1973 Apple Cake

The following went through my head while baking this cake:

This cake is going to be so good I should totally blog about it and about how I never really used to like baking...

Whenever I bake I remember my mother-in-law and I making cupcakes for my wedding.  She asked me to take over mixing with the hand mixer.  Thoughts of sunken, deformed cupcakes flashed through my head and I advised her that I should probably just stick with separating the baking cups.  She was very supportive of this decision.

Fortunately, I'm no longer afraid of baking--I'm pretty good at it in fact.  Shoot, I've even got a food blog now.  My apprehensions about baking have a few different causes, but mainly stem from a failed muffin project in my high school Foods class (think home ec, minus the sewing and ironing).  To make a long story short, my muffins 'peaked' and I failed.  Nevermind the fact that no high school senior in the 21st century should ever get an F for peaked muffins...I'm not sure what kind of world that woman was living in...

Shit I forgot the eggs.  [Calling my husband]  I've already added the flour, do you think it's ok to go back and mix the eggs?...no that won't work then the flour will get over-mixed.   [Travis] "Well I've never heard of over-mixing flour."  [Me]  You also didn't know how to properly measure flour, you thought you were supposed to scoop it with the measuring cup.  [Travis]  "I guess you'll just have to throw it out and start over."

Here's where you should imagine the sound of batter hitting the trash bag.  Then, I started again from the top and reentered the world of my thoughts once more...

The Muffin Mishap of 2004 left me scarred and ruined all potential for building baking self esteem.  Plus, baking is all about measuring correctly and mixing for a specified time...it's chemistry and my pyromaniac lab partner and I did not do so hot in that class either.  I'm not the follow-a-recipe type....

How long do I mix this for?  Oh no...wait, that looks ok.  It's gotta be ok because I'm out of applesauce.

Approximately two thirds of all my baking experiences follow this pattern.  I start to get cocky and then I get distracted and the next thing you know the eggs are omitted and the shortbread biscuits are soupy.  Second time is always a charm though, as was the case with this apple cake (so named because the recipe is from 1973).

1973 Apple Cake 
Adapted from The New York Times Magazine

Butter or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the pan
3 cups flour, plus more for dusting the pan
1 1/2 cups applesauce (no sugar added)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups peeled, cored, thickly sliced tart apples
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease & flour 9" bundt pan.  Beat applesauce & sugar together in mixer fitted with paddle attachment while assembling remaining ingredients.  After about 5 min, add the eggs & beat until mixture is creamy.

Sift together flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda.  Stir into batter.  Add vanilla, apples, walnuts, raisins & stir until well-combined.

Transfer to pan.  Bake 1 hr & 15 min.  Cool in pan before turning out. 

I made this cake to take to The Glowing Body's Customer Appreciation Party tonight.  We'll start the evening with kirtan by Sangita Devi and end up around the fire pit with dessert and wine.  Hope to see you there!

1992 Apple Quinoa Salad

What makes a salad a salad?  Is it the dressing? the greens?  I realize this a very deep philosophical question that will require many hours of pondering.  There are those who think salad is a bed of slightly browned iceburg lettuce topped with cubed ham, a mayo-based dressing, and cheese (don't forget the croutons!).  Still others think salad must actually be green and some even allow for salads of the fruit variety or those served on bars.  Obscure music fans think Salad is a pop group formed in London in 1992.

So while this dish doesn't necessarily have greens, it does have fruit and it does have olive oil.  It's a mixture of food stuff most easily eaten out of a bowl.  Some people would call it a grain salad and others (like myself) would go so far as to call it nutrient dense.  It's chock full of Superfoods:  Walnuts contain omega-3s (good for you fats) and help raise HDLs (good for you cholesterol).  We all know an apple a day keeps the doctor away and so do the immune boosting powers of ginger!  Much like that piece of chicken you may have on your plate, the grain in this salad is a complete protein.  Quinoa (KEEN-wah) contains a balanced set of amino acids, has high iron content, and is gluten free.  It comes in different colors and was also the name of a 1992 album by Tangerine Dream.  Because so much music trivia from the year 1992 can be associated with this dish, I decided to call it:

1992 Apple Quinoa Salad
You can eat this dish warm or make it more 'salad-like' by serving it cold on a bed of arugula.

1/2 cup walnuts
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup onion, diced
Quarter-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled & grated (use your cheese grater!)
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 large apple (Fuji, Gala, or Pink Lady work well)
A bit of lemon juice
1 cup frozen peas
Salt & pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread walnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, until slightly browned and fragrant.
2.  In a medium sauce pan, saute onion in oil until translucent. Add ginger and water.
3.  Turn heat up to high and bring water to a boil.  Add quinoa, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer for 25-20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed and quinoa 'uncurls.'
4.  In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa and the frozen peas.  Add salt & pepper.  Cover with a towel and set aside.
5.  Coarsely chop the walnuts.
6.  Core and dice the apple.  Pour a little lemon juice into the palm of your hand, and toss with the apple to prevent browning (be careful if there are cuts on your hand, it will sting!).
7.  Combine the walnuts and apple with the quinoa and peas (which should be the thawed by now).

Get cooking!  While your quinoa is simmering, let me know your definition of a salad.  Also, what else happened in 1992?