Sunday, January 16, 2011

Apple pie poptarts and my labmates


Have I mentioned how much I love my labmates? Very much. You know, when you start in a new lab, with a new project, doing stuff you've never done before, things look a little scary. Every little step is full of questions like how should I do this, is this ok, is it gonna work? .

I'm a super lucky gal. I have fantastic labmates who are more than willing to help me every step of the way. They answer my questions, they teach me their tricks and they do it with a smile on their faces. We're a bunch of happy people sharing a tiny space.


But please, don't you think for a second that all we do is work. We do work, but we seriously have too much fun. I usually define our dinamics as a 'shit show'. And excuse my vocabulary, but we're just plain ridiculous. Take for instance the other day, when I was trying to filtrate some stuff and I couldn't reach the filter. There comes my labmate with two large cans and puts one underneath each one of my feet so I can reach. And obviously, two seconds later, the boss shows up and starts laughing at me and says 'ok, we're getting you a stool'. (I did get it!).

That's just one example of ridiculousness. I think our singing is pretty funny too. I share my primary workspace with two very manly guys. Well, they both sang Whitney Houston the other day. I almost dropped what I was carrying.


All in all, I love these guys. I have tons of fun with them and they help me a lot. That's why when C mentioned the other day, how disappointed he was that his mum didn't make apple pie this past thanksgiving, I had an idea. I thought I could make him apple pie in a portable way. And the result are these delicious 'poptarts'. Basically apple pie crust with apple pie filling in a nice cute shape. Pretty and delicious. I bet your coworkers will be happy if you make them!

Apple pie 'poptarts'

For the crust
1 1/4 cups flour
1 stick of butter, cold and cubed
1/8 cup really cold water
1 tablespoon sugar

Mix the butter with the flour and sugar until pebbles form. Use either your hands or a pastry cutter. If you do it with your hands, work fast so the butter doesn't melt. Add the cold water and mix well until you form a homogeneous dough. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour. Once cold, roll the dough to a thickness of about half a centimeter. Cut in rectangles of the same size. You can make them as big or as small as you want.

For the filling
2 large or 3 medium granny smith apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon (I like it a lot)
2 tablespoons of butter, softened

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. If the butter doesn't spread homogeneously, heat the mixture in the microwave for a bit. Make sure your filling is cold when making the poptarts.

For the poptarts
Preheat your oven to 350F
Place the filling (about 2 tablespoons for the size I made) on top of one of the sides of the poptart. Cover with the other side. Seal the edges with the help of a fork and make three cuts in the tarts to release the steam. Brush the tarts with egg wash. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tarts are golden brown and oozing with juices. Enjoy warm or cold!

17 comments:

Ksenia said...

Es una bona idea això de fer pastissos de poma "portàtils". Jo tambè hauria de probar més receptes fàcils de transportar. Cada vegada que vaig algún pastís pels meus amics, tinc el problema de com el transportarè de manera que arribi sencer.

Tens molta sort de poder treballar en allò que t'agrada i a més amb uns companys tan divertits.

Sheena said...

I haven't had pop tarts before, but this sounds like a wonderful combination! I like adding extra cinnamon too :)

La cuina vermella said...

Hola preciosa, veig que t'ho passes mooolt bé i que rius molt amb els teus nous companys. M'encantent aquests poptarts, és més, suposo que els com jo també els deus haver vist en forma de piruleta, són preciosos, veritat?

Therovingbird said...

that is delicious :))

Sabores de Colores said...

Holitas!! feliz año! :) que pastelitos tan ricos, me los apunto!!

Un besito

Jun said...

I love poptarts! I think I can eat this all alone before giving it to my co-workers!

Ninette said...

Great idea! I bet sprinkling the tops with turbinado sugar would be frosting on the cake, so to speak. Like McD apple pies.

Medifast Coupon said...

Superb idea! This is the perfect solution to make labmates happy! The soft warm taste of apple pie in a portable form.

Vicki Wilde said...

I like to feed my labmates to keep them happy too! (I'm a PostDoc in chemistry!) I've always wanted to make my own pop tarts, yours look great!

Carolyn Jung said...

Homemade pop tarts are the best! Puts the store-bought ones to shame. You're lucky to work at a place where you have so much fun. These days, especially in this challenging economy, that can be a rare commodity.

briarrose said...

These are just ridiculously cute. ;) They look delicious. What a wonderful treat to give a friend.

Mercè said...

No m'estranya que els teus labmates t'ajudin amb un somriure a la cara si els regales aquestes delícies!!! ;)
Petons!

Maria said...

Adri, tu vols matar-me amb lo de les llaunes o que??? Estic descollonant-me sola!!!
Bueno, ultimament tinc el riure fàcil ;-P
No m'extranya que us ho passeu tant bé, si es que they love you way too much not to make you laugh!!! Ets una tia collonuda i ho demostres en cada cosa de la que fas!!

Un petonas guapa i parlem pel whaaaaattsssssapppp!!!

Aishhh la recepta com sempre un 10!!!

Lisa said...

Yum! I love the sound of pop tarts, it's been so long since I've had one. Ooh, would love to give this a try.

Rachel said...

awww, I miss my labmates! Such special, wacky relationships develop when people share a work space like that. You're lucky to have such great people around you and they are lucky to have delicious little apple pies!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

I love the chunks of real fruit (never gonna get that with store pop tarts!). I've wanted to make my own treats like this for a while since the storebought ones taste like paste and sugar in my mouth and aren't even worth the calories.

redmenace said...

It is abundantly important to enjoy your coworkers. So glad to hear you're loving them so much. Sounds like loads of fun. The poptarts look so yummy too! xxo

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