[Samal Island, Davao Gulf, Philippines; N 07° 12  / W 125° 43]

Philip turned 70 on Dec 31, 2014 and for the occasion he wanted apple crisp and vanilla ice cream, a favorite treat of his that we hadn't made in many years.  In Davao Philippines we were able to get nice, firm, tart granny smith apples from Washington State to make this.    The recipe is simple but the taste is amazing.

12 medium to large apples

1 Tb brown sugar

sprinkling cinnamon

Topping

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 stick butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats*

1 Tb cinnamon

Method

Make topping first and set aside.   Add brown sugar, flour, oats and cinnamon to a small deep bowl.   Slice butter and then work it to the mixture until there are no chunks and the topping consists of very fine particles.  Since we do not have a pastry mixer aboard, I use two butter knives and slice the butter between them, as when cutting butter into flour when making a pie pastry.

Peel and slice apples into a deep 9 x 12" baking pan.  A glass pyrex pan is best.  When finished adding all the apples, sprinkle 1 Tb brown sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. 

Cover apples uniformly and completely with topping.  Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 30-40 minutes until you can see bubbles in the apples.  Turn off oven and leave the crisp in the oven until it cools - or until you are ready to serve.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

*The oats we had aboard - Philip's breakfast cereal - had been combined with a 10 grain cereal and whole flax seeds, so this is what we used for his birthday treat.  The critical ingredient is oats, but other ingredients in the cereal are just fine.