APPLES AND MORE APPLES

Alan came home Friday with a 3 Gallon bucket full of Apples . Now what .. I am a southern cook and have had to change the way I cook .. since surgery .. any one have any ideas on what to do with them now ? I am thinking about making some apple sause sweeted w splenda .. maybe some apple butter .. I am clueless... as I really want to make apple pies .. LOL .. Thanks and Happy Monday .. Nat

Here is what I do Clean, peel and thick slice the apples into a very heavy pot. Add enough water to cover just the bottom (1 cup or so). Add a pinch of salt (helps to bring out the juice) Add Cinnamon sticks if you want it to remain pale or ground cinnamon (or apple pie spice) is you don't car if it gets dark. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon ( brightens the flavor). Add splenda to taste (1 cup or so depending on the amount of apples) or splenda syrup of choice ( I like the DeVInci Spice blend/could use a Splenda maple syrup). Cook on high for15- 20 minutes and reduce to a slow simmer until desired doneness. This works well in a crock pot. If you want apple butter cook 12-24 hours. If you want pie apples (stewed) you have to try not to stir it much so the apples stay whole. Keep adding water if you need to to keep them from getting too dry and burning. It also depends on the variety of apple how much sweetener you use. Not an exact recipe but what I do and it works. I make the pie apples mostly and stop cooking them when just tender but mostly whole. I use them on s/f ice cream or on french toast or in a dish with a s/f butter cookie crumbled on top as a mock apple pie. I cold-can them in quart size jars and they keep in the frig for up to 1 year. Hope this helps CathyA

I've done an apple crisp. Peel and slice. Coat in lemon juice. Mix some splenda, cinnamon and almond flour (ground almonds). Then put in a greased dish. Mix oats, cinnamon, allspice, splenda, chopped nuts (your choice) and melted butter. Put on top and bake. I just "winged it". It was fabulous. The bitter contrast of lemon juice and apple/splenda - yummm. Kathy

How much of everything ? this sounds GOOOODDDDDD !!!

I didn't use a recipe but I found one and altered it as best I could given what I remember I did. 6 apples, peeled, cored, slices (Granny Smith works well) Lemon juice to coat the apples - coat 'em as you cut 'em (keeps 'em from turning brown and also gives a nice "bite" of tartness to counter the sweetness) 4 tablespoons splenda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 tablespoons almond flour FOR THE CRISP TOPPING 1 cup oats 6 tablespoons splenda 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts 4 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon allspice Preheat oven to 350. To make the filling--In a 9-inch pie pan that's 2 inches deep (or a similar baking pan), toss the apples with lemon. Then add the sugar to taste, cinnamon, and almond flour. To make the topping--In a medium bowl, mix together all the topping ingredients with your fingers until small pebbly pieces of butter are distributed throughout the mixture. Sprinkle the entire mixture over the apples. Bake until the topping is golden and the fruit is bubbling and tender, about 1 hour and 15 minute for a large crisp and 1 hour for individual crisps. Cool slightly before serving. You can make individual crisps by dividing the filling and topping among six ramekins or individual gratin dishes. Serves six.

How 'bout some good old fashioned baked apples? Pick some nice big ones, core them about 2/3 way down, place them in a baking pan and pour some diet cola over them, sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake until soft, but not mushy. Serve warm with a scoop of of frozen FF SF vanilla yogurt. Yummy!