My Family's Favourite Apple Pie

Growing up, it was my responsibility to make the apple pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.  I have a vague recollection of this pie evolving from something my father's mother would make for us.  My grandmother was French Canadian, but lived in Kitchener when I was growing up.  I remember visiting her in the summer for a week at a time and travelling up and down country roads to visit different Mennonite farms, buying apples from one farm, a chicken from another, butter and eggs from from somewhere else.  It was on one of these summer visits that we made a version of this apple pie together.  The pie has evolved over the years, and is now less sweet.  

My siblings still expect me to make this apple pie for family events, to the point that when my daughter and I were out of town for Christmas last year, I think my family seemed to miss the pie, or at least the topping more than us.  

My Family's Favorite Apple Pie

Pastry for a Single Crust

• 11/4 cups of pastry flour
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 cup of cold unsalted butter
• 1tablespoon of lemon juice 
• 3 tablespoons of cold water

Sift flour and sugar into a bowl, cut butter into small squares and cool again in the fridge.  Add to flour and cut into flour.   Mix lemon juice and water together.  Sprinkle half of water over over flour mixture and gently mix with fork, continue to add fluid until the the mixture holds together.  Do not over work. Form into ball and wrap with plastic.  Let rest in refrigerator for at least a half hour.  Roll out and fit into 9 inch glass pie plate.  

Apple Filling

• 6-8 cooking apples, I like Spy or Cortland
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg

Peel apples and cut into large chunks and place in bowl.  Mix with cinnamon and nutmeg.  Some people add sugar, I prefer the pie to be a bit tart as a counterbalance to the sweetness of the topping. Arrange apples in pie plate fitting as snugly as possible to minimize settling.  

Topping

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup flour

Mix dry ingredients together in bowl.  Cut butter into small pieces and work into dry ingredients with fingers. Handle  as little as possible.  Gently pat chunks of the mixture into flattish pieces, that are not too perfect and place on top of pie, gradually covering the top of the pie. 

Place pie in 375 degree preheated oven and then turn oven down to 350 and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove and let cool. top should be crisp and apples should not be mushy.    

Thanksgiving Squash with a Moroccan Twist by Andrea

Last weekend, Andrea and friends were visiting and because I had a number of squash from the garden sitting on the counter, Andrea decided to make a variation on the squash dish she made for  her family's Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a fabulous combination of sweet and savoury.

 Thanksgiving Squash with Moroccan Twist                            photo by Mark

1 winter squash
1 tsp of smoked paprika
12 walnuts
8 medjool dates pitted and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon  of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cut squash in half and clean and remove seeds.  Divide halves into wedges and paint with olive oil.  Lightly sprinkle smoked paprika and bake place on baking sheet.  Put in preheated oven 350F, and bake for about 15 minute s depending on size of squash, until it begins to soften up, but still has some bite.  If it were pasta, I would say al denté.  Do not over cook.  Remove from oven and scoop squash out of skin and into bowl.

While the squash is baking, spread walnuts on baking sheet.  Place in oven and toast.  Watch carefully, and remove when they begin to brown.  Should take about 3 or 4 minutes.  Be careful not to burn.  Coarsely chop and set aside.

Toss dates, walnuts and squash together and serve.

Heritage Green Zebra Tomato and Yellow Tomato Soup

Green Zebra Tomatoes on the Vine

One of my favourite tomatoes is the green zebra tomato.  I love the texture combined with the fabulous colour and sweet flavour, with very little acidity.  Last spring I planted a few more zebra tomato plants than necessary and somehow forgot to plant your basic red tomato.  I did, however, plant heritage pineapple tomatoes which were fabulous, and are now included in my list of favourite tomatoes.  With the risk of frost, I picked the last of my green zebra tomatoes and yellow tomatoes and so made this soup. Next time I think I will not mix the yellow and the green so that the colour is cleaner. this soup tasted good hot, and then even better, cold the next day.  

Zebra Tomato and Yellow Tomato Soup with slice of Pineapple Tomato  

• 4 green zebra tomatoes
• 2 yellow low acid tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• sprig of thyme 
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1/2 cup of broth, chiken or vegetable
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• salt and pepper

Chop onions and and sauté in olive oil until soft in large acid resistant pot.  Add chopped garlic and sauté.  Chop tomatoes and add to onion mixture.  Add broth and wine, and thyme. Add balsamic vinegar, bring to boil, and reduce heat to simmer and cook until tomatoes are soft.  Taste, and add sugar  salt and pepper as required.  Works well as a hot or cold soup.  

Curried Apple and Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I planted butternut squash in my garden  for the first time this summer and now have lots of squash to make soup.  Years ago, my sister, MJ introduced me to curried squash soup.  She had dropped in after visiting a friend, and raved about a soup her friend had made.  We experimented and came up with something similar.

I have a number of renegade apple trees in the country, and over the years have added apples to the soup in the fall.  This past weekend I decided to also use some of the last vegetables of the year from my garden - leeks, a hot pepper, shallots I had forgotten about that were hiding under some of the beans,  and of course the butternut squash.

Curried Apple and Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

• 1 butternut squash
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 2 leeks
• 2 shallots
• 1 chili pepper
• 2 apples
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• cinnamon
• red curry paste
• Salish salt
• pepper
• 1 can of coconut milk
• yogurt for garnish

Cut butternut squash in half and clean out seeds. Sprinkle with cinnamon and paint exposed flesh wiht maple syrup, leaving the remainder in hollow.  Place on baking sheet and bake in oven at 350F  for half an hour or until soft.

While the squash is roasting, cut and clean leeks, and saute in olive oil in heavy pot.  Add cut shallots and chopped chilli pepper with seeds removed.  Set aside.  Peel apples and chop and add to leek mixture.  Add chicken stock, one of the sprigs of thyme, and the bay leaf.

Remove squash from oven and scoop out cooked pulp, adding to onion and stock mixture. Add curry paste and stir.  Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf and and thyme stem.

Blend mixture with immersion blender until smooth.  Stir in coconut milk and taste.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  and stir in leaves  from last sprig of thyme.  

I the mean time, clean the leeks well 

Rose's Fabulous Frozen Vanalla Yorgut

I am visiting Ian and family for dinner and Rose, who is now 10, is making ice cream again.  This time she is making, a special request - her fabulous frozen vanilla yogurt which she made for me for the first time last winter.  It was absolutely amazing and like nothing you can buy in the store. 

Rose's Fabulous Frozen Vanilla Yogurt,   photo by Rose

• 3 cups Greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract (the good stuff)
• the seeds from 2 vanilla pods

Mix all of the ingredients together and put in ice cream machine for 30 minutes.  Eat soft or put in freezer to harden. This recipe is all about the quality of the ingredients.