Favorite Things Archives - Page 4 of 8

One Kitchen Tool I can’t Live Without…

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Sherri

An Apple Peeler!

In a previous post, I mentioned how my son got us hooked on apple picking when he was in kindergarten. I wasn’t kidding when I told you he must have eaten 3 or 4 apples a day. I remember the proud expression on his face as he ate one of the apples he picked. I remember the enthusiasm in which he asked for apple after apple very clearly all these years later. I also remember how my hands hurt every night after peeling all of those apples.

Enter my new best friend in the kitchen… The APPLE PEELER

I was shopping with a friend and telling her the apple story and how much my hands were starting to hurt. I said it laughingly, but it was true. While we were waiting in line, I happened to see the very apple peeler in the photo above. It was quite a coincidence. I didn’t think it would work very well and I figured it would be one of those things I’d end up returning. However, if what the package said was true, I’d be eating a spiraled apple in no time. In addition, it looked like a cool gadget and just like Meghan Trainor’s hit song… All About the Bass, I’m all about the cool kitchen gadget!

When I got home, I couldn’t wait to open the box and slice an apple. I placed the apple on the prongs, turned the handle a few times and voila, I had an apple sliced into rings like an accordion! It not only sliced the apple in even slices, it took the peel off* and cored it. It worked like a charm and was really very cool. I couldn’t wait for my son to get home from school, and see the magic!

The bus pulled up, my son ran into the house, washed his hands, and asked for a snack. I sliced up an apple, put it on a plate and when he saw it, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The expression on his face was priceless. As he picked up the rings, he used two of them as eyeglasses to look through and called me the apples of his eyes!

That year I bought about 6 of them and gave them out as gifts as holiday presents, anniversary presents, as hostess gifts, if there was an occasion, you were getting an apple peeler. I think I even gave my son’s teacher one. An apple peeler for everyone! I purchased them at Bed, Bath & Beyond, but have also seen them in groceries, and sometimes TJ Maxx and HomeGoods. It’s really a handy kitchen gadget. It makes life easier when making applesauce, or you can bake the rings and make apple chips. I have even been known to use the slices to decorate an apple cake. If you decide to buy one, let me know how you like it. Enjoy!

*On a side note, you can leave the peel on the apple if you’d like, there is an option to do that.

Mark your Calendars!

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Sherri

Come for coffee and… A Splash of Sherri!

Scenes from a Holiday Table

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Sherri

Autumn brings the beginning of a new school year, cooler weather, apple picking, and foliage rich in beautiful hues of red, orange and yellow as the leaves begin to change color. It’s my favorite season and the one I missed most when growing up in Florida. The season also brings a new year for the Jewish people filled with traditional food, and hopes for a sweet new year. The past couple of weeks have been filled with holidays, family, friends and a lot of food! There was what seemed to be endless cooking going on in my kitchen, and a lot of eating around the table. I had a checklist of all that needed to be accomplished. Plan menu – check! Purchase groceries – check! Bake apple cake – check! Braid the challah – check! Make holiday boxes for college students – check!

I put together holiday boxes which were mailed to college kids in the middle of September. They included mini apple cakes, challah rolls, small honey bears, candy and apples. It’s a little taste of home for the holidays. I started making them last year for my son and niece and this year was a little late in advertising, but still managed to sell a few making an even dozen to be sent off as far away as Arizona, New York, Texas, Virginia, Indiana, and here in Ohio. For upcoming holidays I’m working on adding a link to the side of my website for ordering.

The holidays also bring my in-laws to town. It’s great having them join us every year. We really look forward to their visit and spending time with them. After the holiday is celebrated, we then carry out our traditional apple picking excursion, yes – I went apple picking again! This time we picked golden delicious and Jonathan apples. Both fantastic and extremely different from one another, yet both perfect for dipping into honey! Of course I can’t leave the farm without apple salsa, which gets opened immediately when we get home! As for my mother-in-law, her visit isn’t complete until she goes home with a wagon filled with butternut squash, which she will turn into a delicious and creamy golden soup!

