Tragic Sandwich

Tag: apple bread

  • Fall Cooking: Apple Bread

    One year, when I lived in New Jersey, my alumni club went apple-picking. It was the first time I’d gone, and I went a bit overboard in terms of variety and quantity. In an attempt to put them to use, I began baking. And since I lived alone, I took what I baked to the office. After a couple of days, one of my co-workers sent me an email that said, “This is a lot of baking. Is everything okay?”

    I answered, “Yes. I just have a lot of apples.” And she said, “Well, then, keep baking.”

    Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I found a couple of recipes that I liked, including an apple walnut coffee cake–I should make that again someday–and apple bread. And it turned out that I wasn’t the only one who liked it. I sent a loaf to my brother at his office (the most reliable destination for packages at that point). And when I called him to ask about something else, the department assistant said, “Are you the one who sent him that apple bread? Every time I walk by his office, it smells so good.”

    I said, “Tell him I said to give you some of it,” and she said, “You know, I think I will.”

    She did, and it turned out that my brother liked it so much that it’s become a fall staple. If we’re together for Thanksgiving–unfortunately, we weren’t this year–I make a loaf and take it with me. I’ve been known to send it to him and my sister-in-law, although this year we’ve had so much going on with Baguette that I didn’t manage to get that done.

    However, it turns out that the mother of one of Baguette’s friends is having Baby #2 a little ahead of schedule–but with enough time to share some freezer food with her. So today, I’m making apple bread.

    Apple Bread

    Ingredients
    1-1/2 cups flour
    1/2 tsp. salt
    1/2 tsp. baking soda
    1/4 tsp. baking powder
    cinnamon and nutmeg to taste (I use a lot)
    1/2 cup vegetable oil
    3/4 cup sugar
    2 eggs
    1/2 tsp. vanilla
    1 cup peeled and chopped apple

    Instructions
    1. Grease and flour a loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
    2. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
    3. In a bowl, mix oil and sugar. Add egg and vanilla.
    4. Combine dry and liquid ingredients.
    5. Stir in apples. Pour into prepared pan.
    6. Bake 50–60 minutes.

    Cool completely on wire rack before removing from pan.

  • Too Many Apples

    Apples in Hardanger

    So Honest Mom wrote about 12 Signs It’s Fall in Suburbia, and #1 just got me.

    Have you ever been apple-picking? You know, where you drive somewhere far away and pay to pick apples off the tree?

    When I lived in New Jersey, my alumni club organized a trip to a (reasonably local) apple orchard. I drove three women I’d never met before to a vaguely rural section of New York, where we and several other cars full of people paid good money to pick apples.

    As I discovered when I got home, a lot of apples.

    It was clear that I would have to come up with a use for these apples. And so I began to search the Internet. I found a few recipes and whipped up a batch of apple bread, which I took to the office the next day.

    There were still apples.

    So a day or so later, I baked an apple coffee cake and took that to the office.

    At this point, one of my co-workers IM’d me, asking, “This is a lot of baking. Is everything okay?”

    I assured her that everything was fine, I’d just been apple picking.

    Then I made more apple bread and shipped it to my brother in Texas. When I called to let him know to expect it, the receptionist asked, “Are you the one who sent him that apple bread? His office smells so good!” Now my brother makes me bake him apple bread every year.

    You can pick apples here in Southern California, but it’s quite a drive from us, and I think we’ll wait until Baguette is a little older. Plus every time I’ve gone, I’ve missed the actual picking part and have just bought a bag of apples. It’s a long way to go to not pick apples.

    So, with no further ado, here’s something to do with your too many apples:

    Apple Bread

    Ingredients
    1-1/2 cups flour
    1/2 tsp. salt
    1/2 tsp. baking soda
    1/4 tsp. baking powder
    cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
    1/2 cup vegetable oil
    3/4 cup sugar
    2 eggs
    1/2 tsp. vanilla
    1 cup peeled and chopped apple

    Instructions
    1. Grease and flour a loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
    2. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
    3. In a bowl, mix oil and sugar. Add egg and vanilla.
    4. Combine dry and liquid ingredients.
    5. Stir in apples. Pour into prepared pan.
    6. Bake 50–60 minutes.

    Photo by Tecfan, via Flickr.

  • Holiday Traditions: Roundup

    I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas–unless you don’t celebrate it, in which case I hope you had a very nice day. We can all use nice days.

    When I was a child (and a teen, and an adult), I was famous in my family for what we called my “Christmas nap.” I’ve never been one for naps, unless I’m sick. Or it’s Christmas. Apparently this dates back to my infancy, when I got tired partway through opening presents and decided to take a nap. This happened. I’ve seen a photo.

    So yesterday we woke up for what was our first Christmas morning in our own home (normally we alternate between Mr. Sandwich’s parents, who are local, and traveling to my side of the family, who are not. We had prepared by pulling out the sofa bed; we already have a developing tradition called “Saturday Night Sofa Bed,” and we decided to extend it to “Christmas Morning Sofa Bed.” I got up a little ahead of everyone to cut up ham (I had made a ham on Friday) for scrambled eggs, and we ate eggs with ham, and apple bread. Then we piled onto the sofa bed to open presents.

    Next up: Elmo. A lot of Elmo. Baguette has a cold and clearly feels terrible, so we’re letting her watch more TV than usual. Maybe this isn’t perfect, but, hey, what do you want to do when you have a cold? Curl up in bed and watch TV. She’s no different.

    After a while, though, it became clear that she was exhausted and sad (she would cry at the end of each “Elmo’s World”), so we bundled her into the car and drove about 10 feet before she fell asleep. We kept driving for a couple of miles in the hope that it would help her stay asleep. And it worked! When we got home, I piled up sofa cushions and laid her down between me and them. The dog snuggled up on my other side, and we all had a nice, relaxing afternoon as she slept for several hours and I read The Hunger Games.

    It’s worth noting here that what this means is that Baguette stole my Christmas nap. But when was the last time I got to read for two hours straight? I don’t know, either.

    Once she was up and fed and bathed and changed (into another fleecy sleeper–sick babies don’t have to dress for dinner, IMO), we headed over to Mr. Sandwich’s parents’ house for dinner. After a meal of tri-tip, mashed potatoes, carrots, and brussels sprouts, we opened more gifts and watched a renewed (if still fussy) Baguette run around the house.

    I’d like to keep the family, food, and Sofa Bed. Baguette and I both vote to skip the colds next time. But to wind everything up, here are a couple of holiday exchanges from the House of Sandwich:

    When Mr. Sandwich got home from his bike ride, I told him how crazy the process of undoing the Fisher Price Noah’s Ark packaging was making me. A moment later, he’s tossing plastic zebras over to me.

    Me: How did you do that?

    Mr. Sandwich: I think three-dimensionally.

    Me: Thanks, Captain Kirk. Now, HOW DID YOU DO THAT?

    #ThisIsWhatHappensWhenTrekkersMarry

    On whether or not it’s worth making another trip out for gifts on Christmas Eve:

    Me: You know I’m very materialistic and not all about the love.

    Mr. Sandwich: I give you my love.

    Me: I want the thing, dammit.