Evoking Fall

Apple Crisp

1 cup oatmeal

¾ cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¾ cup butter, softened

Mix first four ingredients and then add butter. Mix with a fork (or your hands if you want) until crumbly.

3 to 4 baking apples (your choice)

Slice apples and place in a buttered 8” pie plate or 8x8 glass pan. Cover with topping and bake at 350˚ for 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Lasts several days when refrigerated.

In mid-October our family would head out on our yearly trip to the local pumpkin/apple farm. There we’d watch apples being pressed for cider, pick out our pumpkins for Halloween, and buy a bushel of fresh ripe apples. The day was always sunny but with that distinctive chill and the first cup of cider off the press magical.

Hours after getting home the heavenly aroma of cinnamon and apple would waft out from the kitchen, the anticipation would build, and my brothers and I would jostle for a spot in front of the oven (because that would speed the baking process). Once out of the oven someone (one of my brothers, not me) would try and pull a bit of crust off and burn their finger. Every. Time. With magical mother timing the crisp would cool slightly while we ate dinner but would still be warm and luscious in time for dessert.

So, build a fire, pour a glass of ice cold milk or brew a pot of Earl Grey, put on your most comfortable clothes, find escapist reading material. Slice a generous piece of crisp, curl up, and savor the crunchy cinnamony crust and textured taste of perfectly cooked apples unadorned by anything other than their own juice.  Settle into fall.