Friday 31 August 2007

New York...Neeeew Yoooork!


God, I love New York! Sorry guys for the delay on the pics. Been busy organising all the trips and all. Rob and I decided to go to New York for our Birthday as most of you already now. We stayed at the Londoner near to times square. It was a very fancy hotel 4 stars...we had a blast. We booked the modern romance pack which included a signature Martini from Gordon Ramsey and some canapes from him too!!! Also included in the pack was a massage for both of us for 60 minutes (talking about being pampered). We arrived and they put us in the wrong room which we didn't realise! But after we came back from lunch the guest manager called and explain everything and came up to greet us. He didn't stop apologising for the mistake hahahah 1st class joint! They moved us to this great suite with french doors dividing the bedroom from the living room. Huge room for a New York hotel!!! Beautiful bathroom with marmore everywhere!
We walked and walked everywhere that by the end of the trip my legs and my feet were killing me. Because it was my second visit and Rob's 5th visit, we went to specific locations this time. So the first day we went shopping and had a nice sushi dinner at this restaurant who seems to be the "it" place to go. We went back to the hotel around 11:45 pm and went to the hotel bar were we ordered champagne and exchanged gifts at 12:00 am ...very romantic but Rob and I were knackered and ozzzy by the time we went back to our suite! The next day we left early to have breakfast at Tiffanie's hahahah and from there we went to have a nice walk through Central Park. We had a look at the apartment of John Lennon were he was shot and from there walked to the Museum of Natural History. The Museum was amazing, specially all the Dino stuff....we really enjoyed it. We headed back to the hotel at 17:00 to have a nap and get ready to go for dinner. We went to this little place in Soho which had good reviews but I was not very impressed. We headed back to the hotel and I was so tired that I just jumped in bed and went to ZZZzzzzzzz. We woke up early and had breakfast in the hotel, on the house because of the room mix up earlier. We had our massages before we checked out. It really was all I needed because I was in pain from all the walking for two days! We checked out and went to catch our train back to Baltimore to pick up the car and head back home to Frederick. Oh, my flights are booked I am leaving the USA on the 15th of September and arriving at Schipol at 7:00 am on the 16th. I will be staying till the 14th of October! Well Enjoy the slide show and also you can check my web album, I added some more pics there and I fixed the link which apparently was not working before. There is also a little video check it out:

Sunday 26 August 2007

American Pie!

For some reason I am fixated in becoming a crack jack in all house-proud crafts. I started to bake pies like there is no tomorrow. I was doing groceries the other day and could not stop looking at the apples..they looked great for baking. So I bought 12 of them and some fresh pie crust and went home. I looked in the Internet for some recipes but all of them seemed too complicated and boring. So I just got pots and pan out and just improvised. My first pie was nice but a little too sweet, but it over two days!!! Rob really enjoyed it, plus I gave a couple of pieces to Utah. So I went again to the supermarket and bought more apples. So here is how it went.
Ingredients:
12 apples
1 pack of yellow custard
fresh pie crust (I got the safeways one, which was ok-but a little thin)
butter
milk(1/2 a cup)
cinnamon
nutmeg
cloves
ginger
lemon
sugar(if needed)
vanilla extract
obs: as you can see I have no amounts for the spices because I think it depends on your own pallet.


Ok, how to put everything together:

1 .Peel all the apples: 2.Cut them in wedges and than in cubs:


3. In a medium to large size sauce pan add 1 cup of water, butter,1 spoon of sugar(if you like-but custard already is sweet), cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves(about 10) and lemon (about two tea spoons). Bring it to boil and than simmer for 15 minutes or so when you see that apples are almost cooked (not mushy though)!

4. Than in a small container beat very well 1 egg yolk (only if you want a rich custard) and add 1/2 a cup of milk and stir. Add the vanilla extract plus the custard powder and stir well. The apples should be boiling by know so throw the mixture in and stir carefully not too much than you will end with something too soft (its important not to over cook the apples or you will end with apple puree). The consistency will thicken than its up to you to see if you like a thick apple filling for you pie.

5. Now its time to put the crust in place. The fresh crust should be room temperature. Unroll the dough and place it in a pie pan. Be sure to add some pressure to the sides so the dough is well placed in the pan. With a fork make some holes so the pie crust wont be too soft. Than when apple filling has cooled down you add it to the pie. Unroll the 2nd dough again and place it over the top of the pie. With your fingers pull the sides towards the inner pie and use a fork to make nice edge. With a knife make some 3 cuts on top so the steam is able to escape. If you want your pie to shine just brush it with some egg yolk. Place it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. When the edges become brown you know its done. Oven Heat 425 F. And tataaaaaa...you have delicious home made apple pie!!!!! Enjoy!

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