awful. The fact that the children’s portions are WAY too big and we weren’t even ASKED if we wanted to take it home. The fact that the options were devoid of vegetables. The fact that I practically had to beg for a refill on my drink.

Oh, and most of all. Friendly’s has raised their prices. They are now on par with other chains like Chili’s, Applebee’s and Ruby Tuesday’s. Well, if I am going to spend money on food like that, I would rather have something a slot above mediocre.

Rant ended.

During the first few weeks of Hump Day Horizons, finding topics was easy. There was such an array to choose from. Honestly, the entire genre of upcoming books was at my disposal. But as time has worn on, things have gotten progressively more difficult. Some weeks it’s downright impossible to narrow down onto on solid topic.

And if you have any suggestions for future topics, leave me a comment.

There was a mad rush at my desk yesterday as word spread through the office that there were cookies. Gotta love it. There is nothing better than hearing the mmm’s of people enjoying something you’ve made. That’s enough to get me cooking even more frequently to share.

In truth, the cookies were for my husband’s office. But when the batch yielded nearly four dozen, I figured I would share too. That’s when the shyness kicked in. How would I unload my half of the four dozen? I am not one for announcements or proclamations. Nor am I big on thrusting myself into the spot light. Fortunately, that’s where word of mouth comes in very handy.

My best friend Angel, over at Chocolate Shakti, recently told someone that I am reserved when I am first meeting people but my personality explodes onto the scene once I am more comfortable with them. I think she has a point. I am one of those people who prefers to watch and take things in, before joining in. But once I am in, you’ve got the full me.

Anyway, after a very interesting conversation with a coworker about personality types (he’s a total social butterfly, I’m more the just the facts type) I got a little introspective.

Enough about me. Onto the cookies.

I heard one or two people refer to these as elephant ears, but their proper name is palmiers (something I cannot for the life of me pronounce – if you are reading this and know, please help me out). These particular ones are filled with chocolate and hazelnuts and dipped in semi-sweet chocolate (dark chocolate would be good for the dipping too, but I fear milk chocolate would be too sweet).

So what’s the secret? These were sooo easy to make. In fact, I used store-bought puff pastry dough for them (making that is a bear, trust me). To me, that’s cheating a touch. But c’est la vie. Even I can use something premade one in a while, can’t I?

1 pkg puff pastry dough (found in the freezer section, by the pies)
chocolate hazelnut spread
1/4 cup crushed hazelnuts
2 tbsp superfine sugar
1 pkg semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

On a floured surface, lay out one sheet of puff pastry dough. Spread generously with chocolate hazelnut spread, covering every inch. Sprinkle with half of the hazelnuts.

Roll two sides of the dough in towards each other. Wet the section of dough that touches and press together to seal. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into thin (about 1/4 inch) slices. Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet.

Cook for 8-12 minutes in the preheated oven until golden brown. Transfer immediately to a cooling rack.

Repeat process with second sheet of dough.

In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate chips over medium-low heat. Using a spoon, generously coat one side of the cookie with chocolate. Place on a piece of parchment paper and let sit until the chocolate is set.