A Little Apple Pie Work(sweat)shop

Apple Pie (Two Ways)

More All-American than my blond hair and boyish looks is a warm apple pie on a crisp fall day. I can't stop making apple pies recently. I don't even want them, I just find myself wrist-deep in flour on my days off. If you've never made a pie before, apple is the best to start with. I think people overestimate the skill of pie making. My great grandma's family ran a boarding house during the depression and she was making pies at age seven. I'm going to show you two ways to make the same pie, both are really simple with surprisingly few ingredients. Note: buy butter, margarine does not taste the same.

You will need the following: 

4 mixed apples or 4 granny smith

1 lemon

3/4 c sugar

1 tbsp + 1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp pie spice

2 pie crusts

Start by making two pie crusts with my best pie crust ever recipe.

Roll out into two crusts. To keep from making a huge mess, roll dough between sheets of saran wrap.

And this is where the two variations will split: 

Apple Pie in a Skillet

Step 1: Heat your cast iron skillet with a few tablespoons of butter and 1 tsp brown sugar in the oven at 350.

Step 2: Meanwhile... peal and core your apples. Cut into thin slices and toss in lemon juice, sugars, vanilla, and spices. 

Step 3: Once skillet butter is melted, place one of your refrigerated pie crusts over sizzling skillet. This will slightly fry the bottom crust. 

Step 4: Stack apples in even layers. Pat each layer with butter. Then adhere top pie crust. (Using a pie bird for a closed top keeps the juice from bubbling over).

Brush the top with egg and milk mixture. Sprinkle with sugar and cut four slits in the top. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

And the second way: 

Classic Lattice Top

Basically do everything the same except for warming a skillet with butter. Simply put your first cold crust in a pie dish, you can use metal, glass or ceramic. Even a round cake pan works in a pinch. Again, stack your apples with layers of butter pats and then begin building your lattice. 

Lattice crusts are easy, just use a pizza cutter and make long strips from your second crust. Brush strips with milk to keep them pliable. Weave on the top crust, then seal and trim the edges. Sprinkle top with sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce to 350 and bake 30-35 minutes. 

And that about does it for my September apple bender. See you in October. 

A Little Pie Contest Party

A Friendly Competition

'Tis once again the season for all things apple and I'm going to show you how to throw a pie party! Since we all missed the Lincoln Square Apple Fest this weekend, I decided to host a little pie contest with my co-workers. Pie contests are great because they not only a yield a vast variety of pies but also a vast quantity of pies. We ended up with four full-sized apple pies, and it was the grandest day of our lives. The competition was a very dignified affair and I'm certain nobody's feelings were hurt, except for our drop-out who was given the honorary"Flakiest Pie" award. I made a little kit from paper cut-outs and toothpicks. I also provided everyone with recipe cards to write out their secrets. The fact that we all wore cardigans was purely an autumnal coincidence.

The Contestants Show Their Pies

Cat's pie

Atra's pie

 

Bryce's Pie

My pie

The Tasting

On the day of the contest we found ourselves without a judge. We improvised by pulling a kid in off the street to decide. (This actually happened.) 

The Results

In a confectionary contest, nobody should leave feeling like a loser, it's not like a beauty pageant or anything. I invented enough superlatives so that everyone could experience winning something. 

The Prize

A pat on the back and a homemade participation ribbon. 

Stayed tuned as I'll be showing you how to make my award winning apple pie ...

A Little Bayou Tombalaya

Tombalaya

Sometimes, you have to let other people cook and some people equate "cooking" with shaking up some rice into boiling water, a la Zatarain's. Delicious as Zatarain's may be, I can't quite get on board with boxed- dinner stuff like that, it makes me think of food drives, and that makes me sad.  Anyways, my plus-one loves Zatarain's, so we worked together to make up a homemade version for a dinner party we had this summer.  This recipe is based on two others we found. It was much spicier and much heartier. The best part about this cajun classic is that it's really cheap and it goes a long way. If people aren't doubled over from the spices, they'll be uncomfortably full, keep both of those things in mind. 

You will need the following: 

3 c cooked rice

4 andouille sausages cooked

4 broiled chicken tenderloins (shredded)

1 diced green pepper

3 diced stalks celery

1 diced onion

2.5 c stock

1 can tomatoes (with chiles)

1 can tomato paste

 Spices; hot sauce, pepper, sriracha, cayenne, paprika, bay leaves

Step 1: Brown sausages in a pot while chickens broil. 

Step 2: Toss half of veggies and chicken into pot. Add tomatoes, and paste. Season to taste. Simmer until veggies are tender. 

Step 3: Add rice, and rest of veggies. Add stock and simmer until stock is absorbed. 

Serve with economic sides like Jiffy Mix corn muffins and iced tea. 

A Little Movie Night

Host a Movie Night 

There's nothing worse than being at a dinner party when the booze runs out. Even worse than being a guest at a dry dinner party, is being the hostess of a dry dinner party. From my experiences as both hostess and guest in this situation, I've learned that mid-twenty year olds are apparently incapable of taking card and board games seriously. Alas, to keep the party going one must resort to shutting everyone up by popping a movie in. I won't tell you what to watch, but I will outline some helpful suggestions about what not to watch. 

