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Fall Flavors

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One of my current favorite internet phenomenon’s is Matt Bellassai’s “Wine About It.”

Matt works for Buzzfeed. Fun, right??

That means he gets to do research for things like this (Boiler up!) and create things as sweet as this.

And, in his newest project, Matt sits at his desk, drinks loads of wine, complains about things like going out, shopping for clothes, and being an adult… you know, everything that you think is the worst too, and he records it for the internet’s viewing pleasure.

You guys. He get’s paid for this.

And, his getting kind of “internet” famous. So basically, he is going to be set for life with appearances, hosting gigs, wine labels, a bar franchise, action figures, etc… Uh, Hello?!… #dreamjob.

He posts his videos every Wednesday and this past week he shared why fall is the worst.

Full disclosure: He cusses quite a bit a lot, so tell the kids to put on their headphones.

But, it’s funny… because it’s true. Everyone is always so stoked for fall. And, everyone can’t ever get over how great fall is even when it’s here.  So, I got to thinking, why are we so fall obsessed?

Sure.  I love feeling the first chill in the air, throwing on a big cozy sweater and the first fire in my fireplace. But, I also get a little sad when fall comes around because that means that it’s all down hill from here to winter.

… Evidently, I am a little glass half empty about fall… So, maybe I am not the best person to ask why we all fall in love with fall year after year.

Instead, I referenced the past couple weeks of my Facebook and Instagram newsfeed and it hit me.  

We all love fall because of the food.

No other season has such quintessential flavors.  Pumpkin. Chai Tea. Caramel. Spice. Apples. Butternut squash.  Sage.

All classically fall.

Now, I know I may gain a few haters, but I have to side with Matt on his views on pumpkin.  It’s just not my favorite.  I have tried.  I have purchased a PSL.  I can appreciate a pumpkin donut.  But… Ehh.

Apples on the other hand?  We don’t really see eye to eye.

I am a big fan of apples in the fall.  I enjoy going to the local orchard.  I enjoy trying all the different varieties.  And, I love making fun treats with them.

I also think hot apple pie with cool, melty vanilla ice cream is so iconic and so good.  But, it’s also kind of predictable.

Instead, this fall, I tried something new but used apple pie with ice cream as inspiration.

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And, instead of vanilla I went with another one of my favorite ice cream flavors: Salty caramel.  I was introduced to the salty caramel flavor at Jeni’s Ice Cream as a young girl in Columbus, Ohio and the flavor also pairs really well with apples.  Not to mention, it’s delicious.

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It served as a perfect accompanist to these buttery, gooey, and fall spiced apple bars.

These bars were super simple to make so don’t get intimidated by the ingredient list. It looks like a lot; but, really, most of the items were already in my pantry and there are items that are repeated in the different layers of the bar.  

And, it’s a good thing that these bars are so easy to make because they didn’t last long and they have been requested twice since the last one disappeared last week.

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… maybe it was a squirrel! 

Apple Bars with Salty Caramel
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Crust
  1. 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  2. 1/4 cup sugar
  3. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  4. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  5. 1 cup flour
Filling
  1. 2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
  2. 2 tablespoons flour
  3. 1 tablespoons sugar
  4. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  5. 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Topping
  1. 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
  2. 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  3. 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  4. 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  5. 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
  6. Salty Caramel in notes
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
  2. Line the bottom of an 8x8 baking pan with parchment or aluminum foil leaving enough to hang over the sides.
  3. For the Crust: Combine melted butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl. Add the flour until just combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes while you make the rest.
  4. For the Filling: Combine the sliced apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. Toss until the apples are well coated.
  5. For the Topping: Combine the oats, sugar, cinnamon and flour in a medium bowl. Add the chilled butter and cut into the mixture with two forks or your fingers until mixture forms coarse crumbs.
  6. Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to 350 degrees.
  7. Layer the apples on the warm crust. Make sure they are tight and even. You may need to press down to make them fit.
  8. Sprinkle the apples with the oat topping and bake for 30-35 minutes.
  9. Let cool for at least 20 minutes once removed from the oven and then chill in refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.
  10. Lift the parchment or foil to remove from the baking pan and cut into even bars.
  11. Drizzle the salty caramel over the top. Enjoy warm or cool!
Salty Caramel
  1. 1 cup sugar
  2. 6 tablespoons salted butter, cut into 6 pieces
  3. 1/2 cup heavy cream
  4. 1 teaspoon salt
  5. Heat sugar in a medium saucepan while constantly stirring with a heat resistant rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Sugar takes on clumps and then melts into a thick brown liquid. Keep stirring so that the sugar does not burn.
  6. When sugar is completely melted, add the butter, but use caution as the mixture will bubble up when the butter is added. Stir until completely melted.
  7. Slowly, drizzle in the heavy cream. The cream is cooler than the caramel and will bubble up.
  8. Allow the mixture to boil and rise for one minute then remove from the heat and stir in the salt.
  9. Let cool a bit before using.
  10. This is great on ice cream or as a gift! It keeps about two weeks.
Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

“Basic” Apple Crostata

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The term “Basic” has kind of moved from an internet buzzword to a cultural phenomenon in the last couple weeks. Do I dare call it this months ice bucket challenge?!

