Goodbye to summer; Hello to fall apple harvest

Summer's over and we're well into fall and winter will soon be on its way. I love when the seasons change over from one to another. And speaking of things being over, as much as I loved the Saturday Morning Farmers Market I'm glad it's over too. I think a lot of people are going to look forward to sleeping in on Saturday mornings, something a lot of us haven't done since June!

I want to express my thanks to Carson City and Tammy Westergard, who works for the Office of Business Development, for all the hard work and foresight put into making the market actually happen. Thanks go to my friend, Karen Gasper, who went to every Farmers Market within a 100 mile radius with me week after week and from those travels she also became a vendor at the market selling Calolea Olive Oil products. I could not have done the job without the help of my husband, kids, and grandkids. Ralph, David and Christie showed up every week and put up with me because they know me and love me anyway. They knew that I was going to move the tables five or six times each week after they set them up before I finally got them right. A big thank you goes to Kenny from Parks and Rec. for always lending a hand and to Karen Abowd, Pam Graber and all the people from the "White Glove Brigade" who walked the Downtown Corridor every Saturday morning picking up trash.

Thanks go to Charlie and Karen from Adele's for being great supporters of the market, shopping there every Saturday and for their wonderful cooking demonstration. I want to thank Jim Phalan and his staff at the Firkin & Fox for all their help and the many items they loaned and gave us (water, limes, mayo, butter, ice, utensils, use of restrooms, etc.).

Thanks to Trader Joe's and the Nevada Certified Farmers Market Assoc. for helping to sponsor our market and to all the wonderful musicians who donated their time each week. Trader Joe's donated 400 of their re-usable shopping bags and my granddaughters Heather and Danielle Marrone sold them for a $1 donation to the Boys & Girls Club raising over $400 for the club.

At our last market the vendors all put in a donation for FISH and we raised $400 for that organization. And last but not least a big thank you to all the citizens of Carson City for making the Saturday Morning Market the success it was.

Sometimes I can look at a recipe and pretty much know that I'm going to like it with a tweak or two, such is not the case with the recipe you see in the picture for the Caramel Apple Bars. First and foremost I broke the most cardinal rule of cooking when you are trying a new recipe " read through the whole recipe first! I skimmed through it, started making it, spread all the dough in the pan, thought it looked a little full, put it in the oven to bake, re-read the recipe and realized only half was suppose to go in the pan, pulled it out of the oven, spread it out in the pan called for, too skimpy, changed it to a 9 X 13 inch pan, put it back in the oven. It called for 1⁄2 cup of flour in 1 jar of caramel topping to thicken it, and you tasted only the flour, so had to add another jar of caramel sauce. Finished following the recipe and when I finally cut and plated the bars 10 minutes before the photo was taken and tasted the bars, they were so sweet they hurt your teeth.

So the recipes I'm sharing with you today are not the Caramel Apple Bars you see in the picture but two others that will give you a chance to use those fresh apples. As I always say, "Cooking is not an exact science!"

- Linda Marrone has been a Carson City resident since 1973 and together with her husband, Ralph, formerly operated Marrone's Restaurant in Carson City and Somethin's Cookin' Catering.

This first recipe is from one of the Apple Hill Cookbooks. If you've never been to Apple Hill it's a must, but better to go on a weekday than a weekend.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies

1⁄2 butter

2⁄3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1⁄2 nutmeg

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1 cup chopped apples

1 cup nuts

Cream butter and sugar until light, add eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Stir in flour and rest of dry ingredients. Stir in oats, apples and nuts, beat well. Drop by teaspoons into parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 350 oven for 10-15 minutes till golden brown. Makes 4 dozen.

Fresh Apple Coffee Cake

1 cup flour

1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups peeled, cored, diced apples

1 egg

1⁄4 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1⁄2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven 350. Place apples in a medium bowl. Break eggs over apples and add oil, sugar, spices and nuts, mix well. Add flour mixture to apple mixture and stir until just blended. (Batter will be slightly dry.) Spread batter into a greased 8 inch square baking pan. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting.