things are winding down

ina garten's pear, apple & cranberry crisp

And the winner of the best apple crisp goes to....drumroll please....Ina Garten! Of course!  I sort of knew this would be the best recipe all along and saved it for last.  Because that way the others wouldn't need to pale in comparison. Unfortunately, we didn't really take any pictures of it.  Sometimes I think you can tell how good a recipe is based on the number of pictures we have.  When it's really, really good, well we kind of forget about the pictures because we're so busy....eating.  So you're going to have to deal with pictures from sea glass hunting:

This apple crisp had the most depth of flavor, which I think has a lot to do with the use of orange and lemon zest.  To be totally honest with you, I was a bit nervous about the orange zest part, because I'm not always the biggest fan of orange flavor.  But it was delicious.  Absolutely delicious.  

The crumble topping was also delicious.  Not too crunchy, not too soggy.  It is this topping that Dan and I have decided we would try next time on the sour cream apple pie.  It maybe didn't get quite as golden brown as I would have liked to see, but once I took a bite, I forgot all about it.  Here's your picture, finally:

pear, apple & cranberry crisp

from the barefoot contessa at home

2 lbs ripe Bosc pears (about 4 pears)

2 lbs firm Macoun apples (about 6 apples...and we, once again, used Northern Spies)

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1 tsp grated orange zest

1 tsp grated lemon zest

2 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

for the topping:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1/2 lb (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  

Peel and core the pears and apples and cut them into large chunks.  Place the fruit in a large bowl and toss with the cranberries, zests, juices, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Pour into a 9x12x2 inch baking dish.

For the topping, combine flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture is in large crumbles.  (Or mix with your hands in a medium bowl.) Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely.

Place the dish on a parchment lined baking sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly.  Serve warm.

all in a weekend's work

Not too bad for a couple of hours spent at the beach.

columbus day weekend foliage

The leaves are changing color.  Rapidly.  Here are some pictures from around town on Columbus Day weekend.  Most of them are from a hike up Mt. Battie.  

I think the foliage is especially pretty when contrasted with the blue of the lake or ocean, but it's hard to get a picture to show it all off from a distance.  Dan had a great idea to capture the red of the dock in this one.

You can see that some of them are vibrant in their reds and oranges and yellows, but many have yet to change.  Of course, all of those sneaky pine trees do throw the color off a bit.  Dan and I are planning on heading back up Mt. Battie today to see how much the leaves have changed in just a few days. It seems like the leaves are gone almost as quickly as they arrive.

Not quiet as pretty as bing.com's picture, but pretty nonetheless! 

more weekend pictures: friendship harbor

I took Dan down to the harbor in Friendship this weekend.  I had been there once before with my mom, (otherwise I never would have known it existed) and wanted to share its beauty with Dan.  Next weekend, we'll be a bit more adventurous and try to find a place that's brand new to both of us for our next photo op. (p.s. a friend of mine at Colby claimed that her uncle coined the term "photo op" not sure if I believed her, but it would be kind of cool if it were true.  She also said her cousin was Jared of Subway weight loss fame.)

The picture below is the only one I took.  I love this little scene.  The hydrangea tree that I find so beautiful and those blue bottles in the window, plus grey shingles and a fancy scalloped trim? Ugh, it's love.  We drove past and I freaked out, telling Dan to back up the car, so I could take a picture.  Psycho much? Perhaps. But it was worth it, don't you think?

Back to the water:

Seagulls, a lobsterman's number one enemy (well maybe number two after seals):

I love all of the colors on those buoys. Also, if you look realllllly closely, the sign above the door says "Wharf Unsafe."  Eeek.  People definitely still use that wharf.  Maybe since the sign was made, the wharf has been reinforced or something.  I certainly hope so!  Anyway we were on the next wharf over, because that wharf also had a "trespass at your own risk" sign on it, which frightened me just a little.

I did feel a little weird while we were walking around taking pictures.  It took me a bit to figure out what it was.  Even though my car has Maine plates, I felt like these people could still tell we were "from away."  We may not be Friendship harbor regulars, but we can still appreciate this idyllic view!

pea soup

Yesterday was so foggy, we couldn't resist taking some pictures down in Rockport Harbor.  And by "we" I mean Dan took them all, because he is way better at this stuff than I am.  I just stood around listening to the creaking moorings and thinking about how creepy the deserted harbor felt. 

Dan took a series of neat pictures through really pretty, delicate spider webs that were covered with beads of mist.  Yes, I did say that spider webs are pretty.  As long as there aren't huge spiders in them, I'm okay with it.  They remind me of gorgeous garlands.

Of course we had to get a pic of our favorite house, which many of you have already determined to be haunted.  To be honest, it did feel a little eerie there in the fog.  Dan decided that whoever owns the house could make a killing (no pun/weirdness intended) by turning it into a haunted house for the next month.

And of course, we had to take pictures of the leaves...