Travels and Apple Crisp

I am going to take a few days off this week to travel up North with my good friend Anne. We are looking at a piece of property at the foot of the Berkshires.

Dare I dream?

I promise I'll be back on Thursday and will devote the rest of the days leading up to "the big day" that is, Thanksgiving, with some turkey, stuffing and side recipes.

Until then, Bon Appetite!

The Best Husband In The World and I went apple picking yesterday. The last day of the season for Pick-Ur-Own. It was a beautiful day after so many rainy, cold ones last week. Even though the apples were not that plentiful, we filled our basket and had a lovely day out in the orchard, under a blue, sun filled autumn sky.

Apple Crisp: serves 6

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Butter a 1 1/2 quart casserole.

Peel, core and slice 4 to 5 large apples.

Toss with the juice and rind of one lemon.

Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Place in buttered casserole and drizzle 1/4 cup water over.

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup quick oats

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch salt

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Whisk together the sugars, the flour, the oats and the salt. With your fingers, work the melted butter into the flour/sugar mix until well blended. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the apples.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until apples are soft and topping is brown and crisp.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

First Tuesday of the Month and Strawberry Syrup

As I sit here and put the finishing touches on my monthly newsletter, it has occurred to me that perhaps my readers from the "other part of my life" would like to receive it too. 

On the first Tuesday of the month I email a short (2-3 page) newsletter to my clients, friends, students and  associates who have signed up to receive it. The newsletter is called, "Food for Thought". It contains 2-3 recipes, tips and tricks (the stuff cookbooks don't tell you) and a "My Favorite Things" column that can include kitchen gadgets, places, pans, techniques, whatever. I also [usually] do a monthly "give-away".... 

Anyone out there in blog land who is interested in getting one more piece of email a month, send an email to: thegoodcooknj@comcast.net just put send me your newsletter in the subject line and I'll take the hint and mail it on out. 

Strawberry Syrup: 

2 cups strawberries (washed, hulls removed and sliced)

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Put strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a heavy pan. Pot should not be more than 1/3 full. This is going to bubble up!  Cook and stir over high heat until sugar melts. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard for 4 minutes (the kind of boil that can't be stirred down). Stir constantly. 

Cool in a glass or ceramic bowl, covered. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature over vanilla ice cream. Also great as a base for strawberry milkshakes. Store in refrigerator, covered tightly. Can be kept for 2 weeks.