Leaf Peeping and Apple Dumplings

We’ve finally managed to get rid of the crap/cold/flu/whatever that has been plaguing our house for the past month. 

We decided to take a drive yesterday to do some leaf peeping and bring a picnic lunch for the kids.   In the Bangor area, the leaves aren’t very colorful yet.  However, just an hour north, the leaves are beautiful.

When we got back, I decided I needed to make some apple treats.  I was going to make an apple cream cheese cake, but then saw it needed to sit overnight.  I wanted instant gratification so opted to finally make T those apple dumplings he’s been hankering for.

Old Fashioned Apple Dumplings (recipe from Straight from the Farm)

I started by getting the insides ready.

4 tbs sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/3 cup Craisens (optional – kept to the side)

4 medium baking apples, cored and peeled ( I had small apples so made 6 total)

Then I prepped the syrup supplies.

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Next, I started on the crust dough.

2 cups AP flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup chilled butter, cut into cubes

1/2 cup 2% milk

1) Preheat oven to 375.

2) Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form.  Pour in milk and stir to form a dough.  Add flour if too sticky.  Do not overwork.  Divide in half.  Roll one half on a lightly floured surface to 1/4” thickness.  Cut into squares.

3) Cut off top and bottom of each apple.  Rinse in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.

4) Place 1 apple in center of each dough square.  Fill cores with Craisens and sugar mixture. Sprinkle sugar mix on apples.  Wet edges of dough and seal corners at the top of the apple.  Pinch to seal.

5) Place all dumplings in a baking dish, 1” apart.

6) Bring syrup ingredients to a boil, remove from heat and cool slightly.  Pour around dumplings and sprinkle 2 tbs sugar over top  (I used more sugar mixture from the insides on the top of the dough).  Bake for 45 minutes.  If browning too quickly, place foil on top for final 10-15 minutes.

Fresh from the oven:

We enjoyed them for dessert:

I opted for a small scoop of ice cream with more of the syrup drizzled on top:

Delicious.  

APPLES!

We’ve been to pick apples a couple of times now.  Our favorite place to pick is Conant’s Apple Orchard in Etna.  You really can’t go wrong.  The apples are tasty and a really good price.  (We paid $13 for a large paper grocery bag full)

What happens when Mommy is left in charge of carrying the bag

Of course, we then had to do something with all of these apples!  Of course, we could eat them, but with such a big bag of apples, we were running the risk of losing them to rot.

So I got to work and made some apple sauce. (I don’t know where this recipe came from).

Apple Sauce

1 quart (4 cups) peeled and sliced apples

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

cinnamon (optional)

Cook about 20 minutes.  Mash (I use my immersion blender).

A double batch of this recipe yielded me 1 quart plus 1 snack of apple sauce.  (I took to making 4 batches at once to get more at a time).

Of course, we also made Apple Bread like last year.   T keeps waiting and asking for Apple Dumplings, as well.  (I’ll get to them.  We still have about 1/4 of our bag left).

I also made an apple crisp.   This recipe is from my mom’s old Betty Crocker cookbook.

Apple Crisp

4 cups apples, sliced

2/3-3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup oats

1/3 cups margarine, softened

3/4 tsp cinnamon

Grease 8x8x2 pan (I used a Pampered' Chef stoneware pie plate).  Put apples in.

Mix together rest of ingredients and sprinkle on top.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Our other favorite place for apples is Treworgy Family Orchard in Levant.  Well, they are really our favorite place in general, but they have some really good apples there. 

They also have hay rides on weekends, a corn maze, pick your own pumpkins, a gift shop, a cafe, goats for petting and so much more.   I think T and I love the place just as much as the kids do.

What have you been doing with your apples?  Anything tasty to share?

The verdict is in.

After 13 hours in the dehydrator, the banana chips are done. Monkey has already taste tested and they pass with flying colors. ;-)

T & I both find that you can taste the lemon juice, but it isn't an unpleasant flavor addition. The juice actually made a thin crispy crust on the outside (the banana itself isn't crispy, but I sliced them so thin that you don't notice).

Speaking of slicing - the mandolin was useless. They were a little too ripe so they just kept mushing up while I attempted to run them through. I put it aside after 1 banana and sliced the rest with a knife.

I may attempt apples today. If not, I'm going to do them this weekend, for sure. I can't get away from making tomato sauce today, though.

We also tried a new wine last night. I'm not much of a wine drinker (give me a cold beer any day!) but I have to admit I really enjoyed this one. It was a Gewurztraminer. At $10 a bottle, it is also affordable. See more about this wine at WannaBeWino.com.

And with that, I must be off. My teething child wanted to snuggle most of yesterday so I didn't get all of my housework done, as I had been planning. Who was I to say no to snuggles? At least she seems back to herself today.

The Banana Experiment

Well, I've done it.

While T was entertaining Monkey by sharing his breakfast, I quickly peeled and sliced my bunch of bananas.

I did a little reading up thanks to Google last night. My findings were that in order to get crispy banana chips, I would need to fry the slices in coconut oil (which is what you're getting when you buy them in the grocery store). Doesn't that defeat the purpose of eating banana chips? That's not exactly healthy.

I also found that in order to keep the color, I would need to soak my slices in an acid (I used lemon juice because we have 2 huge bottles of it in the house). This is supposed to do nothing to the flavor.

After soaking for a couple of minutes, it was time to load my dehydrator. I'm very glad I didn't decide to attempt apple chips at the same time as my dehydrator is full with just my small bunch of bananas!

We'll be checking on our bananas periodically today, but they'll need to go for 12-16 hours, according to what I read last night.

As my house is now filled with the smell of warm bananas (smells like banana bread - yummy), Monkey and I are setting about the task of cleaning house. All of our food preservation projects have pushed house work aside on the list of things to do... and it shows. The bathroom needs cleaning, the carpets need vacuuming, the laundry needs doing (and it's a perfect day for hanging it out!) and the floors need washing.

So, with that, we're off to get things clean. Starting with the currently poopy fanny I can smell standing in front of me.