A Taste of Home - Apple Crisp Recipe

Family. Food. Traditions.   

All of these things we associate with the feeling of being "home." My family's traditional recipes have made their indelible imprint on my heart and spirit, their smell and taste even now evoking the feeling of family, and of security and belonging, even though so many of my family are now gone. 

But that nostalgic feeling of home is renewed when a familiar dish is served. It's that connection to the past and to people through long-ago memories that are brought forth by the familiar sight, smell, and taste of traditional family recipes.

Such as my dad, who just couldn't get enough butter tarts. Or me, who couldn't get enough of my mom's special peanut butter cookies, or my waking up to the yeasty scent of her making fresh homemade bread. Or the mouthwatering apple-cinnamon aroma of my grandmother's apple crisp baking in the oven. 

A taste of home - my grandmother's Apple Crisp recipe

My grandmother in 1946,
Margaret (Hutchinson) LeComte

Everything my grandmother made came from a memorized recipe. (Our family still misses her famous pancakes, she never did write it down.) So, I am grateful to my mother for making sure this traditional recipe that I so enjoyed as a child wasn't lost. It is, quite simply, the taste of home.

Today, I honour the 25th anniversary of my grandmother's passing by sharing something that was quintessentially her - simple, frugal, and fabulous. May she always be remembered.

Recipe Notes.

There was always an element of "creativity" to my grandmother's recipes, such as "eyeball" measuring or undocumented steps, because she was working from memory and had made the recipe so often. 

Making the recipe myself for the first time felt a little bit like a technical challenge on the Great Canadian Baking Show! So, I have noted here some additional steps and slight adjustments which make the result closer to my childhood memory of it.

• Baking dish size (inches): 10" x 6.25" x 2"
• Make the apple seasoning with these adjustments:
• mix the seasonings in a small bowl
• increase ground cinnamon to a generous sprinkle
• change "2 tbsp. sugar" to 2 tbsp. of golden or brown sugar
• Sprinkle the apple seasoning over apples in the baking dish, stir to mix in, then dot the apples with small knobs of butter
• Make the crumble topping with these adjustments:
• reduce the flour to 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• mix with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles large crumbs
• bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

I hope you enjoy it!