21 recipes down, 239 days to go

We got a TON of apples from apple picking last weekend. And none were the types recommended in the recipes (Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Gala). I was bummed about that, but I'm not by any means an apple connoisseur; to me apples are apples. There's an important lesson from this for me to learn: not to be caught up in the little details all the time. Worrying about all the details is like always aiming for perfection—the joy of it becomes nonexistent.

The apples were still delicious.

My first apple recipe of the week, however, was a major letdown...

Friday, September 25th

- Apple Pie Oatmeal -

Oh She Glows

Not going to lie, I was expecting more from this bowl of oatmeal. Maybe the Lazy Steel-Cut Oatmeal from The First Mess (see previous post) had set my bar too high. Or maybe I wasn't in the right mindset to enjoy it fully.

I was planning on making this for my breakfast Tuesday morning. I had already peeled and chopped the apple. Only then, skimming through the rest of the ingredients did I have a scary thought...

I scanned the fridge, searched the pantry, and scoured the garage "quarantine" pantry. My heart beat more and more rapidly after looking unsuccessfully in each spot. I knew I was doomed by then, but I had to make sure of my fate. I asked my dad, and he too took a look.

Then, he announced the dreaded words, "We must be out of unsweetened applesauce."

No apple pie oatmeal for me.

I microwaved two packs of instant oats, mixed in the apple, and made peace with that; figuring I could try again another morning.

Thursday morning was the morning. The only unsweetened applesauce my dad could get was the little snack sized cups. I figured one of those would be equal to the half a cup it called for in the recipe. It was a little less, but oh well, I just went with that. The oat, milk and apple mixture had to simmer for 10 minutes to become an oatmeal consistency. I was supposed to stand by and stir it often. I thought, nah, I don't really need to stir it, it will be fine if I stretch for a couple of minutes. What happened? It got stuck to the bottom of the pan. (I was able to get it unstuck after stirring a lot)

It was... what's the right adjective?... good. I've got to admit, it smelled more wonderful than it tasted. I'm surprised to being saying this, but I think the toppings messed it up. Normally I would say the more toppings the better, but there are some recipes where it's better to keep it simple. This might have been a good one to eat straight-up natural. It took a good half an hour to make, and only turned out mediocre. It was a major bummer. Being described as voluminous and reminiscent of delicious apple pie, I had high expectations and anticipation.

What you should know about me: when it comes to food, good is not satisfactory. For something to be worth making and eating, it has to be delicious!