Place whole squash in the microwave for 8 minutes.
Peel and cut squash in cubes. Place all ingredients (except milk) in a soup pot and cook for 45 minutes or longer. Adjust seasonings.
Stir in milk and ladle into bowls.
Serves 10.
Preheat oven to temperature 375°F. Combine all ingredients, except applesauce and nuts, in a bowl. Mix until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup mixture. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of greased 13×9 inch baking pan. Bake 13-15 minutes. Cool. Spread applesauce over partially baked base and sprinkle with nuts. Sprinkle reserved 1 cup oatmeal mixture over filling. Bake 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and cut into 2 inch squares.
Source: Chefs.com
from the kitchen of Gracie Hinton
Cream together sugar and shortening. Beat in egg. Sift together dry ingredients and add to mixture. Beat until well blended. Stir in apples. Drop in the shape of a ball on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. Sprinkle cinnamon and pecan on top.
Now we’re talking. The almond carries the apple to a higher plane of existence. Sign me up for seconds!
Crumb Topping:
Heat oven to 425. Put pie crust in 9″ pie plate. Mix sugar, flour, salt, and almond extract in large bowl. Stir in apples. Put mixture in pie plate.
Mix Crumb Topping ingredients in medium bowl until crumbly. One way to do this is by putting all into a food processor and pulsing a few times. Sprinkle topping over apple mixture.
Bake 50 minutes. Cover with a sheet of foil during last 10 minutes.
Serves 8.
I read an interesting article last summer about the decline of the Red Delicious apple. Apparently the variety we get in our markets today is a far cry from the apple people fell in love with a hundred years ago. In response to consumer demand, growers developed the apple to have a more appealing bright red color and more durable thick skin.
Reds do last up to a year in cold storage, and make a beautiful display. However, due to playing with the variety maybe too much, the quality of Red Delicious has declined significantly in the last 20 to 30 years, to the point that few people are buying them anymore. Other varieties like Gala and Fuji are on the rise as the dominant sweet red apples.
As I read this article I began to understand why, for so many years, I have been disinterested in Red Delicious apples to the point that I will hardly eat red apples at all for fear of eating a Red Delicious by mistake. But it turns out the problem is not so much with the apple itself as the fact that it is difficult to tell when to harvest it for optimum flavor.
This is good news, because one of my three apple trees is a Red Delicious. It did not bear fruit this year due to severe wind damage last year. And I am glad for that because my Golden Delicious tree went haywire, producing several thousand apples by my best estimate. I have had enough to do with the fruit from one obnoxious tree and one tree (a Jonagold) with light production. But after reading this article, I have hope that I can harvest that Red Delicious tree next year in waves, and catch as many apples as possible at their peak of ripeness and flavor. I’ll let you know how they grow.
Mmm… cranberries, apples, nuts. Sounds like a winning combination to me!
Preheat oven to 425. Line pie plate with pastry crust. Mix brown sugar and flour in large bowl. Stir in cranberry sauce, apples and nuts. Place mixture in pie plate. Cover with top crust and cut vents; then crimp edges together.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes until crust begins to brown and juice starts to bubble out of the vents.
Serves 8.
Nutrition varies slightly between types of apples, but here is a general idea. A one cup serving of raw apple, with skin, contains about 3 grams of fiber and 14 grams of sugars. It has about 10% of your daily vitamin C requirement, as well as small percentages of vitamins A, E, K, B6, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, B6, and Folate.
To get the best nutritional punch out of an apple, leave the skin on. Most of the fiber is in the skin, and about half of the vitamin C lies just beneath the surface. Also, since vitamin C is light and heat sensitive, the best way to protect that nutrient is to eat it raw and unpeeled. And raw apples are so portable! They make a terrific snack because they satisfy your sweet tooth, provide some nutrition, and even leave your mouth feeling fresh afterward.
There are more varieties of apples than you will probably be able to try in your lifetime (like in the thousands). They range in flavor from sweet to tart, and in texture from soft to crisp; and vary in color from green to yellow to red. They ripen at different times of the growing season and vary in their ideal climate requirements.
So how do you choose an apple? One way is to figure out what grows locally, and try those. Local apples are more likely to reach you in peak condition. And it never hurts to support the local economy.
Another way to choose is to just try something different each time and figure out what you like. A few years ago I would have told you that my favorite apple was a golden delicious. But then someone brought me a tart Pink Lady, and now I buy those whenever I can find them. Many people like Gala and Fuji apples for their sweetness, McIntosh for the crunch, and Granny Smith for pie.
The truth is that the best apple for your application is the one you like the best. My Golden Delicious tree showered me with so many apples this year, I am just preserving them and not complaining that they are not the Cortland or McIntosh that I usually prefer.
Good luck in your apple choosing! Any apple is a good one if you eat it.
Sources include:
www.NutritionData.com
University of Illinois Urban Extension
www.AppleJournal.com