Apple Crisp

It's been a while since I've been to an apple orchard. I'd forgotten the lovely symmetry of the rows and rows of trees, the pleasing snap of pulling an apple off a branch. We picked Haralsons, a variety I'd never tried before. Crisp and tart, with funny little bumps on the skin, I loved them immediately. And knew they'd be perfect for baking. 

It's rare that you see this kind of beauty in an orchard. 

I had the hardest time finding a knife to peel and cut apples (again with the taking things for granted!) but I tracked one down eventually. I prefer crisps to pies because I find that pie crust is so often bad and just seems...superfluous. The again, I've never made my own pie crust, so I'll have to get back to you guys on my pie feelings when that happens. 

Mmmm...crisp. You just can't mess it up. The components meld together to create some tasty and unified in a way I don't feel like pie achieves. Feel free to disagree with me. But this baby was gone in like, an hour, and I think that speaks for itself :) 

Apple Crisp 

makes one 8x8 pan

Ingredients

5 apples, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
2. Place the sliced apples in pan. Mix the white sugar, 2 tsp flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3. Combine the oats, 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

My love for peaches is like a bad simile...

Good Lord I love peaches. Almost no food makes me happier than a fresh peach. It's just so rare that you come across something so vibrant and delicious in its pure and natural form. 

For the past couple summers, we've been getting these 25 pound boxes of amazing, tree ripened peaches. They are never fail fantastic, and I can't really eat other peaches anymore. You see, if peaches are not ripened on a tree, they will likely become mealy, and mealy peaches are just terrible. So...I look forward to these all year.

That is my hand. Some people say I have man hands. Nicer people say I have piano fingers. 

Of course I don't want to waste the precious fruit. But sometimes you just have more than you can eat before they are in tip top shape anymore. That's the time to make peach crisp. There's really no need to do anything fancy. The best desserts let simple ingredients speak for themselves.

Yeah, that is whipped cream from a can. It's hard to be as classy as I am all the time. 

Peach Crisp

adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 12 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced (You can use less. It'll be smaller.)
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla. Or nothing. Like I said, let the fruit speak for itself)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter 

   

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and grease a 8x11ish inch (Or an 8x8 if you're using fewer peaches) square baking dish.

1. Place the peaches in the bottom of the baking dish, and sprinkle them with almond extract.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles crumbs.
3. Sprinkle the flour mixture in an even layer over the top of the peaches, and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes, until the peaches are bubbling and the topping is browned.