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Farm Kitchen:  August 1 starts Apple Season at my house!  |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6817 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6817 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 01 2015 : 1:47:09 PM
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Many of you know that I love apples and especially eating them! Since more and more varieties are ripe in late Summer now, I decided a few years ago to start a pre-Fall tradition at my house on August 1 where I dig into all things apple. MaryJane also posted on her blog this past week, a photo of a basket of apples from her orchard which she said come ripe late July into August. So, that is proof positive that Apple Season is officially here at MaryJanesFarm!!
Since I don't actually live on a Farm, I have created "My Tiny Farm" around an antique stove in my kitchen that I decorate for various themes and seasons. Here it is starting Apple Season.
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Funny how those apples in the vintage enamel ware bowl never go bad?? Hehehe!
To start off the day, I made up a recipe using MaryJanes Budget Mix, a grated apple, some of my handcrafted organic Apple Pie Spice mix and the usual egg, milk and oil.
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I cooked them on my Mama's old cast iron griddle and served them up with Maple syrup and sliced apples on top. I also had some of my handcrafted flavored coffee I call Warm Apple Pie to go with them. My husband and I enjoyed the results!!
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Do any of you have apples already ripening in your yard? How do you like to cook with them? I would love to hear all about your apples and your ideas on cooking with apples!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
7429 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
7429 Posts |
Posted - Aug 01 2015 : 2:06:39 PM
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Winnie, love your apple season corner. Your breakfast looks yummy.
Got to fess up apples aren't a favorite of mine. But I do like them baked with Red Hots and plenty of butter or a slice of hot apple pie with cheddar cheese.
Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6817 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6817 Posts |
Posted - Aug 01 2015 : 3:53:26 PM
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Sara, hot apple pie with a slice of good cheddar cheese is my favorite too! My Dad always told us that pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze!! Love sharp cheddar on pumpkin pie too!!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
Posted - Aug 01 2015 : 10:39:37 PM
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What a fun idea Winnie. We have 14 apple trees on our place and now that everyone is grown and gone away we have plenty of apple that don't get eaten. We make pies and applesauce mostly. but anything apple goes here too. I used to collect apple recipes and there are plenty to find. We have Gravenstein, Jonnagold, Liberty, Spartan and Akane. All yummy good.
Good luck with your 'Apple Season' fun.
MB
http://www.smallcityscenes.blogspot.com
www.day4plus.blogspot.com
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16729 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16729 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2015 : 12:47:45 AM
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Tonight, just before dark, and knowing I needed to stay up late to get some writing done (checking in on the chatroom is a valid form of procrastination, right?), I picked a large bowl full of ripe yellow delicious (not entirely ripe--still wonderfully sour) and set them by my computer to keep me company (and also to eat). Do you believe I've eaten six so far this evening? Oops, I just checked the clock and it's tomorrow (midnight:34 to be exact).
So right now for me Winnie, I'm in the raw!
I should add that fortunately for me, I grew up with every kind of fruit tree that we ate from at all hours of the day (just like I'm doing now) and because of that I don't get tummy aches (everyone is always asking me when they see me eating apples, plums, or apricots all day long if it catches up with me).
Love your tiny farm, Winnie. Thanks for a much-needed smile and some extra umph to keep going. You and a bowl full of apples. It just doesn't get much better than that.
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6817 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6817 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2015 : 05:46:39 AM
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Hi MaryJane! I love that you found this post and answered it while munching on one of those beautiful apples from your farm orchard. See, I knew it was proof positive that Apple Season was real and officially open for 2015. Yay!!!!!
MaryBeth, how lovely that you have so many varieties of apples at your homestead! Each kind has it's own special ability to be perfect for eating, or pies, or canning etc. I would be going nuts it I lived in an area where I could have access to so many apples. But of course, come January, I have access to fabulous oranges and citrus so it is all evens out in life, I think.
Here is a bit of history on apples today: The first apples we eat first emerged ten thousand years ago on the slopes of the Heavenly Mountains in modern Kazakhstan. The capital there, Almaty, was known as the "Father of Apples".
In the mid 1780s, Thomas Jefferson boasted in a letter for Paris to the Reverend James Madison, "They have no apples here to compare with our Newtown Pippin."
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13821 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13821 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2015 : 1:03:44 PM
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Love apples too, Winnie! My dad was a farmer who raised different things, one of which was a large variety of apples! I've picked hundreds and hundreds of pounds of apples, graded them, stapled hundreds of boxes for packaging, etc., etc. . . . and consumed soooooo many in a variety of forms. Dad was known in this community as an expert orchardman and folks came in droves for his apples.over-the-road truckers . . we had to hustle to have those orders ready to load! He also sold them to He also made the BEST apple cider (40 gallons at a time) which was a "hot" item.
