How Do You Like Them Apples?

Apple orchards are apple-solutely one of the best ways to get to experience (and taste!) everything that an apple is all about. We went to Kuiper's Family Farm in Maple Park, IL, where they were featuring Gala and Pink Luster apples in their orchard. After picking our apples, we went to their store featuring all of their products where we got inspired to make our own fall favorites highlighting these magnificent apples.

Let's talk apples. There's tons of different kinds, they all look a little different, and can taste extremely different depending on the variety. The trick to using them in recipes is balance. If your apple is sweeter, maybe use less sugar in the recipe to accommodate. If you're using apples out of season and they're very tart, maybe add a little more sweetness to the recipe you're cooking. A really great way to create balance in a recipe is to use a couple types of apples, like one that is tart and one that is sweet.

Kuiper's was so much fun! Of course, if there's a barrel o' apples photo prop, I'm going to put my face behind it. I am proud to say that I had a breakfast that day consisting of only apples, and it was absolutely delicious.

Once I got back to my kitchen with bags of apples and more goodies from the store at Kuiper's, I couldn't wait to bust out all of the ingredients and make some fall magic!

We had picked up this local honey from the sunflower field we went to a couple weeks ago, it was the perfect finisher to slightly sweeten this apple pie filling I made. There is a recipe for apple pie filling in the blog here. Every time I make it, it's a little bit different depending on the apple and the recipe that I'm using the apple filling for. In this version, I used fresh ginger and lemon to balance out the sweetness of the Pink Luster and Gala apples. I finished it with a slurry of apple cider and cornstarch to thicken it, giving the Flour Tarts the perfect filling consistency.

These adorable little Flour Tarts are so nostalgic and convenient to eat! Life is busy and eating breakfast can sometimes be a struggle on the go, but not with these little cuties in your life! They're drizzled with cookie butter and are easy to reheat in the toaster, just like your favorites you used to have as a kid.

Of course, if you don't have time for going to the apple orchard, fabricating the apples, making the apple pie filling, making and chilling the pie dough, rolling, cutting, and shaping all of the Flour Tarts, baking them to perfectly golden brown, and drizzling them with cookie butter deliciousness, you're more than welcome to go to the Flour Shop to get yourself a dozen delivered right to your door! ;)

Apple cinnamon barbecue sauce, hard apple cider, gala apples, and fresh zucchini from the garden were the seasonal highlights on this fall plate. No, the plating isn't fancy, and yours won't be either. My goal is to make cooking approachable for all of you. If cooking is a struggle for you but you live locally, head on over to the "Our Workshops" page here and sign up for a cooking class! They are held at Joliet Junior College and are for all ages.

That macaroni and cheese, am I right? No processed cheese here. No roux here, either. That's right, I said it, you don't need it. Want to know my secret? Send an email to info@flourchildstuff.com and I'll send you a 10% off coupon code to use on your next FCS order AND the magical trick for making this roux-less mac and cheese.

At the end of the day, I ended up making several types of these Flour Tarts. My favorite? The apple one, of course. However, the ones I made with the butters from Kuiper's and cookie butter were pretty darn good, too.

The moral of the story, here, is go pick some apples. Now, before they're out of season. Taste them. Enjoy a farm. Lucky for us Chicagoland folk, there's a few around here to pick from. Take your apples home and cook something delicious. Experience what the difference is in flavor between an apple that just came from a tree and an apple that's been sitting on a store shelf. Try a new recipe. Don't be afraid to take home your bag of apples and enjoy them because they stay fresh longer! Experiencing treasures like this in the world is something I am truly grateful for. If you're looking for more apple inspiration, you can go to the Recipes page here, there's at least a half a peck of ideas to pick from for how to use these medicinal and beautiful fruits!

...and they lived appley ever after. (thats you guys and all of the apples you're about to go pick, that is! ;) )

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