Delicious Apple Crisp

My mom has been making this yummy Apple Crisp for as long as I can remember.

She got the recipe from a newspaper clipping & I've only seen one other similar recipe.

This Crisp recipe does not have oatmeal, but does have a yummy, crunchy topping.

In addition to being yummy, it is also super easy to throw together.

 

 

Apple Crisp

 

4 cups apples, pared and sliced (4-5 medium apples)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup butter, softened to room temperature

 

Place sliced apples in a buttered casserole dish or 9x13 pan (glass is best).

Sprinkle with spices.

Combine water and lemon juice and pour over the top.

Work together the flour, sugar and butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.

(You can use a pastry cutter, a mixer, or just do it by hand)

Spread evenly over the apples.

Do not cover.

Bake @ 350 until apples are tender

Approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour.

 

My notes:

*Use a good baking apple!

And there are lots of differing opinions on this!

 Try Granny Smith, McIntosh, Roman Beauty, Cortland or Gala apples.

*Use a potato peeler to peel the apples. It is so much easier than peeling with a knife. This is my new favorite cooking tip...thank you Internet!

*I always just combine the crisp part by hand. This is one of the first things I remember my mom teaching me to make. :)

 

 

Jell-no!

I can not make Jell-O. It is a culinary skill that somehow escapes me. I'm a pretty good cook, a reasonably decent baker, but when it comes to Jell-O, all bets are off!
Blame it on my mom...she doesn't like Jell-O, so my childhood was pretty much Jell-O less.

Oh, I can throw together some Jell-O masterpieces. Cottage cheese/Orange Jell-O salad is my specialty! Sometimes, just to shake things up, I use different flavors of Jell-O and fruit. Really, I am that daring!


I can make Cookie Salad (okay, not really Jell-O, it calls for pudding) and Frog-Eye Salad. Who doesn't love that? (Although I think it involves pudding too, hey if the box says Jell-O it's good enough for me!)


I can even make plain Jell-O...sometimes I even like to throw some Cool-Whip on top!
But if a recipe involves a set Jell-O with anything added to it...Well, it's just a disaster waiting to happen for me.

This knowledge, however, does not stop me from ocassionally thinking I can actually make Jell-O. Two weeks ago, such an event occured. Rick's parents were celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary, and somehow I thought I could make the Jell-O for the family dinner. To be fair, I originally was going to make the previous mentioned Cottage Cheese salad...but lots of people don't like that...so I started trying to come up with something else...

My first idea? A lovely Orange Creamsicle Jell-O that was served at Rick's grandma's funeral. Everyone loved it & so I got the recipe. Please note, I have made this before, and it did not set up. Really, you would think a previous failure with this recipe would serve as a warning...but no...I decided I would make it!

Here's the recipe:
1 large box vanilla instant pudding
2 small boxes orange Jell-O

Make pudding according to package directions. Allow to set.
Make Jell-O using quick set method. Add prepared pudding, stir together and set.

Please, please, please, if you make this and it works~I don't want to know about it! Because it was a dismal failure for me! I will never make this again...EVER! On a positive note, Rick's mom froze it and took it to another family gathering on Sunday. I made everyone swear not to tell that it was mine! It looked gross! As it thawed, it became a semi-frozen, soupy mess...which many people loved! Go figure. Rick's cousin thought it was Awesome! Well, at least it tasted good. Maybe it would work for frozen pudding pops?

The second recipe I decided to make (why in the world would I try out a new recipe? Why, why, why?) Was also an Orange Creamsicle recipe...thankfully it turned out a little better.

Orange Creamsicle Jell-O
2 (3 oz) packages instant vanilla pudding
1 (3 oz) package orange Jell-O
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 (22 oz) can mandarin oranges (with juice)
1 (16 oz) container Cool Whip

Combine pudding, Jell-O. Pour boiling water over top and stir to dissolve completely.
Add the mandarin oranges (with juice). Fold in Cool Whip. Chill

This one turned out okay. I would make it again...Some reviews of the recipe said to leave out the juice from the oranges, as it can get kind of runny after it sits out for a while. So, I left the juice out...so it was pretty thick and sticky. The consistency and texture was a little like a thick, sticky paste. Next time, I'll use the juice... It did set up and it tasted good (as long as the texture didn't make you gag!) So I can happily add it to my Jell-O aresenal!

I have instructed my sister -in- law to hit me up the side of the head with a brick lovingly remind me I can't make Jell-O the next time I get the hare-brained idea that I can! She readily agreed. :)



At least we all got a good laugh from my Jell-O debacle & everyone now knows I can't make Jell-O!!!



On a more postive note. Today I am making this Apple Pudding, from Connie, who probably can make Jell-O.
Happily for me, no Jell-O (or pudding) was involved. It was super good & my family must have liked it, because they all came back for seconds. (Shhh, don't tell them I used walnuts! Even my most picky walnut haters didn't notice!). Yummy stuff!