Apples

 

Let's hear it for apple orchards... and fresh cider and donuts.  Alice and I picked apples at Erwin Orchards Saturday.  This is our haul.  Half of those apples are mine.  One of those bags is half a bushel.  I don't know about other states, but it seems as though every apple orchard and cider mill in Michigan also makes donuts.  And those donuts seem to be more moist and tender than any bakery donut you could find.  Man those were good!

The fresh picked apples are great, too.  I've already had 4 apples today and the day isn't over yet. 

 

7:30 this morning and I was peeling and coring apples for apple sauce.  See that yellow bowl?  Two of those full of apples was 12 pounds worth.  It took about four hours from start to finish but I ended up with 10 pints of chunky applesauce:

 

Chunky applesauce is my favorite.  I like my food to have texture and smooth applesauce just feels like baby food.  I filled a couple jars too full and they leaked in their hot water bath.  They still sealed but I need to watch them to make sure they stay sealed.  Those three that leaked will be the first ones eaten.  Mmm, yummy chunky cinnamon apple sauce.  I somehow managed to get to the end of summer without freezing any fruit so I'm thrilled to have fresh applesauce to eat during the winter.  My mom has already requested a jar.

There's still a half a bushel of apples left and I can only eat so many.  I'll take any suggestions on what to do with them.  I think I'll freeze a few quart bags to make apple crisp during the winter but that's still only going to cover a few.  So tell me, do you have a favorite recipe that uses apples?  Muffins?  Cake?  Coffee cake?  I'm not so much into pie, partially because it's way more work than I want to do.  I prefer something cakey and crumbly.

 

She helped when I was peeling, too.

Comments

[gayle]

Did you make apple jelly from the peels? That's what we always did. They even provide their own pectin, so all you add is the sugar. (I've even made emergency apple jelly for recipes calling for a tablespoon or so by peeling an apple, then microwaving the peels, some sugar, and a little water.)
I've found that you can add chopped apple to almost any coffee cake or muffin recipe. My favorite is to put a layer of cinnamon-sugared apple slices in the middle of a streusal coffee cake. Mmmmm...