Apple Crisp

Its that time of year when you just want to grab a sweatshirt and head outside!  I love fall and I am fortunate to live in a state where it lasts until Christmas!  We don’t have any autumn colors starting yet, but after a week of nearly 90 degree weather here (central IL) I am thrilled to finally have a high of 68 today.  WOO HOO!  I love it!  I love it!  I am sorry for the sporadic blog entries, but we are continuing to gut the main part of our house and yesterday the fireplace came down.  Needless to say, we ordered take-out last night in the interest of trying to keep sane in a very messy house.  Demolition doesn’t always leave much energy for cooking, no matter how much I love to do it.  But then…

In the middle of all the chaos, I get a text from my friend, Sara.  She wants to make an apple crisp and would I, by chance, have a good recipe for one.  By golly Sara, yes I do!  I immediately emailed her the following recipe, confident that she would love it.  My family made apple crisp all the time when I was a kid and it is one of my favorite comfort foods still today.  I love the smell that fills the house, I love the way it looks, I love it for breakfast!  It is truly a simple dessert to do, even on a weeknight.  So.  Lets get started.
This recipe is sort of pieced together.  I have made apple crisp, or any kind of crisp for that matter, without a recipe nearly my entire life.  The apple filling is super easy and when it comes to the crisp on top, I just throw ingredients together and everything turns out great.  That is the way my Mother always did it and I am a good enough cook that I can wing it.  The one bummer is that I rarely write down my recipes.  I just rely on memory to make them the same every time.  I make these grilled teryaki beef skewers and every time I make them, they turn out the same.  Even though I almost never really remember what goes in the marinade, it all seems to come together.  Unfortunately, my apple crisp never seemed to do that.  Sometimes the crisp would turn out dry and crumbly, sometimes soggy and soft.  Sometimes perfectly crunchy and toasted.  So, I decided to search for an actual recipe for the topping so that I could have it turn out perfectly every time.  Maybe I would find a recipe that contained something different that I hadn’t though of.  Anyway, my search led me to a name you might have heard me mention before.  Ina Garten.  And she did not disappoint.  Turns out, I was doing just fine on my own, I just needed more butter.  So go apple picking and whip this up.  I promise it will make you think of fall, even if it is 90 degrees outside.
Apple Crisp

6 c apples peeled, cored, and chopped, such as Golden Delicious-or however much it takes to fill a medium sized baking dish
1 heaping T flour
pinch of salt
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Gently mix all ing. together and spread evenly into a sprayed, 2 quart baking dish.
Topping:
3/4 c flour
3/4 c oatmeal
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 stick of cold butter, cut into cubes

Mix all topping ingredients together until butter is completely incorporated and mixture starts to stick together.  Crumble evenly over apples.  Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes, or until top is golden brown and center is bubbly.  Let sit for 15 minutes after removing from the oven.  If you like, add a scoop of frozen yogurt or vanilla ice cream.  Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.