Apple Brown Betty

I've been sitting on my couch all morning staring at a giant pile of Granny Smith apples in my kitchen, periodically dreaming about the fabulous combination of cinnamon and apples that happens in a Brown Betty! Apples always make me think of fall...and I always miss my time in Maine when I think of fall. One perfectly crisp fall day I even went to an apple orchard and picked baskets and baskets of Empire apples. They were so sweet and crunchy that they made my taste buds sing and we cooked up some delicious treats from the glowing red baskets of apples! Fall in Maine is a dream...and I so miss the cold bite of fall air on my checks as the weather turns. As summer comes to an end I have found myself wishing that it were fall more and more! I lasted until about 11:30am until I fully gave in to my pinings for fall and whipped up some delicious individual dessert treats!

Individual Apple Brown Betty
Serves 8

Topping:
1/2 c. butter, at room temp
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1/2 c. old fashioned oatmeal
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Filling:
8 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & thinly sliced
1/2 grated nutmeg (as in 1/2 of one of the whole nutmegs!)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 8 small ramekin with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a small bowl cream together butter, sugar and cinnamon. Stir in oatmeal. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl toss prepared apples, nutmeg, cinnamon and lemon juice.
4. Spoon apples into prepared ramekins. Top each with oatmeal mixture. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until apples are soft and topping is crunchy. Serve with whipped cream if you'd like but I just ate mine as is!

Here's to a little fall...in August!

A Very Special Brunch: German Apple Pancake

The side poof!!!!


The grand finale!!!

Last night my lovely friend Anne stayed over at my place. This morning was spent in her cheerful company, chatting and laughing in our pajamas like we were a couple of tween girls! Nothing beats girlfriend time!!!!


The Lovely Anne
To make our morning complete, and because we were too lazy to put on clothes to go out to eat, we decided to cook something delicious...a HUGE German Apple Pancake was the result! Invite some friends over and whip this gorgeous dish up!!!

German Apple Pancake, from The Great Big Butter Cookbook

4 tbsp. butter
3 large (1 1/2 pounds total) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4" thick slices
1/4 c. dark brown, packed
1/2 tsp. nutmeg, fresh ground
1 tsp. cinnamon
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 c. buttermilk, at room temp
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
Confectioner's sugar, for garnish

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place the butter in a 9x13x2 glass backing pan and melt in the oven. Arrange the apple slices over the melted butter and return to the oven, baking until apples are soft, about 10 min.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, nutmeg and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the apples with the brown sugar mixture; set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt and remaining 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Mix with an electric mixer for 1 1/2 minutes. Pour over the apples.

Return the pan to the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the apples rise to the surface. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, and serve immediately.

The recipe says it serves 12...right! Try more like 4!!!! Enjoy!!!!

*Anne had a great idea!!! Crumble thick sliced maple bacon on top!!! TOOOOOOOOO delicious!!!!

Apples, sore throats and urology...

In an attempt to promote better health I have been trying out all kinds of winter fruit, lately it's been all about apples! I found Honeycrisp apples and thought that they were simply amazing. Crunchy like a Granny Smith but sweet like a mild honey...yum! Thinking that this was the Meca of apples I purchased more and another variety, simply for the name, Ambrosia! Oh dang! The name says it all!!! I seriously could not believe how amazing the Ambrosia apples were! Crunchy, crisp, fresh, a soft floral taste, a little tiny zing of acid followed by a mouthful of sweetness better than any candy I've ever tasted!!! You seriously need to try them out!
Next up...my sore throat! It has seriously been the bane of my existence for the past month. Periodically covered with puss and nearly impossible to get healthy, my tonsils are the size of the Rockies and looking like two mounds of raw hamburger. Totally gross! The pain from the nasty throat has been incredible! My ears hurt, my throat hurts and even my tongue hurts! Bah!!! In the midst of this grossness my rad friend Sherri stopped by with lemons. Now you all know that I'm not that much of a citrus fan but those lemons made my day! I've been soothing my throat with lovely mugs of boiling hot water mixed with a couple tablespoons of honey and the juice of half a lemon! Simply brilliant! It is the only thing that has made my throat feel anywhere near human! High five to Sherri!
And now for urology! Oh yea that's right...I get to interpret next Tuesday for a urology appointment...when a male interpreter was requested....and I'm not a male interpreter...UMMMMMMMMMMMM I'm not sure what happens at urology appointments but I guess I will soon find out. I may not have all of the hilarious student stories that I used to have when I was teaching but I definitely am racking up the bizarre and beyond private information that I get exposed to in this new job. Hopefully I won't get "too" exposed (if you know what I mean)!