Apple Dumplings and Autumn Garden

I've been trying to avoid white flour and sugar, but this week, I haven't been doing too well on that score...these apple dumplings contain both.

First, you core the apples and fill them with Earth Balance and a little brown sugar. Then you put them on a square of pie dough:

Then, you fold the ends of the dough up around the apples:

Before baking, you pour a vanilla syrup over the top and they come out looking like this:

The syrup collects at the bottom of the pan while baking and turns into a sort of apple jelly--it's basically 2 parts sugar, 3 parts water and a splash of vanilla, heated until the sugar is completely dissolved. The dumplings bake for ~ 40 minutes @ 400C.

And now for something completely different....

With all the marvelous MoFo stuff, I've been neglecting my garden. Here's a little bit of what's going on out there:

This hydrangea still looks lovely, like a pretty autumn princess.

I planted fava beans as a cover crop about 4 weeks ago; I was excited to see them coming up. They're self-mulched, thanks to the plum tree and his falling leaves:

Here are the kale pots:


We haven't eaten any of the pak choi, chard, and collards yet, but some little critters have been nibbling a bit:

Aren't these little mushrooms cute? They remind me of a little fairy fort:

I imagine pretty little fairies dancing around the delicate stems.