Food, Glorious Food (chapter 3)

Chapter 3: Apples

We have two apple trees in our backyard, each of a different variety. The larger of the two produces a HUGE crop of yellow/green apples every other year, and the years in between it produces nothing. This year was the "nothing" year since last year was the "huge" year: it produced over 2500 apples last summer, with which I made dehydrated apple slices, lots of applesauce, and lots of apple/pear freezer jam. The other apple tree in the yard produces a small amount of reddish colored apples every single year.

There wasn't very many apples this year at all. I picked the apples from the tree at the beginning of September, and there was only enough to fill one large bowl-full--about 30 apples in all. There wasn't enough apples to make jam or applesauce, and I didn't want to dehydrate them because I wanted to continue my challenge of making something "new and different" with them.

I found another recipe in my Ball Preserving book to make frozen apple pie filling. I'd never done it before, but it was fairly easy and it worked out well, because I barely had enough apples to fulfill the quantity called for in the recipe. The hardest part about processing apples is trying to quickly peel and slice and chop them all before they turn brown. I was worried because I only had a small amount of lemon juice to dip them in to prevent the browning. I worked quickly to get them all done and put them in the pan to cook with the other ingredients before they turned too dark. The recipe made enough for 3 pie fillings.

They're not quite as pretty to look at as the shiny red cherry pie filling, but I think they will be delicious. And although I've eaten lots of apple pie pieces throughout my lifetime, I don't think I've ever made an apple pie in my entire life! It is very fulfilling to know that I am capable of growing food and making new recipes and feeding my family and friends, even if I have no idea what I'm doing and I constantly have to look up in recipe books or research online or seek the help of other people!