Hurray for Fall!

It finally feels like fall here in southeastern Virginia and that means: autumn baking!!!  And for me, that means lots and lots of apples!  Today's tastiness was crow's nest.  And just what is that, you might be asking yourself?  Well, crow's nest (or at least what the baking ladies in my family call crow's nest) combines the deliciousness of apples with the other deliciousness of biscuits.  "Why, that sounds delightful!" you exclaim, "However can I make some for myself?"  It turns out it's your lucky day, hypothetical question-asker!  Read on and all shall be revealed.

You need all this.  Plus milk.

First you'll probably want to get out all of your ingredients.  You're going to need at least four apples (I used macintosh, but any good pie apple will do), some sugar, cinnamon, flour, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, shortening, and milk.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get out an 8" square pan. 

Mmm...must...resist...eating them all now!

Now, get to peeling and slicing some apples!  Put them right in your pan as you slice them so you'll know when you have enough.  You want to cover the bottom of your pan with at least an inch of apple.  Next up comes the super tasty part.  Dump your apple slices into a large bowl and add in about 1/4 of a cup of sugar and sprinkle some cinnamon on top.  I'm not really sure how much cinnamon I used.  Start out with a little bit, and add more to taste.  Stir up your apples so they get all nice and coated and dump them back in the pan.  Now, here's a really important part: don't eat all of your apple slices.  It'll be very tempting, but if you do, you'll just end up with biscuits when you're all done.  And probably a stomachache. 

My apartment smells soooo good right now.

Set aside your apples and start making your biscuit dough!  Get out a bowl and mix together 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar.  (Side note: if you're not sure what cream of tartar is, look in the baking aisle of your grocery store.  It is NOT the same as tartar sauce.  I am only making a point of mentioning this because I once shared this biscuit recipe with someone who didn't know the difference.  It...didn't end well.)  Next, cut in a heaping tablespoon of shortening.  Finally, stir in 3/4 of a cup of milk.  Buttermilk will make it the tastiest, but any milk will do.  Now you just drop the dough on top of your apples in little dollops like dumplings and stick it in your preheated oven for about 30 minutes or so, or until your topping is turning a nice golden brown.  Once it's all done, let it cool for a bit, maybe sprinkle some brown sugar on top, and voila!  You have yourself a delicious fall dessert!  Or dinner, as the case may be if you're me.  Excuse me, I think I need to get a little bit more...