Patricia brought a freshly-baked dish of her apple crisp to share at the Friday night American Legion fish fry. Everyone who tasted it wanted the recipe. The next week Patricia provided copies of her recipe. I was luck enough to get a copy of the recipe. I asked her about the history of the recipe. She said it had been in the family as long as she could remember, at least fifty years. The family had apple trees in the yard and as the older sister, Patricia had the job of gardening as well as picking the apple. She also helped he mother prepare the apples to make the crisp. When I asked her about how much cinnamon to add, “More is better!” she replied.

• 8 Gala or McIntosh apples
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Ground cinnamon, to taste

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup melted butter

1. Prepare a 8x8-inch or an 11x7-inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
2. Peel and core apples. Slice thin. If there will be any delay in preparation after peeling and slicing, spritz with a bit of lemon juice or keep in lemon water to keep apples from turning dark.
3. In a separate bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add unbeaten egg (and perhaps a teaspoon of water, depending on the humidity) and fork-mix to male a crumbly mass.
4. Thoroughly drain apples. Add to the prepared baking dish. Spread flour mixture crumbly mass evenly over the apples. Sprinkle with lots of cinnamon, to taste, covering all of the crumbly mass. Pour the melted butter over the top of the crumbly mass.
5. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before serving. Great by itself and wonderful with a scoop of ice cream.