Tag Archives: sweet treats

{Recipe} Old-fashioned Apple Crisp

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Old-fashioned Apple Crisp

It seems that pumpkin (or pumpkin spice) gets all the attention as the featured fall flavor. But you know what? As much as I love pumpkin, I still adore apple. Apple cider, apple pie, and of course… apple crisp all top my “must make” list for autumn. 

I think this was another recipe I started making while in college (thinking back, I did a lot of cooking in that Amherst apartment). Sure there are more exciting variations on apple crisp. They might call for oats or walnuts or something fancy. But I love the simplicity of this recipe. It never lasts long in my house, and is especially delicious warm and topped with a little vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

 

Old-fashioned Apple Crisp
A simple dessert recipe the entire family will enjoy
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Ingredients
  1. 4 c. sliced apples
  2. 1 tsp. cinnamon
  3. 1/4 c. water
  4. 1/3 c. butter, softened
  5. 1/2 tsp. salt
  6. 3/4 c. flour
  7. 1 c. sugar
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the sliced apples evenly in an 8x8 baking dish. Sprinkle the apples with a mixture of water, cinnamon, and salt. Stir together the sugar and flour and then work the butter in, using a fork or a pastry blender. Spread the crumb mixture over the apples and bake uncovered for 40 minutes.
Pure Sugar http://www.puresugar.net/

they can’t all be winners

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Am I the only one who gets absurdly disappointed when a recipe doesn’t come out as well as I thought it would? Because it’s happened twice recently.

First, there was the great pickled chard disappointment. I recently wrote about trying a recipe for quick pickled swiss chard stems. I thought it sounded delicious: spicy, sour… yummy, right? And the pickles looked pretty, too:

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I followed the recipe without noticing the lack of any salt. What was I thinking? Where was my brain? I let the jar sit in the fridge for a few days and then excitedly opened them at lunch.

Sour? Yes.

Spicy? Yes.

Otherwise flavorless? Yes. Unfortunately, they really didn’t taste like much other than vinegar and crushed red pepper. Not awful, but not worth eating to be honest. I think this has the potential to be a good recipe, but it definitely needs the addition of salt. (That also explains the cloudy brine )

Next up: the ho-hum breakfast cake. I was browsing Pinterest yesterday and saw a recipe for lemon-blueberry-yogurt cake. I had a few ingredients in the fridge that I needed to use up, coincidentally: lemons, blueberries, and some vanilla Greek yogurt. I thought for sure this was a sign that I just had to try the quick bread. I altered the recipe first by substituting coconut oil for canola oil, and I cut the sugar down to 3/4 cup instead of the full cup the original recipe called for. I couldn’t wait to wake up so I could eat it for breakfast!

Sorry for the crummy photos, but my camera was in the basement so I just used Instagram, and there was not a lot of light in my kitchen at 6:30 a.m.:

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I should mention that I also reduced the amount of powdered sugar in the glaze from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup and still had more than enough. No one in my family could agree on this cake. While I think I could cut the sugar down even further to 1/2 a cup, I liked the bread. Drew didn’t. At all. He hated the texture (it is very dense), and thought it was way too sweet (eek – imagine if I made the recipe exactly as written). Noah thought “it tasted weird.” Jake thought it was “pretty good.” But Jake isn’t too picky, either. Laura wouldn’t eat it, but she doesn’t like blueberries, so I didn’t expect her to. (Instead, she ate her scrambled egg and the proceeded to devour half of my portion.)

Drew flat out said I shouldn’t bother making this again. So I cut up the rest of the bread, packaged it, and froze it. I’ll enjoy it as a treat when I am craving something sweet. Have you made anything recently that didn’t come out well?

{Recipe} Sour Patch Grapes (a.k.a. “Glitter Grapes”)

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{Update April 2, 2013) – Welcome Pintester readers! What can I say? Guess these just aren’t for everyone. If you think they’re gross, that’s OK. I think beets are gross. Tomato – tomahto, right? Anyway, if you try these and aren’t impressed, here’s a tip: put the grapes in a colander and rinse off the Jell-O powder and you’re left with plain grapes again. Also? If you use a different flavor of Jell-O (I used MELON, not lime), or sugar-free, they’re probably NOT going to taste like the original recipe. Just sayin’. And finally? Guys… it’s grapes and Jell-O. I think the expectations are a little too high, LOL… 

{Update June 26, 2012} – I am completely overwhelmed by all the pins for this blog post! I am so glad that so many people are enjoying these. And thanks for all of your great suggestions in the comments. I am definitely trying them frozen this summer! Since originally posting this recipes, I have made the glitter grapes with a few different flavors, but my favorite is still either Melon Fusion or Watermelon (depending on what I find at the store). I still have not tried them with sugar-free Jell-O, but I will try to get to that. In the meantime… thanks for visiting!

Jake’s Pinewood Derby was a couple weeks ago and our den was asked to bring fruit to the event. While it is super great that they are encouraging more healthful snacks at scouting events, I was racking my brain for some way to make fruit more exciting. It couldn’t involve skewers because, well… all those crazy boys were going to be running around. I could just envision one going right through a Wolf scout’s eye or something. Shudder.

Then I remembered a link that Dara had posted on Facebook. It was for sparkly sweet grapes. Perfect! I’d had sugar frosted grapes before and enjoyed them, but I have never felt comfortable with the whole raw egg-wash thing. It’s one thing if I’m making them for a small group of people I know well, but not for a community event. There are too many people with egg allergies these days. I’d hate to be the person who made someone sick. Glitter Grapes, however, do not require anything questionable. All you need are grapes and Jell-O.

glitter grapes
I went with green grapes and Melon Fusion Jell-O. I wasn’t sure how the color of the gelatin would effect the the overall color of the grapes, so I tried to keep it in the same family.

The first thing you do is thoroughly wash your grapes. Don’t skimp on the water. The grapes need to be wet in order for the Jell-O to stick to them.
glitter grapes

Next, pour out about 1/3 of the Jell-O powder onto a plate.
glitter grapes

Drop a handful of grapes into the powder and coat them on all sides.
glitter grapes

You can use a spoon if it’s easier. The powder tends to gunk up on your fingers (yes, “gunk up” is the technical term).
glitter grapes

Add more gelatin powder as needed and continue the process until all the grapes are covered. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
glitter grapes

And that’s it! I am calling them “sour patch grapes” because quite a few people thought I got my hands on some of the sugar they use on Sour Patch Kids. This recipe was seriously easy and seriously good. Believe it or not, people were actually looking for me so I could tell them how I made the grapes, LOL! And Drew overheard two boys from the Webelos II den talking about how good the glitter grapes were. He said, “If they inspired a couple 5th grade boys to talk about them long after they’re gone, I think you’ve got a winner.” Ha! 🙂 This will probably be my go-to picnic/potluck dish this summer. I’m sure other flavors of Jell-O are good, too. But I’m sticking with the melon!

Sour Patch Grapes (a.k.a. Glitter Grapes)

glitter grapes

1 pound of green seedless grapes, pulled from the stems and rinsed
1 3-oz. package of Melon Fusion Jell-O (NOT prepared)
Water
Directions

Rinse the grapes under water until all are clean and wet. Spread the gelatin mix on a plate, about 1/3 at a time. Place a handful of grapes on the plate and gently roll each grape in the gelatin powder until it is covered. Place the coated grapes into a bowl and repeat the process with the remaining ingredients until all of the grapes are covered. Place the bowl and let set in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, until the gelatin is set. The colder these are, the better they taste!

Be sure to visit Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom to check out other delicious recipes!