October 21, 2006

• Books, Pie, and Blogs

  As was mentioned my latest entry on The Loch Ness Blog, I had my first-ever foray into baking last night.

  So why start the Betty Crocker-ing now? In the past, I’ve been a crummy host. Much of this had to do with poverty. Some of it had to do with shoddy, barely-functioning ovens. And partly, it had to do with my place on the learning curve on how to do Adult Things. But after spending a week in England with a completely gracious host (my Great Aunt Pat), and after reading an entry by a very cool blogger who made cans of fresh apple sauce for each of her dinner party guests, I realized that I should now be offering people something other than water when they are nice enough to come over for a visit. I have a good, modern oven now. We are no longer poverty-stricken. It’s time to give good manners a whirl.

  And I’m glad I gave it a try. It forced my mind to relax, to drift unforced. I get the same meditative feeling from running. Only running is healthier and less expensive than baking. Although baking smells better. Plus, I am eager to bring a doppelgänger of the pie I made to the next Spouses Lunch, held every Wednesday for International Student Spouses at The University of Glasgow. I have made such good friends through these lunches, gleaned such useful information about living in this country, and just generally felt really nurtured by this group. I want to show the love with a little treat.

  And for you, my Xanga readers, since I have not yet mastered the art of teleporting, I leave for your the recipe. I hear some of you (mydogischelsea) have an abundance of apples this fall. This will take care of six of them.

  
  A picture of my Oatmeal-Nut Crunch Apple Pie
  Recipe from this month’s issue of Eating Well
  
  What you need:

  Crust
  1 cup all-purpose flour
  1/2 cup of pastry flour (whole wheat if you can find it)
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  4 tbs unsalted, cold butter (cut into little chunks)
  2 oz reduced fat cream cheese
  2 tbs canola oil (I used corn oil–is that the same thing?)
  3 tbs ice water

  Filling
  3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
  3 medium McIntosh apples, peeled and thinly sliced (I used Brambly apples instead)
  1/2cup light brown sugah
  1 tbs lemon juice
  1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
  2 tbs flour

  Topping
  1/2 cup pastry flour (whole wheat, if you can find it)
  1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  1/4 cup light brown sugah
  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  1/8 teaspoon salt
  2 tbs unsalted, cold butter (cut ‘em into little chunks)
  2 tbs OJ
  1/4 cup of chopped up walnuts

  Step 1: The Crust!
  Dump flour, pastry flour, salt in a bowl. Whisk. Mash in the butter and cream cheese with a fork, making the dry ingredients into little pebbles. Stir in oil and water until everything is kind of moist. Take off your rings: here comes the fun part. Kneed the dough a couple of times. Make a little dough ball, press it into a disk, and wrap it in plastic wrap. Put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  
  When 30 minutes is up, roll the dough into a 14 inch circle between two sheets of wax paper. I don’t have a rolling pin yet, so I had to use a can of pinto beans. I also forgot to buy wax paper, so I basically just made a mess of the counter. Ha! Either way, put the rolled out dough into a pan (remove the top sheet of wax paper and invert the dough onto the pan, if you’re fancy). Tuck the overhanding dough under and use your fingers to make little crust-shapes along the edges. Stab the dough with a fork a couple of times in random spots and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

  After 15 minutes are up, bake the little loving crust for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes. Oops. I forgot to do that cooling part. Mine still turned out fine, though!

  Step 2: The Filling!
  Dump the apples, brown sugah, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a bowl. Toss them with your hands! Wash your grubby mitts and let the filling stand for 10 minutes.

  After 10 minutes, sprinkle the 2 tbs of flour on the mixture, toss, and heap the fruity goodness into your ever-loving crust. Coat the edges of the pie with cooking spray. I didn’t have any cooking spray, so I skipped that part. All turned out well enough without it. Return this pie to the oven for 30 minutes.

  Step 3: The Topping!
  Dump and mix flour, oats, brown sugah, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. (I only have 1 bowl–so imagine the washing! Sheesh!) Cut the butter into the mix and mash everything up with a fork until it is mixed and yummy looking. Stir in OJ and nuts.
  
  Step 4: Almost Done!
  Take the pie out of the oven when those 30 minutes are over. Scatter the topping over the bubbly, delicious apples. Try not to pick up one of the apples with your fingers to sample it: ouch! Hot! Return to oven and bake until everything is bubbly and juicy; about 20 minutes more.
  
  The Hard Part
  Let the gorgeous pie smell waft through the house for a full hour before trying to cut that pie. It needs to cool!

  Enjoy!

  ::Random Tangent::
  Some of you may be wondering why I keep two blogs. The Loch Ness Blog is a travel-themed blog that I share with my husband. It primarily documents our experience living abroad this year and includes lots of fun pictures of our journey. This blog, my chicagoartgirl23 blog, is just for me to dish about whatever thing is romping about my head that I have time to write about. Also, there are those who are invited to my Loch Ness Blog that would never be explicitly invited to my chicagoartgirl23 blog. I will always link from Chicagoartgirl23 to Loch Ness, but never vice versa.

  Speaking of thoughts romping about my head: Kate Atkinson. I picked up her novel Behind the Scenes at the Museum at the library, for the sole reason that it was at a display that read “Top 100 Scottish Books” and I was interested in getting to know the country better through fiction. But the book was incredible. It was rife with family lineage, which I typically only enjoy when done by South American authors, curiosities (the first thirty pages is told from inside the womb!!!), and gorgeous storytelling. At the Frankfurt book fair, Shaun picked up a proof copy of her short story collection, It’s Not The End of the World, which I absolutely devoured. Reading it felt like swimming in the collective conciousness. I’m going to pick up her novels, Emotionally Weird and Human Croquet a the library this weekend. I don’t typically read so much of one author in one sitting, but I feel like I am studying her. I feel that my writing is growing by reading her so closely.
  ____________________________________________________________________________________
  What are you reading and eating?

    

  • 10:23 am
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