Take a good look at this woman. She may look like the most wise, strong, and loving mother in the world. And, well, that’s because she is. But I’m sorry to tell you, she is a chronic “storer.”

Yes. A storer. She has the amazing resourcefulness to find the best deals within a 40 mile radius and an even more astounding ability to pack it all away … a great skill to have in post-war Korea, but not necessarily a survival tactic necessary in the land of plenty (and Costco’s). Nevertheless, so it is.

Many a times during my childhood did I pop open my mother’s trunk after a shopping trip to find totes upon totes of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and health foods galore only to have my mother reply to my gasp, “But they were on sale!” Well, there must have been a special on apples recently, because what I found upon opening the refrigerator on my recent visit home were not one, nor two, but three bags of apples sitting unapologetically on the shelf.

Others might have seen waste, but in my “fatty” eyes, all I saw were dancing visions of experiments with Fall recipes. To start with, I baked up a dependable Apple Crostata that filled our home with wafts of nutmeg and cinnamon that announced my arrival home to my Dad’s nose. The recipe is quick and easy, and the butteriness of the flaky crust and the sweetness of the filling are wonderfully offset by the splashes of freshly squeezed lemon and grapefruit zest added to the filling.

Apple Crostata

And the beauty of it all is that there are still plenty of apples and some other goodies to experiment with in the coming days! We have a can of pumpkin puree with an impending expiration date and a can of adzuki red bean paste sitting on the pantry shelf that are crying out to be used. So look forward to some fun recipes coming your way soon!

Apple Crostata

For the crust:
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar*
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter chilled and diced
2 tablespoons ice water

For the egg wash:
1 egg white
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar

For the filling:
3 small apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 teaspoon grapefruit zest
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the crumbles:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter, chilled, and diced

*I substituted each unit of sugar with half a unit of Splenda brown sugar blend, and everything baked up just fine

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit

1. Give the flour, sugar, and salt a quick mix to combine
2. Add the chilled butter to the dry ingredients, and use the back of a fork to crumble the butter into the dry ingredients until small clumps form
3. While continuing to mix, add the ice water in a steady stream and continue to use the back of the fork to incorporate everything. Stop right before the dough becomes a solid mass.
4. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 1 hour and up to 1 day
5. As you wait for the dough, prepare the filling by tossing the apples with the lemon juice and grapefruit zest. Set aside.
6. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmet. Add the butter and use the back of a fork to make the butter crumble into the dry ingredients once more.
7. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the chilled crust dough out on a  lightly floured surface into an 11 inch round
8. Transfer the crust dough onto a baking sheet. Add the apples to the center of the dough, leaving a 1.5 inch border along the edges. I like to create a small mound, so there are more apples in the center of the dough.
9. Sprinkle the crumbles atop the apple filling
10. Fold the crust over onto the apples along the edges of the mound, pinching as necessary to cover up holes
11. Brush the egg white onto the crust edges and sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the crust
12. Pop in the 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the apples are tender and the crust is golden
13. Cool and serve warm or at room temperature