First a Second Time

This picture is from standard.net

Yesterday our nephew, Jacob, took first place in the State 4A High School Cross-Country Meet. I wish I could have been there to see him run, but I found pictures and a couple of articles online.

Deseret News
Salt Lake Tribune
Standard Net Live

Last year Jacob came from behind to win, this year he was over 8 seconds ahead of the second place winner. Competing against others is hard, but sometimes it's even harder when you're the one you're competing with and there is no one else around to push you. I'm impressed that Jacob "relied on himself" and did it.

Great job Jacob!

Apples

I have enjoyed using the apples my Dad brought a couple of weeks ago. I haven't made juice yet, but we have found other uses for the apples.

Last night Dwight and I made apple pie. It was delicious. We made the crust using one of my favorite Martha Stewart recipes. I made the flour using soft white wheat. It tasted great, but the texture wasn't quite the same. I'm going to have to experiment with it some more. Here is the recipe from the Martha Stewart website:

Pate Brisee (Pie Dough)

Ingredients:

Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
  

Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies

Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to one month.

I used more of the apples tonight. We got bratwurst sausage from the deli on Saturday and I decided to caramelize onions and apples to garnish them. I sliced the onions and apples very thin and sauteed them in butter and a little olive oil. I cooked them in the same pan as the bratwurst. I really liked the sweetness of the apple with the onions. We put it all on a ciabatta bun and topped it off with honey dijon mustard.

Grape Juice

I spent the day making grape juice. I was a little nervous to do it because it seemed like such an intensive process. I looked for recipes on the internet and found most of them to be quite consuming. Some of the steps included picking each grape off the stem and then mashing them. I borrowed my Mom's steam juicer and decided to give it a try.

I started by putting the grapes in a sink full of water. I wanted the dry leaves and loose stems to float to the top, so I could easily remove them. I also wanted the spiders and other bugs to come out. I then put them, stems and all, in the strainer portion of the steamer and set it on the stove to cook. After they steamed for awhile, I mashed the grapes with a potato masher to extract any additional juice. It took about 1 1/2 hours per batch. I made close to 8 quarts of juice.

I decided to freeze the juice. I saw a great idea for freezing liquids in last month's Better Homes and Gardens. I put 3 cups of juice in a quart sized freezer bag and laid it on a cookie sheet so once they freeze I can easily stack them, or stand them in the freezer doors.

The juice tastes wonderful and the house smells like concord grapes.

I put a towel down to protect the floor. Ellie thought it was a great place to lay.

The grapes I used were from my Dad's yard. The vines he and my Mom planted a couple of years ago really took off this year. The concord grape clusters were beautiful. He delivered them to me earlier this week. He also brought some of the apples from the yard. The way he packaged them made me think he had purchased them at a gourmet grocery store. I may try making apple juice next week.

Alpine Loop in Fall

Dwight and I went for a drive through the beautiful Alpine Loop. It was very different than our rainy drive in the Spring. Most of the waterfalls by the side of the road were dry, but the colors were amazing.