A Leisurely Drive to Julian and Recipe for Quick Apple Strudel

Julian is a quaint town in the Cuyamaca mountains, about an hour east of San Diego. John and I needed a temporary diversion from our Gingerbread Land of Oz, and decided to take a leisurely drive. As a little side note, our first date was Bond’s Discovery Run to Julian, with the San Diego BMW Z Car Club. Yep, that’s where it all began, almost three years ago 😉 Julian is famous for apple pies. But now that Julian apple pies are readily available via the internet and at almost every grocery store in San Diego, Julian should think about revitalizing the tourist flow to the town with a new culinary gig. Looking back at our photographs we took that day, I’m thinking Turducken! You’ve heard of it by now I’m sure, the dish consisting of a partially de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. We were surprised to see so many wild turkeys on the drive there…

We had lunch at one of the more popular restaurants in Julian, Bailey Wood Pit Barbeque. I surely would have ordered a Turducken or Gooducken plate if it had been offered! Unfortunately, I don’t have a spare million and a half sitting around, the current selling price for the restaurant, or I would seriously consider buying Bailey’s. I don’t mean to be negative, but that place could use a visit from Gordon Ramsay for a major facelift and some creativity in the kitchen. Rather than ordering a slice of apple pie for dessert, we decided to bring home a half peck of fresh apples and make a few apple creations of our own.

I perused a few of my recent cooking magazines, but wanted to make something other than the ubiquitous pie, tart, or crisp. I pulled out my Cook’s Illustrated The New Best Recipe and found this Quick Apple Strudel – perfect for a foggy Saturday morning.