One Saturday morning I was lounging with a cup of coffee, enjoying some cooking shows when Trisha Yearwood’s show came on. I love me some good old comfort food and I love her show because everything she makes looks amazing and all the ingredients she uses are items I almost always have on hand. Case in point, this Skillet Apple Pie. She told the guest helping her, “this pie will change your life.” Now, I don’t know about you, but if someone claims that your life will be more fulfilling by cooking up an apple pie then by all means I am going to give it a try.
There are two things that really sets this apple pie apart. First, is that you make it in a skillet and the second is before your lay down your first pie crust you melt butter and brown sugar together to make a caramel glaze that seeps into the crust that makes this pie unreal. Now…when I mean unreal, it is really, really freaking good. Like, I would starve myself all day to have a slice of this when I am trying to be good or if I did make this and was left home with it I would either – a) pig out and eat the whole thing or b) throw it in the trash covering it with dish soap because I am that gross – and no, I don’t trust myself.
Here are some images of the recipe as I made it:
Now for the changes I made. In her recipe Tricia uses canned apple pie filing, however I am not a fan of canned apple pie filling so I sliced a few apples up added some sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and salt and proceeded with the recipe as written.
Here is a a link to Tricia’s recipe and below is my modified version. Enjoy and let me know if you find this recipe life changing. Oh and for the record, yes I did find this recipe life changing. 🙂
Tricia Yearwood’s Skillet Apple Pie
(adapted from Tricia Yearwood’s recipe)
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
2 refrigerated rolled pie crusts, such as Pillsbury
3-4 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced into small pieces
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. granulated cinnamon
1 T. cornstarch
Cinnamon Whipped Cream:
2 cups whipping cream, chilled
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons sugar
Directions
For the skillet apple pie: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet; set aside 1 tablespoon of the melted butter for the top crust. To the melted butter, add the brown sugar and melt them together on medium heat, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and line the skillet with one of the pie crusts. Add apples, sugar, cinnamon and corn starch together in a bowl and pour into the pie crust. Use the second pie crust to cover the filling. I like to cut my pie crust into shapes and cover the filling (I just think it looks prettier.) Brush the top with the reserved melted butter, then sprinkle with a bit more sugar. Make sure the pie crust has room to vent and bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot, topped with a generous dollop of cinnamon whipped cream, ice cream or both!
For the cinnamon whipped cream: Chill a large metal mixing bowl and a wire beater attachment in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Pour the cream, cinnamon and sugar into the cold mixing bowl and beat until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes; the mixture should hold its shape when dropped from a spoon. Don’t overbeat or you’ll have sweetened butter!
There are several blogs that I follow religiously and many have regular posts that I look forward to reading. One of these is Cupcakes and Cashmere’s, “Links I Love”. I am always on the hunt for witty, fun and informative posts and with the infinite landscape of the worldwide web having a blogger sum up a collection of their favorites is always helpful. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so here goes my list of links I love for this week….
1. Ten Ways to Use Chia Seeds this post from Wellness Mama is a great reminder to not only use Chia Seeds but also offers new and creative ways to add them to your cooking.
2. The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes by Parade Magazine I am OBSESSED with chocolate chip cookies and love seeing new recipes. Although my favorite recipe isn’t listed, you can find that one here, I still can’t wait to try some of these out.
3. Quotes About Following Your Dreams Words are powerful and I love finding motivational quotes to keep me going. I found this collection on Oprah.com and I love them. In particular the one listed above, “…DREAM BIG AND DARE TO FAIL.” Here is also a link to my own inspiration board on Pinterest. I would love to hear what some quotes that inspire you are.
4. How to Comment on Blogs “from the Wetherhills say I do” I have been blogging for a while now but am not as good as I should be when it comes to commenting on blogs. This post provides insightful tips on the most helpful ways to comment on blogs and how you can generate more traffic to your blogs by doing so.
5. Ten Best Fantasy Closets I swoon over an amazing closet. This link shows you some amazing closets that are simply decadent.
Have you read or seen anything online lately that you are loving? Please tell me, I would love to know about it!
