Hello Dubai!

I have some epic (but only mildly food-related) news to share. Andy and I are moving to Dubai! His company is sending him to the Middle East to work, and I'm tagging along to play! We'll be there for about 3 months in early 2011, and we're ridiculously excited for the adventure of a lifetime.


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Since I don't have any concrete plans yet over there (besides exploring the biggest mall in the world), I'm hoping to use my time to learn about the food of the region: how to shop for it, make it, and especially eat it. I'm also planning on sharpening my photography skills and working on my 101 in 1001 goals list (which expires next summer), honing the fine art of napping (kidding. Sort of.), and taking plenty of weekend trips to places I've never imagined I'd get to go.


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I'm pretty flabbergasted that we have such a cool opportunity, and I can't wait to share it with all of you. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to start another blog just for our travels, but you can bet that if it's food-related (and really, what isn't food-related with me?!), I'll post about it here.

Tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa:

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Has anyone ever been to Dubai? I'd love some insider advice.

Caramel Apple French Toast

Our CSA box has been on apple overload for the last few weeks. Eating them plain got boring pretty quickly (pears are my fall fruit of choice anyways), so I've been experimenting with interesting ways to cook and bake with them. In the last 3 days, I've made Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie, a plain old Apple Pie, and this amazingness. Caramel Apple French Toast.



It couldn't be easier, especially if you have one of these apple corer/slicer/peeler doodads. I just got one on clearance. After I got past the fact that it looks like a medieval torture device and that it took two of the smartest men I know at least 15 minutes to figure out how to set it up, I now believe it's the neatest [non-electronic] thing I own. It definitely makes the whole coring/peeling/slicing process a lot less aversive.

The recipe below is just for the apples; here is my favorite French Toast recipe. While the apples are caramelizing, make the French Toast, and before you know it, you'll be sitting down to a sweet plate of fall-inspired goodness, and copious amounts of praise from your dining companions.

One last note: don't feel like you have to limit yourself to French Toast. I'm picturing this caramel apple topping on ice cream, pancakes, waffles, as a cake filling, and... did I mention ice cream?!

Caramel Apple French Toast
Makes 8 slices
Apples adapted from Annie's Eats
Printable Recipe

5 tbsp. unsalted butter
½ cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. apple pie spice or cinnamon
5-6 Granny Smith, Fuji, or mixed apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
French Toast
Maple syrup (optional)
Whipped cream (optional)

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, salt and cinnamon and cook for 1 minute, until bubbling. Mix in the apple slices and toss well to coat. Cook over medium to medium-high heat until tender and most of the liquid has been reduced, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. While the apples are caramelizing, make the French Toast. Place French Toast on plates and top with the caramelized apples. Serve with maple syrup and whipped cream if desired.

Pumpkin Pie Bars

This time of year, I'm constantly on the prowl for new and interesting ways to use pumpkin. Muffins? Been there. Bread? Done that. Cake? I'm ready for something new. These Pumpkin Pie Bars definitely fit that mold. They're lighter and more casual than pie, but have all the flavor and creamy texture that you'd expect from a thick slice. Plus the added bonus of chocolate chips on top.



I have a confession to make. I've been suffering from writer's block lately. I've been baking and cooking, but when I sit down to write, everything that comes through my fingers onto the page sounds trite and contrived and I wind up deleting it. I'm not sure where this came from. I used to crave sitting down at my computer to blog after making and photographing my latest creation, but that craving is in hiding these days. It's not that I'm uninspired, I just can't find the words.

Fellow writers, how do you overcome writer's block? Maybe I'll start with a pumpkin pie bar.

Pumpkin Pie Bars
Adapted from Joy the Baker, originally from Kraft
Printable Recipe

1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter or margarine
1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a handful of chocolate chips for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13×9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides; grease foil. Combine flour, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar in a medium bowl; cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in oats.

2. Reserve 1 cup oat mixture; press remaining onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes. Beat cream cheese (be sure it's well softened), remaining sugar, eggs, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla with a mixer until well blended. Pour over crust; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture and a handful of chocolate chips.

3. Bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Use foil to transfer dessert from pan to a wire rack; cool completely before cutting.