Dahlias = one reason I LOVE Autumn!

What do you like about Autumn? For me it is simple: butternut squash, fresh apple cider, transitional weather (easing our way from Summer to Winter), back-to-school excitement, and Dahlias! I LOVE DAHLIAS! They are one of my favorite flowers. They do not have a strong, perfumey scent, and they are stunning with design and color- love, love, love Dahlias.

My Czech Basket…

I went to the market looking only for fresh eggs. My plan was to feature the local, farmer’s eggs to make Zucchini-Honey bread for Monday’s breakfast club. But then I saw the Fall variety of apples! Today at the JzP market, there were signs of Autumn everywhere as vendors had plump, purple plums, Butternut and bright, orange, Ambercup squash, and more varieties of potatoes. I also noticed more local vendors selling jams and preserves they must have canned over the summer, and of course, there were flowers -Dahlias and Gladiolas! Where the summer fruits such as berries and apricots were once sold are now multiple varieties of apples of which I chose four beautiful Gala apples.

Apples Baked with Cinnamon

I follow a number of food blogs and recently there have been posts about baked, seasonal fruit such as peaches and plums. When I saw those apples at the market I began salivating for baked apples. They are a tasty treat, much lower in calories than other sweets. And they make your apartment smell like apple pie and cinnamon. When I bake apples, I use a recipe that I found on Simply Recipes. If you click on the link, you will find the apple recipe and then can browse for other new recipes! Or you can simply scroll down and find the recipe below…

Baked Apples with Cinnamon, Pecans and Golden Raisins

Baked Apples

Originally posted on Simply Recipes by Elise on Oct 9, 2006

Ingredients:

4 large good baking apples, such as Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, or Jonagold (I used Gala this time!)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup currants or chopped raisins
1 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup boiling water

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Wash apples. Remove cores to 1/2 inch of the bottom of the apples. It helps if you have an apple corer, but if not, you can use a paring knife to cut out first the stem area, and then the core. Use a spoon to dig out the seeds. Make the holes about 3/4-inch to an inch wide.

2 In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, currants/raisins, and pecans. Place apples in a 8-inch-by-8-inch square baking pan. Stuff each apple with this mixture. Top with a dot of butter (1/4 of the Tbps).

3 Add boiling water to the baking pan. Bake 30-40 minutes, until tender, but not mushy. Remove from the oven and baste the apples several times with the pan juices.

Enjoy!