Apples and Fall...they go together perfectly.

I want to share one of my favorite apple crisp recipes ever!

A few years ago, our middle daughter served this to us when we visited her and her new husband, in their first tiny apartment, while they were both still in college.  She pulled it out of the oven, added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and served it to us.  Oh my goodness, it was sooooo delicious!  Since then she has baked and served it to us many times, and every time...it continues to be the best apple crisp to me and my taste buds.

She kindly shared it with me, so that I could share it with you.

"Cinnamon-Apple Berry Crisp"

Preparation time:  20 minutes, Start to finish 1 hour

6 cups sliced peeled apples (about 6 medium)  She uses Gala apples.

1 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 cup quick- cooking oats

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Ice cream if desired

1)  Heat oven to 375 F.  In large bowl, mix apples, craisins, cinnamon, and lemon juice.  Spoon into ungreased 11x7 or 12x8 glass baking dish.

2) In large bowl, mix remaining ingredients except ice cream with fork, until crumbly.  Sprinkle over fruit mixture.

3) Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until apples are tender, juices bubble and topping is golden brown.  Serve warm with ice cream. 8 servings.

(apple photo taken by my youngest daughter).

Speaking of amazing apple dishes...my sister-in-law makes the best apple pies!!!  She made this one recently for a dinner and I can still taste it's deliciousness when I look at this picture.  Her crisp pastry shells make it all the better. Warm, from the oven, with a scoop of ice cream, another one of those, "what could be better" desserts! 

 Since I mentioned before on this blog, that I do not have a sweet tooth, you all are probably wondering what the deal is?  My weakness is baked apple desserts.  They are better than chocolate anyday to me!

Apples and the Autumn season makes a happy me!

(picture captured by my uncle)

Recently, one of my little granddaughters came excitedly running to me, holding out a penny that she had just found.  Her little eyes sparkled as she held out her hand to show me her prize find.  She asked immediately, if we could go to the store so that she could buy something.  It made me stop and think about pennies and their value to me.  I remember clearly, as a girl growing up, whenever we would see a penny on the ground, my dad would always have us pick it up.  This was his practice all his life.  He would say to me and my siblings often, "that a penny saved is a penny earned."  To this day, I can not walk past a penny on the ground, without picking it up and thinking of my dad. 

I loved seeing this little one's enthusiasm over a penny.  It reminded me of an incident that I found myself in, recently.  I was at my local grocery store with my bag of change that I had collected.  I was at the machine that converts the change into bills.  I had collected quite a bit of change over the years, and was excited when I saw the amount of it all.  Two guys were standing nearby observing, and I heard the one say to other, "maybe we should be doing that with our change, instead of throwing it away".  I thought to myself of how thankful I was that my dad took the time to teach me the value of every single penny.  Imagine, throwing away one's change.

I hope to teach my grandchildren the value(however small at this point in history), of every piece of change, because after all, "a penny saved really is a penny earned."

Last evening we celebrated my uncle's 75th birthday.  We had a wonderful time sitting around the table with him and his wife, laughing, and sharing together.  He lives down south and our time with the two of them is rare.  Seventy-fifth birthdays are certainly a milestone to be celebrated, and I am thankful for the  opportunity to celebrate his.

My mother was the oldest of seven brothers.  You can only imagine the stories that are shared when we are together.

Thank you so much for stopping by.