Autumn Ginger Apple Salad

This is the promised recipe.  The one that led me to find out that apples may come shellacked, what food producers tell you is a same animal  insect by-product, so vegetarians and vegans in particular be warned.  Wow, I sound depressing today, maybe it is the gloomy rain.  Actually, I love rain...the smell, the sound, the calming effect, the coziness, the filtered light that can be perfect for my eyes and mood and taking pictures :)

Speaking of pictures. I love my new camera, but I am still getting in the routine of downloading pictures to my computer and thus I am getting a log jam of blog posts again.  It truly is unfortunate that I can not telepathically blog as I tend to write posts in my head while walking or driving.  Okay, here it is.  There is peanut butter in this, so if you have an allergy, simply leave it out. In this it is more for depth of flavor, umami on the tongue (I love this word...I have a love of words that sound interesting...check out this website I just found and plan to explore more in the future...What is umami? .... yes curiosity does get this cat sometimes, but satisfaction certainly brings me back).  You could sub tahini for the peanut butter.  Here is another interesting tidbit.  I agree that food allergies are frightening and I am so thankful we do not deal with that.  If you do I have a good website in my list for you.  The new theory is that we are overprotecting our kids from foods and need to introduce them sooner rather than later to prevent allergies and build immune response.  So armed with this new knowledge and my pediatrician's blessing (which I don't typically get given my unusual parenting choices at times), we tried  (gave it in the morning on a weekday with carseat ready and phone ready in case an emergency loomed...the only emergency was needing more PB quickly...yep he is a PB fiend and certainly not allergic) PB very early. I think Mr. B was 10 months old.

Okay without further ado, I am really good at tangents. Here is the recipe

1/2 cup greek yogurt (we make our own so my thickness might be different than store bought, so adjust as needed to your taste)
3 Tablespoons peanut butter (we like natural type, so you have to work harder at stirring...good exercise for flabby arms...no comments on my arms please)
1 Tablespoon Honey (any sweetner of choice could be subbed
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1-3 teaspoons of ground ginger to taste (the kind in the jar...we love Penzey's brand...look for them in my website list...we are lucky to have a local store front though)
If you love ginger top with chopped crystallized ginger, about 1/4 of a cup

Top with granola if you like a little crunch like I do.

Dip about 3/4 of a 3 lb bag of apples, into boiling water for 20 seconds to melt away wax and shellac.  Dry and rub with a towel to remove extra residue.

Chop apples.

Stir together all other ingredients, except toppings.  Add to chopped apples in a pretty bowl.

Serve immediately, although leftovers are fabulous.  I ate the leftovers for the next two days...yum.

Here is a picture of the leftovers topped with homemade ginger granola, sitting in dappled light in my window.