using a lot apples … French Apple Tart for a Crowd

About this time every year I have the same problem: apples. Too many damn apples. In the fall I like to go apple picking and well, things happen. I overdo it every time. Just 6 of this kind I tell myself. And just 6 of that one, its not too many. Maybe a few more, so 8 of that one and oh, maybe a few more of this one. Before I know it, I’ve got more apples than I know what to do with and visions of baked goods dance in my head. I’ve googled “recipes that use a lot of apples” so many times it auto-populates my search bar. The funny thing is, a lot of the recipes that come up don’t use a lot of apples … maybe two or three. False advertising! One can only use so much apple butter.

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struck dumb in a cookware store … French Apple Tart

It was my Martha Stewart moment.  Many years ago I was standing – in an awed stupor – in the Parisian cookware store E. Dehillerin.  It was my second visit in just a few days.  The first time, I was completely overwhelmed.  So overwhelmed that I had to leave empty-handed.  It was just too much to take in and I had to cut and run.  When I returned a few days later with a clear head, I had focus.  I had a mission.  Tart pans.  French tart pans.  The kind I couldn’t find back home – teeny ones, square ones and things called flan rings, which had nothing to do with the custardy flan I knew.  But I knew I wanted them.

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