February 19th - Radio Interview & a Dutch Apple Pie Recipe

Today was a full and exciting day. I was interviewed for close to an hour by Tanya Cooper for a blog radio show called Susan and Friends. Tanya is the wife of the former manager of Victory Thrift Store (if you read my blog you know I talk about Victory often). Her husband wore many hats in the Canmore community and while I only met Tanya a handful of times, I liked her right away. It just goes to show that you never know how someone will impact your life after you have briefly met them. Anyway, Tanya alerted to my blog via mutual friends at Victory. She liked this blog and asked me to be on her show. If you are interested in hearing it, just go here. I look forward to being on the show again soon and to having some time to speak with Tanya personally. I am interested in how she became a radio host...

My lovely friend, Kim, watched Emmanuelle and her 11 month old, Grace, while I was on the radio. Quin was up at Norquay, thanks to Andre. After the show, we walked to Phil's for pancakes and eggs, yum (don't tell Q). It is always great to see Kim & Grace!

I started work on my piece for the upcoming Women's Art Show. I got it laid out and made a big dent in it. I am being secretive but will reveal more soon...

Tonight I made a spaghetti sauce for an awesome dinner with the family. It was fun to have a glass of wine and to cook while Andre chopped. He is so busy with work that we don't get to do this as often as I would like. I will post the spaghetti sauce recipe over the weekend as I need to type up the recipe and upload the photos (and I am too tired). For now, I will leave you with the recipe for the apple pie I made yesterday. We ate the leftovers for dessert.


Dutch Apple Pie
From a 1998 copy of Home Cooking


This is a great pie to eat right out of the oven or to bring to a party where the whole thing will get eaten. While it tastes fine reheated the filling makes the crust mushy after it sits for a day or two. It is sweet and next time I will cut the sugar amount. The topping and crust are delicious, very much like a crisp.

Crust and topping
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (I use unbleached)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 3/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

FILLING:
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 1/4 c water
- 3 c diced peeled tart apples
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine first four ingredients; set aside 1 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture into an ungreased 9 in pie plate; set aside. For the filling, combine sugar, cornstarch, and water in a saucepan until smooth; bring to boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in apples and vanilla. Pour into crust; top with reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.