Tuesday, January 11, 2011

What I Made for Dinner: January 11, 2011

Cream of cauliflower soup with garlic croutons; cinnamon apples.

We have had two snow days so far this week.  Snow days are fun for about twenty minutes.  That's how long the boys want to go sledding before someone (a) gets snow on his face or (b) gets ice crusted under the cuffs of his snow pants or (c) has to pee.  (Twenty minutes is also, coincidentally, how long it takes to dig out the snow gear and bundle them up before they can go outside for Big Snow Fun.)

I bet snow days are great in, like, Telluride.  Even, maybe, in upstate New York, where I lived until I was nine.  If everyone has four wheel drive and is going ice skating or snowshoeing or skiing, then hell yeah, a day off school sounds good.  (I don't know whether they have snow days in those places.)  But here in the great plains, we do not do snow activities.  There are no mountains, of course.  Our ponds are not to be trusted for skating because we have frequent thaws throughout winter.  It doesn't make sense to own snowshoes and the like here--we just don't get enough snow.

Anyway, even if we had those things, yesterday and today would have been too cold to use them.  This afternoon found the boys and me huddled in the basement, wrapped in blankets, watching movies.  When I finally had to unhuddle to fix dinner, all I could think of was:  Hot.  Hot soup.  Hot toast.  Hot apples.

Cinnamon apples are something our nanny, Deanna, came up with to give the boys for after-school snacks.  They are really good!

Cinnamon apples (serves 4-6)
3 apples (Fuji, Gala, or Pink Lady work best), cut into half-inch cubes
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (and if you want to get fancy, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg, and a pinch of ground cloves for good measure)
1 Tbsp butter

Combine all the ingredients in a large, microwave safe bowl.  Toss to coat the apples.  Cover and microwave for five minutes on high.  Allow to stand for ten to fifteen minutes, until apples are tender.  Stir and serve.

No comments:

Post a Comment