Thanksgiving wrap up...

Here in Canada we celebrated our Thanksgiving this weekend.  As my boys are still students their part-time jobs mean they work weekends.  My eldest till quite late in the wee hours of the morning, so our festivities usually happen on Monday.  I've not usually had guests for this occasion, simply because my house seems to be shrinking.  I always look forward to a long weekend with my guys.  It's a busy time of year for me and for them and I don't get to snuggle them as much as I NEED to.  At first I thought it might be just two of us for dinner, so I bought a little, little turkey and planned on a great many desserts.  But, my eldest was able to find time to get home and was bringing a guest, ( a pretty one).  The turkey could have been bigger.  Good thing the big guy likes vegetables.  When I got married I decided I wasn't cooking things that I didn't like, why would you? And so as my guys grew I didn't make them eat things they didn't like.  Big mistake.  Now I have to cook an array of different foods to suit everyone's taste buds, but then again what kind of a celebration would it be if only some of the dinners enjoyed the meal, everyone has a right to do that.  So Sasha, meat and potatoes and dessert, Daniel meat, no potatoes, just vast amounts of other vegetables, dessert is optional. Good thing they don't like different beverages.Milk with meals still applies here.  My husband eats everything in large quantities, didn't spoil him.  So I won't bore you with the usual feast recipes but I will share with you my mothers apple cake.  I haven't made this in awhile (probably last Thanksgiving) it's just such a large recipe and I have never really been successful at 1/2ing it.  My complaint with this cake was that it didn't have enough, not enough apples, not enough dough (I am the carb queen you know) and not enough sugar.  It always tastes better the next day, not sure why. 

So here is my edited version:

Babcia Stefi's Apple Cake

Dough

3cups all purpose flour (I use Robin Hood)

2tsp. baking powder

1 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

1/2 lb. butter

3 egg yolks, 1 whole egg (save the whites to use to brush the crust, I always forget to do this)

1tsp. vanilla

Cream butter, sugar add eggs, sour cream and vanilla, add flour which has been sifted together with baking powder. Divide dough in half of the two halves, reserve 1/3 of each piece to make the cross hatching on the top.

Press the remaining larger pieces one each into two 9X12 pans. Then...

In a large bowl combine the following

4lbs. apples peeled and sliced (more to meet the "enough" meter.

tossed with about 3/4c. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon

If your apples seem dry (depending on what you choose to use, I just use the Royal Gala, but the pie type apples are better, anyway if they are dry I would toss a 1/4 lemonjuice into the apples and perhaps a little more sugar, taste if you like.)

Spread 1/2 of the apple combination over each of the pans and then with the remainder of the dough roll out long lattice pieces and criss-cross over each pan. Brush with egg white which has been somewhat beaten with a fork, and sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon. Bake a 350degrees for about 45 min. I like to use coarse sugar for the topping it just glistens more, no real difference in taste.Great served with vanilla ice cream. Smells heavenly in your kitchen.  Don't know how this stores, never any left to do so.