make yourself useful and...

bake me something.
starting today, i'm going to try to post a tutorial, recipe, etc. every monday, as part of "make yourself useful mondays." because you should be useful every day, but at least once a week is fine by me too. i can only be so useful for so long. but when it comes to baking, i'm somewhat useful on at least a semi-regular basis.
so a friend of mine LOVES this recipe and went nuts when i brought it to her house for a playdate a few months back (and who wouldn't? it's amazing.trust me). while the kids were playing and throwing food and making assorted baby noises, we almost housed the whole thing. yeah, it's that good. and easy? you betcha. i wouldn't make something too difficult with a bunch of toddlers running around. plus, it's semi-healthy with the oats and apples and whatnot, super-portable, and really good for cold nights (i like it in the fall when i can buy huge bushels of apples and make it in bulk, but any time you can get apples, it'll be spot on. i like it with mutsus/crispins, but use whatever you've got laying around). should you make it tonight? of course you should. plus if you live in the northeast like me, the oven helps heat your house. that's just a little added incentive.

apple crisp:

6 or so apples, cored and sliced. peel them if you like. i don't.
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup flour (use unbleached white or wheat if you've got it)
1 cup sugar
1 cup quick oats
2 T. cinnamon, divided, or 2 T. apple pie spice
1/4 c butter, cut into little piece

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Put apples on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish (or if you want to get fancy, a big pie plate). In a separate bowl, mix melted butter, flour, sugar, oats, and 2 T cinnamon, and form a crumb mixture. Sprinkle over the apples. Dot with the 1/4 c. butter pieces and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon or apple pie spice.
3. Bake 50 minutes or until crumb is lightly browned and apples are tender (or until your house smells so good you can't stand it. just let it cool before you stuff your face).

also, this is my 37th post. my last blog only made it to 37 posts, so i'm pretty psyched that i'm kind of taking this one a little more seriously. well, as seriously as i take most things, which is not very, but still it's something of an improvement.