“Basic” is used to describe a woman, likely in her twenties and was very eloquently defined recently in New York Magazine as “a terminally boring Sex and The City viewer and consumer of Pumpkin Spice Lattes.”

Everyone knows a “basic” girl.  They are all over Facebook and definitely Instagram.  In fact “#basic” has been used just about one million times on IG.

You can even take quizzes to find out just how “basic” you are.

Admittedly, I got sucked in and had to participate. Surprisingly, the quiz said I wasn’t that basic.

However, I am pretty sure I was automatically disqualified the instant I said juice cleanses don’t interest me.

Or that I swore off diet coke years ago. (However, I probably still got partial points for calling it a “DC” in my mind…)

Definitely disqualified when I said that I am not just not a fan of Jennifer Lawrence, but that I kind of hate her. And not in the “Oh my gosh.  I can’t even… She’s flaw-less.” kind of hate her… But rather the, “She’s beyond obnox and I am pretty sure she is faking it” kind of hate her.

…. More partial points for the abbreviated “obnoxious.”

The thing is, any woman from 17-32 is a little basic.

I still quote Mean Girls… daily.  I woke up early to watch Kate Middleton’s wedding and I will tell my daughters about how fabulous it was.  And, really… what is SO wrong with a boozy brunch?!

So, I have decided, we all need to stop being so ashamed about it.

Especially this time of year. In the start of autumn, us “basic bitches” need to stick together.

I get the rush and excitement you get about your first Pumpkin Spice Latte and I don’t even like PSL’s.

The first Pumpkin Spice Latte translates to the excitement for fall.

(However, if it’s eighty degrees and you are ordering it “iced?”  I am sorry.  Stop.)

I feel the same excitement the instant I put on my first over sized, cable knit sweater of the season, which is apparently very “basic” of me.

And so is enjoying a fall spiced candle.  

Or putting a decent amount of time into the perfect handmade Halloween costume.  

Or enjoying a bonfire on a crisp night.  

Or wearing boots, leggings and a flannel to said bonfire.  

… I’m sorry.  It’s a bonfire.  What am I supposed to wear!?

So, whatever.  

It’s probably super “basic” of me to respond with “whatever… but, what—ever.

I like going to the apple orchard.  Seeing the trees where my apples grew.  Meeting the farmers.  Loving on their cozy gift shop full of apple butter, mulling spices and cider.

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I love taking the apples I picked out and making this delicious and super basic (basic… as in simple to create basic.  Not as in totally awesome chick who is probably my best friend already “basic.”) rustic Apple Crostata inspired by Ina Garten.

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PS- Ina is the author of “Back to Basics.”  Ahead of her time? Maybe… 🙂

A crostata is an Italian baked tart, similar to a pie.

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… but a little less basic.

Apple Crostata
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For the Crust
  1. 1 cup flour
  2. 2 tablespoons sugar
  3. 1/4 tablespoon salt
  4. 1 stick of very cold butter, diced
  5. 2 tablespoons or ice water, plus more if needed
For the Filling
  1. About 3 large (1 1/2 pounds) macintosh, Macoun, or Empire apples
  2. 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
  3. 1/4 cup flour
  4. 1/4 cup sugar
  5. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  6. 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  7. 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
  8. 4 tablespoons or 1/2 stick of cold butter, diced
For the Crust
  1. Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine.
  2. Add the butter and pluse about 15 times.or until the butter is similar in size to peas.
  3. With the motor running add the cold water through the feeding tube.
  4. Pulse to combine but stop before the dough becomes a solid mass.
  5. If more cold water is needed, add only 1/4 a teaspoon at a time.
  6. Place the dough on a well floured surface and shape into a disk.
  7. Wrap disk in saran and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  8. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  9. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough into a circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to a baking sheet.
  10. Peel, core and cut the apples into eighths and then cut each wedge into three chunks.
  11. Toss the apple chunks with the orange zest in a bowl.
  12. Cover the dough with the apple chunks leaving a 1 inch border.
  13. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and allspice in the bowl of a food processor with a steel blade with a few pulses.
  14. Add the butter and pulse until crumbly.
  15. Rub filling through your fingers until it begins to hold together and then sprinkle over the apples.
  16. Fold the dough border over the apples to enclose the crostata.
  17. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the crust is golden and the apples are tender.
  18. Great to serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
  1. I used Macoun apples. They were recommended by the orchard as great baking apples as well as just for eating.
Adapted from Ina Garten
Adapted from Ina Garten
Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/

Happy Fall, Ya’ll!

