The end of our summer. I honestly don’t know whether to jump for joy or curl up into a ball and sulk. My boy starts school next week– first grade. He isn’t dreading school this year– unlike the last two– when he saw it only as a limitation on ‘play time’. That’s not to say that he didn’t love school. He did, once he got there. But he has serious home-body tendencies that can be a bit…difficult to overcome sometimes. Now the prospect of making new friends has him excited. And my baby, Aria, starts the following week in pre-kindergarten. She is so excited. She has Aanen’s previous teacher, whom we all adore. Aria starting school really brings out mixed emotions in me. Joy because I’ll finally get to enjoy an hour or two of quiet each day. Aria is a talker. Nonstop. Really. She’s a relentless, wonderful hurricane. A true sensing extrovert on the Meyers-Briggs scale. The other three of us are the opposite. But even though I’ll get to enjoy some quiet, I’m also a bit panicked. Not having my baby at home reminds me just how fast time is passing. And to add to my melancholy of another season ending, and my kids off to school, I turned 39 on Monday. Time. It just rolls on.
It’s very strange, because it’s not just the days, or even years that are flying past. It’s the decades! I don’t feel 39 years old, but somehow it just happened. I’ll turn around tomorrow and my kids will be off to college. But to be brutally honest, my kids growing up, and me aging isn’t what really hurts. No, the most painful realization is that my parents are aging right along with us. It seems like just yesterday that I’d watch my dad play softball, goofing off on the pitcher’s mound or galloping around the bases like a kid. Strange to think that that was 20 years ago. The fact is, they’re getting older. And while they’re both still doing great and keeping busy, they’re slowing down. Through a daughter’s eyes…I can tell. I know I can’t do anything about it, but I really don’t want the next 20 years to pass as quickly as the last have. I need time to slow a bit, so I can savor every moment with my loved ones.
It feels a bit strange to delve into such deep issues here on a food blog, but there it is. I guess if there’s a tie-in to Relishing It, it’s that working in the kitchen soothes me. It’s my balm, so to speak. This week a kind neighbor offered up her gorgeous apple tree– free for the picking. Aria and I gathered a huge box-ful, which I’ve turned into several apple galettes. I’ve written before here about my love for galettes. They’re perfect in that un-perfect, rustic way. I like my apple desserts with just a hint of cinnamon and not much else. I want to taste the apples. I also like to add a drizzle of icing to apple galettes that I normally don’t with other fruits, since the apples don’t have that beautiful sheen that you get with a berry or peach galette. The icing makes it look so much more appealing, and adds a subtle sweetness. Enjoy!
The Recipe: Rustic Apple Galette
3 cups / 400 grams sliced firm tart apples (from 6 small apples)
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 small lemon)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cold butter, diced
1 egg mixed with 1 teaspoon water, for egg wash
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
1 cup powdered sugar with a splash of milk, for the glaze
1 single All-Butter Pie Crust
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Follow the instructions for making the All-Butter Pie Crust. After it has chilled for at least 2 hours, it will be ready for use.
Peel and slice, not too thick (so they bake properly) and not too thin (so they don’t turn to mush) the apples. Place into a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice. Then add the sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Toss again. Set aside.
Roll the pie dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. Lightly dust parchment and rolling pin with flour. Roll the pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Place the apples and juices into the center. Place the butter pieces on top of the apples. Gently flip the edges over the apples. Pinch the seams together as much as possible, to prevent leaking while baking. Using a pastry brush, apply the egg wash to the dough. Then sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Gently pat down the apples so they are somewhat level– this will prevent the peaks from burning.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the crust is a beautiful golden brown and the apples are tender. Keep an eye on the apples in the final minutes, so they don’t get too dark. Remove from oven and let cool. Mix the glaze to your desired consistency and drizzle over the galette when cool. Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Laurie
Relishing It 
What a lovely heartwarming post Laurie:) And now I know what I’ll do with that extra galette crust in the freezer! Xoxo
Thank you, Kara!
