11/10/09

TWD: Cran-Apple Crisp


We were supposed to be hit by a hurricane or tropical storm last night, luckily, the storm changed its course and largely dissipated before it hit shore. The unusual thing about Hurricane Ida is that it came at the bitter, bitter end of hurricane season. Growing up in New Orleans, we learned to always hope for the best and to prepare for the worst when a storm heads our way and in lieu of recent storms (ahem Katrina) the city has been especially cautious when anything begins to brew in the Gulf. Because of all of this, Derrick's school closed yesterday just in case the winds got bad enough for driving to be dangerous. Of course, the teachers still had to go in to "prepare" their classrooms so I decided to pack the babies up and go into school with him. It was really fun for the four of us to spend a Monday together even if we were just unplugging computers and moving filing cabinets away from windows. It's so funny how starved I've become for even the most boring outings!

Because I stay home with the girls, our family of four lives off of Derrick's teacher salary (practically nothing...haha); thus, we share one car. When Derrick leaves at 7:15am we say goodbye to all forms of transportation other than the double stroller until between 5:30-8:00pm depending on the day. We take LOTS and LOTS of walks. Seriously though, the three of us are always ready to get out of the house even for the most mundane of activities.

Besides walks to the park and reading books, one of Helen's new favorite things to do during our days at home is help Mommy bake. Baking, for Helen, means one of two things A) sitting on the counter to watch while I mix, measure, and stir or B) gathering up as many cooking utensils as I will allow her to borrow and "baking" pretend cakes on the kitchen floor. The other day, as I peeled and chopped apples for this week's scrumptious Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, Cran-Apple Crisp, Helen was busily stirring her "cake" on the floor when I looked down and discovered that she had gathered up a bunch of pieces of apple peel that had fallen from my cutting board and had mixed them with a stray button, a penny, and a guitar pick in her bowl. To Helen, this is baking, this is what it looks like I'm doing when I bake- pulling out random bags of powders, mashing up sticks of goo, throwing in berries!


This week's recipe was chosen by Pam of Cookies with Boys - it is a mix of apples, fresh cranberries and a bit of sugar topped with a crumb mixture composed of butter, flour, oats, coconut, cinnamon, brown sugar, and ginger. The mix of tart and sweet is just magical! This is such a fantastic Fall dessert- I couldn't recommend it more! Not only is the crisp delicious, it is extraordinarily simple to make, especially if you have a little baking apprentice on the premises.

6 comments:

Karen said...

I agree, this was so easy and delicious and perfectly fall.

Kerstin said...

Awww, that's so cute Helen was "baking" along with you! I really look back fondly on making cookies with my mom growing up. And what a delicious crisp, so perfect for fall!

Anonymous said...

Your crisp looks wonderful. I love the dish.

film izle said...

I agree, this was so easy and delicious and perfectly fall.

TeaLady said...

Aren't they cute in the kitchen.

Your crisp looks great.

Glad you missed the Storm. Not fun in N.O. in one.

Amanda said...

Fun story, it's hard when I let my teenager take my car to school and I am stuck without transportation LOL Love that dish, so pretty! I loved the crisp, I made it this week and it was delish ;)