Pecan & Cranberry Crusted Goat Cheese Salad

I’ve never been one of those people. The ones who “do lunch.” You know, the fancy people who always seem suuuuuper busy but can always “do lunch” sometime.

Puh-leaz. I do lunch every day. I can’t not do it. I schedule my classes at school around it. I start thinking about lunch as soon as I take my last bite of breakfast.

Lately though, with work and baking and other holidays to-dos, lunch has consisted of cookie dough, cookies, frosting, or some combination thereof. Delicious for a while, but not a sustainable meal plan. Mainly because I have to wear jeans to work. 

Apple Tart with Oat Crumble and Apple Infused Caramel

I accidentally made a tart. Yeap, you read that correctly. I accidentally made a tart.

Initially, I was trying to make hand pies. But my first attempt at those failed abysmally. And they didn’t even involve apples. I was trying a new recipe for dinner with my neighbors and it was the dough and the oven versus me and the timer. Sadly, I was on the losing team. Something, somewhere just didn’t quite go right. My neighbors still ate them, bless their hearts. And, they inspired me in the process!  

With a mouth full of less-than-impressive hand pie one said, “How quickly do apples go bad? You’ve got, like, eight sitting here.” He motioned to my overflowing fruit bowl. Apparently, no proper single gal has eight apples sitting on her counter. I decided not to tell him I had more apples in the fridge…

I knew that despite eating one or two apples a day as a snack, they were going to go south before I got around to finishing them. I figured baking with them would be the best use of my time, but I couldn’t stomach the idea of more cake. Then I remembered the extra pie dough sitting in my fridge and knew exactly what I would do. An apple tart!

When the going gets tough, the tough make tarts.

Mulling Spiced Apple Coffee Cake with Spiced Streusel

This cake was almost the death of me.

Actually, that should be cakeS. These cakes were almost the death of me. Sweet, delicious death. 

I got it into my head that I wanted to make a coffee cake. But not just any coffee cake. No, I needed one that was warm and spicy and speckled with apples. One that was so purely autumnal it warmed the tummy and the soul.

Plus, it needed to be covered with streusel because, let’s be real, coffee cake is just a vehicle for streusel at the end of the day.

I made one cake, and it was good. So good I shared majority of it with my neighbors and coworkers because I didn’t want to eat the whole thing. It wasn’t winning any awards in the looks department though. I knew I could do better.

An Apple A Day...

Two things to start off Tuesday

1) I have a cold. Not necessarily a big deal, people get sick all the time, but it has definitely put writing a post on the back burner. Plus, it is always a little harder to be sick away from home. All I wanted this weekend was for my mom to be around to rub my back and tuck me in. My mom is almost four hours away, so a phone call had to suffice.

2) Nyquil causes me to have the strangest dreams. Like, really, really, weird. Think Criminal Minds, meets the Office, meets my high school career. It has made for some interesting nights of sleep these past few days. Now that I am almost completely out of my Nyquil stupor, I am ready to get down to business!

Spinach and Feta croissant - no apples, but SO tasty :)

I think the exclamation point on the sign says enough...

Mother Nature was on my side this weekend. The forecast going into Saturday called for clouds, thunderstorms and possibly hail! Not necessarily ideal conditions for an outdoor festival. But somehow, we were blessed with wonderful weather in the morning! Not too hot, not too cold, a light breeze that made the cup of coffee in my hands the perfect accessory. The rain held out until we had just left. I believe they call that kismet.

Best. Pie. Ever.

The fates can also be responsible for me getting to have a slice of apple pie (with homemade whipped cream!) at 8:30 in the morning. Pie for breakfast? I want that to be my life every day. I don’t like crowds, so we got to Apple Fest very early to walk around and get the lay of the land before things got too hectic. I am glad I got the pie when I did because they sold out before noon! 

The Apple Harvest Crepe - sauteed apples, ham, brie and candied walnuts. Just look at that cheesey goodness. 

We walked around and saw all the booths. There were crafts, jewelry dealers, activities for kids, even a doggie costume contest (<-- hi, yeah, that’s weird). The only thing I spent money on was food…go figure. There was so much to get that sadly I didn’t taste everything, though if my pants budget had allowed, I SO would have. 

Apple Fritters that may have been the size of my face. Each.

I know that I have been fighting fall, despite my love for it. But this weekend I jumped onto the fall bandwagon. Hard. And I don’t intend on falling off anytime soon. Besides all the great food eaten at the festival, I bought some apples and cider to make some culinary concoctions of my own, look out for those posts soon!

Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake. Perfect way to end the day. Sigh.

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away I should be good for a decade or so!