Day 256

Photo credit to a sister who was there - I was only a virtual participant!

It’s the day before Thanksgiving here in the US. I’m not going anywhere, I’m not hosting anyone, I’m not doing any of the things that would normally preoccupy me on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. But I’m so ready to take a break from the daily grind.

This past Sunday was Pie Day - a family tradition that has endured for decades and which I can’t believe I’ve never written about here before. At its peak of production, my parents, sisters, and I gathered on the Sunday before Thanksgiving to crank out more than two dozen apple pies for our large extended family and to serve on the day - homemade crust made in a washtub by my mother, apples by the bushel peeled and sliced mostly by my father. The tradition itself starts with my mother and her own mother, somewhere around 65 years ago, before any of my generation came along, tackling an American custom and making it their own. 

Last year I spent Pie Day in Boston with my siblings and niblings for the first time in probably 20 years. This year, of course, everything looks different, but we adapted. Most of my Boston sisters gathered in sister S’s backyard to assemble pies in the frosty air, while those of us who were remote zoomed in from possible-exposure self-quarantine (no symptoms so far), Chicago, and metro DC (yours truly). We produced a total of 10 pies across our various locations - all apple, as usual (we’re not pumpkin pie people). 

My pie specs, for anyone who’s interested: a double batch of this amazing pie crust and a dozen Granny Smith apples tossed with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and sprinkled with lemon juice.

And so, come what may (and please let 2020 not have anything left in its arsenal), the holiday season begins. 

January round-up

The last of a batch of cranberry-apple butter - more info below

Well, that was quite a month, wasn’t it? My two weeks off over the holidays feels like a looooong time ago, to say nothing of the various situations in my home and adopted countries. But I have been working to stay on track with my resolutions, which helps with feeling like I have a semblance of control, even as the world seems to be tilting on its axis. Here's my update for the month:

1 handmade project: this is definitely not done. But it is probably 50% done, and considering I didn’t know how to crochet a granny square 4 weeks ago, I think it’s coming along pretty well!

Me trying to figure out 1) how far along I am towards an actual afghan and 2) how to integrate squares using two different (but hopefully complementary) types of yarn

Apple crumble

Sometimes I feel as though I should rename this blog “Roving Lemon’s Cast-Iron Skillets,” given the number of photos in which one features. But they are so reliable and versatile that I find a reason to use one nearly every day. I don’t even bother assigning them cabinet space anymore – they just live on the stovetop, stacked up in a pile.

For my latest skillet trick, I used one to make Skillet Apple Crumble. Having agreed to host a guest lecturer on a weeknight for DP, I was racing around the kitchen, trying to shoehorn starter and dessert prep in with dinner prep, and have the kitchen looking remotely presentable when company arrived. When I make apple crumble, I usually sauté the apples quickly in butter and cinnamon sugar on the stovetop, before dumping them in a baking dish, piling crumble topping on, and sticking in the oven. It was in the midst of the sauté step that I thought, “Why dirty another dish?” So I added a batch of crumble topping directly to the skillet, and into the oven the whole thing went.

DP is not usually a crumble fan, but after he got back from dropping off our guest, he said, “Hey, that crumble was actually good. I would eat that again.”

I’m not saying it was the skillet. But then again, I’m not saying it wasn’t.

Skillet apple crumble

Apple part

half a can of ginger ale*

a large handful of dried cranberries

4 Granny Smith apples

~ 2 Tbsp/1 oz/30 g butter

~ 2 Tbsp/1 oz/30g cinnamon sugar

Crumble part

½ cup/2 oz/60 g whole wheat flour

½ cup/1.5 oz/45 g rolled oats

½ cup/3 oz/90 g raw sugar

¼ cup/2 oz/60 g butter

2 Tbsp/1 oz/30 g maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Pour the ginger ale into a shallow bowl and add the cranberries. Leave to steep while you get on with everything else.

