Never fall far from the tree

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about apples.

Well, actually, I've been eating them non-stop. For some reason I'm battling another cold... and much to my pleasant surprise, my two strongest weapons are won-ton soup and crisp gala apples.

I'd love to talk about how apples once spread across the American countryside for the sole purpose of providing hard apple cider for the rugged settlers, or how no single seed from an apple has the same genetic code (so you could potentially get five different trees from one apple!) but I think that Michael Pollan has me covered there.

Instead, I'd like to give you a recipe. This recipe is a reminder that when the newness and wonder of the crunch of an apple wears away, there is an escape.

Baked Apples

4 good-sized apples (preferably less meaty and more crunchy varieties... like fuji's, granny smiths, etc.) washed and cored
1 tbs. unsalted butter, cut into four pieces
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon (up to personal tastes)
either, 1 can of apple juice and 1/2 cup water or 1 1/2 cups water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the cored apples in a glass baking dish that's at least an inch and a half deep.

Put the walnuts in a foil package or on a baking tray and place in the oven. You'll want to bake them for maybe 10 minutes or less- so that they're nice and toasted.

When the walnuts are done and slightly cooled, combine them with the sugar and cinnamon. You can also add raisins or currants here too if you'd like. Then place a portion of the butter in the core of each apple, followed by a spoonful or two of the mixture. Needless to say you'll want it evenly distributed among the apples.

Pour the apple juice/water mixture or water in the bottom of the dish so that the apples are partially submerged. Then place in the oven. Cook for 40 minutes (but check about halfway through or so because you don't want mushy apples!) You'll want to pull them out when they're tender, or when a fork pierces them easily (but doesn't cause them to fall apart!)

Serve with vanilla ice cream or heavy whipping cream.

Enjoy!