Rosemary Apple Butter

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One of the things I love most about this time of year is that I get to cook things that make my home smell delicious. Pumpkin bread, apple pie, homemade bread…all of the baking, basically. Summers in Denver can be SO hot, so when the temperature finally drops, I start using my oven as often as possible. As much as I love turning on my oven, it is also a gift to be able to turn to my slow cooker for things like this apple butter. The house still smells amazing, but I don’t have to babysit anything.

This is an updated version of my original slow-cooker apple butter. It is sweeter slightly with dates, just like before, but I added a hefty amount of rosemary to give it a more sophisticated flavor that works beautifully for Thanksgiving or Christmas appetizers! My favorite thing to do with this apple butter…well, you’ll find that out on Friday…my SECOND favorite thing to do with this apple butter is to spread it on a cracker and top it with a little blue cheese. Ermagerd it is amazing.

Bonus: this recipe makes enough for you to gift to a friend! Tis the season, after all!

Rosemary Apple Butter

• 8-12 small/medium apples, cored, cut into wedges, peel left on

• 6 pitted dates

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 3 large sprigs rosemary, left whole

• 1/4 teaspoon allspice

• 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes until the apples and dates are softened. Remove from the heat and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Place the lid slightly ajar on the pan, return to low heat and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until the apple butter has thickened, about 30-45 minutes. Add more liquid as needed so the apple butter doesn't burn or become too paste-like.

Remove the apple butter from the heat and cool completely before putting in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. The apple butter will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks and tastes fantastic spread on toast, muffins, or as a fun seasonal addition to a cheese tray.

*To make this in a slow cooker, add all ingredients and set on low for 8 hours. Purée the ingredients, set the lid slightly ajar, and continue cooking for another hour on low heat.

Apple Butter

I love so many things about this time of year. So. Many. I don't even know where to start. Sometimes, I sit down to write a blog post and my mind just starts spinning with all the crisp-air-apple-pie-pumpkin-spice-boots autumny things. It's hard to narrow it down, as you may be able to tell. I'm not sure how long this will last, but this time of year also brings me back to fall Tokyo. It felt like an eternity before the leaves would start changing and the weather became perfectly chilly for things like hot chocolate, yakiimo, and roasted chestnuts. There were streets lined with Gingko trees that became shockingly yellow, creating an amazing golden light that you don't expect to see in a massive city. My favorite trees, no matter the season, were Japanese maples. Their small, star-like leaves were memorizing. I used stand beneath the branches and stare up at the bright red stars, their little points overlapping and creating perfect patterns and an endless blanket of autumn beauty against a brilliantly blue sky.  That, among other things, is where my mind wanders when I start making my fall favorites like pumpkin muffins (coming soon!) and this apple butter.

Apple butter is one of those things I make when I have an overabundance my favorite fruit. When fall arrives, I stock up on all my favorite apples and I'm blessed to have friends who bring bags of apples from their backyard trees. I'm convinced I could never have enough apples around, but having the space to store them is another issue entirely. So, when I start to feel a bit cramped, this apple butter is a perfect way to make the house smell incredible. It also helps me hold on to my favorite seasonal flavors for as long as humanly possible.

What makes this apple butter better than all the rest? Yep. I heard you.

Most recipes call for quite a lot of brown sugar, which is delicious but not so much good for a person who might need to have apple butter every day. *raises hand guiltily* Instead of packing this apple butter with sugar, I added several dates to provide a sweetness quite similar to brown sugar without all the...well...sugar.

Here's what you should do as soon as possible: get the ingredients you need for the apple butter, get them going over low heat on your stove-top or in your slow cooker, and sip on some hot cider while mulling over all the reasons why this is greatest time of year. Because, let's be honest, it just is.

Apple Butter

Makes about one 12 oz jar

• 6 large apples, cored, cut into wedges, peel left on
• 6 pitted dates
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes until the apples and dates are softened. Remove from the heat and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Place the lid slightly ajar on the pan, return to low heat and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until the apple butter has thickened, about 30-45 minutes. Add more liquid as needed so the apple butter doesn't burn or become too paste-like.

