A surfeit of apples

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I had bought a 5# bag of Honey Crisp when a friend dropped off a bag of small Gravensteins and DH announced that our backyard tree had a big crop coming on.   

So a croustade

 

Then the Gravensteins.    They were very highly scented and flavorful but SMALL!    I put off dealing with them and then remembered "Whole fruit applesauce".     Essentially, wash and quarter apples.

 

Add a splash of water and simmer until soft.

 

Run through a food mill;

 

Taste and sweeten if necessary.

 

So, an effortless "pie", and equally stupid-easy applesauce.    We will freeze the applesauce in mealsize portions for future pork dinners.     And the house smells divine!    

 

 

 

 

[BeeZee]

I love apples...in the Fall/Winter I will often make a big batch of baked apple chunks (I like Macoun for this) and portion/freeze for snacks/desserts. Nothing says Fall like the smell of apples baking!

[Darienne]

Our surfeit is a week or two away.  Tasted a Mac yesterday...it's still got a way to go.  And haven't tried to Spys.  Don't have all that many of them anyway...the tree is dying I think.  But then there are the other apple trees all over the farm.   Right now we are working with the wild grapes.  

 

With the apples we make cider and sauce and dried slices mainly.  It's a lot of work.

[kayb]

Apple butter. I dearly love it. Did not make any with the back yard tree's crop this year, but I surely will next year. Goes great in the Christmas baskets.

 

[Smithy]

I made crabapple jelly and crabapple chutney last year. The chutney was a bust, but the jelly was a smashing success. I'm eagerly ogling the wild local trees and hoping that their ripe crop coincides with my free time.

[snowangel]

I often follow the in instructions in my trusty old Farm Journal Pie cookbook.  Line a pie tin with foil.  Prepare pie filling (do not bake!) And put in foil lined pie tin.  Fold edges over, fully covering filling.

 

Freeze. Once frozen, you can remove pie tin.

 

When you want to bake a pie, line pie tin with crust.  Take filling out of freezer, peel off foil, and slip into pastry lined tin.  Top as desired.  Bake, just adding a few minutes.  Works well with peaches, berries, etc.

[Smithy]

2 hours ago, snowangel said:

I often follow the in instructions in my trusty old Farm Journal Pie cookbook.  Line a pie tin with foil.  Prepare pie filling (do not bake!) And put in foil lined pie tin.  Fold edges over, fully covering filling.

 

Freeze. Once frozen, you can remove pie tin.

 

When you want to bake a pie, line pie tin with crust.  Take filling out of freezer, peel off foil, and slip into pastry lined tin.  Top as desired.  Bake, just adding a few minutes.  Works well with peaches, berries, etc.

 

I want to be sure I'm reading this correctly. Bake from frozen, at the normal temperature but for a few extra minutes?

 

This sounds like just what I need to save some of this summer's peach/nectarine bounty.

[snowangel]

30 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

I want to be sure I'm reading this correctly. Bake from frozen, at the normal temperature but for a few extra minutes?

 

This sounds like just what I need to save some of this summer's peach/nectarine bounty.

Correct.  Easy peasy.  I usually freeze 'em two at a time.  Just dont thaw before baking.  Or you'll have a mess.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I went out to our apple tree to consider apples for an upcoming dinner party.    No surfeit.   In fact, no apples.    Our resident rats had harvested them all, to a fruit.     We have the healthiest rats in the city.     But no more apples.   

 

ETA either that, or our resident raccoons climb trees as well as fences.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[heidih]

Oh yes they do! Possums as well. At least you got to enjoy the bloom time ? Oh but the smell of apples just ready to pick makes my heart sing.