Peel and core the apples, then chop into chunks. Melt the butter in a medium cast-iron skillet over low-medium heat, and add the apples when the butter starts to bubble. Sauté the apples in the butter until lightly browned, stirring frequently and sprinkling with cinnamon sugar. Remove from the heat and stir in the soaked cranberries until evenly distributed, then spread out the fruit mixture into an even layer in the bottom of the skillet.

While apples are cooking, place crumble topping ingredients in a food processor and blitz to a uniform rubbly consistency. Scatter thickly over fruit, then place the skillet in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the top is browned.

Serves 6.**

* I used this because I had an open can needing to be used up. You could substitute any kind of juice.

** I served this with pouring cream, which was good. Then I ate leftovers the next day for breakfast with a big dollop of Greek yogurt, and that was so much better.

Transition management

We are (I hope!) coming to the end of our physical transition: we’ve signed a lease on a rental house, and picked up the keys and completed paperwork yesterday. We’ve been notified that our belongings have arrived in Australia, and, once they have successfully cleared customs and quarantine (all available appendages crossed), will be on their way to us. With a bit of luck, all the dates will dovetail nicely and it won’t be too much longer until we’re established in a more permanent situation, with our familiar belongings around us.

The mental transition is still ongoing. It’s a big undertaking to move to a new country so far away, even one where you’ve already lived. I am very focused on providing continuity and consistency for everyone, myself included, but there’s no way around the fact that there are practical, emotional, and cultural obstacles that must be navigated, and that some of them are bigger than others. It’s easy to lose perspective when you feel as if you’ve been cut adrift from everything familiar, and haven’t yet learned the landmarks and signposts of your new surroundings. Even the most sanguine people get blindsided some days. I was reminded of this forcefully the other night, when what started as a typical bedtime conversation ended in tears for both a normally cheerful eight-year-old and her normally everything’s-under-control mother.

But it’s okay; some days, that’s just what needs to happen. Maybe that’s what it takes to regain perspective. For me, as always, turning to food and cooking helps. As long as I can get into a kitchen, I know there’s least there’s one area of my life where I can feel a semblance of control, where I can trust that if I do A, B is almost certain to follow. And where a warm apple dessert cannot fail to revive my spirits and bolster me up to try again tomorrow.

TUK tarte tatin

Tarte tatin has long been high on my list of favorite desserts, but this is the first one I’ve ever made. I think it took the stripped-down mise en place of the TUK to make me realize that despite its glamorous presentation, tarte tatin is a much more straightforward dessert-making proposition to make than it might at first appear.

2 medium-sized tart green apples (such as Bramley or Granny Smith)

4 Tbsp butter

2-4 Tbsp sugar

1 sheet puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Peel, core, and thickly slice the apples. Take sheet of puff pastry out of freezer to thaw.

Put an ovenproof skillet on the stovetop on medium heat, and melt 2 Tbsp of the butter. Add half of the apple slices, and sprinkle these with 1 Tbsp of sugar. Saute the apples, stirring occasionally, until they have softened and you see some browning on them, 6-8 minutes; taste as you go and see if you feel the need to add more sugar.

When lightly browned and sufficiently sweetened, remove the apples from the pan and repeat the process with the remaining butter and apples, again sweetening to taste as you go.

When second batch of apples is cooked, turn off the heat but do not remove apples from pan. Instead, arrange them in a pattern around the bottom of the pan.

Take now-thawed puff pastry, and cut into a circle slightly larger than the bottom of the pan. Place pastry over apples in bottom of pan, tucking in the sides around the apples.

Place skillet in the oven and cook until the pastry is fully cooked to a light golden brown, 30-40 minutes. When tarte is cooked, remove pan from oven, but leave tarte in pan to cool somewhat, 15-20 minutes.

When ready to remove tarte from pan, run a knife or spatula around the edge to loosen it up. Place a serving plate larger than the pan over the tarte, then carefully (warning: hot apple syrup!) flip the plate and pan together so that the plate is underneath and tarte falls out onto it. Tarte should be on plate with puff pastry on the bottom and apples on top.

Serves 6-8 people for dessert, or 1 mother in need.

