annie blog

Do You Have Plans
for Friday night? The reason I’m asking is that there is a good-sounding show coming to town.

Friday, at Off Broadway here in St. Louis, the Paste Tour will arrive. Now, I’ve only seen one of these people live, and he alone is worth going to see. Langhorne Slim is his name and he’ll give it all he’s got, I assure you. He’ll be joined by Jason Isbell (Southern Rock), Jessie Sykes and Phil Wandscher (psychedelic alt-country), and the Mimicking Birds (don’t know these guys, I’ll have to look them up).

Ticket price is $15, which is a whole lot more than I paid to see Langhorne the first time. Parking is free, however, and they have good beer there, so it might be worth it for you.

You never know, Beatle Bob might grace you with his presence.

Thought you ought to know.

Happy Wednesday, y’all!

This is a Smattering
of things I want to tell y’all today.

First off, I made some spiced apples over the weekend. Here is the recipe. I ate these on a pancake topped with a little dollop of tangy yogurt. It was wonderful. When I made the recipe I used a tad more cinnamon than was listed. Next time I’ll use less sugar and add some toasted pecans and some dried cranberries. The great thing about the recipe is that it is so proportional that it could be easily reduced to using only one apple for a single serving. It’s like apple pie without the pastry.

Secondly, a St. Louis home was featured on Design Sponge this week. You can find it here. My favorite space was the ballroom turned office/playroom. I really love the colors and fabric choices that the designer made up there.

For your listening pleasure today, may I suggest the song “Shine On” by the Airwaves. The singer has a Neil Youngish type voice. You can get a free mp3 and have a listen on this page at Indie Rock Cafe.

My youngest son is a hoot. Every time I go to his school I hear about more funny stuff that he has said or done.

For example, he was reading one-on-one with a teacher the other day. Another teacher was in the room. She had to choke down her laughter after hearing the following exchange between E and the first teacher.

Teacher: E, you need to answer my question.
E: But, the question that you asked was rhetorical.
Teacher: I still want an answer.

I’m fairly sure that I didn’t know the word rhetorical when I was in first grade. By the way, did you know that a long time ago people used different question marks at the end of rhetorical questions? Interesting.

When I dropped him off this morning, his classroom teacher told me that yesterday they were discussing Chinese-Americans. After listening for a while she said that E raised his hand to contribute to the discussion and said, seriously, “My mother is an Alabamian-American.” Hmmm. I reckon that he thinks Alabama is different enough to be its own country?

Finally, J has put some new songs up at Wactopia. The last one is “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

This is a Smattering
of things I want to tell y’all today.

First off, I made some spiced apples over the weekend. Here is the recipe. I ate these on a pancake topped with a little dollop of tangy yogurt. It was wonderful. When I made the recipe I used a tad more cinnamon than was listed. Next time I’ll use less sugar and add some toasted pecans and some dried cranberries. The great thing about the recipe is that it is so proportional that it could be easily reduced to using only one apple for a single serving. It’s like apple pie without the pastry.

Secondly, a St. Louis home was featured on Design Sponge this week. You can find it here. My favorite space was the ballroom turned office/playroom. I really love the colors and fabric choices that the designer made up there.

For your listening pleasure today, may I suggest the song “Shine On” by the Airwaves. The singer has a Neil Youngish type voice. You can get a free mp3 and have a listen on this page at Indie Rock Cafe.

My youngest son is a hoot. Every time I go to his school I hear about more funny stuff that he has said or done.

For example, he was reading one-on-one with a teacher the other day. Another teacher was in the room. She had to choke down her laughter after hearing the following exchange between E and the first teacher.

Teacher: E, you need to answer my question.
E: But, the question that you asked was rhetorical.
Teacher: I still want an answer.

I’m fairly sure that I didn’t know the word rhetorical when I was in first grade. By the way, did you know that a long time ago people used different question marks at the end of rhetorical questions? Interesting.

When I dropped him off this morning, his classroom teacher told me that yesterday they were discussing Chinese-Americans. After listening for a while she said that E raised his hand to contribute to the discussion and said, seriously, “My mother is an Alabamian-American.” Hmmm. I reckon that he thinks Alabama is different enough to be its own country?

Finally, J has put some new songs up at Wactopia. The last one is “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

This is a Smattering
of things I want to tell y’all today.

First off, I made some spiced apples over the weekend. Here is the recipe. I ate these on a pancake topped with a little dollop of tangy yogurt. It was wonderful. When I made the recipe I used a tad more cinnamon than was listed. Next time I’ll use less sugar and add some toasted pecans and some dried cranberries. The great thing about the recipe is that it is so proportional that it could be easily reduced to using only one apple for a single serving. It’s like apple pie without the pastry.

Secondly, a St. Louis home was featured on Design Sponge this week. You can find it here. My favorite space was the ballroom turned office/playroom. I really love the colors and fabric choices that the designer made up there.

For your listening pleasure today, may I suggest the song “Shine On” by the Airwaves. The singer has a Neil Youngish type voice. You can get a free mp3 and have a listen on this page at Indie Rock Cafe.

My youngest son is a hoot. Every time I go to his school I hear about more funny stuff that he has said or done.

For example, he was reading one-on-one with a teacher the other day. Another teacher was in the room. She had to choke down her laughter after hearing the following exchange between E and the first teacher.

Teacher: E, you need to answer my question.
E: But, the question that you asked was rhetorical.
Teacher: I still want an answer.

I’m fairly sure that I didn’t know the word rhetorical when I was in first grade. By the way, did you know that a long time ago people used different question marks at the end of rhetorical questions? Interesting.

