Two years ago: Eggnog Waffles + A Few Favorite Kitchen Things ** True story: At my book signing in NJ last weekend, I was asked to copy several words in Latvian into a book inscription and although I had a few concerns - not speaking a word of Latvian, for all I know I was signing away my second born and not wishing an aunt a happy 70th - I also have had zero chances to date to write anything in Latvian in my life so how could I say no? Previously I know that the obituaries have been written about blogging for half a decade now and I’ve read them all, but I’m still here and you are too, and it would be a shame if I kept any of them from getting Dutch apple pie onto our tables this weekend. I like it a whole lot, it makes me happy, and I’m miles from running out of ideas. * One of the most frequently asked questions in the Q&A portion of most book tour stops has been “so, what’s next?” “A nap,” I usually joke, or “Well, I’ve been super busy lately so I’m looking forward to something I called Sloth January and it involves a lot of yoga pants but very little yoga.” But I know that this is when you’re supposed to announce your product line or plans for food world domination (“perhaps, if it could be scheduled between 4 and 5 on Thursdays” is an answer I gave in an interview a few weeks ago, and probably all the reason you need to never interview me) and the honest truth is so much less headline-grabbing: I’d like to get back to blogging right here, for as long as right here will have me. I also want to warn you about one more thing: I don’t think you have to look too deep in this site’s archives to find evidence of my devotion to American-style pie but do know that I had a single bite of this warm pie with a pillow of barely sweetened cream and wondered how or why I’d ever want to eat American apple pie again. It’s fragrant and buttery and rustic but fancy and the only proper way to eat it, or so many things worth eating, is mit schlag (with whipped cream), really an inordinate amount too, so save those dainty dollops for a different party. I realize that Dutch apple pie may not be everyone’s or even most people’s Christmas tradition but will you look at this glorious thing? I think it deserves a chance. I hope this is a good omen for the year to come, as my cooking wish list for 2018 could fill five calendars, and for you too: this is much, much easier than it looks. It does not always happen - figuring things out on an early go - but this time it did. First I had to watch a lot of videos of home cooks making it and, as no two recipes precisely agreed, basically just throw my hands in the air and hope I could work it out in the kitchen. Fortunately, around this time I remembered that one of my son’s good friend’s mom is Dutch and she was happy to set me on the right course: yes the lattice is shiny, the dough is sweet and more buttery tasting than its American counterpart, the end result looks more like a cake, and please remember to send all samples over.įrom there, I was off to the races… sort of. There seems to be a divide wherein American home cooking sites largely refer to a Dutch apple pie as a deep-dish apple pie (sometimes, but not always, in a cake pan) with a crumb topping and Dutch (or Dutch-sounding I do not speak the language** so am making an educated guess) cooks use a more cookie-like dough that’s cross-crossed on top with a shiny finish. Before I abandoned you (online) to spend time with you ( in person) the better part of the last two months, leading to premature but rightly deserved obituaries*, I spend about half of the fall I was in town for obsessed with Dutch apple pie, and a significant amount of that time trying to understand what it was and was not.
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