The Apple Crisp and the Commons

Last Sunday afternoon, our DC-area Mennonite church held its regular potluck fellowship meal.  For as long as I can remember, potluck meals have been a staple of every Mennonite church my family has attended.  (We’ve also attended non-Mennonite churches but they have tended to have significantly fewer potlucks).

At the last meal  I noticed the dessert table seemed sparse so I decided to try my hand at some baked goods this time.  I generally avoid trying to produce baked goods whenever possible.  I like cooking for many of the same reasons I like litigating – there’s lots of action, the game plan constantly evolves and mistakes are generally fixable if you are smart and stay calm.  Baking, on the other hand, requires lots of precision, slavish following of the recipe and few opportunities to correct mistakes.  But I can bake, just like I can sit down and  draft a contract if I need to.

My first project was a large batch of zucchini bread – mostly because we have way too much mid-summer zucchini around and I am running out of ways to use it.  And the bread came out fine – not awesome – but just fine.  And I made two loaves – one to take to church and one for the house.

But the second project came out FABULOUS!  It was a large pan of cinnamon apple crisp covered by an oatmeal/butter/brown sugar crumble.  It smelled heavenly and the Professor (aka the Husband) was immediately in the kitchen trying to steal a taste. Unfortunately for him, I had made the crisp for the potluck – so he was out of luck.

But this is where the bit about the “commons” comes in.  A potluck dinner is sort of a community property event.  Each individual makes a contribution and the resulting bounty is shared equally by all.   I started to consider the merits of contributing only my lesser offering (the zucchini bread) and keeping the best (the apple crisp) for ourselves.  After all, no one would know and there would be plenty of other good food.  And there is, after all, always one lazy family that picks up a store bought pie or a bucket of KFC.  My zucchini bread would still top that.

But all of the debate about the zucchini bread, the apple crisp and the ethics of sharing (or not sharing) eventually reminded me of an essay I read in law school that traced the history the “commons” in Great Britain.  The essay’s thesis was that holding resources in common leads to the exploitation and over consumption of those resources.  And, at some point, the commons become so abused and overused so as to become worthless.

It was a close call, but those memories from Property 101, quickly steered me back onto the right path.  I decided we would not be contributing to the downfall of the traditional Mennonite potluck, not that day anyway, and I took the apple crisp to church.

Find my recipe for greedy people apple crisp after the jump.

Apple Crisp

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine and put into a greased casserole dish:

6 cups chopped apples

2 tablespoons flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 tabelspoons cinnamon

a pinch of salt

2 tablesppons water.

Cut together with a pastry blender:

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 tablesppon salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

Sprinke the mixture on top of the casserole and bake for 35 minutes.