Horse races and apple pie... oh my!

Well it doesn't get much more American than horse races and a dinner consisting of hot dogs, mac and cheese, and apple pie.  So here it goes... the all american blog post.  


To start, I will once again copy smittenkitchen and post some pictures of last Thursday's delicious meal:


Hot dogs
Mac n' cheese (http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/10/cheddar-and-elbows-exalted/)
Zucchini and squash
Apple Pie ( http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/cinnamon-sigh/ )

The mac and cheese was to die for... and so easy.  Although, it was a little hard making, as I didn't enjoy adding 1 Ib of cheese to it.  It also doesn't re-heat well.  However, if you are looking for some comfort food that is not lacking in calories and fat, then this is it.  jackpot.

Next up: the best apple pie recipe I've ever come across.  While it wasn't the easiest to make, it was certainly the most delicious.  The recipe called for a lot more butter and shortening in the crust than what I'm used to using.  Because of this, it was really difficult to roll out and manage when getting it into the pie pan and such.  Smittenkitchen made a few suggestions on tweeking her recipe that she posted (and they were great suggestions):

• I used half of the lemon juice and skipped the lemon zest.  For some reason, the apple pie recipes I've always used call for SO MUCH lemon.  It overpowers the pie.  not a fan.
• Double the spices.  you can never have too much cinnamon.  that might be my new life motto.
• Roll the dough between two large pieces of plastic wrap... keeps the dough from sticking to everything (the butter and shortening has something to do with this I think).

Overall, best apple pie I've made. 

On a side note... I know I brag a lot about smittenkitchen, but because of this blog, I finally know how to correctly peel, core, and slice an apple.  This may not sound like a big deal, but I've always had to buy twice the amount of apples the recipe calls for because I waste so much apple by inappropriately peeling, coring, and slicing them.

Now on to the pictures...

Okay... now on to this weekend.  It was a great time with great friends and great weather.  Doesn't get much better.  And who doesn't love horses!!! (well... karly I guess ha:) ) I'll just post some pictures.

I just had to.