WEDNESDAY

Jambon Beurre {Parisian-Style Ham Sandwiches}  |  Carrot Sticks  |  Citrus Salad  |  Teddie’s Apple Cake

Getting two girls packed and prepared to spend four days at a horse show is not easy.  Getting two horses packed and prepared to accompany those girls to said show is even harder.  Horses need a LOT of stuff {even more than girls!}…saddles, bridles, boots, wraps, blankets, sheets, buckets {LOTS of buckets}…I could go on and on.  Yesterday & today were crazy busy but tonight, at 6:30pm, we watched them pulling out of the driveway up at the farm…a very full truck, pulling a very full trailer.  Tonight’s Picnic Dinner will be enjoyed by them as they make the four-hour trip South to Paso Robles & by us…Michael, Max and me…here at home, as we wait for news of their progress and safe arrival at the ranch.

I prepared Teddie’s Apple Cake yesterday morning before the children woke up.  Michael takes the 5:30am ferry into San Francisco every morning so, on those days when I need to tackle a huge to-do list, I get up with him.  Yesterday, as he got into the shower, I made my way downstairs, hit the button on the coffee-maker and proceeded to assemble the simple ingredients for this breakfast/snack/dessert cake.

I made a few changes to the original recipe.  First, I knew, from reading the comments on Food52.com that this recipe produced quite a bit of batter so I planned on making Apple Cake muffins for the girls to take on their trip as well as a simple, single-layer cake made in a spring-form pan that we could enjoy at home.  Second, the recipe called for 2 cups of sugar…I used 1 cup each of white sugar & light brown sugar.  Finally, I omitted the nuts and raisins.

By the time Michael joined me in the kitchen for a cup of coffee, the muffins & the cake were going into the oven.  The muffins were finished in 30 minutes & the cake came out of the oven after 1 hour…just in time for the children’s breakfast!

Teddie’s Apple Cake {adapted from Food52.com}

• Butter {or shortening} for greasing pan {I used baking cups for the muffins}
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting cake pan
• 1½ cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 3 cups peeled, cored and diced tart apples {I used Granny Smith}

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Butter and flour a cake pan of your choosing {a 9-inch tube pan, bundt pan, spring-form pan} and/or line a muffin pan with baking cups.
2. Beat the oil & sugar together until well-combined {3-5 minutes}.  Add the eggs and beat until the mixture is creamy.
3. Sift together 3 cups of flour, the salt, cinnamon and baking soda.  Gradually add the flour mixture into the egg mixture.  Follow with the vanilla & apples and stir until combined.
4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan{s}.  Bake for approximately 1 hour {muffins were finished after 30 minutes} or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool in the pan before removing to a plate.

The Apple Cake & muffins will be a welcome treat tonight on the girls’ long drive as well as a homemade breakfast {instead of fast food} tomorrow morning with a cup of hot coffee or hot chocolate, enjoyed at sunrise before feeding the horses.

With the Apple Cake finished, all that was left to do for tonight’s dinner was make sandwiches…3 ingredients:  GREAT quality ham, GREAT quality European-style butter {I use Kerry Gold} and GREAT quality sweet french baguettes…

The combination of sweet Irish butter & salty ham, wrapped in a blanket of french bread…simply perfect!  Click here to read an article regarding this iconic Parisian sandwich from Saveur.com.

The rest of the picnic…right before I packed it up for the girls ~ any left-over carrots and apples will be shared with the horses…

After returning home this weekend from his whirl-wind trip on the East coast last week, Max is feeling a bit under the weather.  So, instead of carrots & apples, our picnic sandwiches, here at home, were accompanied by Vitamin C-packed citrus…

This lovely winter salad was inspired by a recent lunch at Canal House  & couldn’t be more simple {made from ingredients I had on hand}…3 blood oranges, 3 clementines, 2 meyer lemons, 1 large grapefruit all peeled {take a peek at “How to Peel Citrus” over to the right on this page under “Tools, Tips & Tricks”…to see how you get all that pith off of your lovely, gem-colored citrus} and topped with freshly-sliced scallion & drizzled with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil.  Max is feeling better already!

This evening’s Picnic Dinner was a perfect fit for our busy family schedule today…no cooking required!!

So many riders & their horses will be traveling tonight and throughout the day tomorrow, heading to Paso Robles…safe travels to you all!