I get all sad when corn season and peach season end here in the Northeast. Deep into September, I kept pestering the standholders at market about whether or not they’d have sweet corn for at least another week. Finally they stopped promising.

I drive by a fruit orchard every day on my way to work, and one day the “Fresh Peaches” sign was down—and so was I. I was grumpy for a week, and then I saw the bins of fresh apples spilling into their parking lot. I stopped for Macintoshes—and I was cured.

Here’s a feast for your eyes, just to remind you how sturdily lovely fresh apples are:

Mom's "Tupp" Apple Cardamom Cake

And then there’s this zipped-up apple crisp recipe (which is really more of a cobbler) with a surprise ingredient that only makes the dish sing. I made the recipe earlier this week for a cooking class of experienced cooks, and they were amazed by the zesty brightness that the dish holds. We had a baking pan of the crisp left over after the class—and our staff quickly divided it up for their lunches!
Continue Reading...