Apple Time

Don't you love to bite into a nice crisp apple? My favorite kind of apple is a MacIntosh. (same as my favorite kind of computer!) They have just the right blend of sweet, tart and juicy. Unfortunately for me, they do not offer MacIntosh apples in stores in Arizona.

I learned to love them while living in New Jersey, across the bridge from Philadelphia. One of the things we loved while living there for ten years was the fresh (and cheap!) produce. A lot of times I would buy a bushel of apples for a dollar to make applebutter...of course the kind you buy for that price were the ones they couldn't sell as nice eating apples, but for applebutter or baking, perfect!

When my daughter Bethany was in kindergarten, we went on a field trip to an apple orchard to pick our own. It was a crisp fall day and we rode a hay wagon out to the orchard where there were neat rows of apple trees bursting with fruit! The children had a blast climbing the low limbs, pulling at apples or riding on parent's shoulders to reach up high. There were also a few ladders handy so you could climb up higher into the inner branches if you wanted to.

After filling our baskets with fruit, we rode the wagon back to the barn, where they served us freshly pressed apple cider alongside fresh out of the fryer cider donuts, coated with cinnamon and sugar. What a treat it was and the children were full of that wholesome rosy cheeked, can't help but smiling fall feeling. We got home that day refreshed and sleepy! I spent the next few days searching out apple recipes.

This is just one of the many apple recipes I have come to love, especially in the fall when they are fresh and the air is crisp. Enjoy!

Apple Crisp 

6 tart apples (Granny Smith works very well)
1 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter

Put sliced apples in a greased baking dish (recipe calls for 7x11 dish, but you can stretch it to fit a 9x13 by adding more apples). In a seperate bowl, mix flour, sugar and cinnamon. With a pastry blender or fork, smash the butter into the dry ingredients until you have kind of large crumbs...the size of peas or larger. Sprinkle this over the apples.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 or until apples are done and soft.

This is good topped with ice cream!