What's for lunch

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What's for lunch

Try This Apple pie!

Apple Pie, Swedish Style

With a short growing season, Scandinavian harvests are a special occasion. Fruits that keep well or preserve well are especially common in the cuisine of the northern countries.

Apple desserts are autumn and winter favorites. Here's a Swedish Apple Pie to bake with this fall's apples. It doesn't have the typical pie crusts that Americans are used to. Instead, it resembles a coffee cake or cobbler more than a crusted pie. The batter is mixed with the apples and the whole mixture is baked in a pie plate. Much easier than a crusted pie, and a nice change of pace if you're used to the American apple pie.

If you don't have almonds or white whole wheat flour on hand, simpler substitutes are noted.

Swedish Apple Pie

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 cup finely ground almonds (or another 1/4 cup all-purpose flour)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp ground cardamom (optional)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract (or another 1/4 tsp vanilla)

4 egg whites

2 cups apples

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1/8 tbsp ground cardamom (optional)

Peel and chop the apples, set them aside. Mix the flours, sugar, cardamom (optional) and baking powder together, then add the egg whites and blend thoroughly. The batter will be stiff. Fold in the chopped apples. Put mixture into a greased pie plate. Mix the sugar, cinnamon and cardamom together, then sprinkle over the top of the apple-batter mixture.

Bake at 350F for 35 minutes. Serves 4-6.


	The Land of Hot Dogs and Cereal By Christine Clark I have done something I said I never would. All through my years of being a parent, I pitied my friends and relatives who turned a blind eye to it. While dining out, I would roll my eyes whenever I saw other families falling victim to it. I swore to the heavens above that I would never, ever, let it happen in my house. How foolish I was! I have become the parent of a picky eater. After giving birth to the creature who would eat anything and everything placed within two feet of his mouth, I became spoiled. Assuming that all kids ate this well, I looked down upon parents of fussy eaters. I felt it was just a lack of good parenting skills that caused the peas to be picked off the plates and the frigates to go flying. My first born ate everything - from strained asparagus to burgers to Peking duck. There was not a meal he didn't devour with reckless abandon. One could say I was lucky. I didn't realize how many Moms there were who begged and pleaded with their kids to eat a full, nutritious meal. If my son was eating his chicken fricassee, I assumed others were, too. I never thought twice about sautéing scallops or braising beef, because I knew it would be consumed by family members young and old. Then fate dealt me a bad hand.... ....I gave birth to a finicky eater! I should have known trouble was in store for us when our second born spit up his bottle for the first time. Needless to say, we went through ten different brands of formula before we found one to his liking. It was the same with baby food. I scoured the aisles for something - anything - that would please his taste buds. During the short time that my son ate strained foods, he subsisted solely on tapioca, creamed corn and turkey (but only if mixed with applesauce and only if heated to room temperature). Solid foods would be my salvation...or so I thought! At the age of four years, my son's whole dietary plan consists of Lucky Charms cereal for breakfast, hot dogs or peanut butter and jelly for lunch (although the peanut butter & jelly is sometimes switched to breakfast when the mood strikes him) and spaghetti for dinner. On occasion he will allow me to include cheeseburgers (but he eats more of the bun than the burger) or French Toast (but only with a healthy dousing of syrup). Any type of green vegetable touching his plate is considered a heinous act by my son. He has thrown tantrums over lasagna dinners and refuses to touch anything that resembles pork. Desserts are fair game, but only if they are smothered in chocolate or dipped in sugar. The only fruit in his diet comes from the occasional raspberry yogurt or McDonald's apple pie I convince him to eat. I have begged, cajoled, bribed and demanded. I have read tons of magazines articles on the subject and purchased all the parenting books my shelves can hold. Our pediatrician has told me not to worry; that he is healthy and strong. He sent us home with a smirk on his face (for I was one of "those" parents!) and a prescription for vitamins. I have come to the conclusion that my pleading and worrying is all for naught. Some children are just picky eaters and will always be that way. Other kids' tastes change as they grow older. Either way, there is no controlling the situation. So why was I getting myself worked up over something beyond my command? I made up my mind then and there to just go with the flow and follow my son's lead when it comes to his eating habits. Time to stock up on those hot dogs!

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