Fall feels like apples and barley

EDITOR'S BLOG

Fall feels like apples and barley
The long weekend is nearly here and with it the unofficial ushering
in of autumn.

Sept.
2, 2010 – The long weekend is nearly here and with it the unofficial ushering
in of autumn.

The season of crunchy leaves makes its official debut on
September 22, but the last long weekend before Thanksgiving tends to turn the
foodie thoughts to the fall harvest.

Apples are my hands-down favourite food to incorporate into
nearly everything in autumn. Sentimental memories of my mother’s apple pie
baked in my grandmother’s pastry recipe largely fuel my urge to do everything
apple and make cinnamon a permanent scent at home. It’s hard to picture a
comfort food quite like apple pie. However, I’ve discovered another feel good
find for fall in barley.

I’ve been gearing up for a season of apple experimentations
with a recent batch of apple-cranberry muffins that turned out surprisingly
well – shocking really – as it was my first attempt at muffins from scratch and
I made a few tweaks to the recipe. I’ve been reading up on barley flour, which has
a very low glycemic index. I blended 40 per cent barley flour into all-purpose,
which was quite a bit more than the recommended 25 per cent substitution on the
bag of flour. I’ve been playing around with barley flour in banana bread and
pizza dough as well and have found it to be a great flavour addition with bonus
health benefits. If you’re looking for something new to incorporate into your
fall product line, you may find barley worth a second look.