Yesterday was one beautiful and aromatic day at the Quantrell household.
Princess Khloe and I attacked pounds of apples with gusto. Delicious flavors that rolled off the tongue were the results. The swirling autumn scents of cinnamon, nutmeg, and apples all but swirled before our eyes and tickled our noses.
Autumn is here. Embrace the season.
Dried Apples
Oodles of apples, cored, peeled, sliced
Lemon water
Usually, I just peel, core, slice and add my apples to the running dehydrator. This year, they browned too fast.
To combat early browning, I experimented with dropping the slices into water that had been liberally doused with lemon juice. Worked like a little apple charm. I prepped apples until I thought I had enough for one tray, letting the apples soak until I placed them in the dehydrator.
Dry until slightly soft and flexible. Store in jars or sealed bags. Yummy! We devour dried apples all winter.
Cinnamon Applesauce
apples
cinnamon
I love filling the crockpot with peeled, cored, chunked apples and cinnamon. Add a bit of water to cover the bottom of the crockpot, turn it on, cover it, and let it cook. Test it every now and them for soft apples. Add water if needed. I use a potato masher at the end to squash the apples into sauce. Eat it now and freeze some for later.
Oh, this autumn treat fills the house with such great smells! Better than any fall scented candle. Plus, you can eat the applesauce when is done cooking - warm, tasty, and fragrant.
Apple Crisp
apples
oatmeal
butter
brown sugar
whole wheat flower
cinnamon
nutmeg
Use any apple crisp recipe. But really pump up the apples! So far, in each recipe I've tried, there has been way too much topping and not enough apples. Susan Branch has a great recipe for apple crisp in her cookbook (and art book, as she does her own beautiful illustrations) Heart of the Home, Notes From a Vineyard Kitchen (Little, Brown and Company, 1986).
This time, I added apples to almost the top of the baking dish. Then I switched out white flour for whole wheat flour. The apples seemed really dry, so good for us, the apples in the crockpot were saucing away. I added several dippers of apple juice from the sauce pot. This really made the apple crisp juicy.
Delicious. No ice cream is necessary, but wouldn't that be a great addition?
How many ways can one prepare apples?
Apples, apples, oh how I do love you!
Let me count the ways . . .
Just the beginning of apple delight.
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