There are two 20-pound bags of Honeycrisp apples, picked fresh at the orchard, now sitting on my kitchen table. We will likely go back at the end of the season for Winesap. Am debating whether to include yet a third outing, for…Cortland? Melrose? Suncrisp? Goldrush? CAN’T DECIDE!
I usually make a lot of applesauce and freeze it, and then store the remaining apples in our garage throughout the winter. Last year we ate the last of the apples right around mid-March.
I’ve got a couple of kilos of nice apples off of my tiny apple tree. Thing is, I don’t really like apples all that much. I’m making red onion-apple chutney tomorrow and see what’s left after I’m done.
I originally planned on making cider, but it just didn’t seem worth it with the relatively small amount of fruit I had.
My mother had two very large and old Gravenstein apple trees in her backyard. They produced copious amounts of apples. I think these type were considered heirloom because they were planted long, long, long, long ago. I’ve never run across these types of apples in any kind of market.
At any rate, I do not miss “harvest” time. Applesauce, apple butter, apple bread, apple cake, apple pie, apple jelly. Days and days and days and days were spent making this stuff.
It was all very good, but as a kid, it was real bummer being stuck in the kitchen for all that time. I liked picking them while they were still tart and eating them. As they matured, they were very sweet and crisp. Hardly any sugar was needed for sweetening the applesauce.
Currently there are a couple hundred bruised apples under our tree. We’ve thrown out a couple hundred rotting apples. There are about 150 on the tree right now. I have two sacks of picked unbruised apples in the house. I’m not processing apples this year. I would have, if I had an apple press.The fruit leather isn’t happening as it’s too much work. Lot’s of people are commenting on how we have to make pies, but none of them have made any. I’ve been telling them for a couple weeks to take as many as they want of the windfalls. Tomorrow is trash day and a grocery sack of bruised and now rotting apples will be gone.
I will be nice when they actually are fully ripe and sweet. Then there is another apple tree that ripens late.
What I remember most about apples as a kid were the yellowjackets buzzing around as I tried to mow around a jillion fallen apples. Also the year my mom was out of work for a few months and filled her time making applesauce. I’ve never seen so much applesauce before or since. Tasty though.
I’m taking my little nephew to the apple festival at the orchard tomorrow (Sunday) where we will consume many fried apple pies. Oh, my grandmother made the bestest fried apple pies.
A few weeks ago I came across a recipe for Bacon Apple Pie. How could I resist?
While perusing the apple selection at the local orchard, I came across Gravenstein apples. What better named apples to use in a pie with a 1/2 pound of bacon!!!
We took our son apple picking for the first time this weekend. We had a blast. I’m glad I found this thread, too, because it’s giving me ideas for what I’m going to do with the modest 8 pounds of apples I now have. I doubt I have enough for apple butter, but some combination of the following should definitely be doable: apple sauce, apple pie, apple bread, apple muffins, apple cake and apple pancakes.
I’m still processing my tomatoes, too. I spent hours in the kitchen this weekend and my vines are still going gangbusters.
I love apple season. We use our cider press every year to make quarts and quarts of juice. I love having it and I love the process of making it. It becomes a big party with lots of family over to help and split the rewards.