This is the fourth day of Meat & Potatoes. Which is a lot of these hearty starchy partners, I know. But I have promised a week of these satisfying meals– so plod on I must!

We started with a traditional Pot Roast. Well, not that traditional, because I roasted my veggies separate and gave the sauce a big swig of vinegar. Thus improving both the taste and texture of this one-dish-wonder.

Speaking of traditions. The French have a Lamb & Potatoes gratin of sorts that they call Lamb Champvallon. In Day 2 I tweeked tradition, re-wrote history and updated my version with a bold new spice and boneless chunks of succulent lamb.

So as not to appear ready to re-write the culinary history of just one country. I also let loose my imagination on the Scots. They have a traditional side dish made with Turnips & Potatoes that they call Neeps & Tatties. Well, Sippity Sup was named after a nursery rhyme afterall, so it just made sense to translate the lyrical nature in that phrase for my selfish purposes. So I came up with Neeps & Tattie-Cakes, making my version reminiscent of another great bit a children's verse. I chose to serve these Tattie-Cakes with Zinfandel Braised Short Ribs.

For today’s Market Matters at the Hollywood Farmers Market I brought home adorable little mini-sized apples. This is the 5th recipe in my An Apple A Day series and it is an entirely original recipe. I am calling it Pecan Stuffed Tempura Apples.

The thing about making up a recipe and posting it on a blog all in one day is that you have to realize it is a work in progress. I had to make this recipe one apple at a time, changing my method slightly each time until I got something I was happy with.

There may still be room for improvement here and I am open to your suggestions.

Although this recipe was delicious and I am very happy with the flavor combination. I will admit I had some trouble with the texture. My first attempt I stuffed a raw apple then battered and fried it. But the apple did not quite get cooked enough. As I had hoped, the interior stuffing got hot enough so that when I cut into the apple the pecan stuffing oozed out in a very satisfying manner. But there was just too much crunch left in my apple.

Well, I don’t really know where to start.

You probably know this is day 4 in my An Apple A Day series. I mean that’s why you are here right? You certainly could not have googled your way on over, because today’s post is just too odd, too random.

Because I have a recipe for an easy but elegant pâté served with sautéed maple-glazed apples, and this recipe is sharing the stage with a pie-eating contest. See what I mean, you never would have googled that!

Which leaves me with the same question. Where to start?

I guess I will start with the pâté. Don’t let the term pâté scare you off. It’s not a difficult preparation. I based this recipe on Michel Richard’s Chicken Faux Gras. I simplified it, though his version is not too difficult either. He serves it with a Parsley Gelée that is every bit as ingenious as the cleverly named faux gras. But this is apple week… so no parsley for Sup!

Instead I paired my pâté with some maple glazed apple slices. It’s a natural pairing of flavors and really works well with the earthy richness of this chicken liver spread. I am pretty happy with my concoction.

We are already on our third recipe in this Apple A Day series and I just realized we never really talked about choosing a good apple.

You know the phrase about one bad apple spoiling the bunch. That can be interpreted very broadly and metaphorically if you like. But it’s also a literal truism when it comes to actual apples. Ripe apples emit ethylene gas as they age and ethylene gas is a party drug to apples. One whiff of the stuff and perfectly fine apples think the party is ending and they hasten their own ripening process, leading quite quickly to the rotting process. Chilling apples can slow the party down, so it is one fruit I do keep in the fridge. But chilled or no, apples should not be kept in a bag or a pile. They are less likely to pass (ethylene) gas onto their neighbors if they are stored in a single layer.

Since bad apples can be so detrimental to good apples, I usually start my choosing process by eliminating the bad apples.

“An apple a day…”

You know the rest of that phrase in the traditional sense. I know you do. But here at SippitySup that phrase means I have slipped into one of my moods and I plan to post an “Apple A Day” for an entire week.

That’s right, nothing but apple recipes for an entire week. It’s the perfect subject for a weeklong series too, because apples have become part of the culinary culture of these United States.

There are historical reasons why the apple is so popular here, especially in the northeastern parts of this country.

Pilgrims (yes of Thanksgiving fame) brought both seeds and cuttings to America. And though there is some discussion about the authenticity of a chap named Johnny Appleseed there is no denying that the tree has indeed found its way from “sea to shining sea".