Recipe: Warm Apple Crisp

Eid Mubarak to all my fellow Muslims! For those of you who are well acquainted with this holiday you must know that it involves the sacrifice of a goat/lamb/cow in following the Abrahamic tradition. Therefore, normally, Muslims are found eating lots of meaty dishes post Eid ul Adha with all the fresh meat available everywhere. However, being the lazy American Muslims that we are, we have our sacrifice done overseas and distributed among the poor there. Traditionally  Eid celebrations do involve lots of sweets and desserts but it's usually more 'Eastern' dishes like what my mom makes, Sheer Khurma. I thought about attempting to make something more cultural and traditional to go along with the holiday, but truthfully my husband and I both aren't huge fans of Desi desserts. So instead, I thought about what I wanted most for this holiday. I wanted to be home, to be with my family back in New Jersey. I miss home SO much. Like my mom who probably made Sheer Khurma for us all those years on Eid because she was missing her home in Pakistan. I decided to make apple crisp because I was so desperately missing Autumn in the Northeast.

I also had a jar of caramel sauce, from a gift basket I won at work so many months ago and this was the perfect way to put it to use. 

Soon after pouring it over the apples, I realized they are supposed to be drenched in caramel sauce, clearly this jar wasn't enough.

So I quickly whipped up my own batch of homemade caramel sauce and added it in.

Then I got to making the top layer. Normally this calls for using rolled oats, but the rebellious chef in me decided to use the Granola my crunchy Betty husband bought. 

Some people like to press half of this mixture into the bottom of the pie pan to make a crust, but I used it all on top of the apples. 

Pop that bad boy into the oven and watch your home turn into apple/vanilla smelling heaven!

I have a weird obsession with watching caramel bubble and staring at the gooey rivers that run through

Recipe adapted from  Here

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup Old Fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
• ½ cup butter, softened slightly
• ½ cup chopped nuts (pecans, almonds or walnuts) optional
• 4 cups chopped peeled apples
• 1 cup white or brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, combine first four ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Toss in nuts if desired. Press half into a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish or a 9-in. square baking pan.
3. Cover with apples.
4. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, water and vanilla. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thick and clear. Pour over apples.
5. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Add more nuts if desired.
6. Bake 60-65 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm, with ice cream or Whipped Cream.

Autumn activities

It's official, I am in love with Autumn! Fall wardrobes, festivities, and even spiced Chai (which I never cared for before and now am making regularly!) they're all way too much fun and I can't wait until Halloween next week to dress up Ali! Last year he was only 10 months around Halloween and ended up being so tired after the costume parade at his daycare he fell asleep, so we did not take him trick or treating. This year I am so looking forward to taking him out! Also, last year I threw a costume party which I was hoping to turn into an annual event (we did one in 2008 as well), but  honestly it's a lot of effort so I'm sticking to making it a triennial bash! I know, I  enjoy getting into all seasonal activities a weeee more than your average person, (can't wait til winter: hot cocoa, snowman-shaped sugar cookies, gingerbread houses, holiday made for tv movies, fleece pajamas, and going around town to see the most decorated houses!!) but I just can't help it! So we're taking full advantage of fact that we live in an area with amazing foliage and before the weather gets too cold for outdoor activities we've been taking Ali out almost every weekend for some autumn fun! It's a lot more enjoyable this year as he's more interactive and so curious to see, touch, (sometimes even taste!) everything around him.

We went to a barnyard birthday party this weekend and it was a wonderful fall activity. Ali had his first pony (actually a horse) ride, which he didn't seem to care for. We weren't sure if it was because he had just woken from a nap or if he really wasn't as stoked as we were, but he was about as interested in the experience as most people are in watching water boil. What actually got me laughing was to see that he found the rocking horses set up inside the barn way more thrilling. He was squealing with excitement riding on the fake horse (sort of like how we were expecting on the real one) and spent majority of the party there we literally had to drag him out at the end. It was also his first time at a petting zoo with baby goats, bunnies, pigeons, a huge pig, cows, sheep, llamas, emu, and roosters. Needless to say, all the practicing of 'farm animal sounds' was put to good use this weekend. The next day the weather was really gorgeous out again so we took him out to the park for a stroll and had him identify all the bright colors ('wed' and 'yeyyow' are a favorite. we're still working on 'orange'). But, I think his favorite activity all weekend was when his dad threw him in the air. I swear the look on this child's face let me know what inspired JM Barrie to write Peter Pan! Here's a glimpse at our fall activities so far: