Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The sweet simplicity of a baked apple and a sweet award

I am betwixt and between getting ready for my new teen play Betwixt and Betweened to open locally (November 5th) and prepping for auditions for Stuart Little (opens December 11th). My beleaguered director finally had a whole week go by without anyone dropping out from the cast. And the director just learned that the activities director had no idea a play was being rehearsed in the school and did not allot for that. Hi ho the glamorous life indeed.

So I crave - simple. In season, a touch of sweet and warm. Baked apples. The Italians dress them with just a smidgen of honey, nuts and raisins. Italians certainly do know how to make sure their fruit shines! Enjoy!




BAKED APPLES: Serves 4
Core apples. Peel them halfway down (you can peel them all - but I like the peel to cradle the filling. In a small bowl mix (amount vary to your taste) 1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts or pecans), 2-4 oz raisins, 2-4 T honey and 1 t cinnamon. Stir till combined. Fill cavities of apples. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-30 minutes (till brown). The inside of the apples turns into a sweet-tart autumns applesauce.

The aroma makes working with missing actors and confused activities directors a breeze! Serve warm - with a little cream if you like...

Or alone (my favorite).


Savor!
I woke up Saturday morning to something else to savor. Sam from My Carolina Kitchen. Her blog is as delicious as she is. While her focus is on food, she covers events, travel and drops enticing tidbits about the lives that she leads. Head over to her kitchen and be prepared to be enchanted.

I know many of you prefer to be "award-free," so if I err - be kind. I never think of these awards as being exclusive. There is no competition or voting and I feel the bloggers share these graces around.

Here are the rules as they were presented to me from Sam:
- Post the Honest Scrap award on your blog. Present this award to seven others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.
- Tell those seven people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines and ask that they link back to you.
- Share "Ten Honest Things" about yourself.
Since I do not want this to be too much about me: I am a night person who writes better in the morning. I live with a lot of fur! I wish someone would pay me for worrying. Pasta and cannolis=magic. I grew up surrounded by Gresios but the Scottish and Russian/Austrians relatives were pretty amazing, too. There are things that I hoped would happen, never did happen and I am fine with that. There are things I never thought would happen that did happen and I am blessed by that. I am rediscovering poetry. I can watch a bird for hours. I wish I knew then....
I would like to share this with:
Bunny at Bunny's Warm Oven (I just made her delicious chicken)
Rebecca at Chow and Chatter for her flavorful recipes also build a healthy body
Ruth at I Love Flavour, Me! whose tales are as delicious as her food
Velva at Tomatoes on the Vine whose food has a natural grace
Miranda at My Food and Live Encounters who delivers mouth-watering recipes
Natasha at Five Star Foodie for constant inspiration
Janet at Meatless Mama for making me crave my vegetables

26 comments:

Heather S-G said...

Congrats on your award!! And those apples....awesome! I can smell them from here :)

Velva said...

Claudia-
That was so nice of you to acknowledge my blog! This really makes my day. Thank you! I am such a newbie at blogging and this is really special.

chow and chatter said...

oh thanks so much love awards will leave a friendship award for you on my blog later, great apples by the way Rebecca

Anonymous said...

Baked apples look so good! Thank you so much for sharing this sweet award with me!

Barbara GF said...

Simplicity, thy name is baked apple! That is definitely a taste of fall, Claudia.
And good luck with the teen play; I'm sure you will "betwixt" them!

Reeni said...

What an absolutely delicious way to enjoy apples! Congrats on your award! I love the name of your play - betwixt and betweened!

Miranda said...

CONGRATS and THANK YOU SO MUCH for thinking of me!!!!
The baked apples look wonderful. I love anything apple.

Goodluck on your play!!!

Thank you!

Wanda..... said...

Hi Claudia...Good luck with the play, hope everything goes well.
It wouldn't be Autumn without baked apples,sometimes I use dried cranberies instead of raisins!

Kim said...

Congrats on your award! I loved the things you wrote about yourself. I would be a wealthy woman if I was paid for all the worrying I did!! I've been wondering if anyone was going to bake apples this fall. I'm going to try this recipe. Can you believe that I've never had a baked apple before?

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Claudia those apples must smell divine! The best medicine for stress is eating something sweet...at least that is my excuse..lol

Congrats on your award and the nice blogs you gave it to.

I hope you have a great time when you come to NYC next year. It will be fun for you to see your family and friends and revisit old haunts...it's fun to play tourist!

Maybe we can meet and have a cup of coffee together somewhere if I'm in town and you have a free hour? Let's see what happens :-)

Cookin' Canuck said...

Those apples look like the perfect ending to an Autumn meal!

Proud Italian Cook said...

I haven't made a baked apple in years, I love the warm cream, sounds so good. I also love Stuart Little, I watched it a million times with my 8yr old GD.

theUngourmet said...

This is the most scrumptious baked apple recipe ever! I forget to bake apple this way for some reason. Thanks for the reminder!

I've always thought that the Honest Scrap award looked pretty nifty.

I love Stuart Little. :0)

Donna-FFW said...

Oh those apples sound fantastic, Id be a cream topper.

Congrats on your award, and at my 41 years, I have the same thought, I wish I knew then..

janet said...

Thankyou so much for the award, you are very sweet to think of me!
Your apples look amazing, I love baked apples.

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Good luck with your play, I 'd love to see one of your productions. Your baked apples look like the perfect reward after a hard day's work.

Congrats on your award!

Lyndas recipe box said...

Those apples look delish with that nutty filling and honey...would love one now to go with my mid-morning coffee!
Good luck with the play and conggrats on the award!

Mary Bergfeld said...

Congratulations on your award. It is well-deserved. Your apples look wonderful. Have a great day.

petite nyonya said...

Congrats on your award! The baked apples look like a really great dessert! Hope your plays will turn out great!

figtree said...

Less is always more!!My Dad would always say that!!These apples are just perrrrrfect.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Congrats on the award!

I think Italians DO, do it up! :) Your apples sound and look amazing! Well, except for the raisins, I'm not fond of them.

Happy Friday!
~ingrid

Katy ~ said...

Baked apples with nuts and honey--YUMMY!!

Congratulations on your award. Well done!

Wishing you success on your plays. It would be so fun to see one.

OysterCulture said...

I love baked apples and until I read this post, forgot that its been a while since i had them. Congrats on your award - very much deserved. I have certainly savored the posts that I have read.

My Little Space said...

Congratulations on your well deserved award! Enjoy! And the baked apples look absolutely delicious. I guess I got to try out this recipe too. Thanks.

Heather said...

break a leg on the play!! and those apples look yummy! congrats on the award!

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