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Unlike much of the rest of the world, I have not fully come to terms with the fact that it is Fall.

Now, before you choke on your Pumpkin Spice Latte, let me say that I do love Fall.

I love all of the seasons. And, yes, Fall is wonderful. Football, chili, over-sized sweaters, colorful leaves… Love it.

But, let me also remind you that, in Indiana, it was a muggy, eighty degrees all last week.

Not exactly the kind of weather that makes you want to carve pumpkins or pick apples (… or have a PSL, for that matter), but it is time to welcome Autumn with open arms and give it a try.

Recently, my parents were visiting and I was trying to figure out how to entertain the Ex-Chicago Yuppies in the country. I thought about the little apple orchard I drive passed nearly every day that is just around the corner from our home, but have never been to. So, I suggested a trip to the apple orchard.

They took me to pick apples as a kid so I thought what better way to kick off fall and return the favor.

Some fun shots from a trip to an orchard just outside of Chicago in 1991. My little sister couldn't have been much more than a month or two old.

Some fun shots from a trip to an orchard just outside of Chicago in 1991. My little sister couldn’t have been much more than a month or two old.

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We took the whopping two minute drive to Farlow’s Orchard, drove up a gravel driveway past rows and rows of apple trees to a small barn with open doors.

Inside it looked like a basic gift shop. There were lots of different varieties of apples around the room that you could buy as a bushel, peck, or individually. There was also a cooler full of ciders and many apple desserts like apple dumplings or caramel covered apples.

We were greeted by an older man in bib overalls. He explained they don’t have a “You-Pick” operation to preserve the orchard. He mentioned that Farlow’s is the oldest apple orchard in the state of Indiana. The orchard was created by his wife’s family three generations ago.

I knew I wanted to make something with the apples and had recently scanned through the Canning for a New Generation book. There was a recipe for applesauce that had caught my attention in the “Fall” chapter.

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I asked which apple was good for making apple sauce. He said lots of them were, but his wife’s favorite for apple sauce is the Cortland variety.

Good enough for me. A woman who grew up on an apple orchard and continued to live there well into adulthood? She probably knows what’s best.

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My dad treated me to my apples and got himself an Apple Slush, basically an apple Slurpie.

“Mmm, that’s good,” he said offering me a sip. It was.

He thought for a moment. “A suggestion?” the marketing extraordinaire questioned the orchard owner, “A little caramel in here would really just make it incredible.”

“They sell pretty well enough on their own,” the orchard owner bluntly replied.

Welcome to the country, Dad. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Another thing that clearly had not broken was the cash register. It looked like it was at least a hundred years old. It was a huge machine covered in ornate designs and complete with a big hand crank. The owner said he tried to use a computer once, but this worked better.

Again, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I took this mind set home with me and prepared to make applesauce. After cutting, boiling and mashing the apples I pushed them through an old, aluminum sieve with a wooden mortar that belonged to Adam’s grandmother.

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Adam found it in his childhood home after his parents moved out and had to hang onto it. It had still not been used since it was in our possession so I decided to give it a try.

Oh my gosh. I discovered muscles in my forearms that I didn’t even know existed. It was crazy, hard work. But, with my peck of apples (… Minus a few for snacking.) I made two jars of apple sauce.

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Here is what I did:

Get about about six pounds of apples (Not as many as you would think once you weigh them.)

Core apples, cut into 1-inch chunks

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Add to a pot with about 1 ½ cups water

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Heat on high, bring to a boil and stir occasionally. As the apples cook down, the peels will separate from the apple. Cook for about forty minutes.

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Pass through a food mill (or sieve). I had the puree fall onto a deep cookie sheet. You can use a bowl as well.

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Bring puree to a boil for five minutes.

Can, if you would like. I did not, just because I didn’t make that much. If you were to water bath can apple sauce, process the jar in the boiling water for fifteen minutes.

The apples and applesauce were a perfect first taste of fall.

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Now, time for chili… And maybe even a Pumpkin Spice Latte.