He's been gone since January 1997 and the orchards are still here, but not cared for as well as he cared for them. They are all owned by other owners and the closest one is next to our property (was part of the farm) and the owners let us pick all the apples we want. There are only summer apples ripe and ready at the moment. September is our big apple month!
CJ
..from the barefoot farmgirl in SW Colorado...sister chick #665.
2010 Farmgirl Sister of the Year
Mother Hen: FARMGIRLS SOUTHWEST HENHOUSE
my aprons - http://www.facebook.com/FarmFreshAprons
living life - www.snippetscja.blogspot.com
from my heart - www.fromacelticheart.blogspot.com
from my hubby - www.aspenforge.blogspot.com |
Edited by - ceejay48 on Aug 02 2015 1:04:54 PM |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13821 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13821 Posts |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6817 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6817 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2015 : 4:01:12 PM
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What lovely memories CeeJay of your Dad's apple business! I am glad that others are letting you gather what you wish for your needs still. From my reading, apples have sustained American families since the first settlers from England. It is truly an important piece of our history here as apples were not indigenous to our continent. There was a distant crab apple present but it was the work of the settlers that brought apples here that could be eaten and used for drinking cider. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were thousands of varieties of apples. It seems strange now because most of us know of only a handful of apple varieties as big agriculture has just limited cultivation to the best apples that are able to be shipped and hold up well for store sales. If one has access to those lovely heirloom varieties, they are able to enjoy the flavors that their grandparents and great-grandparents enjoyed.
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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Bonnie Ellis
True Blue Farmgirl
2474 Posts
Bonnie
Minneapolis
Minnesota
USA
2474 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2015 : 7:48:19 PM
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Winnie, that kitchen corner looks great! and so do the apple recipes. Here in Minnesota, apple season doesn't really start until early September. Our best apple here is honeycrisp. Mary Jane I love the picture of you in my mind sitting at the computer with your hand in the apple bowl. My husband used to eat dill pickles all night in order to stay up doing designs for his major in architecture. That I can't picture! Ceejay what wonderful memories you have. Why don't you do a scrapbook with pictures of those memories?
grandmother and orphan farmgirl |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6817 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6817 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2015 : 06:23:06 AM
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Bonnie, Honeycrisp are one of my favorite easting apples!! WE get them shipped down here from your neck of the woods and their arrival is always exciting and most welcomed!!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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hudsonsinaf
True Blue Farmgirl
3162 Posts
Shannon
Rozet
Wyoming
USA
3162 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2015 : 06:44:04 AM
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Winnie - how delightful! Apple picking is one of our favorite pickings! Usually it has cooled off a little, and we take a day trip up to North Carolina. While at the orchard, we pick about 5 bushels of apples, and purchase a few gallons of fresh apple cider. I have tried making apple cider vinegar from the peels and cores on multiple occasions, but have yet to be successful. Maybe this will be the year? Whenever we buy our homestead out west, one of our first plans is to start an orchard... we will include apple trees as well as peach trees. Looking forward to apple season with you :)
~ Shannon
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13821 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13821 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2015 : 09:56:09 AM
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Sometime soon I'll take a pic of the stamps and post it!
I grew up picking fruit from trees on the farm . . . cherries, pears, peaches, apples. We raised them all.
After my hubby and I moved back here to the farm and were helping with cherry picking and sales in the cherry trees some friends came to pick. My friend, Karen, fell off the ladder. She didn't hurt herself, but I learned a lesson. Just because I've known how to set an orchard ladder (three-legged) all my life doesn't mean everyone knows. So, since then I've made sure that anyone who comes to pick fruit and use an orchard ladder, I make sure they know how to set one.
CJ
..from the barefoot farmgirl in SW Colorado...sister chick #665.
2010 Farmgirl Sister of the Year
Mother Hen: FARMGIRLS SOUTHWEST HENHOUSE
my aprons - http://www.facebook.com/FarmFreshAprons
living life - www.snippetscja.blogspot.com
from my heart - www.fromacelticheart.blogspot.com
from my hubby - www.aspenforge.blogspot.com |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13821 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13821 Posts |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13821 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13821 Posts |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13821 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13821 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2015 : 4:18:07 PM
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P.S. We stamped the upper corners of the bushel box (cardboard) lids when grading, sorting and boxing the apples. They then were stacked in the cooler with the stamped end out so we could see what the box contained. I LOVED the smell of the apple barn!!
CJ
..from the barefoot farmgirl in SW Colorado...sister chick #665.
