Category Archives: Food

Swedish Apple Pie

It’s the fall and one of the first things I think of is apples. Here is a great recipe – you will thank me for this. Seriously. It’s the easiest and best “pie” recipe I have yet to find. My mom found the recipe in a church cookbook. We all know, church cookbook recipe’s are FANTASTIC! It’s an alternative take to apple pie. Instead of a crust (who likes making pie crusts anyway) there’s a cake like batter on top that is just delicious. If you don’t believe me, just try it and let me know what you think!

Here we go:

Swedish Apple Pie

Cut up enough apples to fill your pie dish 3/4 full.

Mix together 1 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp. Cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the apples. On this one, I think I did 1 Tbsp. of each, whoops. Regardless, it is wonderful! The extra cinnamon was fantastic!

For the topping:

In a bowl mix: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 stick of butter (melted) and 1 egg (1/2 c. walnuts, optional).

Pour and spread over the top of the apples. Try to cover as much as the apples as possible.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the top is a little brown (or you can stick a toothpick in the batter and have it come out clean). I completely forgot to take a picture of the finished pie. It looked so good, I jumped a little ahead!

Personally, I like it best right out of the oven with some ice cream.

Alternative fruit (peaches) can probably be used as well. I hope you like this recipe as much as we do! Let me know what you think!

Swedish Apple Pie

4-5 apples (peeled and sliced)

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 cup flour

1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar

1 stick butter (melted)

1 egg

1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

1. Cut up enough apples to fill your pie dish 3/4 full.

2. Mix together 1 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp. Cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the apples.

3. In a bowl mix: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 stick of butter and 1 egg (1/2 c. walnuts, optional). Pour and spread over the top of the apples. Try to cover as much as the apples as possible.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the top is a little brown (or you can stick a toothpick in the batter and have it come out clean).

5. Go ahead and cut yourself a piece first. You wouldn’t want to serve it if you didn’t know it was good, right?!

H3 Ranch

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On Saturday, I talked Sy into taking me out to Fort Worth for dinner. Lure a man with steak and he’ll take you anywhere. We headed over to H3 Ranch in the Stockyards. Back in June, my parents were in town and my dad had made one request – he wanted a steak. H3 Ranch was recommended as a place to get a great steak that wasn’t incredibly expensive. They were absolutely right. My dad claimed it to be the best steak he’s ever had. Upon visit number two, we weren’t disappointed.

The atmosphere in a restaurant is a huge portion on how your visit goes, isn’t it? Think about it for a second. When I think steak, I automatically associate it with ranches, cowboys, beef and rustic charm. All things I love about Texas. Well H3 Ranch is located in the prime location, The Stockyards. Outside the restaurant you will find a brick street, a saloon, live music coming from the bars nearby, cowboys walking to and from with their tight jeans, cowboy hats and cowboy boots. There is a rodeo next door and Billy Bob’s is right down the way and twice a day there is a cattle drive right down the street. Now if that doesn’t hit country in the city like a nail on the head, I don’t know what will. H3 Ranch is also connected to the Stockyard Hotel. I would love to check this place out at some point as well.

Now, walking into H3 Ranch, take everything that you just saw outside, kick it up a notch and it’s what you have inside. The chairs are wooden with leather trim. You can watch them cook your steak and corn on the cob while you sit at your table. In the bar area, instead of a normal stool, you sit on a saddle. It’s fantastic.

(Above) The heads on one side of the wall.

(Below) The back half on the other.

There are a lot of steak houses that will charge you $40+ for a piece of steak without any sides. This isn’t one of them. For between $20-$30 you can have a steak of your choice (there are many options), a side salad and choice of potato and the steak is still just as good, if not better than those $40 steaks. In this economy, who can pay that anyway. All meals also come with a loaf of bread right out of the oven that is super tasty as well. Steak and carbs! Some of our favorite things!

