Apple Crisp

For dessert tonight, I made an Apple Crisp. Last summer (2008) I bought a huge container of ground flaxseed at the MN State Fair. I don't know why. I'd ever used flaxseed before. I didn't really understand its purpose or function.

Before today, I'd only used a few tablespoons here and there on yogurt or in a smoothie. I've heard that you can use it to substitute flour, fat, and eggs, but making those substitutions makes me really nervous. When I bought the flaxseed, I was given a small packet of recipes they'd found online that used flaxseed. Today, more than a year later, I finally braved up and tried out a recipe.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 cups fresh sliced Braeburn Apples, or your favorite apple (I used a combination of red and green apples because that's what I had on hand)
• 1 T fresh lemon juice
• 2 T plus 2 tsp white sugar
• 1 T cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c ground flaxseed
• 1/4 c brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 c quick cooking oats (I used old fashioned)

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Coat a baking dish with non-stick spray.
2. Combine apples (I peeled before slicing) and lemon juice in baking dish and toss gently to coat.
3. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and 1 tsp cinnamon. Stir with a whisk to blend.
4. Add cornstarch mixture to apple mixture and toss well to coat.
5. Combine flax, remaining cinnamon, brown sugar, and oats in separate bowl. Sprinkle evenly over apple mixture.
6. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown.

Again, I promise to take more, and better, pictures for future posts.

Canning Applesauce

The Apples, Apples, and More Apples post didn't give me enough apples to satisfy my apple curiosity.

(I made apple cobbler, German apple pancakes, sliced 3 quarts to freeze, and made one batch (1 qt) of applesauce to freeze.)

So I went and picked up another bagful of apples.

I made an apple crisp.

Today I made and canned 6 pints of applesauce! (I decided to can instead of freeze because our freezer is full!!) It was my first time canning since helping my mom when I was a little girl. I was going to can yesterday, but I didn't have any canning tongs. And it's out of season at Wal-mart for canning supplies.

I called a sister in my ward to see if I could borrow hers. She gave me her canning pot, too. I was very grateful for her helpful advice and for letting me borrow her supplies. Unfortunately, I did not use her pot. It was too big for our stove (in my opinion), and it was too intimidating for me. Everything I'd read said the bottles needed to be submerged with 1 inch of water covering the jars. I didn't see how it was possible to do that with the pot she gave me, so I just used my own deep pot.

I did lots of research on the Internet about canning before starting this venture (that's how I knew about the 1 inch of water cover). I kept looking for advice on how to can without a canning pot (with rack for the jars). I'd read that the jars should not touch the bottom of the pot, so I searched and searched for a way to get around this without purchasing a specific tool. Finally I found something that would help me! They said to put a towel in the bottom of the pot in prevent the jars from touching the bottom and breaking (from the heat?). So...this is what I did today. I also only did two pint jars at a time. It took me 2 1/2 hours to complete the process.

I still have quite a few apples remaining, so I may make more applesauce on Friday. We'll see...

Apples, Apples, and More Apples!!

A sister in my ward had a lot of extra apples, so I thought, "Why not? Free apples are tastier than those from the store."

I'll probably freeze most of them to use for pies and baking during the winter.

Of course, I've been using some right away!

Last night I made a delicious Apple Cobbler.