I know there is an expression out there that says that hindsight is 20/20, but I don’t really believe it. I think that as time goes on, it’s easy to think we would have done certain things differently, but there is no way of knowing, if given the opportunity to go back in time, we really would have or not.
Some people might think that they have clearer vision when looking at the past than at the present, but I, for one, know that I romanticize the past. For example, when I was in high school I was as miserable as your average adolescent female whose parents were SO UNFAIR and whose friends criticized each others boobs and stole each others boyfriends. Yet, I look back on high school quite fondly as a blur of green and yellow varsity jackets, sneaking out the doors in the band hallway to go out to lunch and ultra-competitive floor hockey games during gym class.
I also look back on the years that I lived in New York quite fondly, even though when I was there I didn’t particularly like my life all that much. Despite the long hours that I worked and the social life that I was never quite so thrilled with, a few great memories stand out and they all involved apples. Three years ago, I visited my brother during his last year at Ithaca College and we went to an apple festival in town even though it rained all day.
We didn’t actually buy any apples – just cider and donuts. We ate dinners out, drank beers in crowded bars and bought Halloween Oreos from the grocery store (arguably the highlight of the season each year. When you don’t eat a lot of packaged foods there is something sinful about neon orange icing in a cookie). Before I left to get on the tiny plane that would fly me from Syracuse to New York City, I whipped up a batch of apple walnut muffins, but in hindsight, if I could have done things differently, I would have made this apple crisp.
The perfect combination of sweet + tart, this is exactly the kind of dessert you want to eat on a fall night with the windows open…and maybe breakfast the next day, too.
Apple Crisp
What You Need:
4 medium tart apples, sliced (4 cups)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Whipped cream or ice cream, if desired
How-To:
Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening. Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.
Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream.
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{ 59 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks easy enough even for me and quite delicious too!
I’m stocked to the brim with apples this season… and I have yet to make an apple crisp. It is so simple but the best apple dessert around! I think this will be made for Sunday dinner.
I don’t have any regrets in pfe either. I look back at my past fondly- even though at that particular time, I may have felt differently! I love love apple crisp (we call it a crumble) and love to serve it piping hot with cold custard. Looks great.
Nice and easy, love it! I made a pretty easy one myself recently. Frank LOVED it so much – it’s nice that simple things can be so satisfying and enjoyable
so excited for apple season
this crisp looks great!
I’m excited to meet you this weekend in Nashville!
Ha I totally do the same thing and I didn’t even realize it. Nice little reminder there. Also the crisp looks so easy and delicious. Definitely on my list!
How easy and delicious! Last year before I started blogging, my apple season was very boring….but this year thanks to blog hopping, I get to learn how to prepare this kind of delicious apple desserts… I’m so excited. Already bookmarked and I need to buy apples next!
I am definitely going to try this – sounds yummy.
Do you know that I was JUST looking for a dessert to make for a family dinner this Friday? It’s the perfect welcome to fall… I’ll probably do some vanilla bean ice cream and warm cider to go with it!
looks just delicious!
Apple crisp is one of my favorite ways to enjoy the fall harvest. It just feels like home. Love this, Maris!
MMM. I vowed to make more apple things this year. This one looks really good!
Apple crisp is one of my all time favorite foods. This looks very similar to the recipe I have from my mom–delicious!
I loved this post, it’s SO GOOD. And thoughtful. and true.
Plus, that apple crisp looks perfect.
Yum! I’ve always wanted to make my own apple crisp. Yours looks great!
I love crisps and crumbles of all kinds!
I got my favorite crisp recipe from a children’s cookbook and it is almost the same as yours, the spices are a bit different and there are optional nuts. I have always been a fan of children’s books and I guess their cookbooks are no different. Thanks for sharing.
I love apple crisp – it is now PERFECT apple crisp weather! And now you’ve got me wondering where I can find some of those Halloween Oreos!
This looks so, so perfect. I’ll be honest–I probably will sit on my couch and eat this straight from the 8×8 pan after one of those “Hindsight is 20/20″ days at work.
It’s amazing how we selectively remember stuff isn’t it?
I love a good apple crisp and this looks like a particularly delicious version!
I love apple crisp even as a breakfast food.
I, too, romanticize the past – well, some parts of my past. Some parts I see very vividly, just as they were.
I adore apple crisp. or any fruit crisp really! I love the tart & sweet mixture and the texture of the crisp crumbles. Mmmm
I couldn’t agree more! And can I have a bowl please? Mmm
Yep, I think we’re doing this tonight! Mmmmm…
This looks delicious! It is crisp and cold and the leaves are blowing around outside. Perfect weather for an apple crisp!
So true! Especially about high school! Crisp is one of my fav desserts! Looks awesome!
Great crisp! We are having stormy weather here in San Diego today-perfect weather for an apple crisp! Fun to hear your memories of high school. I have good ones too
looove apple crisp, I’ll be bookmarking this!
