Pictures from last week, when I somehow managed to sort five bushels of apples while homeschooling, then make and can 28 quarts applesauce in the evening. The last dish was washed around 1 a.m. at which time my aching feet dragged myself to bed where I collapsed and went into a semi-comatose state.A certain Miss Addie Mae felt like a big girl sitting on the kitchen stool watching and had fun tossing apple chunks into the monstrous bowl until it was filled so full they began falling back out at her. I hope I remember how teeny she looked sitting on that stool when she is a teenager and helping me in the kitchen.
Preserving food first requires grading and sorting. The finest fruits are set aside to be eaten fresh or used for baking. Slightly bruised produce is sliced, diced or dried. "Ugly" fruit have the badspots dug out and are used for sauce. The scraps become treats for the many variety of willing and greedy animals around here, and I try to dole them out fairly.
This process never ceases to get me contemplating life. Liturgy in everyday life, it is.
"Cider apples" were $5.00 a bushel this year from my source but other local sources were charging anywhere from $14.00-$19.00 a bushel, so even while I pine for my OWN apple trees, I can be ever thankful for the good deal I was able get.
After "apple day", 1 1/2 bushels of almost-perfect apples were leftovers and are awaiting....something. More applesauce, diced apples, dried apples-all depends on how quality they are. Then 3 more bushels come for winter storage-Crispins-likely this week. Last year, the Crispins lasted until April!
So, you see, I'll be seeing more of these soon. (And likely, you will too.)
6 comments:
Oh how lovely - When we used to live further north it was a family tradition to go apple picking. Now we live FAR south and.....apples are expensive! 3# = $4 OUCH!
This past weekend though my in-laws brought down 30+# of grapes from their arbors and I made grape jelly (alas most of it DID not gel so it is "grape syrup") lol
P.S. She is such a cutie patootie -mamas helper big girl :)
Great pics!
$5.00? WOW, the five dollar bags by us have fruit flies and drippy bottoms, they are deer/cider apples for a reason.
Hoping to run out when B. gets home to pick up seconds for applesauce.
Good to know about the Crispins, did you leave them out or store them somewhere cool?
I remember the picture of a basket by your stove full of apples...
Love the Little Miss Cutie pics!
How do you store apples that long? Are there only certain kinds that you can store away? Would love to know more about this... :) I thought I found a deal when I found apples for .75 cents a pound at a local tree farm...Now I'm realizing that is not so good, at least in terms of bussles of apples. {we did buy a bag though and they were super yummy}
Darling pictures of your little kitchen elf!
Bonnie and Riahli~
I kept the apples on my enclosed front porch all winter long where they kept cool but didn't freeze and they just lasted and lasted. Probably over wintered an entire bushel and ate them straight thru until April, I think I ended up feeding the last four or five to the cows because they finally turned mealy when the weather warmed.
Certain varieties are better for long term storage-Crispins are awesome. I know quite a few people who were going to be over-wintering Empires as well. I am sure whereever you get your apples would be able to tell you which apples make the best "keepers". Also, the book RootCellaring is helpful. ;-)
I heard that most of the orchards around here had a bad crop...where did you get yours?
Love the Adele pictures...she must think she is quite grown up to be sitting in that seat and help her Mama :-) So sweet to see.
Post a Comment