Apple Crumb Pie

This season of apple picking was the best yet! The Stayman Winesaps were the darkest shade of maroon I have seen in three years. My first batch of apple butter is on the shelves, and my appled brandy and apple-spiced whiskey are busy getting sweeter and spicier for the holidays. With Thanksgiving around the corner and fall color at its peak, it felt like an apple pie kind of weekend. Feeling the need for something new, I made an easy change to my Classic Apple Pie recipe.

The result resembles the so-called "Dutch Apple Pie" with a streusel topping: flour, butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Using oats and nuts in this crumb topping resulted in a crumb slightly less sweet than usual. "Less sweet?!" Don't worry, with this pie less sweet is better. It's like the most delicious apple cinnamon oatmeal ever made. In other words, eat this pie for breakfast.

Apple Crumb Pie
Makes one 9 inch pie

Follow the pie recipe here, using only a bottom crust.

Crumb Topping
for one 9 inch pie

3/4 c. flour (white or whole wheat)
3/4 c. oats (barley, wheat, or rye)
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
1 t. cinnamon
pinch of salt
6 T. cold butter

Stir together flour, oats, sugar, nuts, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Cut in cold butter with fingers until butter is pea-sized. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the pie. Bake as directed.

Classic Apple Pie

There's something about autumn that gets me every year. The colors. New smells. The cooler, crisper air. The warm thoughts of holidays to come. A new season of baking. 

I made my annual trek to the apple orchard two weeks ago, which means my kitchen will smell like apples for the next month. Here is last year's adventure and once again I returned from the orchard with over 20 pounds of Stayman Winesaps. A side note: I encourage you to try your hand at canning and stock your cabinets with apple butter. It will make you smile on the darkest and coldest of January days. 

An apple pie is a fall essential. Make at least one, whether it's for a regular Sunday dinner or an addition to your Thanksgiving meal. I've used this particular recipe several times and have always been satisfied. I've managed to get away without using cornstarch and I'm convinced that draining and saving the spicy syrup makes all the difference.

Meet one of the greatest kitchen tools, the apple peeler-corer-slicer. If you find yourself making many apple-filled recipes, I suggest investing in one of these. Not only is it fun to cover your kitchen counter in apple peal spaghetti, you won't believe how fast you can peal and slice your apples. After running your apples through this machine, you simply run a knife through the slices to cut them in half.

Baked Apple Oatmeal

An ideal Saturday morning sounds like this: getting up before the rest of the world, well-rested, and venturing out to my vegetable garden to greet the birds and worms under the warm sun. Post weed-pulling, it's back to the kitchen for a good breakfast and the sounds of WXPN's Sleepy Hollow. A close second is a rainy, late winter-early spring morning in the kitchen with Sleepy Hollow, something to read, and this baked apple oatmeal.

Oats, nuts, maple syrup, and spices. By now you've noticed that they're quite common in my recipes. There's the obvious reason, they're delicious, but the more practical explanation is that I always have them on hand. If you have been baking with me these past few weeks then you have these essentials in your kitchen cabinets as well, and whipping up this baked oatmeal will be a piece of cake.

Apple Butter and Appled Brandy for a Homemade Holiday

As soon as you become a pretty serious vegetable gardener, or spend that extra dollar or two to get the freshest produce at the local farmer’s market (or better yet, to pick your own!), you will realize the benefit of preserving the harvest.

I was intimidated by canning for a while. If you have ever read the introduction to a canning book, you know what I’m talking about. Better not screw up or you’ll give all of your loved-ones botulism, right? Wrong, if you’re smart and don’t break the rules. Start easy with acidic foods like fruit butters, jams, and jellies. It’s the low-acid foods like vegetables that are trickier.

What’s the best fruit to can in the fall? APPLES!

My friend Dawn and I ventured to Solebury Orchards in New Hope, PA for our apple needs this year. We hit the orchards in mid-October when the Stayman Winesaps were perfect for picking and both left with 20 lbs. of apples, cider, and the obligatory cider doughnut.