Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Oat Crumble Topping

 

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. 

After cookies, muffins were the first thing I learned to bake, way way back when I was a rosy-cheeked lass. The process is simple enough, and in about 30 minutes from start to finish you have tender and moist little cakes you can hold in your hand. What’s not to love about a muffin? Of course there are a million recipes for muffins, and the real fun is in the add-ins and flavour combinations. Banana chocolate? Yes please! Blueberry and lemon? Give it to me! But one of my all-time favorites has to be apple-cinnamon. There is something so comforting about this classic combination, and these muffins are darn near perfection. Loaded with tasty chunks of apple, a tender crumb, and a buttery oat crumble topping, it’s easy to see why these muffins disappeared quickly from my kitchen. 

For the Brave: Tarte Tatin

 

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. 

When I was asked to create a recipe using Organic Washington apples, I immediately said yes. I have a soft spot for these apples, and this part of the world, after all. Way, way back when this blog was just a baby, I was invited to go visit some organic fruit orchards in the Wenatchee area, and I had the absolute best time. The United States is the leading organic apple producer in the world, with Washington State growing more than 90% of U.S. certified organic apples. Washington state is known for being one of the premier apple-growing regions in the world, thanks to advantageous growing conditions. The apple trees grow in nutrient-rich, volcanic soil, perfect for growing fruit. The dry climate and ideal temperatures reduce the number of diseases and pest issues that can wreak havoc on the fruit. Plus, plentiful water and advanced growing practices provide the right ingredients for growing top-quality fruit. I still remember seeing orchards hugging the Washington hillsides, as far as the eye can see. It’s a beautiful thing to witness, and one day I hope to visit the area again.  

Caramelized Apple and Maple Cream Cheese Danishes

This is a sponsored post. While I was compensated to write this post, all opinions are my own.

If I could choose any item to go with my morning coffee, it would be a flaky and buttery pastry. This choice likely stems from my time spent living in Montreal as a young art student, when lining up at the local boulangerie was a weekend ritual topped off with steaming cups of café au lait. It was a decadent treat for this budget-minded student, but one that obviously left a lasting impression. 

Shiny and New: Baked Apples with Brown Butter Streusel

 

This is a sponsored post. While I was compensated to write this post, all opinions are my own. 

Happy New Year, dear friends. I hope 2022 is off to a grand start for all of you. Six days in and so far I can’t complain yet! It’s been snowy and very cold here in Saskatoon, and I’ve largely been hunkering down with the cats and Dixon, catching up on episodes of Ted Lasso. Not a bad way to start the year! I’ve also been making us delicious things to eat, of course, and these baked apples were like a cozy hug - warm and soothing. The perfect winter food. 

Apple Cinnamon Buns with Maple Bourbon Icing

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. 

When I was asked to create a recipe using Organic Washington apples, I immediately said yes. I have a soft spot for these apples, and this part of the world, after all. Way, way back when this blog was just a baby, I was invited to go visit some organic fruit orchards in the Wenatchee area, and I had the absolute best time. Washington state is known for being one of the premier apple-growing regions in the world, and the growing conditions make Washington the finest place to grow organic apples. The apple trees grow in nutrient-rich, volcanic soil, perfect for growing fruit. The dry climate and ideal temperatures reduce the number of diseases and pest issues that can wreak havoc on the fruit. Plus, plentiful water and advanced growing practices provide the right ingredients for growing top-quality fruit. I still remember seeing orchards hugging the Washington hillsides, as far as the eye can see. It’s a beautiful thing to witness, and one day I hope to visit the area again.  

Upside-Down Apple Ginger Cake

 

This is a sponsored post. While I was compensated monetarily, all opinions are my own.

It’s been a cold, cold week here in Saskatoon. The temperature has barely crept over -30C, so yeah, that’s very, very cold. I’ve largely been hunkering down inside my little house, and the oven has been working overtime. There have been roasts with herbaceous veg snuggled up beside them; cookies with puddles of chocolate; muffins burst with bananas. But, my favourite thing to come out of my gas range has been this Upside-Down Apple Ginger Cake, made with beautiful JAZZ apples. I am super thrilled to be included with a group of talented creatives across Canada this year with JAZZ Apples to create recipes incorporating their delicious  apples. This year, we made a recipe based on a “mystery ingredient” chosen for us by another group member. Mine was ginger, selected by the incredibly talented photographer/stylist/blogger Debi Traub from @simplybeautifuleating from Toronto, Ontario. 

