Links: Muppets, Flutes, & More

Workspace with computer, journal, books, coffee, and glasses.Hey all! Did you know it’s Wednesday?!

I’m in the midst of fall allergies! They aren’t as bad as my spring ones, but I still hate them. I never had fall ones in Florida, so it’s a nice, fun surprise every year for me.

My partner and I hit up our first apple orchard for our apple cider donut tour of new England. We event made a grading rubric for the donuts! For our first batch of apples, I plan to make maple bourbon apple butter and I’d love to try my hand at an apple butterscotch pie. Erin Jeanne McDowell has a recipe I’ve been eying for a while!

Please share your favorite apple-themed recipes with me!

If you missed it, singer Lizzo got to play James Madison’s crystal flute at her concert in D.C. But she also got to tour the Library of Congress!

Please enjoy Mel the Skel! Mel is a 12-foot tall skeleton in Vermont, who gets all sorts of fun fashions!

C.L. Polk has designed a tabletop RPG set in their Kingston Cycle universe! For now, it is FREE on their Patreon. How cool!

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If anyone daydreams about Lord of the Rings adaptation but with Muppets, you’re in luck!

https://twitter.com/PeachyAenne/status/1575936978021154816

New rom-com alert!! Jennifer Lopez! Josh Duhamel! Jennifer Coolidge!

Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

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  1. Jen M. says:

    Not going to lie, as much as a love a rom-com, I was not interested in this one when all I knew about it was J-Lo and Josh Duhamel. But after the trailer, I’m here for it.

  2. Heather M says:

    Lizzo’s also been invited by Montpelier (James Madison’s estate) to perform. I love it. She’s a dang national treasure.

  3. Amanda says:

    @Jen M: I had the exact same thoughts!

  4. kkw says:

    My mom has 7 heirloom apple trees so what to do with apples is a…it’s a thing.
    Rose Levy Berenbaum’s apple pie is a faff but entirely worth it. I prefer it with cranberries but the plain version is a purist’s dream.
    I like to brandy apple slices for cocktail garnishes, especially something like a Newark that then uses apple brandy. You can also make pies and tarts with brandied apples.
    I think it’s King Arthur that has a really good apple scone recipe?
    I make a lot of applesauce, and roasted apples. Great with pork, and latkes. I freeze them for smoothies, I dehydrate some but be aware that you have to make them more like chips if you want them to keep, that squishy store bought texture requires some industrial magic so they don’t mold.
    Last year we had so many apples I wound up making my own vinegar, one batch of which exploded during fermentation, so that’s uh, an exciting project?

  5. Jazzlet says:

    Almond and apple pudding – make a “pound cake*” sponge using ground almonds instead of flour. Peel core and chunk apples, a poung of apples to a pound of spnge, spread in a shallow baking dish, top with the almond sponge then bake for about an hour at 180C, until the top is properly golden all over and caramelised round the edges.

    Can be eaten hot, warm of cold, on it’s own or with custard, vanilla icecream etc..

    Keeps very well, for days in the fridge, so it’s a great pudding for small households.

    * equal weights of “flour”, butter, egg and sugar. I’ve also made this with chestnut flour, and that was amazing, but it’s a lot easier to get hold of ground almonds than chestnut flour.

  6. Laurel says:

    @kkw I moved near a great apple orchard that grows lots of different kinds of apples and makes cider and various apple baked goods. (The apple cake and the apple cider donuts are really good). I tried to make my own boiled cider because it is good in apple pie, but haven’t had much success. It is fun trying to make all the baked things.

  7. Kris says:

    Ive made 3 apple crisps in the last 2 weeks. All for family members. They were very appreciative. This is my favourite recipe. I use either Granny Smiths or macs.

    https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12409/apple-crisp-ii/

  8. AtasB says:

    I had a weird allergies day this fall where rather than getting stuffy I became basically a super smeller and just washing dishes became impossible because the smell of Dawn made me gag. Fun.

    Is anyone else’s neighborhood full of an ever growing number of those 12′ skeletons? I see more every year. I understand why some properties have the storage space, but others… I just can’t imagine storing that ugly thing for 11 months. (More or less: we have one around here who gets a Halloween hat, a hat for Thanksgiving, and then a Santa hat. It was out a solid five months last season.)

  9. Kate says:

    Love CL Polk so much! Found this cookie recipe of theirs back when Witchmark first came out and it’s now my go-to. https://www.aliettedebodard.com/2018/05/30/how-to-feed-magic-cooking-the-books-with-chelsea-polk/

  10. cayenne says:

    Re apple recipes:

    Maple apple cranberry crumble: https://www.todaysparent.com/recipe/dessert/maple-apple-cranberry-crumble/ – I’m allergic to pecans, so I either cut them entirely or substitute toasted almonds.

