Tis the season of apples!

Fall to me is the best season.  Cooler temperatures, school back in session and apples are ready for the picking.  I love apples, eating them, baking with them and looking at them.  Heavenly!  So today I felt like baking apple crisp, a good ol' past time of me and one of the easiest recipes I know.  So I thought I would share.

First you get a pan, any size you want. Depends on if you want to share the goods or not.  I made a smaller pan today.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Peel and slice the apples into the pan, filling it up to be about 1 inch or 1 1/2 inch thick (more or less, depending on what you want, it isn't picky.)

I usually sprinkle the tops of my apples after they are sliced with cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg but it isn't necessary, all what you want.  Some apples are so delicious that they don't need any seasoning on it.

Now the fun part.  I use to make the topping when I was a kid and eat it, thus now my weight problem probably. LOL  This, like the apples, isn't very picky.  It all depends on how much crumbly stuff you want and if you are making a big or little pan. For a 9x13 pan, I usually make this recipe:

3/4 cup butter (DO NOT SUBSTITUTE, IT GETS RUNNY!)
1 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar

Now here is the secret that was passed down from my wonderful grandma that makes or breaks this recipe.

When mixing the topping stuff together, always mix the butter and flour together first.  The butter should be soft but not runny and use a fork to blend it together.  It should make a clumpy paste in the bowl.  Then you add the brown sugar and the oatmeal in, with the end product being a nice crumbly consistency.  Take it, put it on top of the apples and into the oven it goes.

Bake for 60 minutes, but keep an eye on it, sometimes it might get done earlier, depending on the size of the pan.  The top should be a nice golden brown and you could even have some juices bubbling over the sides (make sure you put a pan under the pan to catch it so it doesn't drop in the oven and stink it up like something is on fire...yes, personal experience was involved in this.)

Final product, delicious.  Top it with ice cream, caramel or even whipped cream. 

Best part of the fall!