And the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we love

[sovay]

Time goes by and I lose hold of it. I have seen four movies I really enjoyed so far this week and written about none of them. Last night spatch and I extrapolated dinner out of a box of Blue Apron ingredients we inherited from rushthatspeaks and gaudior and some impulsive shopping we did after my appointment in the afternoon: black bean and chorizo quesadillas with roasted carrots and guacamole Autolycus had to be firmly shooed away forcibly removed from. Tonight I am at my mother's house, making cranberry sauce and about to embark upon three to four pies and our traditional stuffing. The afternoon into evening was characterized by pouring rain and TurkeyQuest 2017, both of which concluded satifactorily (the rain has ended and we have a turkey). Bertie Owen's keyboard is beginning to break down, so that I really have to punch these thin, flat, plasticky Macintosh keys to get a reliable s, i, and about half a dozen other letters. Just about everything seems exhausting. I'd like to come back and say more, but these apples aren't going to peel themselves.

[edit] Making three and a half pies, cranberry sauce, stuffing with sausage and mushrooms, and experimental squash is surprisingly therapeutic. I really didn't expect the skillet apple pie to come out so symmetrically.

Comments

[cmcmck]

Given the amount of squashes we have in stock, I like the sound of 'experimental squash' :o)

Have a lovely holiday.

[sovay]

Given the amount of squashes we have in stock, I like the sound of 'experimental squash'

It was a spaghetti squash, which I had never baked before. So far I do not think it will replace actual spaghetti in my heart, but I'm going to see what I can do with it today.

Have a lovely holiday.

Thank you!

[a_reasonable_man]

Best Thanksgiving wishes to you and your family! One thing I'm always thankful for is your friendship.

[sovay]

Best Thanksgiving wishes to you and your family! One thing I'm always thankful for is your friendship.

Thank you. The same holds true for you.

Have a good Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

[kathmandu]

How does one make a half pie? Was this 'make one piecrust, cover half with filling, fold over' or three independent and one collaboration?

Re: Happy Thanksgiving

[sovay]

Was this 'make one piecrust, cover half with filling, fold over' or three independent and one collaboration?

"Discover one has made too many apples for two pies but not enough for three; use remaining pie crust not already set aside for pumpkin pie and fashion a small, about half regular size pie in which to bake the rest of the apples. Be very polite and respectful and not eat it the second it comes out of the oven, even though this is the obvious fate of something so cute and, if you really like apples, single-serving."

Happy Thanksgiving!

[kindkit]

Happy Thanksgiving! What a gorgeous pie.

[sovay]

Happy Thanksgiving! What a gorgeous pie.

Thank you! Happpy Thanksgiving!

[thisbluespirit]

The pie looks very impressive indeed!

[sovay]

The pie looks very impressive indeed!

Thank you!

[pameladean]

Skillet pie! It's lovely and I must look into this further.

A fine day to you and yours.

P.

[sovay]

Skillet pie! It's lovely and I must look into this further.

It is mostly this recipe we saw in the Globe, although I would dispute the "easiest ever" boast on the grounds that arranging the apples attractively more than makes up for any time the shortbread crust saves. We didn't use cornstarch in the filling because neither of us likes what it does to the texture of fruit, used dark instead of light brown sugar in both crust and filling because we like it better, and adapted the spices slightly according to taste. I did not do any of the fancy things the recipe suggests with the crust because they were more cumbersome than just working the cold dough into the skillet with my fingers. We're still not sure from this recipe how the baked slices are actually expected to come out of the skillet, having been pressed into place without benefit of buttering or parchment paper, but maybe that's what all the butter in the shortbread is for. I will report back on whether it worked!

A fine day to you and yours.

Thank you. Likewise!

[pameladean]

Shortbread itself is typically baked in an ungreased pan, so let's hope the same conditions apply.

Thanks for the recipe! Not sure I'd be able to do it for a hectic holiday meal, but I have this tea group where we make fancy things for one another and this looks ideal.

P.

[sovay]

Thanks for the recipe! Not sure I'd be able to do it for a hectic holiday meal, but I have this tea group where we make fancy things for one another and this looks ideal.

You're welcome! Now that we have cut and eaten it, I can say without reservations that the shortbread crust needs to be pre-baked or it never has a chance with all the juice from the apples and the butter and the honey; it was delicious glop below the waterline, but it was glop. Worth tinkering with, though, in my opinion.

[asakiyume]

Excellent notes! (I agree with you about cornstarch)--also, good to know what you say below about the shortbread.

[sovay]

Excellent notes! (I agree with you about cornstarch)--also, good to know what you say below about the shortbread.

You're welcome! I feel an important part of passing on recipes is passing on all the things you have to do in order to make them actually work.

[gwynnega]

Happy Thanksgiving! That pie is beautiful.

[sovay]

Happy Thanksgiving! That pie is beautiful.

Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving!

[asakiyume]

The apple pie looks like a mandala or maybe a spiral galaxy--beautiful. Nice choice of music, too.

[sovay]

The apple pie looks like a mandala or maybe a spiral galaxy--beautiful. Nice choice of music, too.

Thank you! The pie turned out to need some modifications—see comments with pameladean above—but ultimately tasted good, which is the important thing.

[rinue]

That's beautiful! I imagine/hope it also tastes great. Hooray for apples.

[sovay]

That's beautiful! I imagine/hope it also tastes great. Hooray for apples.

Thank you! It had structural problems, but the apples were good. This is really the important thing.

[nineweaving]

A work of art. Blind-bake the pastry, and Badhbh's your uncle.

Nine

[sovay]

A work of art. Blind-bake the pastry, and Badhbh's your uncle.

Thank you. We could not figure out afterward why the recipe thought the crust would not turn to glop, with apples piled on chilled raw dough and explicit instructions to pour in all the accumulated apple juice as well as the butter-and-honey glaze. Maybe someone at the Globe likes glop. I feel this misses the point of shortbread. Next year! (Or sooner. I bake a lot of apples in winter.)

[moon_custafer]

That pie recipe struck as being sort of like an apple crumble, but upside-down, and now I wonder whether one could get a similar but less-gloppy effect by just making an apple crumple with an extra-thick crumble layer (or the shortbread dough they describe, but placed on top of the apples), and then flipping it after baking.

[sovay]

That pie recipe struck as being sort of like an apple crumble, but upside-down, and now I wonder whether one could get a similar but less-gloppy effect by just making an apple crumple with an extra-thick crumble layer (or the shortbread dough they describe, but placed on top of the apples), and then flipping it after baking.

I have certainly eaten accidental upside-down apple crumble, when it rotates one-eighty while transferring from baking dish to bowl, and it doesn't affect the flavor any that I've noticed.

[jesse_the_k]

Congrats on creating a meal worthy of gratitude.

[sovay]

Congrats on creating a meal worthy of gratitude.

Thank you.

[tree_and_leaf]

That is one delicious looking pie. I hope you had an excellent Thanksgiving!

[sovay]

That is one delicious looking pie. I hope you had an excellent Thanksgiving!

Thank you; we did! It was quiet, which this year was a good thing.