Gingerbread Cookies

One of Emmett and Isla’s favorite activities after school is looking through all of the catalogs that are sent to the house.  They love to sit at the kitchen table while I make dinner and take turns flipping through catalogs, pointing out ALL of the things that they want. These days, because retailers are sending out Holiday catalogs, they keep noticing gingerbread cookies displayed prominently on trays, in jars, on cookie sheets  - think Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, West Elm, Williams-Sonoma etc. Having promised Emmett we would make our own gingerbread cookies, last weekend we finally did.

Emmett and Isla enjoyed using the rolling pin and trying to eat as much raw dough as they could (Eew!) and of course, cutting out the cookies with their cutters on parchment paper. I used dark molasses instead of light, only because that is what I had in the house.  I was worried that the flavor would be too strong for the kids, but they didn’t seem to mind and gobbled up all of the cookies in no time.

I used this recipe from King Arthur Flour and didn’t change a thing. I froze half the dough so that we can do this all over again in a few weeks and possibly decorate the cookies next time (they were gone too fast to frost)! I love the idea of making our own version of these mug toppers, or ornaments out of gingerbread.  

It’s almost Thanksgiving.  What are you cooking? We’re having turkey, ham, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, kale salad, corn pudding, rice and pumpkin pie.  I can't wait! 

Teddy’s Apple Cake

Apples? Again? I know, I know. In the fall, I seem to have a near constant appetite for apples, but come spring I am always dying for other kinds of fruit to start appearing at the market. Did you know that apples have been growing in Ireland for at least 3000 years? Early monastic records show that apples were served to monks with their meals and Brehon laws (originating between 2000 and 1000BC) included harsh punishments for cutting down apple trees.  Eating, cooking and cider apples are all still grown in Ireland and much research has been done to find varieties best suited to Irish growing conditions. There are all kinds of apple varieties in Ireland that I’ve never even heard of; Discovery, Orange Pippins, Howgate Wonder, Greensleeves, James Grieve, Charles Ross...the list goes on and on. The most popular type of apple in Ireland is called a Bramley’s Seedling, or Bramley, which is mainly grown in Armagh, Louth, Meath and Dublin.  Bramley’s are usually used for cooking due to their sour flavor.

While I would love to try some Irish varieties, there are so many apples here in the States that are great for both eating and cooking.  The other day I was buying a bag of Honeycrisps at the grocery store and the guy at the register was a wealth of knowledge about the history and origin of Honeycrisp apples.  He knew exactly when and where they were developed (at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, released in 1991), and more details than I can remember about their meteoric rise to the top of the apple hierarchy.  He really would have made a very good lobbyist, if Honeycrisp apple growers needed a lobby.

Honeycrisps are sort of like peaches to me, so good raw I almost feel bad cooking them - but then, they are great in baked goods as well. Because my kids are always looking for a reason to get out the apple corer-peeler, I decided an apple cake would make a nice birthday cake for my father-in-law this year. The kids poo-pooed this idea because they wanted something chocolate and frosted with layers. I had to point out to them that Grandpa never has those types of desserts at his house and instead favors fruit desserts - pies, strudels, etc. Despite his desire to help with the apples, Emmett was disappointed with the prospect of apple cake. He proclaimed a boycott of all cake eating festivities that evening but proceeded to peel my apples anyway (until Isla came over and demanded a spot on the chair to finish the job).

As tempted as I was to make Dorie Greenspan’s amazing French apple cake, again. I decided to try something different and make Teddy’s Apple Cake, another long-time favorite of the New York Times’ food section and its readers. I’ve seen the recipe countless times in the past several years and always planned on trying it one day. Well, carpe diem. This cake was super simple to throw together - and made the house smell delicious. I served it with custard and to everyone’s surprise, especially his own, Emmett LOVED it!

Teddy’s Apple Cake

adapted slightly from the New York Times

• Butter for greasing pan
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pan
• 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups peeled, cored, and thickly sliced sweet and tart apples like Honeycrisp or, tart apples like Granny Smith
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• Bird’s custard to serve (you can find a how-to on that here)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch tube pan or 2 6-inch cake pans. Beat the oil, sugar and maple syrup together in a mixer (fitted with a paddle attachment) while assembling the remaining ingredients. After about 5 minutes, add the eggs and beat until the mixture is creamy.

2. Sift together 3 cups of flour, the salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Stir into the batter. Add the vanilla, apples and walnuts and stir until combined.

3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before lifting out. Dust with powdered sugar and serve at room temperature with custard, if desired.

The original recipes calls for 2 cups of sugar and a cup of raisins.  I reduced the sugar and subbed some maple syrup for a portion of it because maple syrup screams fall to me and because I was using Honeycrisps instead of super-tart apples.  I also omitted the raisins because I thought they might make the whole thing too sweet and because I never know when the kids will refuse to eat something due to the presence of raisins. I stop catering to the tastes of others when it comes to nuts however, and I’m glad I kept those in.  

I made two of these cakes in my 6-inch cake pans.  One of them was gone post-breakfast the following day and I’m quite happy to know that the other one is well-wrapped in my freezer for a future “NEED CAKE NOW!” kind of day.

Soup Weather: White Bean and Ham Soup

I can hardly believe how we’ve gone from sun to soup so quickly. The kids are a constant reminder to be adaptable because they don’t let these changes get to them. If anything, are excited to get our their coats, hats and gloves. Lucky for me, they love soup.  It’s about the only way I can get Emmett or Isla to eat a vegetable. Plus, if I make a big pot of soup on Sunday, I can rest assured that I have something in the house (other than leftover Halloween candy, frozen pizza or mac ‘n cheese) to feed hungry bodies.  #winning.

I like to partially puree the soup so make it thick but without sacrificing all of the chunks.  Isla won’t eat it unless her portion is completely pureed but Emmett, who is getting better about that sort of thing, ate a bowl chunks and all, proudly exclaiming “I just ate a piece of carrot! On purpose!” Eve, of course, is the best and eats it all with abandon.  I’m just waiting for her to get picky but holding out hope that it won’t happen (it will).

White Bean and Ham Soup

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 small yellow onions, chopped
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 ham bone (optional)
• 1 cup cubed cooked ham or Irish bacon
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 can white (navy) beans or garbanzo beans*

*Usually I would use navy beans for this but I used garbanzos because that’s what I had in the cupboard.

Heat butter in large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onions, garlic, celery, carrots, rosemary and  thyme and cook until softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Turn the heat down if onions and garlic start to brown too much.

Add potatoes and ham bone (if using) and cook 2 minutes more.

Add chicken stock and turn the heat up until it reaches a boil, scraping brown bits from the sides of the pan.

Turn heat down to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

Add beans and diced ham or Irish bacon and cook for 15 minutes more.

Partially puree soup (either by blending about half of it in a blender, or partially pureeing it with a stick blender, making sure to leave chunks of vegetables and meat in tact).

Serve warm with chopped herbs and soda bread.