Last week I went apple picking with my best friend. Picture this: we drive up to a little farm stand, thinking there will maybe be a couple different varieties to choose from. The nice family who owns it directs us to the orchard, and we’re met with literally a forest of apple trees. YES. #winning. Pretty sure I tried every single one of the 13 kinds of apples they had (besides red delicious, blegh) and we came home with about 35 lbs of apples. And tons of ideas for different apple things to make. So here comes the first of MANY apple recipes you’ll be seeing around here. I tested 2 different kinds of apple crisp on my family this weekend so I can perfect the crust before I give you guys the recipe. Because let’s be real, the crust is the best part. Obviously. It’s not there yet but it will be soon!! I can tell you’re excited.
But first: So two weeks ago I went to this awesome event in Baltimore called the Body Love Tour with a bunch of kick a** chicks/new friends like Heather Waxman and Kasey Arena of Powercakes. Love these girls. They are so friendly, down to earth, and know exactly how to push you through a fun-but-killer quick workout or total mind f*ck/out of body meditation experience, then get you right back to feeling happy and great. And that’s exactly what we did – a workout, yoga, listened to some inspirational body love stories, and that INSANE meditation I talked about. That sh*t was trippy. But in a good way. Oh and we also got some cool (free!) swag from under armour, green juice, and dark chocolate. What could be better? It was the kind of thing that made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. New friends, a workout/yoga, and dark chocolate? My kinda thing.
Know what else makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside? Don’t go all perv-y on me people, get your mind out of the gutter. We’re talking about food here.
APPLESAUCE. and the KEY spice blend to taking any fall apple dish over the top: Homemade apple pie spice.
- 10 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- 2 tsp apple pie spice blend (below)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Juice of ½ lemon
- dash of sea salt
- ½ cup water
- Apple Pie Spice Blend
- 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tbsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- Combine the ingredients for your spice blend in a small jar and give it a shake to mix them up. Set aside. You won’t be using all of this for the applesauce - save it for future apple recipes!
- Combine the apples, lemon juice, water and 2 tsp spice blend in a large soup pot. Cover, and bring water to a boil. Stir the apples every few minutes.
- Turn the heat down to a simmer (still covered), and cook for about 30 minutes. Stir the apples about every 10 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, the apples should be pretty mushy. Use a potato masher to get in there and mush the apples down until they resemble a chunky applesauce.
- To cook some of the water out, take the lid off the pot and let it simmer for another 5-10 minutes. You can mash it some more after this point if you like too.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and season to taste with more of the spice blend if you like. I usually add about another teaspoon.
- Enjoy warm or cold!