When I dropped him off this morning, his classroom teacher told me that yesterday they were discussing Chinese-Americans. After listening for a while she said that E raised his hand to contribute to the discussion and said, seriously, “My mother is an Alabamian-American.” Hmmm. I reckon that he thinks Alabama is different enough to be its own country?

Finally, J has put some new songs up at Wactopia. The last one is “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

The Best Apple Cake
is right here. I think that I’ll make and freeze this before all my apple picking apples are gone. Happy Monday, y’all!

Apple Spice Cake

Serves 10.

1 1/3 cups canola oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3-4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 teaspoon rum
Caramel Sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a Bundt pan with baking cooking spray.
Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt over a large piece of parchment or waxed paper. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a mixer with paddle attachment, combine the oil, sugar and eggs; mix it on high speed until lemon yellow. Fold the parchment in half lengthwise; reduce speed to medium and gradually shake in dry ingredients until just incorporated. Add apples and rum to the mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour into the pan (it might look like there are too many apples – don’t worry, it’ll work out). Bake 75-90 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool, invert onto rack. After it is completely cooled, drizzle with caramel sauce. If serving with vanilla ice cream I wait and just drizzle the caramel sauce over the cake and ice cream together.

Caramel Sauce

1 cup light-brown sugar
1 stick butter
¼ cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon (or a little more) rum
pinch of salt

Combine ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until desired consistency.

The Best Apple Cake
is right here. I think that I’ll make and freeze this before all my apple picking apples are gone. Happy Monday, y’all!

Apple Spice Cake

Serves 10.

1 1/3 cups canola oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3-4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 teaspoon rum
Caramel Sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a Bundt pan with baking cooking spray.
Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt over a large piece of parchment or waxed paper. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a mixer with paddle attachment, combine the oil, sugar and eggs; mix it on high speed until lemon yellow. Fold the parchment in half lengthwise; reduce speed to medium and gradually shake in dry ingredients until just incorporated. Add apples and rum to the mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour into the pan (it might look like there are too many apples – don’t worry, it’ll work out). Bake 75-90 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool, invert onto rack. After it is completely cooled, drizzle with caramel sauce. If serving with vanilla ice cream I wait and just drizzle the caramel sauce over the cake and ice cream together.

Caramel Sauce

1 cup light-brown sugar
1 stick butter
¼ cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon (or a little more) rum
pinch of salt

Combine ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until desired consistency.

The Best Apple Cake
is right here. I think that I’ll make and freeze this before all my apple picking apples are gone. Happy Monday, y’all!

Apple Spice Cake

Serves 10.

1 1/3 cups canola oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3-4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 teaspoon rum
Caramel Sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a Bundt pan with baking cooking spray.
Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt over a large piece of parchment or waxed paper. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a mixer with paddle attachment, combine the oil, sugar and eggs; mix it on high speed until lemon yellow. Fold the parchment in half lengthwise; reduce speed to medium and gradually shake in dry ingredients until just incorporated. Add apples and rum to the mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour into the pan (it might look like there are too many apples – don’t worry, it’ll work out). Bake 75-90 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool, invert onto rack. After it is completely cooled, drizzle with caramel sauce. If serving with vanilla ice cream I wait and just drizzle the caramel sauce over the cake and ice cream together.

Caramel Sauce

1 cup light-brown sugar
1 stick butter
¼ cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon (or a little more) rum
pinch of salt

Combine ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until desired consistency.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

I know that I’ve shared this recipe for pie before, but, seeing as how it is an old standby, I thought that I’d share again. It is super easy and only requires about 3 (or so) apples. Jon requests this pie for his birthday dessert every year.

filling:
2 cups apples
3/4 cup sugar
2 T. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg, beaten
1 t. vanilla extract

topping:
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 t. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Peel, core and slice (or chop) your apples. Place them in a medium sized bowl. Add the remaining ingredients in the order that they are listed, stirring between the addition of each ingredient. Pour the apple mixture into an unbaked pie crust and put it in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Continue to bake for about 30 minutes more, or until just set. At this point, remove the pie from the oven and gently spread with the topping mixture. Return the pie to the oven for 10 more minutes.

Let it cool some before slicing. Yum!

Happy Sunday, y’all!

Sour Cream Apple Pie

I know that I’ve shared this recipe for pie before, but, seeing as how it is an old standby, I thought that I’d share again. It is super easy and only requires about 3 (or so) apples. Jon requests this pie for his birthday dessert every year.

filling:
2 cups apples
3/4 cup sugar
2 T. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg, beaten
1 t. vanilla extract

topping:
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 t. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Peel, core and slice (or chop) your apples. Place them in a medium sized bowl. Add the remaining ingredients in the order that they are listed, stirring between the addition of each ingredient. Pour the apple mixture into an unbaked pie crust and put it in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Continue to bake for about 30 minutes more, or until just set. At this point, remove the pie from the oven and gently spread with the topping mixture. Return the pie to the oven for 10 more minutes.

Let it cool some before slicing. Yum!

Happy Sunday, y’all!

Sour Cream Apple Pie

I know that I’ve shared this recipe for pie before, but, seeing as how it is an old standby, I thought that I’d share again. It is super easy and only requires about 3 (or so) apples. Jon requests this pie for his birthday dessert every year.

filling:
2 cups apples
3/4 cup sugar
2 T. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg, beaten
1 t. vanilla extract

topping:
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 t. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Peel, core and slice (or chop) your apples. Place them in a medium sized bowl. Add the remaining ingredients in the order that they are listed, stirring between the addition of each ingredient. Pour the apple mixture into an unbaked pie crust and put it in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Continue to bake for about 30 minutes more, or until just set. At this point, remove the pie from the oven and gently spread with the topping mixture. Return the pie to the oven for 10 more minutes.

Let it cool some before slicing. Yum!

Happy Sunday, y’all!