1. What is your favorite apple dish? (BIG BONUS points if you share the recipe.)
Bad news: My favorite apple dish is my mom's apple pie with streusel topping, which I cannot make...I don't have the crust mojo, for one thing. And it just doesn't taste the same. But I do know that Mom added a dash of mace to the standard cinnamon and nutmeg spice mixture, for a little extra zip.
But -- good news -- here's a great apple cider brine recipe, just in time for cider season. Great for pork chops, but it also works with other pork cuts or turkey:
Cider-Maple Brine
7 cups hot water
1/2 cup kosher salt
2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 Tablespoons cracked black peppercorns
1/2 cup kosher salt
2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 Tablespoons cracked black peppercorns
Combine and heat until salt and maple syrup are dissolved. Cool to 45 degrees in refrigerator before using.
2. Have you ever planted a tree? If so was there a special reason or occasion you can tell us about?
I used to help the 'rents plant trees as a child. Since I've lived in the woods, planting trees is rather a moot point -- our big problem is cutting trees down to keep them from falling on the house or to get satellite signal. But here's a possible occasion for a future tree planting: Once upon a time Fellow Traveler indicated to me that she was interested in bonsai. Not too long afterward I saw a grow-your-own-bonsai kit at a yard sale and bought it for, like, a quarter. It's still sitting on the entryway cabinet. Maybe it's time to crack it open and plant the enclosed tree seed.
Does the idea of roaming around the countryside (preaching or otherwise) appeal to you? Why or why not?
Roaming around the countryside sounds pretty much like an average weekend for us. Oh...you mean walking. I think I'm too much of a homebody to want to pick up a backpack and go walkabout as a lifestyle, for any reason.
4. Who is a favorite "historical legend" of yours?
I have always had a great deal of affection for Robin Hood. When I was a child I wanted to be Robin Hood.
5. Johnny Appleseed was said to sing to keep up his spirits as he travelled the roads of the west. Do you have a song that comes when you are trying to be cheerful, or is there something else that you often do?
Right now the Johnny Appleseed table grace beloved of church-camp kids is playing in my mental iPod: Oh, the Lord's been good to me/and so I thank the Lord/for giving me/the things I need/the sun and the rain and the appleseed/the Lord's been good to me/Amen...amen...amen, amen, amen...a-men.
Bonus question: What is your favorite apple variety?
An heirloom variety -- the Fameuse, or Snow Apple. They're beautiful and tasty.
Oh...glad you asked. The lovely apple art was painted by Mary Hughes .
4 comments:
Great play, LutheranChik!
My favorite is the Honey Crisp!
We do the table grace at church too--among adults!
My favorite apple is the Cortland.
I so understand about the pie crust mojo...my mom had it...not me. We had a deal. She would make the crust and I would make the filling. Great play.
That pie crust thing -- my mother and all her sisters had it, although the youngest insists still that my mother's were better. I don't have it but perhaps it has to do with years of practice. I too am fond of Cortlands and for some applications, Rome Beauty. I need to be looking for some heirloom varieties at our farmers' market. Thanks for the great apple painting too!
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