Happy Fall! Now To Do With All These Apples….

Yesterday was the Autumn Equinox. It’s officially fall!

I probably shouldn’t like fall so much because it means the end of the gardening season, but I can’t help it. The leaves have begun to turn colors here, but according to the Farmer’s Almanac, peak fall foliage in Oregon will be mid-October (click the Farmer’s Almanac link to find out when peak fall foliage will be in your state).

I “celebrated” (if you can call it that) the start of fall yesterday by googling apple recipes (an activity which I very much enjoy, as a matter of fact) . There is only so much applesauce a person wants to eat….

Some intriguing ideas I came across:

1. Spiced Apple Cider in a Slow Cooker (spoonuniversity.com)
2. Apple Walnut Bars (spoonuniversity.com)
3. Kale & Apple Soup (thekitchn.com)
4. Slow Cooker Apple Butter (mybakingaddiction.com)
5. Apple Butter Recipe (stovetop) (nytimes.com)
6. Apple Coleslaw (adayinthekitchen.com)
7. Vanilla Bean Pear Sauce (smittenkitchen.com)
8. French Onion and Apple Grilled Cheese (halfbakedharvest.com)
9. Mom’s Apple Cake (smittenkitchen.com)
10. Apple Spice Sorbet (mynewroots.org)
11. Cinnamon Baked Apples (minimalistbaker.com)
12. Apple Cider Rooibos Hot Toddy (minimalistbaker.com)

For dinner yesterday, I made a kale and apple salad, inspired by this Kale Salad on Cookie+Kate. I didn’t have cranberries, radishes, pecans, or goat cheese, so I just used kale, an apple, and walnuts. Delicious! I love kale salad! I usually make some sort of kale salad for Thanksgiving, but I should really make it more often.

I’m headed up to Seattle this weekend, and Nate and I will probably be eating apples with every meal. I’ll let you know if we find a particularly good recipe.