Irish Apple Pie

I'm a big fan of autumn, especially all the food-centered holidays. And the warm, spice flavors, and the hearty produce. I love sweater weather. And yes, pumpkins. But one of my favorite fall flavors is apple.

Since I was a kid, we've gone apple picking in the fall, gorging ourselves on apples right off of the tree and cider donuts and hot apple cider from the farmstand. It's something I enjoy doing with our kids too, and they look forward to it every year as much as I do. One of the small drawbacks about having food-conscious kiddos is that they are fully aware of what can be done with delicious fresh produce, so they have a tendency to go overboard and pick ALL THE THINGS. Long story short, every fall, we have plenty of apples. For a small army of hungry fruit addicts.

This recipe for Irish Apple Pie has been one of my favorites since I started cooking. It's really simple to put together, using a food processor to do the hard work. The ingredients are straightforward, and I'm guessing you probably already have everything you need in your kitchen. And the taste is delightful. One of those magical moments where the simplest of things are elevated when put together in the right way to make something so satisfying that you can't help but sigh as you taste it.

Cranberry Apple Cinnamon Vodka

You know what makes a great gift for the holidays?

Homemade booze.

Apple Spice Blondies

You all know how much I love a good blondie.  They are quick, easy, and delicious...all the things a recipe should be.  And while they aren't exactly a health food, they are rich and indulgent enough that a small serving can sooth even the most aggressive sweet cravings.

For fall, I've taken my basic blondie and appled it up a bit.  I give to you, the Apple Spice Blondie!

All the flavors of an apple pie, but in a thick, enjoyable, comforting blondie.  Here's what you do:

Baked Apple Enchiladas

So, you've made yourself some apple pie filling, or cheated and bought some pre-made stuff, and now you're looking for ideas on how to use it?

How about these here Apple Enchiladas?  Crispy outsides, warm gooey insides...apple pie's delicious cousin.

When I was a kid, my mom would occasionally get apple enchiladas from Market Day.  They were frozen, and before that, I'm pretty sure they were deep fried, and all you had to do was stick them in the oven for a bit and voila - dessert.  But again, I'm a control freak, and I like to know what's in and what's been done to my food.

So I made my own.

Apple Pie Filling: The Start of Something Good

So, it might not surprise you to hear that my family, besides getting our veggies through a local farm's CSA, is also a member of an apple CSA.  Which means that every other week in the fall, I get to head over to our friend Amy's and pick up a huge 10-pound bag of organic apples, picked earlier that week at Earth First Farms, a couple of hours away in Michigan.

Thing is, 10 pounds is a lot of apples.  And even though we love apples here...well, no matter how much I pack them into lunches and use them for snacks, they tend to start taking over.  I can barely close my fridge right now!

Applesauce is a given, and some day I'll get to posting my easy method for that, but this year, I've been looking outside of that.  I'm a big fan of those apples they serve at Cracker Barrel...you know the ones I'm talking about...the gooey, sweet, slightly spiced apples that taste like you're eating pie filling?  But I'm pretty sure that I don't want to know what's actually in them.  Something that good is bound to have something bad, right?

I haven't even tried making those on my own yet, because every copycat recipe I came across online had some ingredient that made my food morals set off warning bells.  But I did come up with my own apple pie filling, and some delicious ways to use it!