FRENCH APPLE TART

First of all, to the people who have been commenting here and there, HI! and thanks for checking in. I want to figure out how to do that thing where you can respond directly to a particular comment, but until then, we roll on, with an occasional hello and know that I feel a warm glow and have pleasant feelings when I hear from so and so. 

Speaking of warm glow and pleasant feelings, they have been a scarcity around here this week.  Work days have been sucking the life right out of me (yes, even more than usual!) and it is dark when I get home. (Although yesterday, after such a day, I came home to a wonderful dinner made by my mother-in-law who was visiting, and then later that night, Ken and I got lots of laughs watching Sloane do this thing where she would run as fast as she could towards her bed and then face plant...over and over again. So.)

Remember how I was all let's brainstorm ways to survive the cold? Well, this week's coping mechanism has been random snacks right before I go to sleep, probably just as much a comfort thing as it is a warming thing.  For example, two nights ago, I cooked up some oatmeal, mixed chocolate hazelnut spread into the oatmeal and topped it with some sliced bananas.  Last night, I mixed chocolate hazelnut spread into some greek yogurt, and spread that on top of a cracker. Earlier this week I made a double batch of Half Baked Harvest's amazing Thai Peanut Chicken and Pumpkin Curry with Pomegranate Sticky Rice, ate it for two days and I'm craving more, days later.  Coming up this weekend, I'm going to try A Beautiful Mess' Broccoli & Cheddar Bake (thanks Astrid!).  

And since I've brought us to the topic of food, on to this french apple tart I want to tell you about!  You know a recipe is good, easy and reliable if I make it FOUR times in two weeks. That's right, four. It's recipe for french apple tart from Ina Garten that has become my favorite baked apple thing this fall.

After you make the pie crust, slice your apples while your dough is chilling in the fridge. 

Roll out your dough to a rectangle and place it on your baking sheet (I lined with alumnium foil). 

Top with sliced apples, sugar and butter. 

Place in the oven for 40-45 minutes (keep your eye on it towards the end so that the edges don't burn). 

Once out of the oven, glaze the top with apricot mixture. 

Sloane loved helping me and took her job very seriously. 

And there we have it! This isn't the greatest picture, you get the idea. (Another picture of tart in action here).