Between a neighbor’s apple tree and two of my favorite produce stands, I’ve accumulated quite a haul of apples. Just before Halloween I drove to Diehl’s Produce of Annapolis in the waterfront community known as The Maritime Republic of Eastport.
Found crates and crates of apples and pears from Adams County, Pennsylvania ranging from Honey Crisp, Crimson Crisp, and Red and Golden Delicious to Fuji varieties.
A week later drove to Pumphrey’s Farm Stand in Millersville, Maryland where I was guaranteed to find great Winesaps, Granny Smith’s and Golden Delicious from Maryland orchards right up til’ Thanksgiving. (Include chopped Winesaps in my turkey stuffing.)
Froze the apples from my neighbor’s tree and some of the Winesaps by slicing them and layering them in sealed freezer bags. (Learned the trick from “The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest”.) They come in handy in the dead of winter when you can use them for pancakes, upside down cakes, or sauteed as a side dish.
On the first cold day of November, I hunted up my notebook of personally collected recipes and raided my store of apples to make Apple Cranberry Crisp. I chose a mix of sweet and sour apples including Crimson Crisps, Golden Delicious, Winesaps and Granny Smiths.
My favorite Apple Crisp recipe can be found on a yellowed page I clipped from The Capital newspaper a decade ago. I’ve altered the recipe by adding cranberries for an extra bit of tartness and renamed it accordingly. Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
Apple Cranberry Crisp
4 cups of baking apples (about 6 medium)
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped raw cranberries
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
Soften butter.
Blend flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and butter together.
Mix in nuts, and raisins.
Meantime, grease an 8-inch round or square pan. 
Peel and slice the apples and layer them in the pan along with the chopped cranberries.
Spread the crumb mixture over the apples and cranberries patting into place.
Bake in a 350 degree oven 35 minutes. Depending on the firmness of the apples, I might bake a few extra minutes. Remove from oven and set out to cool for a few minutes. Then slice and enjoy with or without a dollop of vanilla ice cream and a steaming cup of coffee.
My idea of comfort food, Apple Cranberry Crisp is really great to serve for dessert or as a special treat when friends drop by. It gets raves every time.