recipes 86, 87, and 88: apples, part 1

I'm writing this first post on apples while procrastinating on ordering what I need to order for my Halloween costume. So every year, I hatch an idea for a ridiculous costume (e.g. a tornado, a clothesline, etc) and I get very, very excited until... it's time to actually make the idea come to fruition. I've decided that people generally fall into two categories: 1) idea-generators and 2) implementers. I am the former. I loathe actual implementation but I love coming up with ideas. Tristan, on the other hand, is an implementer. This combination of personalities is what causes us to be like this hyper-productive pair.

I look like The Thinker:

source: http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/about/thinker

And Tristan looks a little more like this man:

source: http://www.johnlund.com/page.asp?ID=839

So now, my current Halloween costume, which requires multiple parts and has been fun to think about until I had to actually figure out where I could purchase the parts, is really cramping my Sunday evening style. Instead of working on that further, I'm going to actually just go ahead and do another blog post- three in one day, WHAT. The first recipe is hands-down my family's favorite fall recipe, and comes from my mom's mom. The second recipe is my own brain child. The third recipe is altered only slightly from Paula Deen's recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/sugar-and-nut-glazed-brie-recipe/index.html.

MY MOM'S MOM'S ROMAN APPLE CAKE
Ingredients:
-1 1/2 c flour
-1/2 c butter, softened
-1/2 c brown sugar, packed
-1/2 c white sugar
-1 t cinnamon
-1 beaten egg
-1 t baking soda
-1/2 c milk mixed together with 1/2 T vinegar
-2 large apples, peeled and sliced
-extra pats of butter and an extra sprinkling of cinnamon

Instructions:
1) preheat oven to 375 degrees
2) mix the flour through the cinnamon in a bowl with a fork until the mixture is crumbly
3) beat together in a small bowl: the egg, baking soda, and the milk mixture
4) add half of the crumb mixture to the the liquid and continue to beat
5) pour the mixture into a greased 9" square or round pyrex
6) layer the apples on top
7) sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top
8) layer the extra butter pats on top and sprinkle with a little more cinnamon
9) bake for 30-35 minutes

GRILLED BRIE, BACON, AND HONEY-BALSAMIC APPLES ON PUMPERNICKEL BREAD
Ingredients (there are no measurements here, I just sort of whipped it up as I was thinking it up and it was definitely delicious):
-sliced apples (peeled or not peeled, up to you!)
-a mixture of honey and balsamic vinegar (proportions are up to you!)
-some bacon
-pumpernickel bread
-sliced brie cheese

Instructions:
1) marinate the sliced apples in the honey-balsamic mixture
2) cook the bacon, drain the fat, and then saute the apples in the same pan
3) assemble the grilled cheese by layering the bread, brie, bacon, apples, brie, bread
4) grill it right in the same pan
5) please eat this with a salad, it is too rich on its own!

BROWN SUGAR AND MACADAMIA GLAZED BRIE WITH SLICED APPLES
Ingredients:
-1/4 c packed brown sugar
-1/4 c finely chopped macadamia nuts
-1 T brandy
-1 round of brie (14 oz)
-2-3 T lemon juice
-sliced apples

Instructions:
1) stir together the brown sugar, nuts, and brandy
2) cover and refrigerate the brown sugar/nut mix for 24 hours
3) preheat the oven to 500 degrees
4) place the brie on a pie plate and bake for 4-5 minutes until it is slightly softened
5) spread the brown sugar/nut mix on top of the brie and bake for about 2-3 more minutes until the sugar gets melty
6) brush the apples with lemon juice, arrange around the brie, and serve

Alright, alright, back to my Halloween costume planning...