A Fall Favorite: Simmering Apple "Potpourri"

T here is just something about the cool and crisp days of fall that excites me. I search for the first tell-tale signs of the changing leaf colors. I think about the birds, squirrels, and other critters and wonder what they are doing now to prepare for the great changes to come. {Ruby will need a sweater soon...} I take in the comforting burnt aroma of the neighbors' first wood fires of the season. I crave soup and homemade bread and warm cookies. I wish one more time that I had kept a summer garden so that I could put away food for the winter.

I think about the birds, squirrels, and other critters and wonder what they are doing now to prepare for the great changes to come.And I make simmering apple potpourri.

Now, it's not a traditional potpourri that I make - I don't dry out my apples or add special oils or things of that sort. I guess you could, or should, call what I make plain old "Cooked Apples". After all, you can eat them if you like! But really, I enjoy simmering apples even if only to enjoy their delicious scent wafting throughout the house all day. Or at least until 3pm, because that is when the children come home and want to eat my "potpourri" for an afternoon snack!

There's really no wrong way to simmer apples. Just cut up two or three apples and then add what smells nice! You can start with cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg...,



Some vanilla extract...,



Mmmmmmm, and some butter!



Add enough water to cover the apples...{you'll need to add water every once in a while throughout the day as the liquids simmer down}



Oh, and don't forget the brown sugar! I almost did!




Give your edible "potpourri" a little stir...



And then let your fragrant apples come to a gentle boil before turning them to low to simmer for the rest of the day!



{Or at least until 3 o'clock!}