Weekend Achievements

27Sep09

I achieved a new personal best over the weekend in the form of pie. Apple pie, to be specific.

The picture doesn’t really do justice to this pie’s awesomeness. You just have to trust me. (Actually, six other people partook of this pie, so if you really don’t trust me I’m sure I can provide you with some testimonials.) What made this pie really stand above the many, many pies I’ve made in the past was that it was much better in both of the pie’s key components: the crust and the filling.

First the filling. In the past, my concern for finding a firm and tart apple good for baking has almost always led me to pick Granny Smith apples. Now that I think about it, this apple choice may have also been influenced by the fact that in Wisconsin, Granny Smith apples are just about the only baking-worthy apples you can find in bags at your run of the mill grocery store. So as a college student, it was also a more affordable choice. Using Granny Smith apples always worked out all right–they just never resulted in a particularly impressive or interesting filling.

This time, my choice was also determined by my circumstances. I was on a deadline and didn’t have time to go shopping anywhere but the corner market where they had MacIntosh (no good for baking), Golden Delicious (a good week past their prime), and Ginger Gold. I had no idea what the hell a Ginger Gold apple was like, but it was my only decent option so I went for it. And, damn, did it work out well. The filling I ended up with was full of great flavor–just the right mix of tart and sweet. It was definitely a much more interesting, complex flavor than I’ve ever gotten from using Granny Smith apples. I went grocery shopping today (not at the corner market) and I had to resist buying multiple varieties of apples for multiple pies. Note to self: experimenting is good.

For the crust, I decided to seek out a recipe I’d seen on The Barefoot Contessa awhile ago. I’ve used several different pre-made crusts in the past, and have found them all very blah. I’ve also used the crust recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but it’s never turned out that great. It’s usually been overly-dry and crumbly when I’ve tried to roll it out and I’ve never ended up with the kind of flaky crust I dream about. But Ina Garten’s recipe is amazing. Her instructions and the using a food processor make this crust basically fool-proof. It was fantastic, and I highly recommend it.

The rest of my weekend has involved a lot of reading, a lot of housework, and plenty of knitting. I’ve got a sleeve!

Actually, I have about 15″ of a sleeve, but I will no doubt finish the rest of it tonight. After tonight, this sweater is definitely going on hold for just a bit, so that I can finish up my Featherweight cardi.

It’s not a fantastic picture, but you can at least see that after being on hold for months, it is in desperate need of a second sleeve. (I’m sure you can also see that it is wrinkled through and through–a testament to how long it’s been sitting around.) It also still needs ribbing around the neck and sides to finish it off. I’m pretty sure that the first sleeve only took me two days, so I’m hoping I can finish this cardigan up in a week or so. We’ll see what happens.

And now, its back to the last bit of weekend housework on my to-do list so I can enjoy a day off with Aidan tomorrow. Woo!

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Tags: baking, desserts, Sweater, WIPS