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Daily Photo Reprise: It’s Time for That Apple Crisp, 2013

black cat on cookbook
Mimi and I had some baking to do today.

“I noticed you purchased an extra bag of green apples this week.”

Nothing gets past my kitchen monitor.

“Are we going to make an apple crisp today?”

I really did purchase an extra bag of green apples this week, and they were indeed intended for an apple crisp.

“Look, I’m sitting on that recipe you were looking at.”

That’s okay, it didn’t look all that interesting, and after all these years I hardly need a recipe for apple crisp.

“Then just make it up like you always do.”

I was planning on an apple crisp today, but later on so that it would be warm with ice cream after dinner.

“Put the computer away and let’s get baking.”

Great idea, Mimi. Thanks. Once I get started on the computer in the morning I’m sometimes caught with it all day long, as much as I try to get away. I have a lot of other things I’d like to get done today, like the two of us spending time in the garden!

And I think you’re probably remembering a few other Sunday morning apple crisps just as I am.

black cat and tortoiseshell cat
“Girl Talk”

Yes, I do make an apple or other fruit crisp at least once per month, usually with whatever fruit is in season, and out of season apple crisp is always my favorite, made with Granny Smiths.

And I know memories of other Sunday morning apple crisps were on my mind because it’s been a tradition for decades, and because of that a crisp is the featured recipe for April in In the Kitchen With Cookie. For April, however, I had chosen to feature a Crabapple Crisp because the crabapple trees are, well, usually blooming right about now.

Why Mimi remembered I’m not sure since I’m sure, as a cat, she pays no attention whatsoever to anything like a calendar, but I am convinced Mimi reads my mind, in her way. I think a certain tortoiseshell kitty told her that would be necessary if the household was to be managed in a neat and orderly fashion. After raising 24 children, Mimi is more than capable of handling one human.

So I can heat up my piece of apple crisp for my dessert, after we’ve gotten more of the garden under control.

April In the Kitchen With Cookie

I set my favorite enamel pan for fruit crisps on the table, and Cookie immediately stepped into it and did her thing, fitting herself into it at different angles, having a little bath, then finally having a nap. The pan meets her exacting specifications. This position came after a few other tests, such as the first and most obvious fit. This left too much room in some areas and was therefore unsatisfactory.

RECIPE: CRABAPPLE CRISP

Yes, you can eat crabapples, and when they are in season I’ve made crisps, pies, jelly and juice from them. They always have a tart quality that I enjoy in an apple, and you don’t need to peel them, just cut in half and cut out the core to make four cups, then proceed with the crisp as follows.

Toss crabapples with two tablespoons of lemon juice and two tablespoons of corn starch. Place in greased two-quart pan in an even layer, dot with two tablespoons of butter.

Combine your favorite chopped nuts, oatmeal, wheat germ, flax seed or other similar dry grain to make one cup total. Add 1/2 cup of your favorite sugar (I use brown sugar) or a sugar substitute that will caramelize and brown, stir to combine. Cut in a stick of cold butter and spread over top of fruit. Bake in a 3500 oven for about an hour until it’s brown and bubbly.

Here’s the two-page spread for April:

cookbook calendar with tortoiseshell cat
April, “In the Kitchen With Cookie”

. . . . . . .

calendar with cat in bowl
“In the Kitchen With Cookie 2014”

In the Kitchen With Cookie 2014 and other calendars from The Creative Cat

I included this photo, along with other photos from this wonderful morning in the kitchen, in February in In the Kitchen With Cookie, a calendar featuring my photos of Cookie interacting with properly-warmed pasta bowls, enamel pots and glass salad bowls in the series called “In the Kitchen With Cookie”! I’d first published it in Cookie’s memory in 2013, and by request republished the same photos with updated calendars in 2014.

The calendar is a 5.5″ x 8″ spiral-bound calendar printed on 100# matte-finish text paper so it’s easy to write on but the art still looks bright and crisp. I decided on that the for the sake that it can be bound across the top so that it hangs like a wall calendar, or bound down the left so that it opens like a journal.

Each page includes one main photo of Cookie caught in the act which was either taken during that particular month or is themed for that month plus the recipe that corresponds. Other photos of Cookie from the same and related explorations will decorate open areas on the calendar page. A monthly calendar includes basic holidays, moon phases and a few other things and room for notes at the bottom.

If you’d like to to purchase a In the Kitchen With Cookie 2014 calendar as a gift or for yourself, you can find it in my Etsy shop.

. . . . . . .

wood mounted photo
“Cookie in tbe Pasta Bowl” wood mounted photo.
Other items to complement this calendar and decorate your kitchen!

Seasonally, I make wood-mounted items, placemats, wall art and other items featuring these photos of Cookie in my kitchen. You can find these in my Etsy shop by searching in the category for “Cookie” or “cat gift items” or specific search terms like “placemat” “wood”.

Read more about this calendar and all my 2014 Calendars from The Creative Cat.


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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.


© 2014 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
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Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

2 thoughts on “Daily Photo Reprise: It’s Time for That Apple Crisp, 2013

  • bluemoonalone

    Oh Mimi..warm apple crisp sounds wonderful..with a scoop of vanilla ice cream maybe..yum..

    Reply

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