    French apple tart:
    https://www.kcet.org/food-discovery/food/weekend-recipe-french-apple-tart – this is originally from Cook’s Illustrated, which paywalls everything. I’ve made this and it always goes over well. It calls for sweet apples (golden delicious) since there’s no added sugar beyond some apricot preserves, but I tend to mix it up a bit with some McIntosh to keep it from getting too cloying.

    Enjoy!

  11. Glen says:

    We like Cook’s Illustrated’s Dutch Apple Pie (apple pie with streusel on top instead of a second pie crust).

    I have a recipe for a puffed apple pancake that I’m not sure where it came from (the recipe calls for margarine and egg whites, so probably clipped during the low fat obsessed 90’s). The most similar recipe I could find online is from Half Baked Harvest. I like to switch out the cinnamon for cardamom.

    I also have a recipe for a crustless apple pie from a former coworker. The most similar recipe online is at Foppema’s Farm – my recipe adds 1 tsp vanilla. Sometimes I add cardamom as well.

    On my recipes-to-try list is the appelkaka from The Little Book of Fika.

  12. LML says:

    There is a lovely recipe for Versunkener Apfelkuchen in Luisa Weiss’s Classic German Baking. It is quick to prepare and looks pretty and fancy when cooked. The cake itself has a nice, light flavor. (Alas, I don’t care for cooked apples, so I scoop some of the batter into a ramekin and bake that for myself.)

  13. MaryK says:

    Y’all, I live in the south. Last year my sister went on a leaf peeping vacation and came back with basically a grab bag of fresh apples. It was a revelation. So good and nothing like what we get in stores here. I am jealous of all y’all’s fresh apple doings.

  14. Lalaith says:

    Sour cream apple pie!

    https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/57582/sour-cream-apple-pie-deluxe/

    I used to get one much like this from a bakery called Little Pie Company in NYC. So good. This recipe says to use diced apples, but I sliced mine with a mandoline to make it more like LPC’s. Also I added cardamom to the streusel, and it was fantastic.

  15. Maeve says:

    My favorite apple recipe is Smitten Kitchen’s Mom’s Apple Cake. I make it in 2 cake pans and it takes forever to bake, but it is so very worth it.
    https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/moms-apple-cake/

  16. Karin says:

    @Maeve, thanks for that tip, I just picked up the Smitten Kitchen cookbook at a used bookstore, but haven’t had a chance to use it yet.
    King Arthur has some great apple recipes, including an apple upside-down cake.

  17. EC Spurlock says:

    Try this fast and fabulous recipe for Apple Pie Quesadillas from Forks Over Knives: 3 apples, chopped; 1/4c apple cider; 1/4c maple syrup or honey; 1 tsp cinnamon. Put all ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil;, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes until apples are tender. Mix 2tsp cornstarch with 2 tbsp water until smooth; add to saucepan and cook, stirring, until sauce thickens. Add 2 tbsp chopped nuts (optional). Spread hummus on one half of 4 corn tortillas. Top with apple mixture and fold over. Heat in a nonstick skillet for 10 minutes or until crisp, turning once. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if desired.

    I picked up a mixed bag of apples from one of our North Georgia apple houses at a local fair @MaryK, clearly you have never been to Ellijay) and made this the other day, subbing honey for the syrup and using Lantana Dark Chocolate Hummus, also omitting the nuts due to my son’s allergy. Youngest son immediately declared this to be the official Thanksgiving Dessert.

    Meanwhile, enjoy this wonderful body-positive music video from Madam Misfit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j87sVr_oxTM&feature=youtu.be

  18. MaryK says:

    @EC Spurlock – I haven’t! Clearly it’s time for a road-trip!

  19. EC Spurlock says:

    @MaryK, pretty much all of Gilmer County is apple orchards. Just head up 515 Northbound and you will pass at least half a dozen apple houses, starting with Panorama Orchards who make the best apple salsa and apple BBQ sauce. Our go-to is usually Mercier Orchards just past Ellijay in Blue Ridge; they have the biggest variety and best cider and cider donuts, as well as wine, assorted produce, and gifts. On the way back detour onto Highway 52 toward Cartecay for another bunch of apple houses, of which Hillcrest Orchards is the biggest and BJ Reece has the best fried pies. Continuing eastbound you will hit Route 183; turn left to visit Burt’s Pumpkin Farm or turn right and follow the highway into Dahlonega, which is also a really cool town (don’t miss the Gold Mine Museum in the square, and the General Store opposite. You can pan for gold or gems at the mine, and the Crimson Moon has great food and live local bands on weekends.) From Dahlonega you can catch 400 back to metro Atlanta. There you go — one custom weekend road trip!

  20. Carol S. says:

    I love Lizzo so much. Maybe some other folks will find this McSweeney’s article as funny (and dead on) as me:

    https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/template-for-white-people-outraged-over-lizzo-playing-james-madisons-flute

  21. Karin says:

    @Carol S. Same! I’ve watched her Tiny Desk concert multiple times.

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