E: Family & Strudel

Hi! I feel like I’ve been away for so long. Luckily, I’ve had Mandi to hold down the fort and she has been posting some amazing recipes. So where have I been? Sunday, we headed up to my parents house. Josh & my Dad went fishing:

They caught about 30 fish, but only kept two:

Meanwhile, my Mom & I did one of my favorite things…went to brunch! We tried a new-to-us restaurant, Applewood House of Pancakes. This restaurant has one of the largest brunch menus I have ever seen. I got the parfait (I know, you’re shocked!). This parfait came with a side of an English muffin, but it was unfortunately drenched in butter. The parfait overall was delicious, although the granola was only OK:

My Mom got apple crepes. I had a bite. They were amazing:

The rest of our Sunday was spent doing housework and watching football.

On Monday, I taught in the morning and then we headed up to Pennsylvania. We had a death in the family and were attending the services. Although we were (obviously) very sad, we got to spend overdue time with Josh’s family. The whole gang at dinner:

We also all slept in one hotel room, which was slightly hilarious:

 

I wanted to share the recipe for the dessert I made for our Oktoberfest party, Apple Strudel. I had never made a strudel before and was super excited. I scanned through a few recipes and took bits and pieces of each (focusing mostly on this one) to make the following:

Ingredients:

Dough

• 3 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
• 2 sticks butter or smart balance (I used smart balance)
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 egg whites

Filling

• 6 large apples, chopped
• 1/4-1/2 cup sugar in the raw
• 1- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• Chopped walnuts or other nut (if desired)

 

Directions:

Dough

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add flour and cut up pieces of butter or smart balance. Mix until a crumbly mixture forms. In a separate bowl, mix together water and egg yolks. Add mixture to electric mixer bowl, switch to dough hook, and mix until dough comes together. Divide dough in two, wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate over night.

The next day, place a piece of parchment paper on the counter. Spread flour across parchment paper and place one of the dough balls on top. Roll out dough as thin as you can get it.  Repeat with a second piece of parchment paper and dough ball.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Filling

In a large bowl, mix apples, sugar & cinnamon (to taste) and nuts (if using). Spread half of mixture in a line in the center of one of the rolled out pieces of dough and the other half on the other rolled out piece of dough. Fold dough over and pinch to close. Puncture with a fork or knife to allow air to escape while baking. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and brush strudel with egg whites. Sprinkle additional sugar in the raw on top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until nicely browned.  The outcome:

   

 

Deliciousness :)

Look for a giveaway on Friday!!! How has your week been?