• First and foremost, don't choose anything longer than two hours, the longer the movie, the longer you're expected to entertain. 
• Most people hate reading, so no foreign films. 
• Try to avoid your instincts when choosing between the sci-fi/fantasy/action-hero sequels, chances are nobody has seen the first one, nor are they interested in your lengthy synopsis. 
• People under the age of thirty are also leery of black and white movies, so probably not a classic. 
• No bummers. Just because you're interested in the Holocaust, it does not give you the right to bum everyone out, especially your Jewish guests.  
• Unless your guests are gay, no musicals. 
• No documentaries

Old Fashioned Popcorn

Popcorn is a really cheap snack, unless you're at a cineplex. For some reason, I only like it with movies, or when I smell it. I hate how it gets caught in your teeth and that crap from a bag always tastes like butter flavored styrofoam. Microwavable popcorn is also a carcinogen, I've heard. Making it is quite easy, almost easy enough not to need this recipe. This recipe comes courtesy of my plus-one, who is a professional popcorn maker.  He recommends substituting the olive oil for grape seed oil to cut back on the calories. 

You Will Need the Following: 

1/3 c popcorn kernels 

Sea Salt

Pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil (or grape seed if you have it)

-> Heat deep pot (laugh here) on burner until warm. Coat bottom with oil and allow to heat. Throw in a few tester kernels and wait until they pop. Once popping, toss in the rest of the kernels, cover pot with lid and shake a bit. Once kernels start to pop wildly, reduce and occasionally remove from heat to prevent burning. Don't lift the lid until the popping has stopped. Toss with a little more oil and plenty of salt & pepper. *Cats love popcorn, but it makes them yack - encourage guests to be tidy.

Twelve Oaks BBQ Chicken

Broiled BBQ Chicken Breasts

I just finished my summerly reading of Gone with the Wind and it left me with a hankering for some BBQ. I live on the twenty-third floor of a building that has no balconies or roof-top, so grilling is simply out of the question. Good news city slickers! You only need a broiling pan and a working stove, both are hot commodities for urban renters.  This is a pretty cheap and easy meal for just one or more...if you're so lucky. My advice is not to cheap out on the chicken, the better the cut, the better the texture. 

You will need the following: 

Chicken breasts (plucked of their feathers)

Juice of a lemon

paprika

pepper

red onion slices 

BBQ sauce of your choice

Step 1: Pound that bird meat 'til she's nice and tender. Dowse tenderized cutlets in lemon juice. 

Step 2: Set your oven to broil HI. Slice up some onions and lay each cutlet atop a ring of onions on your broiling pan. Sprinkle your chicken with paprika and ground pepper. (Salt will draw out moisture). Garnish with more onion slices (these will caramelize deliciously).

Step 3: Broil on the top rack for 17 minutes or so. Then coat with BBQ sauce and return to the oven for another 3-4 minutes. 

Serve immediately and with lots of extra sauce. 

"Oh, Ashley."

The Great Plate Escape

Welcome back to the all-new Little Dinner Party! I know I've said this before but this time I actually mean it. Since the summer is now over, we'll say this is season two of our little blog. It'll be less structured and a bit less formal. Don't worry - there will still be dinner parties, but now with quick recipes, crafts and photo-inspired anecdotes, like this one:

The Great (Decorative) Plate Escape

See those mid-century beauties to your left? Cute right? Those were my dead grandma's and they looked great in my hodge-podgy kitchen, until recently. As we're all guilty of, I got trashed on Labor Day because that's what you do. In a cat-induced bout of clumsiness, I swiped both plates off the wall to their shattering end. In my drunkeness I thought for sure I could mend them with tears and hot glue. Upon sober inspection the next day I realized they were lost causes. In order to forget about them and move on, I decided I had to fill the void on my wall and look for new plates at my local thrift stores. Here's a guide to actually cheap vintage wares in and around the north side of Chicago. 

Unique Thrift Store - Uptown

Village Discount - Roscoe Village

Brown Elephant - Andersonville

Village Discount - Andersonville

A Guide to Picking

Thrift stores are the most disgusting places on earth. They're carnivals of filth and poverty, two of my least favorite atributes about second-hand hunting. It's easy to spot other vintage finders because of how clean they appear. That aside, these are excellent places to find bric-a-brac at garage sale prices. As you may notice there are no Salvation Armys up there because they're a trashy organization and their shops are horrifying to behold. I also skipped Brown Elephant in Boystown because you'll never find anything good there, it's always picked over. 

In order to find a good variety of stuff, you have to work the store. I usually start off by the books. Thrift stores are the best place to find used books because they're at most a dollar. This trip, however, did not yield any literary treasures. I had luck finding an adequate (if not better) replacement for my plate. Unfortunately, I only found one where I need two. 

After laboriously searching, I decided my dreams were unrealistic. As one sometimes must do, I widened my expectations and ended up with these cuties instead: 

It's best to decide on a theme, otherwise you'll buy everything. My kitschy-kitchen is mostly a vintage travel theme, and what more exotic place to travel than Ohio. In addition to finding obscure decorative plates, I always keep my eye out for ceramic cookware. Found this little gem and made quite a lasagna in it: 

And occasionally you buy things that seem a lot nicer in the store than they do in your apartment. The rejection drawer can be easily re-purposed into the gift-drawer, especially when you say, "I got it at a little vintage store and thought of you." It's almost like not lying. These are an example of an odd choice I made: 

What do you think?