cheddar-caraway biscuits, homemade applesauce

Every week, we get tons of apples from our farm share, and we're having trouble keeping up. They were starting to take over the fridge, so today I made some applesauce. I'd never made my own before, which now makes me feel a bit silly because it is ridiculously easy. You set it on heat and it practically makes itself.

Applesauce

3 lbs. apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
1 c. water
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cardamom

Bring apples, sugar & water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 25 minutes. Apples should be soft and breaking down at this point; cook uncovered for a few more minutes if there's still excess liquid. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice and spices. Mash any huge chunks that still exist (I left mine slightly chunky). Makes about 3 cups.

And, because apples love cheddar cheese, I also made cheddar & caraway biscuits -- the first biscuits I've made that didn't resemble hockey pucks! I know very cold butter is the key, so I tried a trick I read about somewhere and froze the butter, then grated it with a box grater. That seemed to do the trick (well, that and very minimal handling of the dough), because they turned out very light and flaky, which you maybe wouldn't expect from a cheese biscuit. And the flavor? Well, I'm a sucker for sharp cheddar. The original recipe called for dill, but I tried caraway and black pepper. Yum.

Cheddar-Caraway Biscuits

2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. caraway seeds
black pepper (not sure how much I used)
5 Tbsp. cold, unsalted butter (see my note above about the freezing and grating)
3/4 c. extra-sharp Cheddar, grated
3/4 c. plain yogurt
1/3 c. milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix dry ingredients; grate frozen butter with box grater, add to the flour mixture, and work in with a pastry cutter (or a couple of forks, or your food processor, or however you like to do it). Add cheese; mix until just combined. In a separate bowl, whisk milk and yogurt together; add to flour mixture and mix until just combined. Drop by big spoonfuls (about 1/4 cup) onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake 12 to 15 minutes. Makes 12 biscuits.