I like to think of this time as the beginning of a new season. Fall is a wonderful, and winter with its uniquenesses follows! And I agree; one needs to slow down, and enjoy the passage of time. Savor those moments with family and friends for they are precious. And last, Yes, Yes, food is a agent for evoking reflections and spending time with others. Therapy form stressful days!!! And Galettes are so therapeutic with the wonderful memories of my grandmother who made something similar–she called it an apple tart– and shared it with family and friends. Thanks for your blog; it made my day in hot Kansas!!!!
Thank you for the kind comment, Isidro! 🙂
What a lovely post, my sweet friend. You’ve described in such detail that melancholy I so often feel about time passing. Aging really is both the most natural and the most cruel thing in the world, isn’t it?
Cheers though, to a beautiful galette. Love these so much – all perfect in their imperfections and utterly delicious.
I agree fully about it being the most natural and cruelest thing in the world. Still very hard to wrap my brain around.
Poignantly written! And so true…I feel those same aches so often, and my baby’s only ONE! Even food blogs need real life processing sometimes. 🙂 This galette is beautiful, and it promises fall, glorious fall, after all this heat! Love the idea of icing!
Thank you, Liz. 🙂
I love your galette- gorgeous. I feel the same way about the end of summer. So mixed. At least we can look forward to baking with apples! 🙂
Indeed we can! And pumpkins. 🙂
Laurie,
I agree with everything you said. I to agree with the slowing down and enjoying each others company!
Apple galette looks awesome but I think all your recipes do. So proud of you!
Thanks for your sweet comment, dear friend. Miss you!
Oh, I feel this so much particularly about my parents. I played tennis with my dad in the summer and it was painful to see how much less able he was to move around the court and how he didn’t really want to play for longer than half an hour. I can deal with the fact that I’m getting older, I just can’t cope with the idea of it happening to them. And I totally agree that time in the kitchen is the best way to deal with all the worry and stress that it bring. A beautiful post and a beautiful galette.
Thank you, sweet Kathryn. It’s hard isn’t it? Watching our parents age.
Ah! Beautiful, beautiful post Laurie! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this unsettling process of aging and time passing by. It is something I’ve thought of often and wondered about – in particular – why does time move faster and faster and faster the older we get? I used to think it was because the older we get the smaller a unit of time is in relation to our entire lives. For instance, a year at age 4 is 1/4 of your entire life’s experience – so naturally it feels much longer. But recently I read an article that suggested it is more likely time speeds up as we age because we have less new experiences and brain studies have shown that experiencing new things tends to slow time down as our brains have to work harder to process them. In any case it is sad to see times fly by. And I completely agree about seeing your parents slow down. I’ve noticed this very much in the past few years and it is a hard thing to see. My mom has especially slowed (in large part due to cancer) but my dad has a bit too – they are both in their late 60s. It makes me feel so melancholy as I know there is no turning back the clock:( I was thinking too – it is interesting for you as a parent – to be in the middle. Between your kids and your parents. Your kids growing and becoming stronger and your parents growing and slowing down. That is an interesting dichotomy to think about.
I’m also curious about your Myers Briggs comments. I find that entire topic to be so fascinating. I am an ESFJ and it fits me very well indeed. But I’m curious about your type? You suggested you are an I type – if you don’t mind sharing I’d love to know which type. I’m curious as I perpetually run into both INFJ and INFP types. Again and again – despite them being somewhat rare . . .
And have to say – you look just beautiful – and could easily pass for 30! I am 36 and it has been a bit hard for me – I didn’t like passing 35 for some reason – even though 30 didn’t bother me in the slightest! And happy birthday again – I hope your day was lovely 🙂
THIS is my kind of dessert! Just jumps off the page and I wish I had a slice of it in front of me as I write this…yummy!
Made this for the family this morning, used half whole wheat flour, it was great. Thanks for the post.
Thank you!