Big dinner, apple cake, and the usual Monday blues.

So here we are at Monday again. I swear, time goes by at 4x normal speed on Saturday and Sunday. It seems like just a couple hours ago it was Friday afternoon, and I was anticipating the weekend.


I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. Mine was very nice. I got all dressed up for church, which was fun (though Mark grumbled about having to wear dress pants and a tie), and church was great as usual, plus several people gave their lives to the Lord for the first time. So awesome.


Afterwards Mark and I had lunch with my mom at her place, which was nice, and then after that my work began. I made dinner at our house, which included a half of a ham, parsley potatoes, oven-roasted green beans, and apple cake for dessert. I didn't HAVE to make the dessert, but when we have guests over, I like to have something sweet to serve everyone after dinner (we had our friend Garett and Mark's school friend Bryant over for dinner). Plus Mark and I love the apple cake; it's brown-sugary, cinnamon-y goodness. (If anyone wants the recipe, let me know. It's easy to make, especially if you have a stand mixer, and it's the moistest, yummiest apple/cinnamon-type cake I've ever had.)


After dinner we watched the movie 300, which is totally a "man" movie. Lots of battles, blood, and men growling and shouting. But even though it's not my cup of tea, I have to say that the movie held my attention. But by the time the movie was over and Garett and Bryant went home, I was spent. I wanted to enjoy Easter a little bit longer, but I was just too tired, and I went to bed.


Actually, I'm just going to go ahead and post the apple cake recipe on here, because it's too good not to share:

Apple Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 stick plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples

Crumble Topping:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter.

In a large bowl, cream together the remaining stick of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after the addition of each. In a separate bowl or on a piece of parchment, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.


To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before cutting.




The original recipe called for a brown sugar glaze over top of the cake, in addition to the crumble topping. It seemed like way too much and way too sweet, so I omitted that portion of the recipe. But if anyone REALLY wants to add the glaze, you can get the original intact recipe from the Food Network website.


Enjoy your Monday everyone, and for all of us, I hope it goes fast.