Apple Crisp and the whipped cream that got away

Chock up another birthday for Niki.  Birthday girls get to chose their dinner menu and since she was looking for a quiet family celebration, Niki asked for Lobster Risotto with Apple Crisp (recipe follows) as her birthday “cake”.

Now I’m beginning to think that I should rethink my blog to something like gardening or basket weaving because it seems as if I’ve had one kitchen disaster after another lately.  I’m afraid no one’s going to dare try any of my recipes if it means trashing your kitchen but if you can trust me on the ingredients and ignore my execution, the taste is great – just be more careful than I am.  And if any of you have suggestions for getting bad juju out of a kitchen, please pass them on.  I’m making a garlic clove necklace for when I step into that room but I might need more backup.

I think a big part of the problem is this:

I have a love/hate relationship with my mixer.  It’s almost as old as I am and works fine but I think I’m supposed to be ashamed that I don’t have a KitchenAid.  In all honesty the problem really hasn’t been the mixer’s fault, it’s been more of what the manufacturer would call “operator error”.  The flying mussels incident was definitely my bad for expecting it to be an immersion blender.

If you look at the photo above, you’ll see that one beater is rounded and the other has a squared off bottom.  Round on the left, square on the right and all is well.  If you’re not paying attention and reverse those beaters, then dump in a pint of whipping cream, set it on high, and walk away then you have the makings for a funnel cloud of whipped cream which, just like a tornado, is totally unpredictable and leaves the bowl splattering whipped cream all over the walls, cabinets, and yourself. It’s pretty amazing to watch – as everyone did!  Nope, did not get any photos of that mess and I’m glad the camera was out of range.  But the apple crisp was delicious and after trying dozens of recipes, this is “the one” – nice crispy topping with tart apples on the bottom.

The excitement of the flying whipped cream was super fun for Lola but I’ve mentioned before how the sound of ripping paper kind of makes her brain go crazy.  Our paper shredder broke years ago and we just don’t have a need to replace it.  There’s one wastebasket for paper that she checks every night and handles all of our shredding needs.  This is what happens if you don’t beat her outside to grab the newspaper:

Her all time favorite though is birthday and Christmas wrapping. If you’re having a party and it gets boring, I’ll loan you Lola.

The APPLE CRISP that was a birthday cake:
(so fast and easy, no excuse to not make it)

4 Cups    Apples
¾ Cup    All purpose flour
1Cup      Granulated sugar
1 teas     Cinnamon
½ teas    Salt
½ Cup    Softened butter

Peel, core, & slice apples evenly
Layer apple slices into buttered baking dish (8” or 9” square)
In small bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, & salt
Cut in butter w/pastry cutter or 2 butter knives until mixture is coarse
Sprinkle mixture over top of apples
Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

Top with whipped cream (if possible)