I am obsessed with booties! Open toe or closed, I am in love with both versions. One of my shopping philosophies is to go high-low. I like to purchase key pieces that are expensive and exceptionally made and pair those items with lesser expensive items. Here are my picks for amazing booties at both high and low prices….
Rag & Bone Harrow Leather Bootie – $525 at Nordstrom.com: This is a classic that is beautiful and exceptionally made. However at $525 I have been on the hunt for a less expensive version and think I may have found it with the BP bootie listed below.
BP ‘Train’ Wrap Belted Bootie – $119.95 at Nordstrom.com: I am a tough critic when it comes to lesser expensive versions and I think this one comes pretty darn close
Vince ‘Brigham’ Open Toe Bootie – $450 at Nordstrom.com: In my eyes these are a perfect bootie. Perfect to wear with shorts, yet dressy enough to wear with a dressier pair of slacks. At $450 I may pay this much, however I do think that the less expensive version is pretty darn cute as well.
Nine West Tiptoe Bootie – $129 at Zappos: There are some differences between the texture of the leather however let’s keep in mind that there is a $300 savings that could be used towards the BP bootie and you would still have money leftover to purchase some makeup.
Christian Louboutin Chesterfille Leather Ankle Boot – $1095 at Saks Fifth Avenue: I have a soft spot for Louboutin’s. There is something about that red sole that makes me swoon. Although at over $1000 I am not sure these perfect shoes will be mine.
ALDO Piedim Leather Bootie – $120 at Zappos.com: OK, so there is no red sole, but these are a pretty close dupe for the beloved Chesterfille bootie that I will continue to admire from afar.
Have you ever gone out to eat and had something so delicious that out of the blue you will find yourself fixating on the sheer deliciousness of that meal and you can’t stop thinking about it? Well…I tend to get that way and the only way I know to satisfy the craving is to of course – honor it!
My husband and I went out to eat at a restaurant called Black Bottle that is located in Seattle. They have a Chicken Larb on their menu that is super spicy and amazing! My mouth waters just thinking about it. I have to warn you that this recipe is spicy, however you can adjust the spiciness based on how much Sriracha you add. I use a heavy hand which you can tell by the pictures but this recipe would be just as yummy if you used less. I concocted my own recipe using soy sauce and worcestershire sauce in lieu of fish sauce because I didn’t have any. If you do have fish sauce by all means use that option.
Do you have any favorite recipes that you concocted after visiting a restaurant? I would love to hear about them!
Chicken Larb
Ingredients
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 c. coarsely chopped shallots
1 garlic clove
1 T. fish sauce or 2 tsp. soy sauce + 1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
3T. sriracha (or to taste)
2 T. vegetable oil
Lettuce Leaves (for serving)
3 T. cashews, finely chopped
Directions
Combine first 5 ingredients in a food processor. Drizzle 1 Tbsp. oil over and pulse until chicken is very finely chopped. Heat remaining oil in a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium–high heat. Add chicken mixture and sauté, breaking up into small pieces with the back of a spoon, until chicken is starting to turn golden brown and is cooked through, about 6 minutes.
Place 2 lettuce leaves on each plate. Top leaves with chicken mixture, dividing evenly. Garnish with cashews and serve.
My slow cooker is kinda like a bad boyfriend that I just can’t break up with. You know those boyfriends that will make promises but let you down – kinda like a casserole that looks amazing on Pinterest but it looks like roadkill in reality. Yet, just like a crap boyfriend (that is really good looking) I can’t give up on my slow cooker. Maybe one day things will change and some form of magic will occur in the form of a meal worthy of sharing with Martha Stewart, however I am not too optimistic of that, however I will continue to try out my “bad boyfriend” and see if I can make some magic with it.
Being that it is about 90 degrees in Seattle I am trying not to turn my oven on, yet I am wanting some loaded baked potatoes.
I have read that you can make baked potatoes in the slow cooker so once again I busted out my large oval device and hoped for the best. Rubbed down with olive oil and sprinkled liberally with salt and pepper I placed them in the pot, turned them onto low for 6 hours and went on with my business. Here you can see the beginning of what my Idaho russets looked like:
Here is my finished product. This slow cooker actually did what it said it would do – cooked a large baking potato until tender. They weren’t soggy or anything and man was this easy! Definitely give this one a try and let me know what you think.
