Constant Craving

For days I had a yen for an apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. I really would have preferred to just swing by a shop and pick one up because I didn't have a recipe in mind and I wanted a spot-on apple crisp.

I have to admit that my bar for apple crisp was set many, many years ago before my palette was truly established. You see, nothing beat a Roy Rogers apple crisp in a shiny red tin. I don't think there was even ice cream involved -- it was just that good. Where the dessert went - off to discontinued dish heaven I suppose, I can't be sure, but its memory lingers on.

So this was one of my instinctual cooking events, the kind that leaves me with no reliable recipe to give you. It was baking with a scoop of this and a dash of that. The Internets did give me the clue to use oatmeal in the topping, which gave me a crisp, chewy crust. The rest was a delight of apples, cinnamon, brown sugar, flour, butter and a little salt. I baked it at 350 for as long as I could stand. It was even better reheated the next day.