Snacktime: Apple Crostini with Whipped Ricotta

This is a sponsored post. While I was compensated monetarily, all opinions are my own. 

If your house is like my house, snacktime is important. Whether it’s a second breakfast around 11 am or a bedtime snack around 11 pm (I’m a nightowl), I like a little something to nibble on while I work or binge watch a current favourite show (lately, it’s Broadchurch). These crostini made with Cosmic Crisp Washington Apples fit the bill perfectly. Toasted slices of baguette are slathered with a whipped ricotta spread, then topped with crisp and sweet slices of Cosmic Crisps, drizzled with honey and garnished with toasted walnuts. 

Fall Flavours: Spiced Apple Pie with Lattice Crust

I was asked by Carusele to participate in this campaign, sponsored by Splenda Stevia Canada. Although I have been compensated, all opinions are my own.

There are still a few days *officially left in summer, but I'm crushing on fall super hard already. The leaves are turning gorgeous yellows and oranges, and on my morning walk today I even kicked up a few just because I can. I love the smell of fall: earthy and melancholic. Summer had its time to shine, and now it's all about getting ready for the stillness of the colder months. And with the colder months, it means my oven is on all the time, full of roast chickens and vegetables, stews and braises, and pies, oh the pies! First one out of the gate is a special pie, made with Splenda® Stevia No Calorie Sweetener.

Someone close to me is majorly cutting back their sugar intake and has requested that I bake them something that they can indulge in at all the fall festivities, like Thanksgiving. Perhaps you're in the same boat too, where someone special who'll be sitting at your dining table this fall can't eat as much sugar as the rest of us, but doesn't want to feel left out or excluded by a sugary sweet dessert. As a host, and a professional baker, I feel it's important to meet people where they're at on the sugar scale, and if this means I forgo sugar and bake with Splenda Stevia once in awhile, I'm totally okay with that. 

Splenda Stevia gets its sweetness from the stevia leaf and is sourced from the sweeter, cleaner-tasting part of the stevia leaf so there is no bitter aftertaste. Combined with apples freshly picked from my friend Kim's tree, and loads of warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom, the pie tasted super good, like all of my other pies. Seeing the smile on my loved one's face as they savoured a slice meant the world to me. Splenda Stevia really is a sweet way to reduce sugar in your favourite foods without sacrificing taste. 

For the apple pie filling, instead of sugar I used Splenda Stevia Sweetener, Granulated, a new product recently released. It's cool in that you can use it cup-for-cup with sugar. So, I usually add about 1/2 cup sugar into my apple pie filling, and for this recipe I used 1/2 cup Splenda Stevia Sweetener, Granulated instead. Kim's apples were on the tart side, and overall I was really happy with the sweetness here. If you like a sweeter pie, you could add up to 2/3 cup of Splenda Stevia. 

Baking a pie doesn’t have to be perfect. Once you take the pressure off yourself, it’s amazing what can happen. Also, don’t be intimidated by the lattice crust. It’s just pieces of pastry woven together, like a basket. If you go under instead of over, don’t fret. You’ve made a pie! I love how the bottom crust is folded over the lattice edges to give a rustic look. It also traps the juices, keeping all that loveliness inside the pie instead of on the bottom of your oven, which we don't want. 

As the apple pie baked away in the afternoon, my house smelled amazing. As I pulled the apple pie from my oven I breathed in the scent, and was so happy to see the juices bubbling and the lattice crust golden brown and glorious. The hardest part was waiting for the pie to cool so we could taste a slice, but the wait was worth it. Full of spiced apple flavour, with a hint of vanilla and lemon, the pie pleasantly tasted of fall, with no bitter aftertaste usually associated with stevia.  As the days get cooler and cozier, I know there'll be more pies and other baked goods coming out of my oven. It's good to know that if I have to bake for someone who doesn't eat that much sugar, I have an excellent ingredient such as Splenda Stevia to rely on. Happy fall baking, all! 

