When you can't make pie . . .

So we had 3 pie apples. That's right just 3. When we bought the house, we were provided with a map of our trees and the first tree when you enter the garden was labled "Gravenstein - pie apples." It's a young dwarf tree, shorter than my husband. So we were excited that it managed to produce even 3 apples. But the thing is . . . 3 apples are not enough for pie. And then we realized that 3 apples would be plenty for a dutch baby pancake. Have you ever had a dutch baby? Have you tasted it's puffy, buttery, skillet-baked deliciousness? No? Then you are missing out. The dutch baby goes by many names, but it's basically a puffy pancake baked in a cast iron skillet in the oven in more butter than most folks want to know about. I adapted a recipe off epicurious.com for the Big Apple Pancake, substituting our Gravensteins and almond extract for vanilla (which made it fantastically, subtly, almondy). The result? Probably the best damn pancake we've ever had. Try it. Try it soon. Apple season is upon us.