Finishing up the summer peach ice cream with some warm chai-spiced apple bread.
Little Transitional Seasonal Indulgence
Cake-Like, Bread-Like
Heh. People ask how I get so much done; my family helps, is part of it. Kevin made two double-batches of my chai-spiced apple bread for me yesterday, but amusingly, he did something differently between the two batches, and is not sure what.
One is a little more cake-like, the other a little more bread-like. Maybe he forgot to double the butter? I’m pretty sure that’s it, but luckily, both batches are delicious, so it doesn’t really matter. 
There’s also more active swirling on the second batch, which results in more of the sugar-spice mix caramelizing on the top.
Recipe is here (if you want it more bread-like, you might try cutting the amount of butter in half — no guarantees, though!): https://serendibkitchen.com/…/09/chai-spiced-apple-bread/
And yes, I have a Nordicware molded pan problem, I know. I know!
A Conversation Between Wonderland Guards
Two Wonderland guards, a conversation:
Bob: “But Joe, *why* does the Red Queen want us to gild all the animals of the forest?”
Joe: “Come on, Bob, you know better than that. You remember when the Red Queen made us paint all the white roses red?”
Bob: “Yes, of course. That took us three solid weeks! The bloomin’ rose trees kept putting out more roses — we could barely keep up!”
Joe: “And you remember what happened to Tim when he started asking questions?”
Bob: “Not really. Though, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen Tim around in quite a while.”
Joe: “Exactly, Bob. Exactly. Word to the wise, innit?”
Bob: “If you say so, Joe.”
Joe: “Just gild, Bob. Gild like your life depends on it…”
“…(and be grateful that these animals are only going in the higher tier boxes…)”
Veined With Gold
The autumn leaves are veined with gold in Wonderland…
Cinnamon-Tossed Mulled Self-Picked Apple Cider Marshmallows
Will you believe me if I tell you they taste even better if you make them with apples you picked yourself? Honestly, I have no idea if they do — the apples Jed and I picked will be saved for cheddar-apple pie and chai-spiced apple bread.
I use ready-made grocery store cider for mulling, because I don’t actually have the time or energy to press enough apples to get a decent quantity of cider. 
They still come out DELICIOUS.
Recipe here: https://serendibkitchen.com/2019/11/14/1859/
Thirty Seconds of Marshmallow-Making, 10 Minutes In
Thirty seconds of marshmallow-making, ten minutes in.
Thirty Seconds of Marshmallow-Making, 1 Minute In
Thirty seconds of marshmallow-making, one minute in.
Green Tomato and Apple Chutney
Savory Oatmeal with Shallot, Green Chili, Cheddar, and Egg
The flavors are pretty Sri Lankan — I was remembering eating cheese toast (maybe made with cream cheese instead of cheddar?) with onion and green chili on the beach with Yudhanjaya Wijeratne and Suchetha Wijenayake and Navin Weeraratne and Mandy Jayatissa, late at night while Kavi fell asleep with her head on the table. I miss Sri Lanka. Worrying about them.
*****
Start steel cut oats cooking in water. Slice shallot and green chili (in retrospect, I wish I’d done two chilies, but one is probably plenty for most folks), sauté in butter or ghee or oil, seasoning with salt and pepper. (I actually made a double batch of the oats and the shallot-chili mixture; I’m going to save it in the fridge and try the other half of it with different toppings tomorrow.)
Shred 1/4 c. of good cheddar cheese. When oatmeal is almost cooked, fry an egg sunny-side up (or over-easy, or poached, etc…) with salt and pepper.
Stir cheese into cooked oatmeal, top with egg, enjoy! I thought this was pretty good, though it may take a little while for me to get used to savory oatmeal.
*****
See us all on the beach back in 2018: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10159024822294616
Oatmeal Failure
Well, recent oatmeal was sort of a failure, because I was distracted when I was making it (always a danger cooking before the ADHD meds have kicked in), and I put in rolled oats instead of steel-cut oats, but set the timer for 20 minutes, so the oatmeal ended up kind of glue-y, which is NOT my favorite texture; I could only make myself eat about half of it.
Which is a shame, because the *concept* was good — crystallized ginger cooked in with the oatmeal, making lovely little soft ‘pings’ of gingery goodness, topped with cashew butter and banana. I’ll likely try it again sometime. Link in comments to a big bag of chopped up crystallized ginger, making it easy to add in.
But today I’m not in the mood for sweet, so moving on to attempting savory oatmeal. Stay tuned.
