Friday Five--Fall Goodies!

It's Friday, and you know what that means... Yes, a Friday Five from the RevGals! This week, to celebrate fall, we're looking at yummy stuff...always a favourite of mine.

So here we go...

1. What's your best homemade treat? Is it worth all the effort? (It doesn't have to be something canned.)

I used to make apple butter every year. I lived in the Washington DC area at the time, and we would take a Sunday afternoon, drive out into the country for lunch somewhere, and stop at an orchard on the way home, I'd pick up a bushel or so of apples, and then I would spend a day cooking them down into apple butter--which is basically applesauce that you keep cooking until it is thick, I canned it and used it for Christmas gifts, but I kept several jars--we loved it on toast! Worth the effort--yes. Would I do it now? Sadly, I no longer have the time or equipment (dutch oven, pressure cooker) to make it.

2. At our house, applesauce and football are the harbingers of fall. What are they at your house?

Caramel and apples. Caramel apples, caramel apple pie, apple crisp (one of my faves!), apple butter, cider, apples and cheddar cheese...etc. Football used to be, but not so much these days, with the Tigers in the playoffs and all... :D

3. Someone gave me an "automatic" apple peeler from one of those home cooking product shows. (It doesn't work all that great.) What's one kitchen contraption or tool you'd gladly trade me for it?

I used to have a bread maker. Space waster is more like it. Yes, it did all the mixing and kneading and rising and punching and baking for you...but that was part of the point of making my own bread. I loved going through the whole process, being able to spend a day making bread. A friend of mine makes artisanal bread, and I love his descriptions of making the various kinds of bread. He even made the bread for his recent wedding dinner!

So yeah, I'll take your cheesy apple peeler and give you my useless bread machine any time.

4. Whose the best chef in your home? Why?

I am the one and only chef--Dylan, my feline room-mate, is best at making messes. 

5. Cider, apple juice, or hard cider? Discuss.

Cider if it is fresh--like right now, this time of year. Hard cider the rest of the year. I like it as a lighter alternative to beer--and it also goes well with cheese and crackers (my favourite late-night snack).