Cooked Apples for Breakfast

If I eat an apple, it’s almost always as a snack—or in an apple pie.  But now that I’ve tasted my friend Judy’s Cooked Apples with Honey, Yogurt and Granola, I make a point of keeping apples on hand for breakfast.

Thanks to the honey, Judy’s cooked apples don’t have the overwhelming sweetness of apple pie filling, but they’re not tart either.  Topped with a tablespoon or two of plain yogurt and a sprinkling of granola, they are a novel way to start the day.  Or serve this dish as a healthy dessert.

The Perfect Fruit Salad

It’s long been a family tradition to serve a tossed salad with dinner.  It’s easy to make, and you can get away with lettuce and tomatoes if need be.  I can’t count how many iceberg lettuces I cut up over the years before bagged greens came along. 

In my mind fruit salad is entirely different.  It requires planning.  If you don’t have at least five kinds of fruit, it looks anemic.  And it can’t really be just some cut-up apples, bananas and oranges.  Well, it can but no one eating at my table thrills to that selection.

Mom Cooking Tip 99

Kiwi Slices

Use an egg slicer to slice hard-boiled eggs and other foods into slender slices.  The foods, which need to be semi-soft, could include bananas, kiwis, strawberries, avocados, pieces of ripe peach, apple or pear (skin side away from the blades), as well as nearly-cooked carrots, potatoes, beets and other root vegetables.

Hard-Boiled Egg Slices 

Banana Slices

                See all my Cooking Tips!

Mom Cooking Tip 72

Bake a fruit pie on a rimmed baking sheet.  That way if the juices overflow, they won’t get on the floor of the oven.

Apple Streusel Pie is the perfect reason to test this tip.  The produce manager at my local grocery store recommended Granny Smith apples for pie baking, and he was right.  They did not disintegrate into mush, and they provided a nice tart flavor.