Apple Season

Here in the Northeast the air is turning cool, which signals apple harvest time. Like any dyed-in-the-wool New Englander, this is my favorite time of year. I much prefer my fall/winter cooking and baking recipes over my spring/summer barbecue fare. Two weeks ago my husband and I went apple picking to get some apples for eating as well as for making delicious apple recipes. We traveled an hour to Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury specifically for their fabulous apple cider donuts. You can watch them being made, and then snatch them while they are still warm and sugary!

This one didn't even make it out of the parking lot.

They have a beautiful property all decked out with the season's bounty.

We walked up the hill to pick Honey Crisp and Macintosh.

They have a small petting zoo with farm animals like goats,

and a big tom turkey

We brought home two enormous bags of apples and a dozen eleven apple cider donuts. I planned on making some kind of dessert with some of the apples the following weekend....

Later on that week,  I was walking my dog in the neighborhood, when I saw a couple of boxes sitting by the curb. Of course my inner dialogue said "there could be something I could use in an art project over there", so I walked over to check it out. In the first box I saw a bunch of empty glass spice jars. I rationalized that these could either be used for storage or could be part of a mixed media project.  I gathered as many as I could and stuffed them in every pocket I had. In the last box, I found three cast iron skillets. There were two small ones and a larger skillet that all looked like they were in fairly good condition but entirely too heavy to carry home with the spice jars and a dog on a leash. I quickly finished my walk with the dog so I could take my car back over there to retrieve the skillets. 

I knew they just needed a little cleaning, but being cast iron I thought it was a good idea to find out how to clean them. Whenever I need to learn something, I immediately turn to my new favorite instructional guide: You Tube. Sure enough, I found quite a few videos on how to clean and season rusty cast iron cookware. I followed the instructions to wash in soapy water (after all they were living outside), scrub them with a warm oil and salt mixture, and finally season them by buffing in a little oil. After about 1 1/2 hours of elbow grease later, I had three velvety black skillets.

I passed on the two smaller skillets to my sons, and kept the large one for myself. The great thing about cast iron cookware is that it is the original "non-stick" cookware and using it regularly actually supplements your daily iron intake! It cooks as well on top of the stove as it does in the oven, and it's practically indestructible. I say "practically" because my mother, who was know in my family as the "destructor-bot" broke the handle off of her large black iron skillet.

For my first foray into cast iron cooking, I found a Skillet Apple Cobbler recipe on the blog "The Other Side Of  Fifty". I made it as shown with the exception of the boiled cider and as I always do, I substituted half of the white flour with half wheat flour. It filled the house with the sweet scent of cinnamon and it was delicious with a little vanilla bean ice cream on the side. 

So if you have a cast iron skillet in the back recesses of your kitchen cabinet, get it out and try this recipe with some of this season's bounty.

Can't get enough of these blueberry muffins

Last week I baked some blueberry muffins, a recipe I have been using for years. They are soooo.... delicious I decided I just hadn't had enough of their blueberry goodness, so I made another batch this morning.

Those of you who know me well, know that I am not a morning person, but somehow I can pull myself together, just after getting out of bed no less, to make muffins in the morning. I find it not only a relaxing way to start my day, but I must admit that I love homemade muffins for breakfast. I usually make Jiffy Brand bran muffins at least once a week. It makes just 6 small muffins but I haven't found a "by scratch" recipe that I like better, and besides, how easy is it to empty the mix into the bowl, add egg and milk, stir, and spoon into a little muffin pan? You don't have to even be fully awake to manage that.

I started out with the recipe for my blueberry muffins from this great little book, "Muffins" by Elizabeth Alston.



The Best Blueberry Muffins
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature                
1 cup granulated sugar                                         
2 eggs                                                                                                                                     
1 teaspoon vanilla extract                                     
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt                               
2  1/2 cups fresh blueberries (mash 1/2 cup with fork) 
2 cups flour (I substitute 1 cup white and 1 cup wheat)  
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups including area between cups or use foil baking cup liners.
In medium size bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Mix mashed berries into batter. Fold in half of the flour with a spatula, then half of her milk. Add remaining flour and milk. Fold in remaining blueberries.
Scoop batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle with nutmeg-sugar. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let muffins cool at least 30 minutes in the pan before removing.
                                                                                        

The sweet cream butter mixed with the sugar makes for a beautiful soft yellow glow in the bottom of my mixer bowl.

This recipe has 2 secret tips. The first one is to mash some of the berries and mix it into the batter. It helps release the berry juice and make these muffins so much better.

I do change Ms. Alston's recipe just a little: I replace half of the white flour with wheat flour. It has no effect on the taste of the muffin but does change the color of the muffin slightly.

The other secret tip for these muffins is to sprinkle each one with some nutmeg-sugar just before popping them into the oven.

This makes them a little crunchy on the top. It is a challenge to let them cool completely before carefully prying them out of their little cup cradles.

This makes mornings just a little bit more palatable.