Recipe Corner: Scalloped Apples

Today I had a hankerin' (remember that word?) for Scalloped Apples, like my mom used to make when I was small. Good thing I'd just been to Oak Glen! After looking through our family recipe books, I resorted to a phone call, only to get a response of "I don't know...butter, flour, milk, cinnamon...." Don't moms always cook by feel? Guess there are no proportions there. Luckily Google helped me out--a little. The recipe I turned up on Cooks.com had no timeframe, but did give some basic proportions as guidelines, which gave me enough confidence to conduct an experiment.

A shopping tip: we bought the cheaper, B-Grade apples which were probably ones that had fallen naturally off the trees. Because they had more visible blemishes, baking is a great use for them. I gave them a good washing first to make sure I'd cleaned off any germs they may have picked up off the ground.

The first step was to core the beautiful Golden Delicious apples I'd gotten in Oak Glen. My Pampered Chef Apple Wedger helped me make quick work of the task. This is one of those handy kitchen utensils that comes in your Christmas stocking which you think you have no need for, until the first time you use it.

Still, I don't often cut fruit or vegetables, so I'm not very quick at it. So my wedges went into a pan with a bit of lemon juice in it, and I made sure to mix them well so that every surface was covered with citric acid to prevent browning.

My folks are coming for Thanksgiving (yay!) so I made myself a small loaf pan of scalloped apples for dinner, but also prepped a larger 9x9 pan that I stuck into the freezer for their visit. To the fancy holiday pan, I added a couple dabs of caremelized onions and a generous handful of walnuts. I'm looking forward to it already!

My small loaf pan cooked up in about 30 minutes, but I have a bad habit of not preheating my oven, so I'm not surprised it took some time. With all the butter and sugar, this is certainly not a low-cal or healthy recipe. But, as a treat, it made my evening. The best comfort food I'd had in a while.

What do you do with the large amounts of fruit (particularly apples) from special events like a pick-your-own or farmers market? Do you have any great recipes you can pass along for my first Thanksgiving celebration in my home? Drop me a note on the blog, if you get a chance! And please let me know if you try out this recipe.