Every Saturday we gather as a community to work for the morning, caring for the Community buildings and grounds — cleaning the church, cooking in the kitchen, mowing, raking, working on various building and maintenance projects. It’s a good time of fellowship and work. These past two Saturdays we had all-day affairs which we called Oktoberfest — winterizing gardens, pruning, transplanting, and harvesting the last of the vegetables and fruit. The first Saturday was a classic Autumn day, just the way I like it — a little cool, but sun-shiny — that special sparkle that comes in October with the change in the angle of the sun. We all came together to eat lunch and dinner in our refectory. I planned the meals to reflect Oktoberfest traditions; roast pork with apple and onions, German potato salad, braised red cabbage, but I also wanted to include something not so traditional — butternut squash soup, which speaks more to me about autumn than anything else. We made the soup in the big tilting skillet since it was for 250 — using many pounds of squash, onions, and apples and I must say it was delicious! I’ve reduced it down here so that you can enjoy it, too.
Butternut Squash Soup
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Rating: 5
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Butternut Squash Soup
SERVINGS6servings
|
COOK TIME30-40mins. |
PREP TIME |
READY IN |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large stock pot, add onions and thyme, and sauté until onions are tender. Stir occasionally.
- Add squash, apples, and stock to pot.
- Cook over low heat until squash and apples are very tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.
- Puree in a blender or food processor until smooth, adding apple cider, and enough stock to make the soup slightly thick.
- Pour soup back into pot, reheat, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Apples are coming in off the trees by the crate-load. What is more quintessentially autumn than plucking an apple off the tree and enjoying it right there in the fall sunshine? I used to go apple picking as a child, and in those days we were allowed to climb the trees to pick. I can still remember the sensation of picking an apple at the top of the tree (or as top as I got) and then biting into the white sweet-sour juiciness. Not something one easily forgets! Well, I don’t climb trees anymore, but I do still pick apples (luckily our trees are dwarfed) and one of my favorite things to do with apples is an upside-down cake. I love upside-down cakes, and I think I have made them out of almost every kind of fruit that one can. Pear, plum, pineapple, rhubarb to mention a few. But nothing beats apple! I like to do this in a cast iron skillet — I think it tastes better, and it’s easy!
Apple Upside Down Cake
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Apple Upside Down Cake
SERVINGS
|
COOK TIME20 to 25mins. |
PREP TIME |
READY IN5 to 7mins. |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- In a 9 to 10 inch skillet, melt the 1 3/4 sticks butter over low heat.
- Add the 3/4 sugar and stir, then place apple slices, wedge side down in the pan.
- No need to pack tightly, but don’t leave gaps.
- Allow this to cook over low heat while making batter.
- In a bowl, measure out flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 1 stick of butter and 2/3 c sugar until light and fluffy.
- Mix in vanilla and eggs.
- Add sour cream and mix well.
- Gradually add flour mixture until just combined.
- Remove skillet from heat.
- Spoon batter over the top, then spread gently so batter is evenly distributed.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until cake is golden and bubbly.
- Allow the cake to sit in the skillet for 5 to 7 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.
- Best served warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Well, here it is . . . Apple Drop Time again. Early every morning you will find the young sisters out in the orchard gathering up all the apples that have dropped from the trees since the morning before. The point is to get to them before the mowers or any of the live little outdoor creatures do. We want to be good stewards and make use of every bit of fruit, regardless of how perfect or imperfect it may be.
Warm, spicy apple butter can camouflage lots of imperfections and is so wonderful on hot, buttered toast at breakfast. Apples and pork just naturally seem to compliment each other. A slowly simmered sauce adds so much home-cooked goodness to a succulent pork roast. A simple plain grilled pork chop can be elevated from ordinary “comfort food” to a first-class entrée, by dressing it up with a few apple and onion slices that have been caramelized in a little butter and brown sugar. Right now while the gardens are producing an overabundance of fresh, crispy heads of cabbage – and it’s so tender and sweet – we are enjoying it shredded into slaw. I like to add a little grated apple to give it a tangy touch. We never seem to have any trouble using up our daily collection of these hardy little drops. However, when more than just a few accumulate on the kitchen counter, we know it’s time for something we just never get enough of: good old-fashioned Apple Crisp. So easy to make – so scrumptious to eat.
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Apple Crisp
SERVINGS
|
COOK TIME50mins. |
PREP TIME |
READY IN |
Ingredients
- Mix together the following ingredients and place in a greased 2-quart casserole dish:
- 3 cups apple(s) peeled and sliced
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- ¾ tsp. cinnamon
- In a separate bowl, mix together the following ingredients until crumbly:
- 1 cup oatmeal (uncooked)
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ cup walnuts chopped, if desired. Or
- ½ cup pecans chopped, if desired
Instructions
- Spread the topping mixture over the apples.
- Bake uncovered at 350º F until apples are tender and topping is crisp and browned (approximately 50 minutes)
- Serve warm.
- For another dimension of flavor, add the zest and juice of one orange to the filling.
