Apple Picking, Apple Sauce, Apple Crisp and Piggies!

A little late in the season, but better late than never! I was able to hit up Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow, MA for a little apple-picking trip with my good friend Rach (giving her a little plug here since she's a yoga teacher and I'm always trying to recruit her a few more clients... check out her website.) The trip was uneventful except that for the piggies!

Aren't they cute?

ANYWAYS... after returning home, it was time to get down to business. Having a full bag of apples, I decided on 3 recipes. 1. Apple Crisp, 2. Apple Bread, 3. Apple Sauce. This post will include the recipes for the Apple Sauce and the Apple Crisp. I'll do a post later this week with the apple bread recipe.

I also have to say I finally purchased an immersion blender and I'm pretty excited about it!!! Would love to hear from you on any good recipes you may have using the immersion blender.

APPLE SAUCE
# of apples determines the serving - I'd say about 2-3 good sized apples equals about a meals worth of apple sauce

Ingredients:

• Apples - peeled and cut up into large chunks, or quarters is fine
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional - you could also use honey)

Steps:

1. In a sauce pan, add the apples, cider and spices
2. Heat till the apples start to breakdown, and become mushy
3. Use your immersion blender to cream a little (depending on the consistency you want)
4. Let cool a bit and eat!

APPLE CRISP
This recipe is a bit watery - next time I'm going to add a bit of flour to the apples before putting the topping on - to help with the juicy-ness.

• 5-6 Large apples (I used macoun's)
• 1 stick of very cold butter
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• Lemon juice to coat apples so they don't turn while prepping

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350degrees
2. Slice the apples thinly and cover with a pinch of the cinnamon and the white sugar.
3. Apples tend to shrink when cooked, meaning they get mushy and sink into the vessel you're prepping them in so lay them in the pan (I used a deep pyrex bowl) so there aren't any spaces. 
4. Mix together the remaining dry ingredients and dice in the butter. The cooler it is the better since it will spread more evenly throughout the topping mixture. I diced it up then used my hands to smush it together. It should be a bit grainy feeling when done - a little dry and not like a dough at all. 
5. Spread the topping around over the apples.
6. Bake for 30 minutes - or until the topping is hard to the touch and you see the juices bubbling.
7. Let is cool for about 15-20 minutes before serving since the juices from the apples will be hot.