It's that time of year. The moon is big and bright, allowing farmers to work late into the night. The full moon last Friday night, known as the Harvest Moon, gets its name from its proximity to the autumnal equinox. The first day of fall starts Thursday.
As Sunny and I take our daily walk, we are passed by big tri-axle trucks loaded to the rim with chop, on its way from the field to the farm. Pointy, yellow prongs leading the way, a wide harvester thunders down the narrow country road to the nearest corn field. Farmers are busy right now, taking advantage of the nice weather and getting ready for winter in the northeast.
I'm harvesting my crop, too. Four apple trees provide a lot of apples and even though Twister the horse is eating as many as he can reach over the fence, I'm still left with apples I hate to see go to waste. The apples from one tree will go to the Amish in a nearby valley who will press them into cider. The big green to yellow Pound apples will become apple butter. And the rest will provide us with too many desserts.
Here's a recipe I found in an old Grange cookbook that comes closest to the apple crisp I remember from grade school days, when the cooks made lunch from scratch.
Apple Crisp
4 cups sliced, peeled apples
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick oats
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup margarine, softened
Arrange apples in 8-inch baking pan. Combine brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg in bowl; mix well. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until apples are tender. If the top seems dry, add a little apple juice or water. Yields six servings.
With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it's a favorite fall dessert.
And as always...enjoy the read!
T.R. http://www.trmcclure.com/
As Sunny and I take our daily walk, we are passed by big tri-axle trucks loaded to the rim with chop, on its way from the field to the farm. Pointy, yellow prongs leading the way, a wide harvester thunders down the narrow country road to the nearest corn field. Farmers are busy right now, taking advantage of the nice weather and getting ready for winter in the northeast.
I'm harvesting my crop, too. Four apple trees provide a lot of apples and even though Twister the horse is eating as many as he can reach over the fence, I'm still left with apples I hate to see go to waste. The apples from one tree will go to the Amish in a nearby valley who will press them into cider. The big green to yellow Pound apples will become apple butter. And the rest will provide us with too many desserts.
Here's a recipe I found in an old Grange cookbook that comes closest to the apple crisp I remember from grade school days, when the cooks made lunch from scratch.
Apple Crisp
4 cups sliced, peeled apples
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick oats
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup margarine, softened
Arrange apples in 8-inch baking pan. Combine brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg in bowl; mix well. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until apples are tender. If the top seems dry, add a little apple juice or water. Yields six servings.
With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it's a favorite fall dessert.
And as always...enjoy the read!
T.R. http://www.trmcclure.com/
Thanks for sharing this--I can smell the apples!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Liz. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLove warm apple crisp with some ice cream this time of year! I love fall and the change of seasons. My son played football Friday night under the big harvest moon - it was very cool!
ReplyDeleteT.R.! Good morning and thanks for the timely recipe. We have a dwarf apple tree in the back and for the first time in ages, we have apples! The big Mountain Ash that was in front of it blew down in a storm a couple of years ago, and the apple tree is finally a little too tall for the deer to reach! I'm so excited. Been checking it out daily. Read online that the seeds have to be dark before you pick?? (I'm a city kid) Anyway, first thing I'm going to do when the apples are ready is make that recipe. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteApples can ripen any time from now to November; it depends what type you have. I've never heard about the seed getting dark in an apple although I did read that's how you tell if Concord grapes are ready. Best way to tell if they're ready is to take a bite. If they're not too hard, just crisp, and not too sour I'd guess they're ready. Enjoy!
DeleteT.R., I have an abundance of apples right now, too. I've been giving them away like crazy. Apple crisp is one of my favorites. I've tried a couple new recipes I found on Pinterest "apple blondies" and a yummy apple cake - both delicious. I'll be freezing some for pies. The deer and elk eat the ones that fall from the tree. They're fun to watch. We consider that entertainment where we live(:
ReplyDeleteApple pie is one of my favorites, something my mother taught me how to make. Love it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Your recipe sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteThis is just yum!
ReplyDeleteI love harvest time, and apple crisp is a favorite dessert. We've had such a strange year, we're just now getting ripe tomatoes, but they were worth the wait.
ReplyDeleteMy tomatoes were late, too.
DeleteMy mother used to make apple crisp a lot as we had a lot of apple trees when I was growing up. Peach, pear, and prune trees, too. I miss all of the fresh fruit and vegetables. What you buy in stores today just don't taste like the produce of old. And I love seeing the harvest moon, even here in AZ it was huge and yellow.
ReplyDeleteI love apple crisp. I'm going to try this recipe.
ReplyDeleteDepending on the type of apple you use, it might look a little dry. Just add some water or juice over top.
DeleteYum! Thanks for sharing the recipe, T.R. I eat two apples every day, but this sounds better. :)
ReplyDeleteI am jealous of your apple trees. We go to a local farm to pick ours so I can't wait to try your crisp recipie. We make our own apple sauce with the apples we pick and freeze it. The kids love it with pancakes all year.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful description, T.R. I felt I was right there. And that recipe! I'm going to try it gluten-free and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteHi All, Sorry to take so long to respond. The carpet cleaners were here today. Sunny sleeps right next to my chair when I'm writing and my carpet shows it. As soon as I put everything back in place, hopefully I'll be inspired to get back to work! Beautiful time of year, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI just realized I missed two sentences! That's what I get for last-minute writing..."Cut in margarine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over apples." But you folks probably would have figured that out :)
ReplyDelete