For Pete's Crew

"Crispy! Crunchy! Fruity! Flavorful! Just reading about dumplings and crisps and cobblers is enough to make you hungry." Betty Crocker does not often take creative liberties in her descriptions, but when she does, I am highly amused by them. So I just had to share this quote from her introduction to "Crisps and Cobblers." I wonder if the dear old woman penned them herself out of blissful inspiration, or if she had an English teacher for a daughter...

Thank you so much to our dear friend, Wendy, who provided us this week with a bounty of apples to inspire our cooking! They have definitely come in handy!

This week, Dad informed us that "the guys" at his work wanted to do a potluck dinner, so maybe we could make something for him to take. Since we usually have a big delicious lunch together at home, Dad normally takes something small to snack on at work in the evenings, like yogurt and crackers. "The guys" don't know what he gets to enjoy at home, so this was our chance to give them a "taste." We wanted to do an apple cobbler, but Betty doesn't actually have that in her book. Instead, she had a crisp...

Apple Crisp (from p. 177 of the BCC): Tart apples, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter... Is your mouth watering yet? Mine did every time I passed the warm dish on the counter in the kitchen! An apple crisp is basically like a cobbler, only instead of a biscuit topping, you have this crumbly covering of all things autumnally amazing.

Dad's uniform for work has his name embroidered on it: "Pete." Funny thing is, the only people who call Dad "Pete" instead of "Peter" are the guys he works with. So, Mom knows if someone calls the house and asks for "Pete," that the call is definitely work-related. Here he is, all dressed for work, toting his apple crisp to share with all those hard-working airplane mechanics! I know they will enjoy it, and most likely will be requesting more "potlucks" in the future. ;)