What a few weeks it’s been. Our family was hit with Covid for 3 weeks at the beginning of October and this past few days I feel like we are just coming up for air, Ashton came down with it first, followed by me and then Parker, and on it went, so we are just so very grateful to be healthy and back in the swing of things! We missed all the things of life!

Honestly, being sick was a very raw reminder of how richly blessed our normal lives are. To be healthy enough to go for a walk, play with my kids, cook dinner, etc… are all things we take for granted, but feeling really awful makes you realize what a gift the seemingly small, mundane parts of life are. Most days I walk along the canal by our house and my first walk after being sick I felt like I had a new lease on life with all the colors and smells seeming so bright and vibrant.

Pumpkin Carving

One activity we were able to fit in while everyone was home was pumpkin carving. We always light candles in the carved pumpkins the evening we carve them to take pictures of their masterpieces.

Last Soccer Game

We wrapped up the soccer season on the most beautiful day. It was supposed to rain, but instead it was all blue sky and fall colors.

The boys had a sweet celebration to end the season with donuts, Halloween treat bags, and trophies. I’m going to miss watching these boys each Saturday, but now we are on to basketball.

Baking Time

I forget sometimes how capable my kids are! My sweet dad brought over a huge 30 lb box of golden delicious apples one night, so the kids were begging to make apple crisp, to which I replied, if ya’ll are going to peel and dice the apples, then I’m in. They jumped in so fast and had the best time prepping all the fruit for the crisp. Emma ended up making the topping so all I had to do was add a few spices to the filling. Friends, I don’t even usually like apple crisp, but this recipe is delicious. You are going to have to give it a try! It’s a super simple recipe by Ina Garten that I adapted slightly. We took it fresh out of the oven and dug into it for dinner. I would highly recommend making it a dinner crisp…who doesn’t love dessert for dinner 😉 I think it’s all of our post-Covid tastebuds, but very few things taste or sound good right now and this hit the spot.

Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp

This apple crisp is pretty close to perfection. Enjoy with or without vanilla ice cream.

This is a slightly adapted version of Ina Garten's Recipe:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/old-fashioned-apple-crisp-recipe-1941803

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20

Total Time 1 20

Course Dessert

Servings 10 servings

Ingredients

5 lbs Golden Delicious Apples
2 Tbsp orange juice fresh or from can
2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

For the Topping:

1 1/2 cup Flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 sticks cold butter (both salted and unsalted work well)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 with cooking spray.
Peel, core, and dice the apples into evenly sized pieces. Combine the apples through nutmeg in a large bowl. Mix well and pour into a 9×13 pyrex dish.
For the topping, combine all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients (soften in microwave if too hard to cut). Stir until mixture is crumbly and butter is pea sized.
Pour topping over apple mixture in pyrex. Bake for 1 hour until golden brown and bubby. Serve warm and enjoy!

I hope your week has gotten off to a smooth start. I’m whipping up some butternut squash soup this morning and will share the recipe soon in case you need a healthy dinner to go with that dessert!

Weekend Recap & Apple Crisp Recipe