March Brings Music Legends to Stanhope

Johnny Winter, rated by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top 100 guitarists of all time, will be playing at the Stanhope House on Thursday, March 10. Winter has been playing music professionally since he was a child. He had his first big break in 1968, when he attracted notice at the Fillmore East festival while playing with famous blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield. He was then signed for $600,000, the largest advance in the history of the recording industry at the time. His signature accomplishment is producing and playing guitar on blues legend Muddy Waters's series of classic 70s albums, two of which won Grammy Awards.

Another music legend, Graham Parker, will be performing at Salt Gastropub on Wednesday, March 2. Graham Parker is a British rock singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular British New Wave band Graham Parker & the Rumour. Their 1979 album Squeezing Out Sparks is on Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums from 1967-1987 list.

Both venues are very close to the Whistling Swan Inn: the Stanhope House is within walking distance and Salt is only a short distance away. Tickets are available on www.stanhopehousenj.com and www.saltgastropub.com -- they'll start selling out as March approaches, so be sure to buy tickets soon. Other acts playing Salt in the upcoming months include Larry Kirwan and Friends (Saturday, 4/08) and Big Boss Sausage (Monday, 3/14). Upcoming acts at the Stanhope House include Big Frank and the Healers (Friday, 2/11) and Milo Z (Saturday, 2/19).

Apple Thimble Tea Cakes Recipe

I came across this recipe when I was looking for new dishes to make for breakfast. The cakes taste like apple crisps, but are the size of mini muffins. At first they take a while to make, but once you get used to the method, you can make them fairly quickly. You can bake a few of them at a time or make an entire dish. The cakes freeze very well.

In the first picture you'll see what the shells look like. The easiest way to bake them is to fill up the mini muffin pan to the top with the crumb mixture and then use your thumb or a spoon to press the mixture against the sides to form the shell. Then you add one tablespoon of the apple mixture. After that, cover the mixture with more crumbs.

Bake the cakes until they turn brown. When you remove the pan from the oven, let it cool down completely before removing the cakes. Otherwise, they will fall apart and make a mess (I did that on the first pan I made!).

If you are having guests over for the holidays these cakes will be a special treat!

Apple Thimble Tea Cakes Recipe
3 large apples, peeled, cored, chopped
1/2 cup currants or raisins
1/4 cup water
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon or apple pie spice
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg or mace
1 1/2 cups butter

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 4 12-cup mini-muffin pans.
Peel, core and chop apples. Mix apples, currants, water, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon together in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer until apples are partially cooked, about 5 minutes; set aside.
Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl; cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Set aside 1 cup crust mixture.

Place a heaping tablespoon of the crust mixture into a mini muffin cup, and press it into the cup so that it covers the bottom and pushes up the sides of the cup.
Make sure the crust completely lines the muffin cup to the top. Place about 2 teaspoons of apple filling in the crust. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of the reserved crust mixture on the apple filling.
Bake in preheated oven until golden brown – about15 to 20 minutes.
Servings: 48

20% Off Gift Certificates

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Gift certificates must be purchased by 12/31/10 and used between 1/2/11-12/30/11. (Exclusion dates- February weekends, and Sept 1 thru Oct 31, holiday weekends).

Plan your 2011 getaway now - a great gift idea for yourself, your loved one, friends, Mom and Dad, the bride & groom, the anniversary couple, and everyone on your list! Call the Whistling Swan Inn now to help you put together a personalized gift certificate at 973-347-6369 or book online. Free second day express mail available!