Apple Crisp

I found this recipe on Family Fun's website. The thing I absolutely loved (and plan to use for future recipes) is the way they did the mixing. Instead of putting everything in a bowl and having the children stir the ingredients together, they put the ingredients in a ziploc bag and had you shake it up. The children LOVED this part of the recipe and it worked really well at mixing the ingredients and was a lot quicker than I expected it to be. It also cut back on the dirty dishes!

Apple Crisp
6 apples (We used Red Delicious but I think it would have been better with a more tart apple like Granny Smiths)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

Heat oven to 375 degrees and lightly butter an 8 or 9-inch-square baking pan. Peel, core, and slice the apples and arrange them evenly in the prepared pan.
Place the oats, brown sugar, flour, spices, and salt in a sealable plastic bag, close, and shake until combined. Cut the softened butter into 1-inch pieces and add to the oat mixture. Close the bag again and knead or squeeze until the mixture holds together.
Open the bag and crumble the topping evenly over the apples. Bake the apple crisp for 40 to 45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the juices begin to bubble around the edges. Cool slightly and serve. (This dish is excellent by itself or served with ice cream or whipped cream.)

Apple Cake

Last week we made apple cake and it was a huge hit! The recipe is very easy, just measuring, mixing, and baking. This recipe is easily halved and actually makes a fairly nice sized cake still. The recipe was found by my mother and forwarded on to me, so unfortunately I can't link you to the website or book.

1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ginger
6 cups peeled, diced tart apples

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to mixture. Stir in apples. Spoon into greased 11 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

Peace Necklaces

The last few weeks the children have been hard at work beading what would become the peace necklaces we handed out at our pot luck dinner. We hope you all enjoyed the pot luck dinner and should you need another peace necklace we have many more in our classroom.

Applesauce

This week we continued our apple recipe spree with homemade applesauce! Applesauce is incredibly easy to make, makes your kitchen smell amazing, and the children really enjoyed mashing the apples.

Found the recipe at Allrecipes.com  My notes will be in bold.

Applesauce
4 Apples peeled, cored, and chopped up (We used gala's once again)
3/4 c Water (although I realized later apple juice would have made it even better!)
1/4 c Sugar
1/2 t Cinnamon

In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher. (We used forks, but a potato masher would have been faster and easier.)

We served it with graham crackers which made it even more delicious. Not all of the children cared for this version, it may have been a bit too sweet (in which case try a slightly tarter apple like Golden Delicious), but a few of those children told me they didn't like apples much at all. Personally I really enjoyed it, and Ms. Bree in Nena's room said she thought it was better than any store bought kind she had tried before.

Apple Tarts

This week we made Apple Tarts. They're very easy to make and the kids loved them. I found my recipe on a website called The Kitchn. (We altered ours by doing just apples with no sugar on top and they were still delicious. Although if you want to do that I recommend a good naturally sweet apple like Galas.)
My notes will be in bold.

Small lump of pie dough, well-chilled (We used refrigerated pie dough from the supermarket)
1/4 small, sweet apple
1/2 tablespoon butter
Brown sugar
Freshly ground cinnamon
Heat the oven to 425°F. Roll out the pie dough and cut into small rounds or other shapes with biscuit or cookie cutters. (Using the rim of a cup works nicely as well.) Core the apple quarter and shave into very thin slices with a chef's knife. (We just cut ours up into smaller chunks and it worked well also.) Top each pie dough round with several slices of apple, overlapping slightly. Shave a tiny thumbnail of butter off and top each pie round with a bit of butter, a sprinkle of brown sugar and a dusting of cinnamon.
Bake at 425°F for about 15 minutes, or until apples are slightly reduced and pastry is firm and golden.

The children, for this recipe, cut out their own personal tart using a cup, and then put as many pieces of apple on theirs' as they wished.

If you have any questions or notes about this recipe please feel free to post a comment.