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Saturday, July 21, 2012

Pie fixes everything...


This was a Pie Shop in Fredericksburg that was adorable... and the pies were fantastic!  We tried to get their recipe for the crust, but they said it was 'secret'.  I really wish they had one like this here by us.  By the way, the Apple Cinnamon Pecan Tea Cake was a hit - extremely moist and very vanillery (is that a word? works for me).  I will definitely make it again.

Here is the recipe if anyone's interested:

Apple Cinnamon Pecan Tea Cake

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
11/2 cups flour sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder sifted
1- 11/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon (didn't have any, so used 1 t cin sugar)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped pecans
(I added about 1/2 of a chopped apple to mixture)
melted butter for brushing

apple cinnamon topping:
4 green granny smith apples (1 used 3)
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350
Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla in mixing bowl
Beat until pale and creamy
Add eggs one at a time
Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and sour cream until just combined
Add pecans
Spoon into lightly greased pan lined with non-stick baking paper.
Cut apples into halves, peel, and core.  Slice apples and push into the top of batter. 
Sprinkle apples with cinnamon sugar.
Bake for about an hour and 15 mins. 
Let cool
Brush with butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over before serving. 

These pics were taken at my daughter's place.  They have a pretty good-sized vegetable garden.  These are the raised beds.  I believe they have squash, tomatoes, spinach, onions, and cucumbers (maybe radishes too).  Their turtles love the tomatoes.

And this is an Artichoke plant:



Isn't it beautiful?  I had never seen an artichoke plant before this one.  I love to eat artichokes...with the steamed leaves dipped in butter or the whole artichoke stuffed with breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and garlic, but I had never seen one actually growing. This one was at the herb farm in Fredericksburg.  I bought a cutting and took it to my daughter's place. Hopefully its doing well.

10 comments:

  1. That cake sounds so yummy ...just might have ti give iy a go. I have never seen an artichoke flower ....how beautiful.
    I look forward to seeing your new hair do.

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    1. Thanks, Angie. I think you will like the cake. And I agree the artichoke plant was beautiful... and quite large.

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  2. Oh, I am so glad that you gave us that recipe. It really looked good.

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    1. Thanks, Olga. Fortunately, it 'tasted' good too. So many times I see these great looking desserts, try them, and then I'm disappointed. This one is a keeper.

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  3. Recipe looks appealing! That shop looks like a winner...if it had yarn as well, I might even move in.
    interesting - I've never even been curious what kind of plant grew an artichoke, but now that I've seen it, I am surprised at it's beauty.
    Norma

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    1. You are right, it should have yarn too. There is a Yarn shop here that is called "The Wooly Ewe" and when they emailed us that they were also going to offer "tea" to the patrons, I thought, "how perfect!" As it turned out, they offered only a corner where teabags, hot water, and styrofoam cups were available. And although certainly nice, an adjacent tearoom would have been so-oo great.

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  4. Your daughter has a lovely garden!

    That pie place looks like fun - my favorite is hot apple with vanilla ice cream.

    I'm going to try out the recipe - thanks for posting it!

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    1. Thanks, Julia. I like hot apple pie too, but with 'melted cheddar cheese' on top. But my all time fav is a really good dark chocolate cream pie.

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  5. I've never seen an artichoke in bloom. It's beautiful. I like stuffed artichokes too. The recipe is the same but with olive oil instead of butter.
    I'm copying the photo if you don't mind.
    Take care,
    John M

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    Replies
    1. Don't mind at all... copy away. And I do use olive oil dribbled over the artichoke leaves after stuffing and before steaming. But when I'm just steaming, then I like to dip the leaves in unsalted butter as I eat them. Just to clear that up. Thanks for reading.

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