Apple Hand Pies

Hand pies. Apple Hand Pies. To me apple pie is totally a patriotic food. I think our country was founded on it. Little known fact, Martha Washington fed it to George every night for dessert. It is the reason we seceded from the British. They didn't have apple pie and we were ticked. So we left them and their tea and crumpets and came to the land of apple pie.

And it is a proven fact that the Indians fed apple pie to the pilgrims on Thanksgiving.

So there. Eat it or you're a terrorist.

Apple Hand Pies

Apple Pie Filling

·         1/4 cup light brown sugar

·         1 1/2 TBS all-purpose flour

·         1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling

·         Dash of ground nutmeg, to taste

·         2 medium apples (I use pink lady), peeled, cored and thinly sliced

·         ½ very small lemon, zested and juiced

·         3 TBS butter, cut into squares

The Perfect Pie Crust

Cut in together with a pastry cutter:

·         1 cup flour

·         1/2 cup shortening

·         1/2 tsp salt

Stir in with fork:

·         1/4 cup cold water

Stir to blend. Set aside.

Directions

Mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. In another bowl, sprinkle apples with the juice of ½ a lemon and toss. Stir in the sugar mixture to evenly coat the apples.

Divide dough into 6-8 balls. Roll out on a floury surface. Fill one half of the circle with apple filling leaving room to seal the edges of the hand pies. Place ½ tbs of butter (cut up or crumbled) onto each pile of filling. Fold the dough in half and seal the edges by pinching both the sides of the dough in your fingers and turning it slightly. Place on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or a silomat. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Top with whipped cream or ice cream. Enjoy.

Honest Abe would endorse this post.

Once I went to NY and ate a bunch of stuff...

...and it is about time I share.

Eating at new places unique to a certain city or country is the real reason I travel. I didn't realize this until I heard my husband recapping our trip to his mom, on the phone.

Andrew: "Yeah we did this, and this, and this. And we ate at a lot of places too. Part of traveling with Jocelyn is going to a lot of places to eat."

I hadn't realized that about myself until I heard it out loud and thought, "YEAH! EXACTLY!" And I was inexplicably proud.

More proud of how well my hubby knows me than that my idea of 'culture' is eating the local food. This probably explains why I have no desire to go to China.

So here are some highlights of where we ate (I am only posting about the ones I highly recommend.)

Like Max Brenner.

My all-time favorite place where we ate. So good that even though we ate there on day 3 and were leaving the next day, I begged Andrew to take me back for more of this macaroni and cheese. Deep dish, filled with bacon and tomatoes, baked, bread crumb top, and delicious marinara-type sauce. 

Oh. My.

And then we had this for dessert: A chocolate fondue platter (they are known for being all about chocolate) complete with a belgium waffle topped with berries and ice cream, caramelized bananas, little churro-doughnut type things, brownie bites, fruit, and marshmallows complete with a little table torch for roasting and a fondue pot full of melty milk chocolate. Beware, this place is a bit spendy--this thing cost more than my entree.

And Patsy's Pizzeria. Recommended to us by a local and did not disappoint. I love pizza and was hoping to get a good "New York Slice" in. This was it.

And then there was Levain Bakery. This place is tiny and if you aren't specifically looking for it, you will miss it. They sell approximately 9 things, 4 of those things being cookies. They have a chocolate chip walnut, dark chocolate chocolate chip, dark chocolate peanut butter chip, and one other kind that I can't remember. It may have had raisins in it which would explain my lack of interest.

Stacey said it was one of her favorites and went out of her way to bring us home one of their $4 cookies. We devoured it and went back the next day to buy two more.

They are huge. I ate half in the morning and then the other half late that night in the airport. It made the wait for our delayed flight so much more pleasant. Definitely worth a special visit when in New York.

Lastly was Magnolia Bakery's banana pudding. I have never been a huge fan of banana pudding (I personally think that is food reserved for people without teeth) but this was the exception. Stacey made us sprint across the city at 9:45 pm just to make it there before it closed. Totally worth it.

This is what you get. I think teeth are a requirement for this monster.

(Photo from here {along with an awesome write-up on the bakery}. I found myself at the bakery without a camera or phone.)

Plenty to split between two people.


Go! Enjoy! Eat!

24- as depicted by instagram

My internet just failed me so instead of a post about where we ate in NY, here is a bit of what went down on my 24th bday, as composed on my phone.

New York

Or as some people call it, The Big Apple. Or as the Shaw family calls it, The Place Where Stacey Lives.

I think the latter name is catching on. You'll see. You'll be calling it that in no time.

Prepare yourself for the visual summary of our NY trip. It's pretty mind blowing.

My sister-in-law, Stacey, is getting her PhD from Colombia and so she gave us a VIP tour. Their library looks like it is straight from Rome.

Stacey's #1 fans.

(Ignore my outfit, I packed inappropriately {who knew it was going to be so cold?!} and had to wear my father-in-law's jacket. I actually didn't mind {because it is a nice jacket} until I walked past a boy on the street wearing the exact same one and he stared me down until I had passed. That was uncomfortable.)

We went to the Natural History Museum (who cares about the exhibits, look at the view from the building!)

Occupied Union Square and with the 99% and protested really important things like the price of birth control, intern's wages, and legalizing marijuana.

(Actually I was trying to find Anthropologie and was ticked because it was so crowded I couldn't get anywhere.)

We walked down 5th Avenue.

We went to the Museum of Modern Art. It was a bit disturbing to be honest. Modern art seems to be very interested in female and male parts. Me, not so interested.

However, we did get to see Van Gogh's Starry Night! Seriously I was thrilled. So. Beautiful. Now that is art.

And we got rush tickets, which means you show up to the box office at 9 am and pay $30 per ticket, to see How to Succeed in Business with none other than Nick Jonas! It was hysterical to hear the middle school girls squeal when he first walked on stage.

You can learn all about where to get rush tickets at http://www.broadwayforbrokepeople.com/. The tickets aren't bad either, we sat in the 5th row! Granted it was a Wednesday night so...

Our last day in New York we visited Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty. Merci, France.

And we went to the 9/11 Memorial which was sobering and beautiful.

And we did so much more but really, how long can one post be?

Post on places where we ate and loved coming soon.

Washington DC

Andrew and I spent the last week in Washington D.C. and New York. DC was amazing and I felt very patriotic the entire time. It just has that effect on you.

We hung out with Abe Lincoln, vampire hunter. Either you're a patriot or a vampire. (Anyone?)

Saw the National Monument.

Visited the president.

Went to the National Zoo (my favorite!!) The animals were crazy active. So. Amazing.

Watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers in Arlington Cemetery.

And saw how Great Falls, VA got its name.

New York post to come.