I opted for the Moped Steak. This is what my dad got last time and he wasn’t kidding when he said it was good. It was delicious and melted in your mouth. The Moped Steak is a 12 oz. Sirloin Steak grilled with mop sauce. I also had a side salad and scalloped potatoes. We’re going to pretend these potatoes are good for you as they’re chopped and cooked with bacon.

Sy opted for what I had the first go around – Smoked Sirloin Steak. This steak is smoked and is oh so good. It’s so good that you want to just finish-eating-whatever-is-on-your-plate-even-though-your-full kind of good. His meal also came with a side salad, scalloped potatoes and ear of corn. I’m going to make a note here that if you do happen to have a chance to get the corn, PLEASE do so! It’s some of the best corn I’ve had and they cook it on the open flame right in front of you!

Disclaimer: H3 Ranch has no idea who we are except a couple patrons that enjoyed a couple steaks on Saturday night. I have not been paid or influenced to write this post.

Bardstown, Kentucky

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Over Labor Day weekend, we headed north to Kentucky to visit Sy’s dad and stepmom. The Kentucky countryside is beautiful. It reminds me of a cross between Virginia and Vermont. While we were visiting, we all got to play tourist in the Bourbon Capital of the World – Bardstown, Kentucky.

Our first stop was the town square. Talk about a historical district. Many of the buildings reminded me of the ones that I saw in Portsmouth, NH. Bardstown is one of the first cities in Kentucky, settled in the late 1700’s. The following buildings all surrounded the courthouse in the town square. Let’s check out some of these buildings.

The Old Talbot Tavern was built in 1779. If these walls could talk they would tell you that they’ve seen the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Boone. Rumor has it that there are bullet holes in one of the rooms upstairs, shot by Jesse James. It’s also apparently haunted. I don’t need to find that one out for myself.

This is the closest that you will ever see me as a Southern Belle.

A view looking down the street from the Courthouse.

The town is scattered with historical markers. There were at 4-5 just on one side of the courthouse. Here is one of them:

Here is another historical item.

There was a mannequin placed in the front of the boat. He also had a full beer in an inappropriate pose. We came to the conclusion that even the mannequin didn’t belong in the boat. I guess it makes you pay attention and we shouldn’t be surprised the beer was still full considering it’s a bourbon town.

On another note, just down the street is the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral. This area was heavily migrated by Catholic Americans after the Revolutionary War. It is one of the first four archdiocese in the United States. Sy’s stepmom brought us in and we received a free historical tour by a very nice lady. The Cathedral is massive and holds such an abundance of history. There are paintings from Italy that are hundreds and hundreds of years old (and wanted by many museums). Once inside you will also see numerous columns which help to support the church. The bottom of one is held in a glass case so you can really see how the column sits after being there for hundreds of years. When she was telling us, all I could think of was how kids must love sitting there to see something different during church service.

In the opposite direction of the Basilica, you will find My Old Kentucky Home. It is actually a home that was visited by Stephen Foster (he wrote the Kentucky State Song. You would’ve heard it if you’ve watched the Kentucky Derby). You can tour the mansion and the gardens during the day. (You cannot take photos inside the home, hence I don’t have any.) The property and the home were beautiful. The home was built between 1795 and 1818. It is an authentic “Southern” home, as I would call it. Most of the items within the home are original including the all of the piano’s keys and original law books and first editions. My favorite piece was a leather trunk. It was beautiful. If I find one, I will be a happy, happy woman. There was also a maple baby’s crib (definitely wouldn’t meet today’s safety standards) and a formal chair with a hole under the cushion. Yep, it was a “toilet”. Note to self: look under cushions when buying antique chairs.

Our final stop was for lunch at Mammy’s Kitchen. Prime Southern Food.

Appetizer: Fried Green Tomatoes

When in the South, you’ve got to try something new. I don’t typically like tomatoes or fried food but these weren’t bad. The tomatoes could’ve been a sliced a little thicker.