Table Talk Tuesday - November 11, 2025

Welcome to Table Talk Tuesday — your weekly seat at the farm table.

Each Tuesday, we share a recipe inspired by life on the land, along with a story from the people who make it possible. Whether it’s Grandma’s field-hand biscuits or a modern twist on homegrown produce, we’re here to celebrate food that connects us — from the farmyard to your kitchen.

3 Lip-Smacking Apple Recipes

Learn to make grilled apple crisp with porter-toffee sauce, slow cooker apple butter, and chocolate caramel apples.

By Lisa Foust Prater Updated on October 15, 2025

PHOTO: Meredith Operations Corporation

Apple season is in full swing! Whether you get yours from a local market, u-pick orchard, or from your own backyard, apples are “delicious” straight from the tree. They’re also the star of these scrumptious recipes!

Grilled Apple Crisp With Porter-Toffee Sauce

Prep: 25 minutes | Grill: 45 minutes | Makes: 6 servings

• 7 cups peeled and thinly sliced cooking apples (7 medium)

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon apple pie spice

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup rolled oats

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup butter

• Porter-Toffee Sauce (recipe below)

• Ice cream (optional)

1. In a large bowl combine apples, granulated sugar, tapioca, lemon juice, apple pie spice, and salt. Transfer apple mixture to an 8x8x1 3/4-inch disposable foil pan or metal pan (Note: metal pan may burn on grill).

   
   

2. For topping, in a medium bowl combine oats, brown sugar, and flour. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over apple mixture. Cover pan tightly with foil.

   
   

3. For a charcoal grill, arrange medium-hot coals around edge of grill. Test for medium heat over center of grill. Place crisp in pan on grill rack in center of grill. Cover and grill for 15 minutes. Uncover pan. Cover grill and grill about 30 minutes more or until apple mixture is bubbly. (For a gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Adjust for indirect cooking. Place crisp in pan on grill rack. Grill as directed.)

   
   

4. Remove crisp from grill; cool slightly. Serve warm with Porter- Toffee Sauce and, if desired, ice cream.

   
   

Porter-Toffee Sauce: In a small saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar, 3/4 cup whipping cream, 3/4 cup porter beer, and 3 tablespoons light-color corn syrup. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 12 minutes or until sauce is desired consistency. Store any leftover sauce, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

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Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Prep: 40 minutes | Cook: 6 hours | Cool: 1 hour

• 12 cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced (14 cups)

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1. Place apple slices in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, cloves and allspice.

   
   

2. Cover; cook on high-heat setting for 4 hours. Stir. Uncover and cook on high-heat setting 2 to 2 1/2 hours more or until apples are very tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Cool mixture at least 1 hour or cover and chill overnight. Process with an immersion blender or run mixture through a food mill.

   
   

3. Ladle apple butter into half-pint freezer containers, leaving a 1/2-inch head space. Seal and label. Store 3 weeks in refrigerator or for 1 year in freezer. Makes 4 half-pints.

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Chocolate Caramel Apples

Prep: 45 mins | Stand: 25 mins

• 18 small apples

• 18 wooden sticks

• 1/2 cup butter

• 2 squares (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate

• 2 cups packed brown sugar

• 1 cup light-colored corn syrup

• 1 14-ounce can (1 1/4 cups) sweetened condensed milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 cup chopped peanuts

1. Wash and dry apples. Remove stems. Insert one wooden stick into the stem end of each apple. Set apples aside.

   
   

2. Melt butter and unsweetened chocolate in a heavy 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk; mix well.

   
   

3. Clip a candy thermometer onto side of pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thermometer registers 245 degrees (firm-ball stage). Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in vanilla.

   
   

4. Dip each apple into the hot caramel mixture, and use a spoon to spread the mixture evenly over apple. Allow excess caramel mixture to drip off. Immediately dip bottoms of apples into peanuts. Place apples, peanut side down, on waxed paper and let stand about 25 minutes or until firm. Makes 18.

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"An apple a day keeps anyone away, if you throw it hard enough." ~ Stephen Colbert

"If an apple blossom or a ripe apple could tell its own story, it would be, still more than its own, the story of the sunshine that smiled upon it, of the winds that whispered to it, of the birds that sang around it, of the storms that visited it, and of the motherly tree that held it and fed it until its petals were unfolded and its form developed." ~ Lucy Larcom

"You are the sunshine of my life That's why I'll always be around, You are the apple of my eye, Forever you'll stay in my heart" ~ Stevie Wonder

"Eating apples is good on so many levels. There's fiber in the skin that's really good for you. It helps with digestion and helps you absorb all the nutrients of everything you've eaten that day. Apples are a really good thing." ~ Rebecca Romijn

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away." ~ Benjamin Franklin