Spiced Apple Pie with Lattice Crust

3 pounds baking apples, peeled and cored

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup - 2/3 cup Splenda Stevia Sweetener, Granulated 

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp each ground cloves, nutmeg and cardamom

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 discs of pastry, enough for a deep-dish pie 

1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water

1. Toss together the sliced apples, lemon juice, Splenda Stevia, flour, spices and vanilla in a large bowl. 

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disc of pastry into a 13-inch circle, or thereabouts. Place it in the bottom of a deep-dish 9-inch pie plate, with the pastry overhanging the edges of the pie plate. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry in another 14-inch circle for the top crust. Use a ruler to guide you when cutting the pastry into 8-9 long strips to keep the edges straight. Save the 2 end pieces in case you need to do any patching. I like wide strips, but if you like a thinner look, feel free to cut thin strips of pastry. Weave the pastry strips, going over and under, making sure they connect with the edges of the pie crust, which I've moistened with egg wash. Fold over the edges of the bottom crust, tucking in the lattice ends. This will help to trap the juices and give a rustic look.

3. Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake it for about 90 minutes, until it’s golden brown and bubbling. Remove the pie from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool.

Flaxseed and Apple Brown Butter Blondies

"When you pay attention, even the constants in life are changing." ~ Brooke Semple I'm interrupting my bonkers busy schedule to say hi and to tell you about these fabulous blondies I made recently. I love them so much I made about 750 pieces for a catering gig tomorrow. That's right - 750. If you're curious, that equals about twenty two 9x13 pans. I was basically a machine when I whipped them up all on one day this past week. But, my house smelled like brown butter and apples, so that's a win! If you're in Saskatoon, pop by the Saskatoon Farmers' Market tomorrow (Sat October 20th) where I'll be sampling the blondies, and beef and lentil meatballs (yes, 750 meatballs too!!), from 10-12. This is all to celebrate AgMonth in Saskatchewan and I'm a proud partner with Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan for the event. Follow along on my social media to see posts profiling farmers and producers, my favourite foods, food stories and lots more. It's a fantastic initiative to get people thinking about where our food comes from, and to celebrate those who make it.

Apple Skillet Pancake with Rosemary & Cheddar

Perusing the produce aisle isn’t super fun in February.  The prices are high, the selection isn’t great and it seems like everything has to travel so far to get to Saskatoon, especially the fruit.  I don’t even look at the fresh berries, and I don’t like melons.  Bananas are only good for banana bread in my world, and mangoes are alright, but you never quite know what you’re going to get when you slice them open.  This lack of availability combined with my pickiness means I load up on gorgeous citrus because it tastes so good right now, frozen berries and apples.  All the apples.

Grilled Cheese with Apples, Arugula & Fig Jam

Oh goodness, I've been gone far too long.  We really need to catch up, don't we?  First off I'm happy to report that the foot is healing nicely; just a week or so longer in the sexy walking boot then I should be back to "normal" walking.  Cross your fingers.  This also means I can ditch the crutches and go back to work in a limited capacity.  Last week I went back for four days and it was great; good to get back into the rhythm of things again, though I'm still taking it easy.  Plus I needed a little more interaction with humans than felines, if you know what I'm sayin'.  Speaking of felines, I adopted another one, making me an official member of clan cat lady, or cat woman, as I like to call it.  My neighborhood is chock-full of strays at any given moment and there must be some secret code among them that says "hey, go to her house, she'll feed you and if you're super cute she'll take you in."  A couple of weeks ago there was a wee grey kitten among the bunch.  Tiny, adorable and in good shape, he was hanging around the yard, making his cuteness known.   I didn't have the heart to let him suffer through the cold nights, plus my fat orange guy already loved him to bits.  So a trip to the vet and a clean bill of health means he's now snug as a bug in my house, wreaking havoc like kittens usually do - climbing up trees and refusing to come down unless you open 8 cans of cat food and call their name in all sorts of sing songy ways. whilst cursing under your breath.  And then there is the constant counter jumping - I even caught him lapping up a bowl of Sriracha mayo while my back was turned for 2 seconds.  Apparently he liked it.  But these are the small things; he gives good cuddle and makes me laugh all the time.  He must have known I saved his life because he follows me everywhere.  In fact he's curled up beside me now as I type this.  I call him Rocky. 

