Fall Has Fallen & a New Family Member

If we can say “Spring has sprung”, I guess it's okay to say “Fall has fallen”. Being in the Chesapeake, we were unaware what was happening up North. We left Cups all secure and buttoned up at AYB and headed to Boston. We crossed the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel & Bridge at 0500, too dark to see anything except red and green markers blinking in the distance. We made good time except crossing the George Washington Bridge … always slow and bumper-to-bumper. Eight states, 500 miles and $50 in tolls later, we arrived at Lin's in time to help with the preparations for a welcome party for Lin's first grandchild. Six-week-old Daphne … Lin's granddaughter and our grand niece … was indeed grand … even though she slept through most of her celebration.

It's foliage season here in New England. Maples and oaks, birch, ash and sumac join in a riot of vivid autumn colors. The early mornings and nights are chilly and crisp. Lin turned the heat on for the first time this season and we put blankets on the beds, a not-so-subtle reminder that winter is on the way.

We barely caught our breaths and it was time to leave. We've got a long, 3,000 mile drive to Las Vegas ahead of us. Road trip!!

Apples in Australia

Before leaving Australia for America last week, I met a new friend, Mary, who brought a delicious apple crumble to the boat which we enjoyed with coffee. Though I've made crumble before, this was a bit different and Mary shared the recipe. I'd planned to share it with you earlier, but I left in kind of a hurry. Here's the blog post … Being in the southern hemisphere does have its advantages. It's late autumn here …the end of apple season. All the supermarkets have apples on sale. There are fruit stands along the roadside and the orchards have bags of apples and other autumn crops like squash and pumpkin for sale … most with “honesty boxes” so you can just leave the money for what you buy.

honesty box

Australia has some of its own varieties. There are Galas and Pink Lady, Jazz and Sundowner and, of course, the usual Granny Smiths and Delicious. We're quite partial to the Pink Lady variety. They're crispy, crunchy, juicy and just tart enough to make your mouth water.

pink lady

According to AussieApples.com, in 1973, John Cripps, an orchardist and plant breeder, came up with the idea to cross two varieties, Golden Delicious and a Lady Williams apple to create a new apple cultivar which he named Pink Lady. By 1996, over one million Pink Lady trees were planted in Australia, producing more than 10,000 tons of Pink Lady apples. Today, they are still Australia’s favorite apple and are now grown in ~15 different countries and sold across more than 30 countries worldwide.

indulgence

I wish we had a “smell” chip to share with you the wonderful smell emanating from Nine of Cups when I'm baking apple crisp. It certainly covers up the bilge, diesel and miscellaneous boat smells. I just got a recipe from a new friend, Mary on Indulgence II, for her Apple Crumble. The crumble in this recipe is the crust as well as the topping and it's wonderful. Thanks, Mary! Note that Mary's recipe makes a much larger quantity; I've halved it for use on Nine of Cups. I made this recipe while back in the USA and sadly, there was nary a Pink Lady in sight … only Granny Smiths.

Indulgence II Apple Crumble

Author:

Marcie via Mary of Indulgence II

Ingredients

• 1 cups self-rising flour
• 1/4 lb (1 stick or 125 g) butter
• 1 cups coconut
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 6-8 medium apples, peeled, sliced and stewed*

Instructions

1. Melt butter and add to dry ingredients.
2. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
3. Grease an 8” deep pie pan and place ¾ of crumble mixture in the bottom of the dish. Press evenly over base and up the sides of the prepared pan with the back of a spoon.
4. Place apples* on top, then use the remaining crumble mixture to cover the apples.
5. Bake in 350F/180C oven for 25-30 minutes or until crumble is brown.
6. For an extra twist, try adding a small can/tin of drained,crushed pineapple to the apples.

Notes

Stewing the apples first reduces cooking time and insures the apples are soft and juicy. Simmer apples in water (or apple juice) and a little cinnamon until soft. Drain excess liquid.

3.2.1310

What Comes Down...must be raked

 

Remember all that ooohing and ahhhhing about beautiful, vibrant, colored leaves a few weeks ago? I'm over it. Lin's lawn and driveway are thick with brown pine needles and fallen leaves now. Some days, it looks as if there's a pine needle/leaf blizzard in her front yard. I sweep daily, but there's no keeping up with it. The trees are beginning to bare and it's raking time.

Living on a boat, we've missed this lovely autumnal activity for several years (thank goodness), but here in New England, it's an unavoidable chore if there are trees nearby and for the second time this season, Lin began her yard clean-up on a brisk Saturday morning. We were touring Vermont last time, but this time she enlisted our help.

Lin has a blower and between raking and blowing, the job isn't all that onerous. I remember as a kid jumping in the piles of leaves. Now we just rake them onto a tarp and drag them to a big compost pile in the woods in Lin's backyard. No exhilaration over jumping in the leaves, just get the job done … and watch more leaves fall as soon as we were finished.

The lawn mower has been winterized. The deck furniture has been stored away. Things are beginning to look bare and stark. The temps are dipping below the freezing point. Winter's on its way.