Maris this looks so good. I can almost smell it!
apple crisp for breakfast sounds genius – done and done. I always struggle with the crisp to fruit ratio, though… seems like I always want more crisp. Will give this recipe a try!
This was a really nice post to read. I sometimes look back at things and think about them differently than they actually happened too. (Especially highschool!)
This crisp looks and sounds AMAZING!
Well, at least we can look to the future and plan, huh? This crisp sounds wonderful and really, apples and fall are just one of my favorite combos. I think it’s kind of like the whole “time heals” saying. It also puts on rose colored glasses.
gotta use up all of the apples i picked!! looks delicious.
What a great post and dish! Thanks for sharing!
I couldnt agree more! I can’t wait to go apple picking w/ my boys. Sweet and tart apples are the best, can’t wait to bake my first apple crisp!
Easy and delicious. BTW did you write an article for Care2- or is it a namesake?
Great story- I love apple season!
I think that’s what’s interesting about our memory of the past, it’s never quite as accurate as we might think. I always think it’s interesting in particular when I read articles about siblings and how differently they often view the same childhood.
I always feel extra nostalgic in the fall and apples are definitely a big part. I love them so much I had to do an apple roundup post the other day and it made me re-stumble upon some chili you had made with apples that sounded absolutely fantastic so I just had to feature it. Yum!
Your stories about romanticizing the past are very familiar. I definitely remember college as being much more fun than it really was for me, especially when I’m telling other people about it. I guess hindsight is more like an air brush to the past.
There will be no regrets about apple crisp this year! I will make at least one and it will probably be this one!
I think we all romanticize the past. Sometimes, it gets us through so that we imagine at one point we were really happy and satisfied. Your crisp looks superb. So yummy and it’s finally getting around to being Fall here in So. Cal. Can’t wait to make this recipe.
Oh how I love apple crisp! I hoping to do some apple picking this weekend so that I can make this (among many other appley desserts!)!
I always get excited when Cortland apples begin appearing in the grocery stores. I could live off of those (and chocolate of course) and be quite happy!
Selective memory, or altered perception of reality I guess, is what makes reading memoirs so intriguing. It’s your life – why not put a spin on it? That’s what your mind does in the moment, too, just differently.
At any rate, it allows me to look back on all those high school jack-asses, and not have any negative feelings toward them any longer:)
There’s just something so homey and comfortable about apple crisp. And I always have to have a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream melting over the top.
I love apple crisp! Looks so great!
I overanalyze the past (and, heck, the present too). And even in my critical 20-20 view of it, I still find so many flaws and things I would have done differently. It’s a real challenge to accept that things are they way they are and just move on. But I can mostly do it.
Sounds like you and your brother had such a wonderful time together. I have two older brothers and love hanging out with them when I have the chance…it’s so much harder now that we’re all older. This apple crisp looks deeeelicious!
I romanticize the past (esp HS) too. Push aside the friend’s backstabbing and the teacher threatening to fail me if I was late to her class one more time – for the free, wild, innocent days and nights of discovery, first love, breaking the rules etc. The ‘what if’s’ pepper me during rough times.
Perfect amount of delicious apple crisp, and seriously, who doesn’t love an apple crisp? To this day, I have yet to meet that person. You perfectly captured the past, and Fall in general, with this post.
I definitely know what you mean about looking back on something and being able to see mostly good memories. Interesting how that works! This apple crisp looks delicious.
Chrissy and I were debating whether to make a pear or apple crisp today. Well, after seeing this, I think it’s safe to say we decided on apples! Mmmm
I have to get to the farmers market and bring home a small bushel of apples. Apple crisp is an all-time favorite. It’s so interesting to reflect back on times that were bittersweet. Hopefully, the sweet outweighs the bitter
i love applecrisp~ it always is so good with vanilla icecream. and i know what u mean. i look back at some times in my life, especially my adolescence and i cringe. it wasn’t pretty all the time!
can’t wait to try this! Missed you this weekend
hope you had a good one!
Apple crisps are one of my favorite fall treats. Yours look delicious
And I definitely agree with your hindsight thoughts…made me think on good memories of my own.
Oh I missed this one. Such a great fall treat.
I really need to make this! I keep promising my hubby – he really wants that stuff sold in the store but I can’t heart buying it.
Perfect for fall in chicago
My goodness, Maris. This apple crisp sounds incredible and just the perfect thing for a fall day. I’ve never been to an apple festival (though I have been to a blueberry one), and I can definitely agree with you on the hindsight thing and making something different… However, this recipe sounds a LOT better than the blueberry one I tried.
Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to whip some of this up the next time I see some fantastic looking apples at one of the local produce stands.
Mhmm, delicious! Perfect for the Fall season!
Apple crisp is one of my favorite desserts, and yours looks divine, Maris! Perfect for these chilly nights ahead.