It's officially fall!

Cool weather? Check. Crisp blue skies? Check. Rain storms? Check. Apples? Check.

When I first moved to Seattle, I half expected to see apple trees on every corner full of fruit that was ready to be shipped to say, a little girl in Pittsburgh, watching a TV commercial about all the apples that come from Washington State. Lots of apples do come from WA--Eastern Washington. My other half traveled to the eastern part of our state for work this week. He was able to visit with a friend of his who recently moved there to help with the family orchard business. T. arrived back home with a giant bag of beautiful pink cripps.

Pink Cripps...photo by Kristin
I'm not really sure how I came up with the sandwich below, other than all the different types of crispness combined sounded fitting for the crisp fall day. I made a pesto out of some gorgeous kale, and spread that on toasted bread with bacon and slices of a pink cripp. It was really good! Salty, sweet, crisp, crispy (there is a difference between the two--crisp apples and crispy bacon are very different textures ) slightly crunchy and deliciously savory.

Bacon, apple and kale pesto sammies...photo by Kristin
The apple goodness continued this morning when I made stewed apples to top french toast. It made our whole place smell heavenly.

French toast with stewed apples...photo by Kristin
I expect there will be some more apple dishes on the way...

TTV apples...photo by Kristin

...and also dishes with the kale pesto.

Kale Pesto:

1 bunch of kale, washed and torn into pieces with the stems removed
1/4 c.-ish of garlic infused olive oil(grate some garlic into the oil and heat gently for a few minutes on the stove)
1/4 c. unsalted sunflower seeds
slpash of sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4c.-ish water

In a food processor, pulse the sunflower seeds and salt and pepper a few times. Blanch the kale in boiling water for a minute and then drain. Place kale in processor with the seeds and pulse a few times. Add the olive oil and sherry and process. When it starts to come together, stream a little water in at a time until you get the consistency you like.