But enough cat talk!  (The dog people probably already dozed off.)  In between adopting kittens and shuffling around the house, I made a sandwich.  A really great sandwich.  And I made it a lot.  And I would have told you about it sooner, except my computer was in the computer fixing place for 8 days.  You know when they say they'll have it back in 4?  Yeah, that.  But like most things, this is worth the wait.

Grilled cheese is the best comfort food.  Raise your hand if you love crispy, cheesy bread.  Seeing as these are the two most important ingredients, it's key to use the best you can find.  Good sourdough from your favourite bakery will suffice, as will a sharp, aged white cheddar, or any other cheese that packs a decent punch.  I sliced crisp, sweet apples and layered them in once I had buttered and broiled the bread in all of its cheesy glory.  A slather of fig jam and garnish of peppery arugula bring this into grown up grilled cheese territory.  Remember that other grilled cheese with fig jam?  Yeah, this is just as good.  Bacon lovers, yeah, I'm looking at you, feel free to add a few crispy slices if you like.  Amen.  Now you'll have to excuse me while I get the kitten off the bookshelf.  He's eating the plants again.  Oy.
 

Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Apples, Arugula and Fig Jam

4 thick slices of fresh sourdough bread
4 tbsp butter
12 slices aged, white cheddar
10 thin apple slices
2 tbsp fig jam
2 handfuls of arugula

Butter the bread on both sides.  Fry all slices in a large pan over medium high heat, flipping over and frying the other side as well, just until golden.  
Remove bread from heat and place slices on a bakesheet.   Divide cheese among the slices.  Place under broiler and broil until melted and golden.  Remove from oven.  Put apple slices on 2 sides, dollop fig jam on the other two.  Put a handful of arugula on top of the apples and top with the fig jam cheese slice.  Cut in half.  Eat.  Makes 2 sandwiches.  Adapted from Flourishing Foodie

Seriously.  How could I say no to that face?  And those paws!

Wonderment: Washington Organic Fruit Tour

 Bosc Pears.

Just over a week ago I returned from Washington State, after a four day excursion that saw me climb around orchards; tour an apple packing plant; get a preserving lesson from a pro - in Whole Foods no less (my first time there!); dine out in some of Washington's finest organic restaurants; hang out with some of this country's finest (and funnest!) food writers; and wander around Pike Place Market in awe and fascination, wishing I could take it all home with me.  And in a way I have.  I'm still tasting that organic Gala, picked off the tree, so sweet and crisp.  I can still smell the sweet apple pie preserves, bubbling away on the stove.  I'm still wishing I could find flowers here, like I saw there, with baby cabbages in them and everything.  And the coffee.  My God the coffee.  So delicious.  I have so much to tell you, but be warned!  The post is HEAVY on photos and text.  Like, I hope you don't get bored.  Please come along for the ride - it was a good one.

Apple, Rosemary & Cheddar Tart with Dulce de Leche Glaze

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit,

and resign yourself to the influences of each.  ~ Henry David Thoreau

Well friends, I'm back from my Washington Organic Fruit Adventure, and I have to say I had the best time.  My expectations were far surpassed.  Washington is a stunning state and I'm so glad I got to experience it first hand, if only for a few days.  Everything was divine.  Truly.  My mind was blown, happily so. 

Apple Butter with Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

 One must maintain a little bit of summer even in the midst of winter.  

~ Henry David Thoreau

Food in jars.  Are you doing it?  Are you pickling anything pickle-able?  Do jars of jam rest on your windowsill?  Does the pop pop pop of the lids make you happy?  I'm not huge into preserving - though I wish I was.  If I were granted a few extra hours in a day and a few extra square feet in my kitchen I'd totally be pickling and jamming and boiling glass like no body's business.  But I'm tight on time and storage space so I just leave all that stuff to my sister, who's preserving anything she can get her hands on right now.  Poor thing accidentally dropped a jar of dills on her gorgeous hardwood the other night, so if you all have any tips on how she can get the smell out of her floor, let me know and I'll pass them along!