Extra Crispy!
Oct 1, 2007 Last weekend, Ana went over to her Godmother’s house and picked apples from their neighbor’s tree. The apples were certifiably organic…in other words, not too pretty. They were, behind their bruised skin wonderfully juicy and crispy. Ana remarked that they were on the sour side, so I asked if she remembered if they were baking or eating apples.
“Baking, I think. Yeah, definitely baking apples.”
(Everything is either definite or apparent with Ana lately, “apparently, my shoe fell off as I was walking down the stairs” is an example of her current language.)
Last week, it was still summer…not baking with apples kind of weather. This weekend seemed to be the definite turning point from summer to fall and it was apparent that the bag full of yummy apples still sitting on the counter needed to be put to their long awaited use. Today, I made good old fashioned apple sauce (meaning I cooked the apples with the skins still on them which gives the final product a really pretty pink shade) and one recipe of apple crisp. Yuuummmy.
The kids played outside for a while tonight and the evening air seemed to be full of crispy coldness as soon as the sun started to go down. We went inside and had the apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. There may come a little patch of Indian Summer before it’s all over…but I’m pretty sure fall has made definitive inroads.
I express this in other ways besides baked apple delicacies. I find myself drawn back to the fiber arts…I have two projects going right now and just completed a third this weekend (another poncho, shorter than the one I made earlier in the year..not sure I’m going to keep it since Jim says it may be too short for my long torso…perhaps one of my short friends wants it:). The kitties are getting new sleeping pads made from yarn I know they like and then another special project which I can’t talk about because it’s a surprise.
I am celebrating the change of the seasons in my own special way…what do you do at this time of year?
Reader Comments (7)
What I'd like to do is wear shorts to work, so I don't roast to death on the commuter bus. (But no--I'll just wear the same stuff I've been wearing all summer.) In pretty much every other respect, fall is my favorite season. The walk to the bus stop at 4:45, when it's still the coldest part of the night, the walk across campus as it's just starting to get light, and not feeling like I have to take my socks off on the way home--those parts I love. (It helps too, knowing that I've got months before it gets uncomfortable again to be outside.) Fortunately, the Metro buses seem to lack the capacity to crank the heat up in the morning, but the commuter buses are another story.
Me! Me! I'm a short friend who wants your poncho (if you decide not to keep it! :)
Zenaida once told me she'd read somewhere that people tend to favor the season in which they were born, which I found interesting -- because fall is my favorite season, and I have a September birthday.
I made a huge batch of applesauce last week, intending to freeze some, but it never made it out of the fridge! Do you fish the skins out at the end, or puree them in with the pulp?
Hmmm, that's interesting about favoring the season you were born in. I was born in April and I LOVE spring!
I like being comfortable in my clothes in the fall too, Trevor...although I don't have to ride commuter buses (yet). I do still feel like I want to take my shoes and socks off as soon as I get home from my morning walks...but I think that has more to do with my dislike of shoes than anything else.
Em...you can have the poncho..I think I'll make another one a little longer for myself. It's not the M. Stewart one though, much plainer actually with cleaner lines.
I was born in August and I can't really say that Summer is my favorite season. I think I just love the changing of the seasons...the promise of something new, a little different, a blank page, etc. I did always like fall because I was one of those weird kids who liked school so fall meant the new year was starting. Even now, when I step onto a college campus I get that little tug at the old heart strings (I used to picture myself teaching a college class...). I guess maybe fall is my favorite season. LOL!
I boil the apples and then mush them through a food sieve to get all the extra stuff out. I love home made applesauce! I never thought of freezing it though..I thought I'd have to go through the trouble of canning it to preserve it which I just don't have time to do. Usually, I just make enough for us to eat up in about a week or so. Maybe next time I'll make a little extra.
Hi Julie! I love spring too...little green shoots coming up everywhere....
Ooooh, I love a good apple dessert. Yum.
I've been enjoying the "smell" of Fall this year, not having really contemplated it in the past few years.
Hugs to your family!
We have been making green tomato mincemeat, which is better than it sounds. In fact, that's my project this afternoon after we finish school. I can't believe the leaves are turning here already, time is spinning so fast!
Hi Mimi...small does have it's own smell which I also enjoy.
You could post that recipe on your blog, Amy...I'd love to try it!
The leaves are turning a little here, though they're threatening to go straight to brown since we've had so little rain 'round here.
Time is spinning but our usual friends, the harvest spiders aren't...I wonder where they are and if we'll be seeing them this year. I love those gorgeous webs!!