The Humble Apple

There’s apples everywhere right now and since my freezer is full of apple sauce I have to use them in other ways. I spent a few minutes on the internet researching the health benefits of apples and there is lots of information available.

Apples are the cheapest among fruits and the healthiest too and are available all year long. Eating apples helps prevent several kinds of cancer, lowers cholesterol, aids in weight loss and is packed full of vitamins. A Danish article states the apple is a vitamin bomb and suggests that “eating three apples a day will keep the weight away”.

I bought a large bag of beautiful Gala apples from BC and since I am not a big fan of apple pie I found many other great ways of using apples. The Apple & cinnamon upside-down pancake is a mouth watering dish to make on a week-end morning. The smell of baked apples and cinnamon will have everyone sitting at your table waiting for the cake to come out of the oven.

Apple & cinnamon upside-down pancake

I made this for breakfast on Sunday morning and served it with crisp bacon.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes

2/3 cup flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
½ cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 large apples – I used Gala
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup sugar
3 tbsp. butter

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and butter a 9 inch non stick cake pan.

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl, stirring well. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Mix into the dry ingredients until just combined. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel and core the apples and cut into wedges. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the apples.

Add the cinnamon to the sugar and mix well. Sprinkle the mixture over the apples, stirring to coat them well.

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a medium sized non-stick frying pan. Arrange the apples over the bottom of the skillet. Sprinkle any leftover sugar mixture over the apples. Cook the apples until the sugar has melted and the liquid becomes a little syrupy, about 3 minutes.

Arrange the apple wedges decoratively around the bottom of the buttered cake pan. Pour any remaining syrup in the frying pan over the apples. Spoon the batter over the apples and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until the top is just beginning to turn golden and the centre is firm to the touch.

Immediately run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a plate . Carefully remove the cake pan from the plate using a knife to replace any fruit that is stuck to the bottom.

Serve with maple syrup or vanilla ice cream.

‘Thrift’ is not a dirty word

While wrapping a birthday present in the colored comics I save from the Sunday newspaper, a friend called me thrifty and I said “thank you”. It really didn’t sound like a compliment but I took it as one as I take pride in spending less, saving more and wasting less.

The definition of thrift is “the careful management of money” and it does not mean that I am cheap, it just means that I think carefully about what I buy and I make sure I get value for my money. It also means that if I save more I can decide where to spend more and for me being able to take a trip every year is worth being thrifty the rest of the time.

The reason I wrap presents in comics is not that I don’t have money for proper gift wrap or that I am cheap (or stingy or miserly) I just dislike buying something that is immediately thrown out once the gift if unwrapped. Sometimes I attach a $5 bill to a gift instead of a Hallmark card. When the kids were younger we had them make cards which worked well but since I have no talents in that regard I stick with cash.

When it comes to food, there is often a relationship between value and healthier choices – buying raw materials are cheaper than pre-packaged food and are usually lower in calories, fat and salt. GST is also an indication of how you spend your money in the grocery store as tax only applies to processed foods. There is no tax on vegetables, fruit, milk, bread and meat.

“Thrift is the proper stewardship of all resources. Time, money, goods and the earth’s finite bounty” as per Jane MacDougall

Fallen Fruit Rescue Society

I read with great interest in the Calgary Herald about Adrian Buckley who started the Fallen Fruit Rescue Society after he noticed all the fallen fruit left unused in yards this time of year. He came up with a great idea of contacting the homeowners who obviously didn’t want the fruit and asked permission to come harvest the fruit. The Calgary Urban Harvest Project now has 700 homes registered in Calgary and volunteers go and harvest the fruit. One third goes to the home owner (if they want it), one third to the Food Bank and one third to the volunteers. What a great idea and this can be done anywhere.

Mr. Buckley says “I am dedicating my life to a society where things don’t get wasted” and I certainly recognize this desire as I have been trying very hard to cut down on our waste. Reading the book “American Wasteland” by Jonathan Bloom pointed out how terribly wasteful our society is and how we need to think about what we throw out.

So if you don’t have a garden find someone who does and offer to help in exchange for fresh produce. I found several apples trees and I have been making apple sauce every day last week and is now definitely going to have to buy a small freezer to store all the fresh fruit I now have.

I have perfected apple sauce during the last two weeks. I quickly rinse and de-stem the fruit and throw about 8 pounds in a large pot with 3 cups of water and 2 cinnamon sticks. Let it simmer for an hour, stirring frequently and enjoy the wonderful smell of apples and cinnamon which will fill your house. Add 5 table spoons of sugar and mash it through a sieve, pack 3 cups in a freezer bag and store flattened in your freezer.

I use apple sauce in porridge, warmed up on pancakes and serve it with pork dishes. Apple sauce is also a great snack with a couple of table spoons of vanilla yogurt.

If you have any comments or questions, contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com

Happy New (school) Year!

September means back to school and back to a routine again which I look forward to and I think the kids do too. It was a great summer for the kids with two weeks of camp, sleeping in, watching movies all day, attending family BBQ’s and eating supper outside almost every evening.

Now is the perfect time to do another 30-60-90 day plan as that means that if I stick to the plan I will have several projects finished before Christmas.

Depending on how much sleep you need, there is about 7 hours a day that is not taken up by work or commuting which means the time must be used carefully. In our house a homemade meal has high priority so extracurricular activities for kids must be planned carefully. Activities often happen around supper time but that is where the slow cooker comes in handy. Knowing what is important and always keeping that at the top of the list means everything else must fit in around it and usually it works out. Grandparents or car pooling with other parents also helps, it is often just a matter of asking for help.

My neighbor gave her two sons (aged 7 and 10) each an alarm clock and last week they practiced having the kids get up, get dressed and how to make toast. Suzie would then join the boys after a quick shower and she made the smoothies for them and they sat down for 10 minutes before everyone went to brush teeth etc. Suzie loves the new routine but she said the secret was to get the kids to bed early the night before. The kids shower at night instead of in the morning which also helps.

Fall is also the start of many new classes and courses and a perfect time to renew resolutions of exercising more, learning something new or just getting out to meet new people. How about taking a cooking class or learn about investing?

I signed up for yoga twice a week at 7 p.m. and am contemplating a photography course on Saturday mornings.

You can contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments.