Apples usually keep a long time, so I was surprised when I pulled some recently-purchased Cortlands out of the fridge and found that they were all soft. Some of them were definitely bad and I threw those away, but the others seemed OK. Once upon a time I probably would have just thrown the whole lot away, but ever since watching the “1940s House,” I have a hard time tossing produce if I think it may still be usable. I didn’t have enough apples left for my chosen recipe, but apple crisp isn’t exactly rocket science, so I just guesstimated the quantities for the other ingredients.
I’m glad I decided to go ahead with baking. The aroma of cooking apples filled the kitchen. Baking with apples is a time-honored way of celebrating the season, and it made me feel like autumn had finally arrived. The crisp was yummy as a dessert last night and even better as a topping for my oatmeal this morning. It reminded me a little bit of the instant oatmeal that my mom used to feed me when I was a kid. You know, the pouches of powdery oatmeal and dried apples that you dump in a bowl with some hot water. Now I understand what that product was trying to imitate, and boy, did it miss its mark! Real oatmeal topped with real apple crisp is worth the extra cooking time.