Remove the apple butter from the heat and cool completely before putting in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. The apple butter will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks and tastes fantastic spread on toast, muffins, or with savory items like pork tenderloin or chicken.

*To make this in a slow cooker, add all ingredients and set on low for 8 hours. Purée the ingredients, set the lid slightly ajar, and continue cooking for another hour on low heat.

Grandma Della + Fried Apples

Bowl of Fried Apples :: Set the Table

When I was a kid, summers always meant a road trip to Tennessee. We would make a leisurely drive from Minnesota, stopping to see some interesting places along the way. When we finally made it to Cookeville, we would set up camp at my grandma and grandpa’s small red brick home. My sister and I slept on the pullout sofa in the family room where we would inevitably be woken up around 5:30am (sometimes earlier) by my grandfather. He would be banging pots and pans around in the kitchen, preparing to make gravy and biscuits which sat, getting cold, until we finally decided to get up and join the rest of the world. Occasionally, grandpa would turn on the TV, which was in our room, if he really wanted us to get up already.

My grandma also made biscuits and gravy, but I have more memories of the dinner she would make for us all on Sundays. Stewed beans, boiled potatoes, fried chicken, banana pudding, thick slices of juicy red tomato from the garden, fried apples...it was quite a spread. Everyone would come over and fill themselves up with her Tennessee soul food. We certainly did not go hungry. I wish I had spent more time learning from both my grandpa and grandma about food. Not just recipes, but what they really thought about it; what they cooked and why. And I would likely ask my grandpa what in the world was going through his head when he would eat butter stirred with homemade jam using nothing but a spoon.

Fall Apples :: Set the Table

Apple Towers :: Set the Table

My grandmother passed away yesterday. It wasn’t exactly unexpected. She had been experiencing all kinds of ‘failures’. Heart failure was most likely what ended her life. I was able to visit her a couple weeks ago, knowing it would likely be the last time we would see each other here on earth. It was a bittersweet trip, revisiting places from my childhood and remembering the days when both of my grandparents were alive. The day I left Tennessee, I knew that I would be saying goodbye to my grandma for the last time. I think she knew it, too.

First time seeing an ultrasound picture :: Set the Table

Fortunately, I have only good memories of her to take with me now that she's gone. The photo above, for example, is my grandma seeing an ultrasound photo for the first time. I was about 5 months pregnant with Riley and she couldn't stop looking and smiling her small, delicate smile. I loved sharing that moment with her.

Della's Fried Apples :: Set the Table

She was a true Southern Belle with the sweetest voice and Southern drawl you’ve ever heard. Della was delicate on the outside but we all knew she was stronger than any of us would ever be on the inside. I’m grateful for the memories I have of her and I know now that much of my love of cooking food for others stemmed from her. The picture at the top of this post will always hang in my kitchen. No matter where we are, she will be there reminding me that this "cooking thing" goes beyond blogs and recipes and food photography. It goes back to a time before strict recipes when the point was to nourish and comfort those around the table.

Southern Style Fried Apples :: Set the Table

All I've wanted to do for the past 2 days is eat her food. All I could handle was making fried apples. Grandma made them all the time and so did my mom when I was growing up. As soon as the apples hit the melted butter in the pan, the aroma brought me back to my grandparents' Tennessee house. I could remember the way the air felt, thick with summer humidity, and the sound of grandma's little voice that was only barely above a whisper at all times.

Fried Apples

Ingredients

• 4 or 5 apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices 1/2 inch thick
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon oil (I used walnut oil, but you can use canola or another vegetable oil)
• 3 tablespoons sugar

Instructions

1. Melt the butter with the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat (stainless works best, but cast iron would also be fine). Add the apples and cover until they begin to soften, about 5 or 6 minutes.
2. Uncover and sprinkle the sugar over the apples. Stir to coat. Flatten the apples in an even layer and leave, uncovered, to caramelize on one side. Do not stir for about 5 minutes, watching to make sure they aren't cooking too quickly.
3. Use a large spatula to flip the apples and caramelize the other side. Continue cooking until the apples have a nice brown color and are soft, about 5-8 minutes more, adjusting heat as necessary.
4. Serve warm alone or with vanilla ice cream. These are also delicious with grilled pork.