A gift of apples. Hurricane Matthew and a tangled Tuesday. Apple Crumble.

Email from 2 days ago:

Any deals for me?  Thanks a lot for letting me experience for sure what a Krummy bike I have now

  :(


Sure.  Anytime, good buddy!  Oh, and btw, thank you for the apples.  They made a delicious apple crumble and I gained five pounds overnight.

A gift of apples, the loan of a spare bike...

That's what friends are for, right?

I don't know of any bikes for sale right now, but deals almost always happen along eventually.

As for the apple crumble...  Super simple and super delicious.  Therefore probably not a true act of friendship passing along the recipe. 

But then again, much like a bike deal, some occasion for desert almost always happens along eventually. 

Like, it's a Wednesday, for instance.  Or someone gave you apples.

We had a hurricane a couple weeks ago.  Well, not really.   We had a potential hurricane.  Put up the shutters and evacuated all the way to Orlando.  Which takes a lot of dire convincing from the weather channel. 

It could have been bad, but it wasn't.  Matthew zigged when he could have zagged, and we got off lucky here. 

And so did the trail.  It's been worse, for sure.

Just the same, lots of downed trees and brushy debris at the Tuesday ride a week ago.  Had it's way with Kurt's derailleur.  

Tuesday tangle after Matthew.

Gobbler always has a chain tool.

Good thing there is beer for the end.

After this we gave up

and took the short cut back to drink it.

2nd Tuesday after Matthew

Less tangled.  Mostly cleared.

And what's left, mostly duckable.

Kurt on my Superfly 100

Zoom!

And...

A gift of Apples!

Thank you for sharing, Deb, Kurt, and Sean!

In Florida, hurricanes bring out old memories.  We are all on a first name basis.  After the ride, on Kurt's pool deck, talking about Matthew brings on memories of Francis and Jeanne and Ivan and Wilma.

These are the Octobers you remember if you grew up in Florida. 

But some of us knew October in a different world.  A world where October meant windfall instead of wind.      

I think of Owen's Orchards and look it up on Facebook.  Amazing.  It's still there! 

Owen's Orchards.  Farm Market and Cider Mill.  Elbridge, NY. 
Right there where I left it so many years ago.  

Northern Spies.  Macintosh.  Cortlands.  New York State's own version of October magic.  Pick your own.  Mother would lay down the law - no climbing, no throwing - and off we would run.  Climbing, throwing, eating, and yes, even picking some for the basket. 

Today's crunch. Tomorrow's pie. 

1200 miles and a whole lot of years away from downed power lines and freezers that need scrubbing.

So, in the midst of the hurricane chatter, when Deb said, "We've got something for you", a sack of fresh apples was about the last thing I expected to see.  It turns out I am not the only one to know of October magic.

Hey, if you can't have the pleasure of a visit to the north country to pick your own, the next best thing is having friends who did!

Which brings me to what everyone really wants from a biking blog. 

A recipe. 

OK, not really a recipe...

Guidelines, more like.  Adjust to suit yourself.  You know.  Like borrowing a bike.

Apple Crumble

For the Fruit layer:

6-8 apples, peeled and sliced

1/3 c granulated sugar

3 T. flour

A T. of lemon juice - if you have it.  (I didn't.  It turned out fine.)

Toss well and let stand for five minutes.  (Or stick it in the fridge for close to an hour while you ride out to meet your husband on his commute.  It will turn out fine.)

A handful of cranberries would have gone nicely with the apples, too.  But since I had to empty the freezer after the hurricane, sadly, there were none on hand.  That's OK, it will turn out fine. 

For the topping:

1 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1/3 c. light brown sugar, packed

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 stick butter, diced

Combine in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Mix on low until the butter is the size of peas.

Butter a casserole dish (I used an oval, about 8X10.  I am pretty sure whatever size you use would turn out fine.)

Put apple mixture in the bottom, top evenly with crumbles.

Bake uncovered at 350 for an hour.

Yup, turned out fine.  

So thank me later.  

And let me know if you gain 5 pounds overnight. 

You're welcome. 

After all, that's what friends are for.