Good evening everyone. Hope you had a great Sunday! Scott and I did a little house cleaning – OK, I did the cleaning while he made an apple pie – but that definitely counts as work.
Scott comes from a long line of pie-bakers so I was highly anticipating the first apple pie of the season. Except for the crust, my husband made this pie from scratch – even peeling all of the apples himself. But, at the end, I had the important job of taking the pie out of the oven.
With the pie cooling at home, we headed for lunch at the local Italian eatery.
I had a cup of minestrone soup and a veggie-goat cheese personal pizza. I was getting full after the soup and two slices of pie (pizza, not apple) so I saved two pieces of pizza for lunch later in the week.
After lunch, we headed to Williams Sonoma so that I could sign up for my first-ever cooking class! It’s not that I don’t know how to cook (although Scott may disagree), but I’ve always wanted to take a culture-specific cooking class. This one, which is next Wednesday, is all about French cooking. So cool! And anyone who reads my other alter-ego blog knows how much I love France and Europe in general.
The rest of the afternoon was full of more shopping with a trip to Barnes and Noble and a highly worthwhile trip to Ann Taylor Loft! They have these new very feminine t-shirts in all different colors. I may or may not have bought the shirt in a few different colors, as well as a few camis.
For dinner, I made homemade chicken soup with orzo soup (see I can cook!).
The soup was really easy to make, full of flavor, and very low in calories.
After soup, I got busy making homemade caramel sauce for the apple pie. I’ve made caramel sauce before but just couldn’t find the recipe anywhere. So, I found a simple recipe on the Internet and went to work. Well, the first batch I made burned so bad it turned back into hardened sugar. Not fun. The second batch turn out ok, although I did not let the sugar brown as much as I could have and the color looks more like dulce de leche, rather than caramel. But, it still tasted good over the apple pie…
So messy, gooey, and yummy – all at the same time! The flavor of the caramel was fantastic! Along with sugar, water, and cream, I also used a very posh vanilla that was sent to me called Nielsen-Massey Mexican Vanilla. Oh my gosh, if you’ve never had high end vanilla, this is so worth it! Nielsen-Massey also sent me several other extracts – coffee, lemon, etc. – which I can’t wait to try this holiday season! FYI – you can get the extracts at Williams Sonoma but they are expensive!
Now, it’s off to bed for me. Monday mornings have been coming very early these days.
Night all!
@runwithcake
wow that is SO cool that you signed up for a cooking class at Williams-Sonoma…I hope you blog abt it! And veggie-goat cheese pizza? Wow!
I LOVE that the hubbie makes such delicious pies. I think that had to be a cincher in the marriage.
And what a delicious soup for dinner! Homemade soups are always the best kind.
xxoo
Heather
I wish I had a pie making husband. It looks delicious! I’m glad you did it right with the vanilla ice cream on top. It must have been so good!
I’ve always wanted to take a Williams Sonoma cooking class but have no one to go with. I should just work up the courage and go alone. Can’t wait to see how it goes
OMG, I hope to marry a pie making hubby one day!
You are one lucky girl. 
Your soup and pizza both look fantastic. Now, I’m craving homemade soup. It’s gotten chilly all of a sudden here.
Sophia – I know! I’m so excited about the class. The woman said that we actually get to eat the food too and it’s enough for a meal. I’ll be sure to take a few pics!
Heather – Yes, Scott is definitely a keeper. I ate soup from a can for many years before I met him. I’m so glad I found a guy who can cook!
Mia (Runs and Rests) – I am very lucky! He not only cooks, but he’s also a computer programmer/software developer. So I guess you could say I married a nerdy cook. I am definitely well fed and always have a tech guy in the house.
Christina, I would definitely go to a class alone (as long as it’s safe for you). I took a French class by myself at the local college two years ago (I already have a Master’s degree, so it was just for fun). I had a great time doing something on my own – just for me! I highly recommend it.