apple crisp with apples

Grandma’s Apple Crisp

I don’t check our mailbox very often. With most bills, cheques and correspondence happening online, there simply isn’t much point. On the odd occasion that I do stop to check, I quickly sift through the flyers, tax notices and ‘urgent last warning’ letters addressed to tenants from many moons past and toss the lot of it. Ahem. I mean I responsibly bring each letter to former tenants home, mark them as ‘no longer at this address’, drive back to the mailbox and send them to post-office-land. For the record.

So this week, amongst the junk, I was delighted to receive a letter from my Grandma. My very first pen pal. And quite possibly my last. The envelope was adorned with butterflies and roses. The handwritten note inside with Johnny-jump-ups, violets, forget-me-nots and pansies. And more butterflies. In her letter she thanked me for my last visit and shared three of her favourite recipes, which were “a bit of work, but worth it.”

Enclosed behind the note were three hand-written recipe cards embellished with a family of chickens in the corner (girl knows her audience) for Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Zucchini Cheese Puff and Apple Crisp. 

On my last visit, I’d complimented her on her apple crisp. It had just the right balance of sweetness, saltiness and crunch. I could tell she hadn’t skimped on the sugar. Or the brown sugar. And in a world that seems to hate sugar more than anything else, this was a welcome taste on my tongue.

recipe for apple crisp and a letter

A wholesome childhood

I grew up with a health conscious mother. No cereal box with sugar listed in the first three ingredients was allowed past our threshold. Brown bread. Diet, low fat everything. Homemade cookies baked with half the sugar or better yet, applesauce! Nature’s candy and all that. My Mom was and is one of the most well-versed and researched people I know on what’s good for the human body. I continue to receive regular reminders to make sure I have protein with every meal, adequate fiber intake and tips on how to keep my calcium levels up for good bone health. Our family was fed well and we were all healthy because of it and I’ll be eternally grateful for the efforts she made to ensure that happened, all-the-while spearheading her career. The mighty Boomer Woman. The first generation of women who did it all.

healthy snacks

My Dad was far less strict, offering a few bursts of Blue-2 and Red-3 colour in an otherwise earth-toned cupboard of snacks. Occasionally he’d sneak me out for a meringue from the Safeway bakery and once there, he might be cajoled into buying a coveted box of Fudgee-Os. We’d hide them once we got home and sneak a few now and again when we wanted a break from the mom-approved store-bought cookies, which had to include oatmeal.

To this day, when I go to visit my Dad, I know I can find a box of Fudgee-Os tucked away in his closet. They’ve been divorced for 30 years, but he still feels the need to hide them.

On the subject of residual trauma, you’ll be relieved to know I made it to adulthood without too much damage. Apart from a mild sugar complex.

Bucking the trend

My mother’s foundations in wholesome foods and sound nutrition have served me well, but where I chose to go my own way was in the world of baking and desserts. There, I walk the path of my grandmother. Full sugar. Full fat. Salted Butter. No apologies. 

Or at least no obvious apologies. I still pause each time the sugar reaches the halfway point to what the recipe calls for in my measuring cup. That hesitation is always there…telling me to stop pouring…to the rhythm of: “lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” it’s “cavities, weight gain and diabetes, oh my!” beating through my mind. 

I’m learning to silence my inner anxiety. I finish pouring the sugar. I remind myself that we don’t eat dessert every day, but when we do, it’s a goodie. And I figure that in moderation, most-everything is ok. Even sugar.

Seasonal Eating

You might not think that apple crisp is a very spring-like dessert, but I disagree. Rhubarb and strawberries, the traditional springtime darlings, are still a good few months away from being ready. As are the cherries and apricots. The doors to the many fruit stands in our valley remain firmly shut, with just a few sad bags of apples left outside with an honour box nearby, for those loyal customers who remain hell-bent on buying local. Such as myself. 

apples outside a closed fruit stand

The only fresh things growing are wild greens, hardy herbs and spring onions. None of which scream dessert to me. So what’s left is, literally, what’s left. 

My ancestors come from western Europe. Traditionally, this time of year, their larders would be mostly empty. If they were lucky, they might still have a few wilted apples left over from autumn’s harvest and not much else that could be called fresh. It would be dried grains, salted butter, sugar and spices. And as luck would have it, those are the primary ingredients in my Grandmother’s apple crisp.

apple crisp and apples

Grandma’s Apple Crisp

Serves “lots”

Peel and chop apples (enough to line an 8 x 8 inch pan)

Over these, sprinkle:

  •  2 Tbsp white sugar
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 ½ tsp lemon juice

Make your crumble topping by mixing together:

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ¾ cup oats
  • ¾ cup flour
  • ½ cup salted butter

Sprinkle this over your apples and then bake at 350 F for 40-50 mins.

Serve with (full fat) vanilla ice cream.

About the author

Jessica Johnson runs a small, traditional Bed and Breakfast from a vineyard in the Similkameen Valley of British Columbia, Canada.

Raised to be a strong, independent career woman but now a vigneron’s wife and stay-at-home mom on a fledgling homestead, she is clumsily yet happily establishing roots in her new landscape.

An expert at almost nothing but curious about nearly everything, Jessica writes about her adventures in rural B.C. where she raises her son and other wild creatures and is learning the old ways to preserve and grow food.

Similar Posts