Transmogrification

From this....

into this.

"Transmogrify" is one of Max's favorite words. Not the usual 5-year-old vocabulary word, but he likes the way it rolls off his tongue...

About the applesauce. Just a kitchen tip maybe you already know, but it was an Aha! moment for me.

We are eliminating white cane sugar from the family diet as much as possible, so I had to come up with something else to use with the tart Transparent applesauce. The maple syrup lady at our farmer's market mentioned using her syrup in making applesauce. So into two gallons of apple puree I stirred about 1 1/2 cups of pure maple syrup. Doesn't taste maple-y at all. Sweet factor was OK. Not too assertive.

But it still needed...something. After thinking on it for a few moments, I stirred in about a teaspoon of sea salt. That was it! The flavor came shining through, and the sweetness too! Who woulda thunk, salt in applesauce?!

I've learned over the years that there are four "fixes" to perking up flavor: sea salt, maple syrup or honey, lemon juice, olive oil. Any one of these, or a combination, is like a dab of magic.

The main criteria is to trust your taste buds. Taste the food, doctor it, taste again. Keep adjusting until the magic happens.

I can think of worse jobs...