Apple Matchstick Salad

It’s apple season! Growing up in the apple orchard when I was little, I loved this time of year when we started to pick and make everything imaginable with apples. We dried them, made apple butter and apple sauce, pies and tarts…the list is endless!

Cutting apples into matchstick-sized pieces for a salad makes them just a little more fun to eat, don’t you think? Slice a few apples this way and toss them with chopped pecans (or any nuts), dried berries and raisins (I bought a mix at Trader Joe’s with golden raisins, blueberries and cranberries), plus some fresh cilantro. Dress with a bit of olive oil, lemon and salt. Sweet, Salty, Savory! 

This week The Forest Feast turned 3, and I love that this little blog’s birthday falls during the harvest season. This week, our family is celebrating my favorite Jewish holiday- Sukkot, a harvest holiday where we build a little hut outside and have meals under it for a week. It’s so fun! And we’ve had warm nights here in the woods lately which has made it even better. I made this salad the other night and it was a hit.

Happy Harvest!

Stuffed Baked Apples

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is this week and I am planning our holiday menu! We are hosting a big dinner at the cabin on Friday and I am planning to make baked apples for dessert. Growing up in the apple orchard, we made these when I was little and they remind me so much of Fall. You can really fill them with anything, but I usually do a mixture of butter, dried berries, raisins, dried chopped figs, nuts, cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir all the ingredients together, spoon them into cored apples and bake at 350 degrees F, for about an hour. (I do an hour and 15 minutes to get very soft apples). Serve warm drizzled with honey alongside vanilla ice cream.

For more photos and the full recipe check out my post for Better Homes and Gardens today. 

L'shana Tova! (Happy New Year!)

All-time Favorite Posts

The Forest Feast turned 2 today! On that foggy morning 2 years ago, I had just gotten married, just left New York City for a cabin in the woods and I needed a new project to be excited about, a fresh start in a new place. Only in my wildest dreams did I think this little blog would inspire a whole new direction for my career and a cookbook dream project to boot! THANK YOU, my dear readers, from the bottom of my heart!  Your sweet notes and encouragement have inspired me to continue sharing recipes and made it possible for this series to grow. I am so excited to see what will be in store for The Forest Feast, and can’t wait to share my cookbook with you in April.

Growing up in the apple orchard, every fall we had more apples than we knew what to do with. When we had eaten all the apple butter, apple pie, apple sauce and apple cake we could manage, my mom would start dehydrating them to make garland, and we’d save them for decorations around the holidays. The Jewish harvest holiday of Sukkot just ended, and we haven’t managed to take down our sukkah yet (the little hut you built to eat meals under for a week). I just love sitting out there, maybe just another week or so! Jonathan snapped some pictures of me sitting under it the other day, while I was slicing apples for dehydration. I strung the dried apples (along with peppers and dried orange slices) on pastry twine and hung them in the sukkah.

I’m feeling a little nostalgic, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite all-time posts from the archive with you:

Watermelon Salad (my most popular post to date! from July 2012)

Roasted Brussels Sprouts (Jan. 2013)

Campfire Cocktail Hour (Feb. 2012)

Red Roasted Carrots (April 2012)

Guacamole Deviled Eggs (Nov. 2011)

Happy weekend, everyone!

With lots of gratitutde,

xx Erin