Starting Fresh

New year, new you, so the advertisers say. I've decided to share with you all the comestibles I'm making and eating these days.

I welcomed the new year with the resolve to eat more fruits and vegetables. That's a nice "resolution" for me, since it is all about being positive. Now I can eat as many fruits and veggies as I want. If I eat chocolate and ice cream on top of that, I won't have a broken any rule, and my motivation will remain intact!

In keeping with my new vow and to make use of the three-kilogram bounty of fresh pink ladies (the apple version) that I hauled off from Trader Joe's last week, I created my version of tarte tatin, the upside-down caramelized apple tart, and topped it off with a scoop or two of creamy vanilla ice cream. (Until there's room in the shared freezer for me to make a batch of the homemade stuff, I have Double Rainbow to thank for a delicious vanilla ice cream blend that is happily corn syrup-free!)

While the tatin's crust didn't come out as flaky as it should have, the caramelized and buttery-soft apples were scrumptious and fared well on their own. Perhaps in the future I'll eliminate the crust and rename these apples, sweet and soft.

For apples, sweet and soft:

7 apples (your favorite variety of Golden apples, sweet and firm) cored and peeled
1/2 stick + 2 tbsp unsalted butter, chopped

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In an 8 or 9" diameter baking pan, place pieces of the 1/2 stick butter. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar on top. Place cored and peeled apples on top of butter/sugar mixture in pan. Scatter the remaining butter and sugar on top of the apples. Place in the oven for 30 minutes, allow apples to soften. Bake for another 20-30 minutes more, for a total of 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until apples are translucent and soft. Serve warm and enjoy with a scoop of your own favorite ice cream!