Crumble Topped Apples

There are times when you want something of the apple persuasion but don’t want to cope with a pie crust that day. With apple season in sight . . . okay, we have three months to wait, still . . . I'm thinking about apples and ways to enjoy them besides just nibbling a fresh one. This is one of my favorite, relatively quick ways to get a dessert made for dinner. The best part is that it is equally good hot from the oven as cold the next day.

Crumble Topped Apples
Six to eight green, tart apples
Juice and zest of one lemon
3/4 cup granulated sugar, combined with one tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Peel, core and slice six to eight apples depending on size of your family. Mix apple slices in a bowl with the zest and juice of one lemon. Add 3/4 to one cup granulated sugar, the tablespoon of flour and the cinnamon. Taste and see if it is sweet enough for you. Arrange in greased baking pan that will comfortably accommodate the apples. You will want to leave room for the topping.

Topping:One stick butter or margarine
One cup all-purpose flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
One heaping teaspoon cinnamon
One cup chopped nuts

For the topping, crumble together one stick of butter or margarine, one cup-all-purpose flour, ½ cup brown sugar, one teaspoon vanilla extract, one heaping teaspoon cinnamon and one cup chopped nuts. The mixture should be coarse but ingredients well-distributed. Arrange over the top of the apples and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until golden and bubbly. All ingredients can be doubled to make a larger amount for a big family. Serve hot, warm or cold. Can stand by itself but whipped cream or vanilla ice cream will make it special.

Marinated Everything Salad!

Salads like to make an appearance at dinner and picnic tables. Although they are not the favorite item to make, they are a refreshing prelude to dinner. And if you need a fast, on-the-run lunch, there is such a thing as a hearty salad! I like make-ahead salads, especially for company meals. It is nice to know that no matter what else happens, the salad is tasty and already prepared. It is also like finding a pot of gold when you are raiding the refrigerator.

Marinated Everything Salad
One small jar marinated artichoke hearts
16 ounces Mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes
One can pitted, ripe, black olives drained
1 can green beans, drained
1 can yellow wax beans, drained
1 can red kidney beans, drained
½ cup olive oil
½ cup red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste
1 small garlic clove, finely diced

This seems like an endless list for a bowl of salad. The ease of preparation is it's redeeming value (not to mention the great taste!). Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix gently. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight to meld the flavors. Serves six to eight people. Makes a good buffet dish or potluck offering.

As we approach our next election . . .

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. it behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

(This could apply to any election year,  but is credited to Abraham Lincoln, 1863!)

Definitely something to ponder . . .

Found on a chat line . . .
 At Mass yesterday evening, our priest provided some interesting "food for thought". He posed the following question: aside from devout Catholics who believe in the Real Presence, what group is next in their belief in the Real Presence?

Not Episcopalians. Not Lutherans. The answer: Satan worshippers. His point was that they have to believe in the reality of Jesus in the Eucharist in order to desecrate it.

Quotes on the funny side . . .

"Most people would like to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch."
       -- Robert Orben

 

"I never lecture, not because I am shy or a bad speaker, but simply because I detest the sort of people who go to lectures and don't want to meet them."
       -- H. L. Mencken

 

"Don't worry if you're a kleptomaniac, you can always take something for it."
       -- Unknown