2010 Farmgirl Sister of the Year
Mother Hen: FARMGIRLS SOUTHWEST HENHOUSE
my aprons - http://www.facebook.com/FarmFreshAprons
living life - www.snippetscja.blogspot.com
from my heart - www.fromacelticheart.blogspot.com
from my hubby - www.aspenforge.blogspot.com |
Edited by - ceejay48 on Aug 03 2015 4:18:41 PM |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6817 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6817 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2015 : 05:41:09 AM
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These are wonderful stamps CeeJay!! Thanks for sharing the photo!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6817 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6817 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2015 : 12:07:42 PM
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Today, I went to the website of Merciers Apple Orchard in Blue Ridge, GA where I have visited many times in the past. It is a big place with many varieties of apples and is open all year long. They also have peaches in the summer too. Anyway, I wanted to see if any early apples were ready and sure enough, they listed Ginger Golds as available NOW!! They have also started their U-Pick Saturdays and you can go this coming weekend to pick the early apples that are ripe!!
Here is me about 5 years ago at Merciers picking apples.
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The apple store at the orchard also sells all kinds of local veggies and apple related products. They have this cinnamon apple bread that is to die for! If it wasn't a 9 hour drive to get there from here, I would be there is coming Saturday gathering Ginger Golds to enjoy. They are a yellow green all purpose apple that are good to eat and to cook with. Plus Blue Ridge is a fun little town to visit with all sorts of stops and you can ride on the train every weekend over the border to Tennessee and back. One car has open windows and it is such a fun ride through the hills and valleys.
If you live close by to this area, check it out this Fall for some old fashioned fun and a loaf of that apple cinnamon bread!!
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Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Aug 14 2015 : 07:52:32 AM
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I'm so excited for you, Winnie! Apple season! Already! Lucky you! It's a bit early for us yet, but I'm watching the orchards' posts daily! Soon I'll be joining you in the celebration! Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy! Hugs - Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6817 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6817 Posts |
Posted - Aug 15 2015 : 05:34:13 AM
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Nini, sadly, apples don't grow down here in Florida. Apple Season for me here in Florida is all just pretend!! LOL!! I happen to be fascinated with the history and uses of apples and it has grown into a passion over the past decade. As a result, I started tracking when apples show up here in the South in north Georgia, which is the closest location to me for apple trees. Real apple growers and production now have many early varieties that ripen towards the end of July. Hence, it is true that apple season can begin in August if one is taking advantage of those early varieties. I posted a few days ago of some baked apples I made using an early green apple from Washing state. I found them in a local grocery store and they were labeled as "Early". They were quite good!
Here is my photo of them.
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I bet apples will be coming very soon in your area! You will have to let us know when you get your first batch to enjoy. Take a photo and share too!!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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texdane
Farmgirl Legend Chapter Leader Chapter Guru
4658 Posts
Nicole
Sandy Hook
CT
USA
4658 Posts |
Posted - Aug 18 2015 : 06:55:52 AM
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Winnie, I love apples, too. I love to pick them here in CT. It's a tradition at many of the farms here. This year I have a good crop of quince growing, in the apple family. I also love to pull out Apple themed decor to ease into fall.
That aside, I LOVE your antique stove!!!
Farmgirl hugs,
Nicole
Farmgirl Sister #1155
KNITTER, JAM-MAKER AND MOM EXTRAORDINAIRE
Chapter Leader, Connecticut Simpler Life Sisters
Farmgirl of the Month, January 2013
Suburban Farmgirl Blogger
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6817 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6817 Posts |
Posted - Aug 18 2015 : 10:31:44 AM
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Nicole, I am curious about Quince because I know my Grandfather liked it and I think he might have had one of their farm in the 1920-1950s. What do you do with the fruit? Post a photo here of your Quince tree and harvest, OK? I would love to learn more.
Yes, my little antique stove is what I refer to as "My Tiny Farm"!! LOL!! You see, i have always wanted to live in a little farm house with an old stove and be a sort of prairie gal.. However, I live in a suburb and that little fantasy will most likely never be reality....except in the corner of my kitchen with my little stove. Best $190 I ever spent!! The little wooden spice rack on the top shelf was on my Mama's stove my whole life. It kept her Salt, Pepper, Paprika and Allspice (she actually kept her allspice in the other spice rack with her cinnamon and nutmeg). I love it because it brings back memories of growing up and because she had her hands on it daily.