During the holiday, it is customary to have raisin challah that is round, which symbolizes the circle of life and changing seasons. I thought I would try adding chopped apples instead of raisins this time, and it was the best challah I have ever made! It tasted like cake but, hey, it’s the holiday so what’s a little cake with your meal? Plus, it’s customary to have a sweet challah on the holiday. Okay, now that I justified it, we can move on!

SONY DSC

Bread and apples are dipped into delicious golden honey, to insure a sweet year ahead. This year I found beautifully packaged honey at a local farmer’s market. The honey is from a local beekeeper named Brad from Brad’s Bees which graced our table in a beautiful vintage jar and the taste was amazing! I purchased their summer wildflower honey which is a premium light honey derived from various wildflowers here in Columbus. Wildflower honey will vary in taste from year to year. This must be an exceptionally good year as it was sweet and mild with a beautiful amber color. What a great way to start off the holiday!

Finally apple cake finished off our meal, which is a good thing since I must have 50 pounds of apples in my house! All-in-all, it was a wonderfully delicious holiday! The next few weeks will be filled with more holiday food adventures I look forward to sharing with you! L’Shana Tova… wishing you a good year!

Edible Columbus

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Sherri

This past Tuesday night I attended the Fall issue release party for Edible Columbus. It was held at Whole Foods in Dublin, Ohio. There was live music and great food provided by Whole Foods. Edible Columbus is a local publication available in Columbus, Ohio. They celebrate local foods and aim to connect the community with local farmers, artisans, entrepreneurs as well as local restaurants and food happenings around the town. You can’t help love their mission statement and it’s one I truly share. “Our mission is to change the way we eat – one story at a time.” Check their website to find where you can pick up the latest issue.

Honeycrisp Apples… What’s all the Hype?

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Sherri

If you live in the Midwest, you know that last week was the beginning of honeycrisp apple season. If you live anywhere else in the country, allow me to share a glimpse of what that means…

Local farms will advertise the day “u-pick” is available for whatever produce they have available. The farms post on their websites which variety of fruit or vegetables will be available, or you can sign up for email alerts. What is u-pick, my New York friends are asking? Well, it’s exactly that. You go to a farm and pick your own apples, blueberries, pumpkins – whatever is in season. It is so much fun my friends and family look forward to it all year. I was first introduced to apple picking soon after we moved to Ohio. My son’s kindergarten class went to a local orchard and for weeks following he ate apples with breakfast, lunch, and dinner! The next year we went as a family and have been doing so ever since. Lynd’s Farm has a corn maze, farm stand with fresh baked goods, and the best fruits and vegetables you can find. I think Autumn is the best time to go. That’s when they have hot apple cider and warm doughnuts.

Watch out! — Watch out Lauren, Judy’s on a mission – leave no apple behind!

Honeycrisp time is something completely different. We go to Lynd’s Fruit Farm every year. The picking is always on a Friday and the apples go fast. Some years they have been sold out by noon. My girlfriends and I have made honeycrisp picking a tradition for the past 3 or 4 years now. We get the kids off to school, designate a driver and off we go! The plan is to get to the farm before they open, wait on the car line that extends for miles, talk about which side of the orchard we should go to and how crazy we are for waiting to do this! Then for the next hour or so taste and pick the most deliciously juicy apples you can imagine and realize it was all worth it. With the first bite, you know why they are called honeycrisp. They are sweet with a hint of honey flavor, very crisp and juicy. What we always find amazing is that every tree yields a slightly different tasting apple. This year after each of us picking our 20+ pounds of apples, we dragged our bags to the car only to find the best tree when it was too late! Every year, we also learn something new from fellow apple pickers. One year we were impressed with the family who came with the wagon so you didn’t have to schlepp your apples around. The next year it was the woman with the step stool so she could reach the higher parts of the trees – genius! One of the best tips we got was from the women who had laundry baskets in their car. After picking, they put the plastic bags filled with apples in the basket so they won’t roll around in the car on the way home.

JUDY RETOUCHED smaller — My friend Judy is the apple in the middle!

I’d like to tell you that there will be great recipes on my blog featuring them, but I’m not sure there will be! For one thing, I think they are too delicious eaten as is to do anything else with them. But who knows, I may change my mind. We met a woman who came with a wagon and picked about 60 pounds of apples! She was planning on making a lot of pies. I should have gotten a little friendlier with her!