apples

Hello -- I'm back!  Have you given up on me? I hope not...

Because of family commitments things have been difficult and busy around here, but I have a number of things I'm looking forward to sharing with you.  Meanwhile... apples!

Apples seem to be late this year.  Every week for the past two months, I've stopped by the local farmer's markets and haven't found what I was looking for.  In early September there were Gravensteins, and then... Ho hum. Not much. Finally, last Saturday I bought those gorgeous Winesaps (in the photo at the top of this post) and Pink Ladies (above).  Pink Ladies are favorites of my little son because he thinks the name is funny, but as far as I'm concerned, the Winesaps and Pink Ladies are both fantastic and worth the wait.

Baking has ensued.  In September I made this apple cake (twice).  Note: I think substituting brown sugar for at least half the sugar called for in the recipe improves the flavor of cake, and instead of baking in a large tube-pan, you might consider (as I did) splitting the batter into two 8-inch square or 9-inch round cake pans.  Next on the list is apple crisp; I cannot find my usual recipe, but this one is similar.  And applesauce. I use Judy Rodgers recipe for roasted applesauce, substituting honey for the sugar.  It's divine.

Can you believe tomorrow is Halloween?  For some reason (I have yet to uncover) my little one insists he doesn't want to go trick-or-treating, but I'm hoping he will change his mind...