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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Cissik
True Blue Farmgirl
583 Posts
Sylvia
Kent
WA
USA
583 Posts |
Posted - Aug 19 2015 : 10:50:11 PM
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I drooled when I read that Mary Jane was sitting there eating some apples while perusing her computer. I had my wild tree trimmed heavily, so the new growth with buds were hacked off, no fruit.That wild apple tree have been providing apple pies and applesauce for years now. I'm going to buy some organic apples to make my pie filling. My tree was ripening its apples earlier and earlier. We've had unusual hot summers here in the Seattle area. My baby Gala apple tree's support for its branches was bumped,knocked over unnoticed and the branches split, so I'm starting all over with that tree! We'll continue to have such hot weather into September. I'm canning near the end of the month when it should be cooler! I'm enjoying your farm kitchen Winnie. Thank you for sharing
Sylvia
Kent, WA
Farm Girl #5389
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6817 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6817 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2015 : 06:23:52 AM
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Sylvia, I am sorry to hear that your faithful apple trees are not able to produce for you this year. Hopefully next year will be better. However, I know you will have access in your area to some awesome apples when it finally cools down for canning.!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Aug 23 2015 : 6:18:20 PM
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Sylvia - I'm so sorry, too! That is SUCH a bummer! We had a small apple tree in our front yard for a couple of years. Each time, we'd watch the beautiful green orbs burst forth from their flowers only to have passers by pick them before they were even ripe! People would come by with their whole families would come by during the day, probably thinking we were at work and wouldn't know, and they'd just pick them without giving it a second thought! One time, I watched an elderly woman get off the bus, turn her back to my house, plop her grocery bag on the ground, reach up over and behind her head and start picking them and putting them into her bag! I kid you not! I just couldn't get over how brazen people were about it! I also felt kind of bad because we're in an area where there are a lot of elderly and lower income families who probably really needed the nourishment, so how could I hold it against them? The mere sight of those apples made my mouth water, too! But dang, what a disappointment to watch those beauties grow and not even get to enjoy them because strangers picked them before they even had a chance to ripen! Alas, a very cold winter killed out tree. Since then, I have wanted to try to grow column-type apple trees on the side of the house, but my husband refuses. He said that's only inviting thieves further into our yard, and we don't want people brazenly picking our veggie garden apart when we're not home (which HAS happened on more than one occasion!). :( Oh, well, thank GOODNESS we do have orchards within reasonable driving distance! :)
Winnie! Winnie! Winnie! I was so excited and thought of you today! We were out and about hoping to find Chambersburg peaches at the local farmstands, and I found a local orchard who was already selling apples! YES!!!! My goal today wasn't to buy apples, but I struck a conversation up with the lady at the register and she said they grow all sorts of different varieties of apples, and they're just starting to come in season now! YES!!! We usually drive about an hour from here to go apple picking, but it sure is nice to know there's a good local source as well. It sure will make things easier when we're having a busy month and little time to pick them ourselves, that's for sure!
And there's more...
Friends of ours let us glean their apple trees a few years back, and theirs were the best apples in the world - 100% organic, untouched by anything other than nature's kiss. We visited with them today as well, and they said their apples will be ready to pick in a couple of weeks, so they're going to give us a call and said we can have as much as we want. Less apples means less deer and groundhogs messing up their yard and garden - and they just don't have the time or gumption to tackle the orchard themselves! I am going to be sitting on pins and needles for the next couple of weeks until we can have at it! I'm so excited! :)
I think I'm going to go stock up on some more canning jars for applesauce, and I'm going to have the dehydrator ready for drying slices up for pie and snacks! Last year I tried both ways - canning apple pie filling and dehydrating the apples. Hands down, the dehydrated ones were much better for pie. All I did was re-hydrate them with apple cider, add a few of my favorite apple pie ingredients, pour it all into the crusts, seal them up and vent the top with my signature cross in a heart, and VOILA - apple pie perfection all winter long! SO good - almost as good as fresh! And I also used the dried apples in other recipes such as stuffing, dump cake, muffins, etc. So dehydrating made them extremely versatile for us. If only I can figure out how to keep my husband and son out of the storage jars! If I'd let them, they'd eat them all up as soon as they had dried! LOL!
Oh, Winnie - I am so hankering for a nice slice of apple pie... I can't WAIT to make my first of the season! And I'm going to enjoy it even more this year accompanied by your delicious warm apple pie coffee! Thanks again for that - I just love it! :)
Does anyone have a really great recipe for apple cake? I have a friend who makes the absolute best, and for over 30 years now she has promised to share, but... well... I think she's just proud of her recipe and likes making it for people who love it! :) But if anyone has a really great recipe they'd like to share, I'd love to try it! Please do share!
Have a great week, girls!
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Edited by - Ninibini on Aug 23 2015 6:19:58 PM |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13821 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13821 Posts |
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Farm Kitchen: August 1 starts Apple Season at my house! |
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August 1 starts Apple Season at my house!
