My sister and brother-in-law are gone. A whole week went by and I have to say I really enjoyed having them stay with us. It has been a year since I have really been able to spend time with my sister and I really felt that when she left yesterday. I thank God for the gift of family and for them being able to be here with me before the baby arrives. It sure did take a lot of my mind because otherwise I would be focusing on the time I have left before baby girl arrives. Well, I am back to that it seems.
I drove close to an hour and a half yesterday to drop my family in Detroit and decided that since I was on my own that I could take advantage of finally driving through Dearborn. This city is the 8th largest city in Michigan and was the home of Henry Ford and the headquarters of the Ford Motor Company. Back in July, we visited Detroit, but we were really unimpressed seeing how so much has changed with the economy. I was surprised to say that I really enjoyed seeing the outskirts of Dearborn.
Something else I heard about Dearborn is that the city boasted a huge Arab-American population who mostly immigrated n the early 20th centry to work in the auto industry. Mostly are Lebanese Christian and of recent more immigrants have arrived who are Muslim.
Why all this history? Well I love their food and I knew and heard that there are great markets and restaurants so I decided to drive around and check out bakeries and markets in order to stock up on tahini, pita bread and other essentials. Boy did I score!
I found Papaya Food Market and boy did I find beautiful produce! Heads of romaine so heavy I knew it was going to last us. They limited their customers to 4 heads of lettuce too! Colored peppers were 5 for a $1 and figs, figs were wonderful! 2 pints of green and purple figs for 2 bucks. I am telling you, I was so happy to run into this place. I promptly told Ryan were having Lebanese food the whole week. LOL
So I returned home and besides all the catch-up laundry I needed to do I decided to make an apple crisp. Remember I shared it with you the other day? It was so good and I had so many apples I decided to have the house smell spiced up.
I have been apples plain as they are naturally sweet but there is nothing like a warm apple crisp with melted ice cream. Yes, I know, right??
This can make with any sugars you want. I have made it twice with agave nectar and vegan sugar and then another batch with brown sugar and agave nectar. They both turned out just as delicious! The oatmeal on top comes out to be the PERFECT crispy topping! Believe me. Make this for your family and it will be a keeper, I tell you.
Apple and Rainier Cherry Crisp
makes a 9x13 pan - serves 6
8-10 apples, peeled, cored, and diced (I used a mixture of Empire and Ginger Gold)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar, agave nectar, or palm sugar
Oatmeal Topping
2 cups oats or gluten-free oats
1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine, melted
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar, agave nectar, or palm sugar
1/2 cup flour
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dice all the apples and place in a glass 9x13 pan. Toss in the spices and cherries and mix well. Set aside for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the topping.
Melt the margarine and in a medium bowl add in the oats, sugar, and flour and combine well. Place topping over apples and bake for 40-45 minutes until topping is light brown and crisp.
Serve with Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream.
Labels: apple crisp, apples, baking, crisp, dessert, dried cherries, empire apples, ginger gold apples, michigan apples, nuts online, oatmeal, Rainier cherries, spices, sweets
