Apples, apples

Not all the apples were this big or looked this good, but our little tree does produce.  This one was on the top in the sun, not ready until we were back, and it turned a lovely color.  You can see another giant in the colander.  Actually, this was kind of an average year, not as big a yield as many, and the timing was off, since I was in Utah when they had to be picked. We have been playing catch-up all week.

Carole came down to help, and she gets a good share to take with her.  I appreciate her help a lot, and I know it won't be available forever--who knows where she'll be next summer, after graduation?

We put up 24 half-pints for Carole and 30 pints for me.  There are about 15-20 apples left to cook with, and I have promised Hubby a non-sugar pie. If I make applesauce for myself, I use brown sugar--not too much--and a mixture of spices.  If I make it for Hubby, I can't use any sugar, and I mark those.  This year, I put up the last batch with the spices but no sugar, and we will stir in splenda or stevia when we open them.  Past years' no-sugar bottles have not been used up, so I wasn't going to do more, but I reconsidered.  Actually, we have a yellow transparent tree also, Hubby's favorite, which I use for his applesauce separately, but we didn't get anything usable from it this year.  So he gets to try something else, spiced Gravensteins, after he uses some of the others.

I used to can all kinds of fruit, when there were lots of people here who needed to be fed, and some of them could help.  It was one of the things you did.  Then case lots became more available, quantities of fresh fruit less available, and my kitchen never became any larger--canning season was always a strain. As it became a physical problem for me, and not cheap, I gave it up.

Except for the applesauce.  It's so good, and it's free food.  Can't let the good stuff go to waste!  We're spoiled now.  It's a lot of work when we're doing it, but worth it when we get to open it up and eat it.  Life is like that, you do the work and then get the rewards later.  Part of being a grown-up is learning to enjoy the anticipation of those rewards and do what needs to be done.  Now it gets to be sorted into the basement shelves, and I will have my kitchen back--have to produce that pie, after all.

Comments

  1. Don MeyerSeptember 2, 2012 at 10:47 AM

    Oooh, apple sauce! Have you tried adding cinnamon?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AlisonHSeptember 2, 2012 at 12:24 PM

    How do you keep your squirrels from getting them all? Do you use netting (okay, my fingers typed that as knitting the first time) or just plain good luck? That's a gorgeous-looking apple!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marian S.September 2, 2012 at 12:59 PM

    Our squirrels don't go for them, they attack our vegetables. Birds go for the apples, and peck them half to death when they start to get sweet. (Then we sstart picking them.) Haven't had too many birds the last year or two.

    Spices: one tsp. cinnamon, generous half tsp. nutmeg, quarter tsp. allspice, scant quarter tsp. cloves for a dutch oven's worth of chunks, added once it's cooked. (Ends up being between 4 and 5 pints.) Brown sugar, when I use it, goes in earlier and cooks in. Those proportions are approximate, every batch comes out a little different. Trying to taste it boiling hot and gauge how it will taste when cool is tricky, because the taste intensifies as it cools down, and you have to bottle it boiling hot, but I've gotten better at it with practice. I want it to be just sweet enough but not to cover the unique taste of the apples.

    The ones done for Hubby without any sugar, we stir in another sweetener when we open the individual bottle, or different types in our own servings. In his yellow transparents, which we didn't have this year, I only like white sugar, no spices.

    ReplyDelete

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