Friday night's disaster

Wayne's first full day home. It was fabulous. We both had early morning appointments and then we met back at home and just lounged all day long.. perfect =) I promised another home cooked meal. But I wanted to try something new. We've had cornish hens many times and enjoy them very much. Usually we deep fry. Tonight I wanted to try another recipe I've had for years but hadn't gotten to yet. Simply called "Seasoned Cornish Hens" I have no idea where I got the recipe. Basically, it was just a marinade and then you bake the hens. Easy, eh? 'kay well the marinade was easy - basically soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic and pepper. No problem. Here's where the problem was.. we were suppose to have the hens on Saturday night as we were going out to dinner Friday night. Well... once you and your honey have lounged all day - the thought of having to get gussied up for food just isn't as appealing anymore. So we pushed dining out until Saturday. Luckily, I had taken the hens out of the freezer early that morning. By 6 pm they were probably 85% thawed. So I figured I could count on an extra 15 minutes (give or take) in cooking time. Wrong. TWO hours later - two 1 pound each Cornish hens were NOT done. By this time, we were salivating.. literally drooling because we were so hungry and they smelled so good. But we couldn't eat! I left them in for another 30 minutes.. to still find their juices were no where near clear.. so we said screw it. Cut them up and broiled the pieces until they were done. The hell? My thermostat said 350º. My oven said 350º. I don't get it. But all was not lost.. my side dish was to die for.. thank gawd. I diced two red garnet sweet potatoes, steamed them until they were fork tender and then spread them on a baking sheet and slathered them with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar and baked them until they were crispy on the outside. Divine. For desert, I had made my apple crisp.. it was perfect. Recipe follows =) Apple Crisp For the apples: 6 to 8 peeled, thinly sliced baking apples (I used Granny Smith) 1 c. white sugar 1 TBS. flour 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. nutmeg For the crisp: 2 c. quick oats 1 1/2 c. flour 2 c. brown sugar 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 c. butter, melted 1 tsp. cinnamon For the whipped cream: 1 c. heavy whipping cream 2 TBS. confectioner's sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350º Coat the apples evenly with the first 5 ingredients. Combine the remaining ingredients well, and press 1/2 to 1/3 of the mixture into a 9" x 13" x 2" Pyrex baking dish. Place apples on crust evenly. Scatter the remaining crisp mixture on top of the apples, evenly. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. *Note: This is a sweet apple crisp. If you prefer a more tart apple crisp, cut the white sugar down considerably. This is also a Splenda friendly recipe. I have substituted both the white and brown sugars for Splenda's white and brown sugars and it turned out very good. For the whipped cream: About 1 hour before ready to serve, place your mixing bowl and mixers (or the whisk attachment if you use a KitchenAid mixer) in the fridge. After your bowl and mixers are well chilled, whisk the heavy cream at medium fast speed until it starts to form soft peaks. At this stage, add your sugar and vanilla. Whisk until just incorporated. Do not over mix.