It’s apple season! A recipe favorite, updated from the archives. First posted October 2005. ~Elise

Apples, cinnamon, brown sugar, butter and oats? Welcome to the essential ingredients of the apple crisp, one of the most simple and easy of apple desserts. To make an apple crisp one layers sliced peeled apples that have been tossed with lemon juice and vanilla in a baking pan, then tops the apples with a mixture of brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and oats. It’s the crunchy topping that makes the apple crisp “crisp”.

Do you have a favorite way of preparing apple crisp? If so, please let us know about it in the comments.

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I am thrilled to announce that I am hosting the September 2009 edition of DMBLGIT, the monthly food photography event administered by Andrew of Spittoon Extra, and that has been referred to as “the grandest foodporn event available” on the web. DMBLGIT is a monthly food photography event, called by some as “the grandest foodporn [...]

We have been barbecuing up a storm lately, and I decided I wanted to try to barbecue meat loaf. I don’t make it often, maybe twice a year, but never on the barbecue.

I must say it was the best meatloaf I have ever eaten, and the meatloaf sandwich leftovers, YUM! I think using a mixture of pork and beef makes all the difference, and basting every 15 minutes or so!

P.S. I made a double batch so I could freeze one! This is the recipe for a single batch. Also, this is a modified Paula Deen recipe.

For the Loaf
1 1/2 lbs total of ground beef and ground pork
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (make in your food processor)
1 sweet onion, diced
1 egg slightly beaten
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
4-5 Crimini Mushrooms, diced stem removed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 can tomato sauce, 8 oz can
3 tbl A1 sauce or steak sauce

Saute your onion,garlic and peppers in olive oil, for about 5 minutes,set aside

Place all the above ingredients (including the cooled onion/garlic mixture)into a large bowl.

Mix gently, don’t overmix or the meat will be tough

Mound onto a the top part of a broiler pan or something with holes which can go on your barbecue and lets the fat drain out

Basting Sauce
1/2 remaining can tomato sauce
3 tbl white wine vinegar
3 tbl brown sugar
3 tbl Dijon mustard
2 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup of catsup

Mix the above ingredients together, add a bit of apple juice if it is too thick.

Heat your barbecue to about 350 degrees and cook for about an hour, basting every 15 minutes. If you have wood chips or chunks, place them on so you can get some smoke on your loaf!

Most of what I’m going to need in the next two weeks is arranged in small piles on my bed right now. A couple dresses, cameras, and books. Film, lipstick, light meter, passport, hand wipes, ponytail holders, and batteries. I’m getting on a flight to Paris in a few hours. Pinch me, I’ve never been (!?!), and I can’t wait. Last year Clotilde and I started chatting about swapping apartments. The idea was this - she and Maxence would come stay here in San Francisco, and Wayne and I would stay in her place in Montmartre. We settled on dates, bought our tickets, and here I am bubbling with excitement, trying to pack, doing my best not to forget my toothbrush. I made a few little airport snacks to bring along including these peanut butter crispy treats, a riff on the version I made for Super Natural Cooking.

They are made with crisp brown rice cereal (available at many natural foods stores) mixed into a hot, decadent peanut butter maple syrup sludge. I did this version with lots of chopped, toasted pistachios throughout. Also, instead of cutting them into bars, I pressed them into wrapper-lined muffin tins.

You can serve these guys to mixed crowds too. Vegans, vegetarians, and people who avoid gelatin like them in part because I don’t call for marshmallows (which often contain gelatin). Instead I use a slightly obscure natural ingredient called agar agar flakes. It’s a sea vegetable that you can use to thicken puddings, custards, or in this case to give the peanut butter and maple syrup mixture some binding power. You can find the flakes in many natural food stores.

We have a layover in Chicago, and I’m going to keep these right near the top of my carry-on, for convenient snacking. And no worries - while I’m gone, I’m not abandoning the site altogether. I have a couple recipes waiting on the server to share, and a new favorite cookbook list from a friend in Sweden. Hopefully that’ll be enough to keep things lively around here until I get home. If you have any advice, tips, or places not to miss in Paris or Madrid, my thanks in advance. I have quite a list going for both cities, but some of my favorite spots from our trip to Tokyo were ones you suggested! xo -h

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For as much as I love them, I make far too few muffins. When the urge to bake suddenly hit last week, I wanted to make something different, something I hadn’t made in awhile, and something that wouldn’t necessarily be a dessert either. Muffins seemed like the perfect choice, and great ones can serve double [...]

Why I didn’t think of this earlier in the summer, when the zucchini beast was putting out two zukes a day, I don’t know. But here it is, a veggie taco that combines the best of summer produce, that you can pull together in about 20 minutes or less. I’ve made these for lunch for the last 3 days straight with summer squash, green chiles, tomatoes, and jalapeños from our garden. You can improvise with the vegetables, a little fresh corn would work great added in, or some cooked beans as well. We have fresh chiles, so I included them, you could always just add some salsa or jalapeño pickles to taste. The key to the overall taste is the addition at the end of cotija cheese, a Mexican cheese that is salty and crumbly, much like Greek feta. Remember, unless you have just made your tortillas fresh from scratch, packaged corn tortillas need to be heated and softened first, before being used for tacos.

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