Baked Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Apple Dessert!

I love apples and I like to cook them any way...
I put this together with some influences of other apple recipes and was happy with how it came out by doing the simplest thing.

Ingredients
1/4 brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup raisens
a little square piece of butter for the tops of each apple
3/4 cups boiled water

Recipe yields 4-5 apples (depends on size)

*I had some home made vanilla and just drizzled and very little amount into each apple core before filling.

-Preheat oven at 375 degrees
-Once cored sit aside
-Mix together rest of ingredients than fill the apples to the top. Place the sqaure piece of butter onto the top of each apple.
-Place into pyrex glassware. Pour boiling water around apples than place immedialty into  oven. Let cook for 30-40 mins or until tender.
-Serve warm with vanialla ice cream

Philadelphia Restaurant Week

 http://www.mercatobyob.com/ 

Restaurant week was good to me! I only had to step out about half a block to try the BEST, Italian BYOB restaurant in the city... Mercato

The warm interior with the open kitchen gave it a really nice romantic feel. The bunched together tables and low lights gave you and your significant other a chance to snuggle close and relax while you enjoyed your own chosen bottle of wine.

For Joe and I that night he chose his 1999 Chateau Souverain Cabernet Sauvignon (we drank it all :))

After having the knowledgeable waitress go through the menu items with us we started the night with some Prosciutto, wine-cured Salami, and the creamiest blue cheese I’ve ever had. We also ordered a flight of olive oils with a plum balsamic. The presentation of the oils and the meats were unique because they were brought out on aged cutting boards that had a dark grey finish. They kept refilling our bread two pieces at a time for the olive oil and meats. Personally I like bread baskets because I felt I was bothering them every two seconds for more pieces.

For my main course I had to have a pasta dish because with any true Italian restaurant that’s made on premises. I ordered the Lobster & Shrimp pyramid pasta. It was in a asparagus, parmesan brown butter sauce that was so rich and tasty. The pasta was pinched at the four corners that looked like little peaks or pyramids.

For dessert I had the mascarpone cheesecake with a walnut shortbread base. Maple syrup was drizzled on top. The cheesecake was perfect cool temperature but I could tell the shell was pre made and was a little hard to bite through.

Overall amazing feast. Worth going back for a more in depth dinner and more wine! With the average customer I feel skimping on bread is a no-no. Atmosphere is perfect for a romantic dinner for two. About a half hour after we got there it was packed to the door with groups of friends waiting to be seated.