Fall!

Fall in in the air here in Minnesota. The leaves are falling and providing us with giant piles for jumping and throwing. Our dog is the biggest fan of leaf piles. She can spend an entire afternoon dropping a ball into a pile and then searching for it. After she finds it, she rolls around with it. Then she starts the game again. A whole afternoon in the sunshine rolling in the leaves…ah, the life of a dog!

The boys just like to throw things, usually at each other. But the joy of a leaf pile is you can throw it at Mom and not get in trouble. Leaf throwing is in the name of “fall.” If you are really careful about it, you can induce a sense of nostalgia with Mom and might even get some apple cider donuts out of the deal.  Have I mentioned, I have very smart kids (and a weakness for donuts)?

Molly still gets to enjoy afternoons without her brothers around.  She still finds the wonder in everything she sees.  She wants to save each unique leaf as it falls from the trees.  When it comes to tossing leaves into the air and jumping into giant piles, she does it with a sense of pure joy.  Unlike her brothers, she has no desire to compete with anyone.  It doesn’t matter who can throw the leaves the farthest, hold the most leaves or jump the highest.  She just wants to enjoy every minute of her warm, fall afternoons.

After leaf games, our favorite part of fall is Apple Crisp.  There is nothing like an afternoon at the orchard and an evening with a hot bowl of wonderfully smelling dessert. Our family recipe is the best I have ever tasted and helps us celebrate the best of fall. Enjoy it for yourself and let me know what you think.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

4-6 apples (I like Honeycrisp or Harrelson. Any pie apple will do)
1 tsp flour
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
pinch cinnamon & salt


Topping:

½ cup flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup oats
1/3 cup butter
¼ cup baking powder
pinch salt (can skip if using salted butter)


Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Peal and core apples. Slice into thin slices. Combine apples in large bowl with flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until well coated.

Place in 9 inch square greased pan until 1 inch from the top.

Topping: Combine ingredients together, cutting in butter with a pastry blender (or just use your fingers and mash it up really well until crumbly). Crumble topping over apples

Bake for 35-45 minutes until topping is brown and apples are bubbling.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.