In my Jammies In the Kitchen

   Yesterday was a stay at home in my robe kind of day. I spent the morning cuddled up on the couch watching old movies with Bill. We soon got bored with that and Bill headed to the kitchen with the idea of making his "Everything but the Kitchen Sink Soup", I headed to my daily routine getting my day rolling.
   Once Bill cleared out of my kitchen I took up residents for the rest of the day. I finished cleaning the kitchen (yes Bill cleans up after himself except counters, stove top, any hand washing needed doing) and then I got busy messing it up again.
   I was in the mood to bake something and in general just stay in my kitchen trying to heat up the world. I almost passed by the recipe because it looked so difficult. The ingredient list itself was large enough to intimidate. I decided to try it any way. As I always do when ever I am going to try a new recipe I read it through completely and then re read it again. For this recipe I figured I would work in steps starting with the crust and the crust was my first struggle of the day. I followed the recipe as written and learned quickly that lightly floured is not enough, you need plenty of flour on your working surface and rolling pin. I rolled the dough out large enough to lay over the edges all around the 9/13 pan. I will later learn that that difficult task was not needed and in fact a waste of time. The dough made and rolled out I cleaned up the kitchen and made the apple filling,that went smooth and easy. I put the apple mixture into the crust covered pan and spread it out in a thin even layer.As I was doing this step it was becoming clear to me that the top and bottom crust I was so diligent in rolling out were way bigger then I was ever going to need. It took a few awkward moments but I figured out what size I needed the crust to be and how to cut it, I still had a heavy crust around the edge but nothing like it could have been. Into the oven my Apple Pie Bar went for the better part of an hour giving me time to once again clean the kitchen before step 3 the glaze.

Apple bars

 This recipe took me almost 3 hours to complete and it was exactly what I needed. There is always such a sense of peace and happiness when I find a rhythm in the kitchen.

   "What Was Dinner"? looking back at Wednesday, Comfort food to warm the belly and soul was the desire of the day. Bill spent all day  plowing out the neighborhood and came home late in the afternoon frozen to the bone. Dinner needed to be soothing as well as satisfying and what better then good old fashion Meat Loaf to meet those requirements. I made baked potatoes and salad to go along with the meat loaf and to give dinner a little kick I made a garlic Aioli recipe. I had never made Aioli before and I picked the easiest looking recipe in the group with some of the best reviews and I picked right.

Garlic Aioli

  I made the Aioli to top the potatoes but Bill topped everything with it and almost licked the bowl. There is no recipe for the meat loaf, I just add bread crumbs, milk, egg, seasoning, and Worcestershire sauce to the meat combine well put in a loaf pan top with bbq sauce or ketchup and bake at 400 until done 45 minutes give or take.

 A perfect ending to a very busy very cold day.
     I hope your Friday is Funtastic and full of warmth. Thank you for stopping by.