Tuesday, December 29, 2009

GV Lives!

I disappeared so that I could take my exams for my certification and then enjoy the holidays. Now that I *gasp* have free time, I intend to be back on more often. Case in point: this weekend I cooked up a storm. A few things were great... and some were not so great. Pretty much everything I made this weekend related to our Christmas celebration.

For Christmas dinner, we ate prawns in a Spanish-style sauce. They were awesome. The shrimp broth/tomato soup I made with the leftovers, heads, and tails? Horrid. It was like a tomato ocean of briney nastiness.

The dessert plan for dinner involved Granny Smith apples turned into a pie, or bake, or something something. Only, when Tiffany (my sister) and I were done cooking dinner, we were exhausted. I could not let those lovely green apples go to waste. The first thing I made was an apple spice cake, using a recipe from a GF cookbook. I have never eaten apple spice cake before, so I really had no idea what to expect. The recipe description says that it is one of the author's "most requested" cakes. It turned out well. To me, the flavor is just okay.

One of the things on my wish list was an ice cream maker. I was soooo excited that my sister gave me one. The other half of those Granny Smith's went into making Granny Smith Apple Sorbet. It's so great! The recipe came ala Martha Stewart. The only change I made was adding juice from half of a lime to prevent browning and adding a little "flavuh."

Granny Smith Apple Sorbet

Makes enough for 10 servings

  • 3 1/2 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and chopped
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Simple Syrup

Directions

  1. Place all ingredients in the jar of a blender; blend until pureed. Transfer mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer sorbet to freezer until firm or up to 3 days.
Simple Syrup

Ingredients

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar

Directions

  1. In a medium saucepan, combine water and sugar over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove and let stand until room temperature. Will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to 1 month

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