Apples to Apples

In the event that summer is now behind us and we are entering my absolute most favorite time of year; It makes sense that before I even had a chance to get my fall jackets, scarves, and riding boots out of my closet…I was purchasing cinnamon, nutmeg, soy butter, and about 60 apples. It was Labor Day weekend, and that was fall enough for me to make my first crisp(s) of the season. From the morning of September 2nd through the end of September 3rd, I made a total of 5 apple/blueberry crisps. Each crisp requires 12 apples and a box of blueberries to complete. I was serving the health conscious, the not so health conscious, the vegan friendly, & the gluten free. With so many different people all with their own tastes I knew I would be kept busy. I don’t know what it is about baking, but I love getting dirty in sugar and flour. I’ve been baking on my own since I was eight years old. I had a friend whose mom gave her a lot of independence as a kid. I would hang out there all day, and in that house we were allowed to bake with no adult supervision. I don’t know for sure how good our stuff tasted back then, or how it came out, but we were pretty much sticking to the “just add water & eggs” Betty Crocker boxes so I am sure we couldn’t have messed it up that much. I remember many days making chocolate cakes in 9x13 rectangular pans, dumping 2 containers of vanilla frosting onto it, topping with sprinkles and then literally grabbing two forks. Who could have foreseen that almost 20 years later I would be purchasing soy butter, unrefined organic sugar, and baking from scratch?
But what I love even more than the actual baking is every ones feedback after they eat what I made them. Really, you can tell me all day how amazing my crisp is. I will never get tired of hearing it. In fact, the more you tell me, the more I will probably make for you since I will associate you with feeling good about myself. I do love that feedback. And this is how I tell you I am appreciative of you. Dogs lick your face, children give you hugs, a boss may give you a raise, and a professor may give you an A. I give you baked goods wrapped with ribbon, or placed in Tupperware. This is how I show my appreciation, gratitude, or thankfulness for your friendship, guidance, support, or all of the above. So needless to say, I was baking this weekend for special people. People who to me had supported me this summer during the times my life was a little up in the air, whether they knew it or not. I will tell you these people were all work related, from my job that I had this summer. My last day working in this particular department was August 31st, even though I did stay with the company for fall, just transitioned into a different role.
Apple crisps are the most perfect thing to bake in the fall. They are a great compliment to the cooling temperatures, earlier sunsets, and Sunday football games. The recipe I use is 100% organic, AND vegan (which means absolutely no animal products including no butter or eggs). While this does not make the crisp a low sugar or low calorie food, it does lower the total fat, and cholesterol. In addition, the organic ingredients are more “guilt free” than if I had used anything artificial (which is a big no no to me). As always it is not about eliminating foods, but more about using the best possible ingredients, making it at home, and of course…staying in a reasonable portion zone. America likes to supersize everything for 25 cents more & to be honest I believe when this tactic is used on children it is a sick form of child abuse. It is also unfair to all of the consumers who don’t study nutrition and are confused as hell as to what to buy. Remember: We don’t need to pile a large 16” dinner plate with apple crisp. We don’t need it. So take one serving, (use a small dessert “cake plate” to better guarantee not accidentally piling on too much), grab a fork and enjoy. I will post the recipe for this in the next few weeks under my recipe tab.
*For the gluten free crisp, I kept the recipe the same except I subbed out the oats & flour and replaced them with gluten free oats, & gluten free all purpose baking flour. This seemed to work just fine. With gluten free flour, it doesn’t always have the same baking power that regular all purpose flour has, so I went a little heavier on the cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla to avoid losing flavor. Those who ate it reportedly made comments such as “this is gluten free?? Seriously??” (Fyi: I did Clorox my entire kitchen between baking the different crisps out of complete fear that I was going to leave my intolerant friend in the emergency room). Wheat flour can remain airborne for up to 7 hours, and cross contamination is not hard to do even when you are cleaning. If you are unaware how serious the allergy is, definitely use different utensils, mixing bowls, cake pans etc. Other than separating all utensils and subbing those two ingredients…everything else went the same and it worked out perfectly!