the most delightful adventure

Fall is one of my favourite seasons. I love the crisp air, the leaves, scarves. I love getting to switch from bright colours to wine reds, blacks, greys and navys. I love being cozy. I also really love the desserts that come with cooler weather, now that turning on the oven is a welcome gesture. Pumpkins, pies, tarts, and anything apple & cinnamon. I never get tired of apples and cinnamon, and will happily eat them in a variety of recipes all year long. However, they somehow taste better when the leaves start to fall.

Apple crisp is one of the best combinations of those two flavours. Simple,warm, and a mix of sweet & tart it is the perfect treat for a fall afternoon.

Apple Crisp. (modified from this recipe at Katy's Kitchen.)

6 apples. I like to use 3 granny smiths and 3 gala apples so that it's not too tart.
1/2 C. brown sugar.
3/4 C. flour.
1 C. rolled oats.
a little less than 1/2 C. butter, room temperature. (I found the original recipe a bit too buttery so I took out a few tablespoons of butter. Do as you like.)
2 tsp. cinnamon.

1. peel and core the apples and place into a baking pan. I used a 2.5" 8"x8" pan for this version, but I've also made it in a 9"x13" pan, it just resulted in a much thinner layer of apples and will cook a bit quicker.

2. mix together the sugar, flour, oats and cinnamon.

3. add in the butter in small pieces, cutting it in with a pastry blender or crumbling it in with your fingers, stop when the butter is evenly distributed throughout the mixture, making sure there isn't any large chunks of butter remaining. pour over your apples.

4. bake at 350 degrees for 30 miutes, until the top is brown and crisp and the apples are bubbling. If you're baking in a glass pan remember to turn the temperature down by 25 degrees.

Enjoy your apple crisp warm or cold, curled up with a blanket on your couch with your favourite person. Enjoy! xo, T.

So, there were a few flakes of snow swirling through the air this afternoon. I almost cried. And then I decided it was time to focus on happier times, when there wasn't even a hint of snow in mind, like the week I spent in Vancouver at the end of August. Although there was quite a bit of cloudiness the sun did peek out and I even spent one day at Kits Beach!

Some of my favourite places to visit in Vancouver are Granville Island, Main Street (which contains The Regional Assembly of Text, Barefoot Contessa and 49th Parallel/Lucky's Donuts - which are the cutest stationery store/sweetest clothing store/best coffee & donuts respectively), Kits beach, English Bay, Commercial Drive and Yaletown (mainly so I can visit The Cross Design!)