Rhubarb-apple jam

I don’t buy jam at the store anymore. Which – considering I canned my first-ever batch of marmalade just about one year ago – kind of blows me away. I don’t even buy it at the farmers’ market. If I want jam, I just go to my storecupboard and dig out some of last summer’s bounty. Or I make up a batch from something serendipitous that crosses my path, or falls out of my freezer, even in the middle of winter.

I am definitely a late arrival to the Canvolution party. But a very enthusiastic one nonetheless.

Rhubarb-apple jam
I found rhubarb for sale in the supermarket a couple of weeks ago. Normally I try very hard to buy produce that’s in season, but rhubarb is my downfall and I cannot pass it by.

I got the basic idea for this concoction from A Year in a Bottle, an Australian canning cookbook, and then fiddled with it based upon this advice on making jam without a recipe from Dinner with Julie.

- roughly equal amounts of rhubarb and tart apple (weighing or measuring to be done after all cleaning, peeling, coring, chopping etc. completed)
- 1 cup of sugar for every 2-3 cups of fruit
- ½ cup apple juice or water
- 1-2 Tbsp lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a large pot over medium-high heat and stir to combine thoroughly. Continue stirring regularly while mixture comes to a boil; mash chunks of fruit with a potato masher or similar as they start to soften, to assist with breaking up and make the finished jam a more consistent texture. When mixture boils, lower heat as necessary and continue cooking until it has reduced and is starting to look like jam. (There are various tests you can use – thermometers, saucers in the freezer, and so on – but when I can draw a line across the bottom of the pan and see it for more than a few seconds, I shut the heat off.)

When it has cooled a bit, spoon into jars and refrigerate for immediate use. To can, follow the usual method and process in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Yields will vary depending on the amount of fruit you use.

Apple festival

One of the nicest things about the weather finally cooling off around here is being able to enjoy getting outside and doing stuff. Everyone has spent the last 3-4 months taking full advantage of their central air conditioning, giving the impression that there had been a temporary mass evacuation from our new hometown. Every time I ventured out of doors to do anything other than scurry to my car, I got funny looks from people driving past with all the windows rolled up. But now everyone’s out and about, enjoying the beautiful weather and the numerous festivals that take place at this time of year to make the most of the respite between the brutal extremes of Midwestern summer and winter.

Positive thinking

I've got to be honest--I've been drooping a little here at the end of Week Three. The avalanche of move-related paperwork, chores, and general bureaucracy that must be contended with shows no signs of abating; I've got a work deadline in three days; I haven't seen the sun in about six days; and DP left town on Friday for an extended overseas trip. Oh, and I think Miss B's coming down with something.

But, lest I get bogged down in gloom and self-pity, I'm trying to generate a little perspective and positive thinking: to remember that we've got jobs, money in the bank, food on the table, and a roof over our heads. That, even if germs come with the territory, Miss B's first week at her new school went reassuringly well. That even if the sky is grey, it's still light at 5:30 pm. That DP might be out of town for a few weeks, but he works with people who have to do the same for a year or more at a stretch.

Then I focus on one of the things that I do have some control over: food. And, as ever when I'm looking for some comfort, make something involving apples.

Perspective pancake pile dessert
As usual, today I made a half-batch of Sunday-morning pancakes for Miss B and me. With no DP to eat his share, we had some extra. So I stored them in the fridge, layered with sheets of baking parchment and wrapped in foil, and tonight I had a second serving--for dessert. With apples.

1 Granny Smith apple
2 Tbsp butter
cinnamon sugar
3 pancakes

Peel, core, and thinly slice the apple. Heat 1 Tbsp of butter in a frying pan until just starting to sizzle. Add half the apples in a single layer. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and cook for about 3 minutes. Turn apples, and add more cinnamon sugar. When softened and slightly caramelized on the edges, remove from pan. Repeat with remaining 1 Tbsp of butter and apples. When all apples are cooked, briefly heat pancakes in pan, sprinkling with cinnamon sugar if desired.

Try to get all fancy with your plating, even though you're the only one that's eating it.

Serves 1.