So my friend Ginger says "Hey you want to go and pick up windfall apples?" She lives out near some orchards and they let people go through after the picking is done and get the ones that fell on the ground. We were a little concerned as there had been a couple of frosts already and we might have waited too long. It was a beautiful day with huge storm clouds over the mountains and rain in the forecast. When we got to the orchard we were surprised to find that there were a lot of apples still on the tree and we got very few off the ground. Some were small and they were not very pretty but they were free! It is much easier to see the apples when the leaves have fallen off already! :) We picked 15 bags, each bag between 10 and 15 lbs of apples. Ginger was sharing with neighbors so she had 9 bags and I had 6. The rain chased me home! Here is my 'haul' washed and ready
 |
| Some are uglier than others - but they were free! |
I made apple crisp that night. Then I started on the applesauce and pie apples. I boiled the apples with the peels on and then pureed them in the blender and it tastes awesome and you get to keep the vitamins in the skin, this was so easy! (I hate peeling things!) Think I will try for apple butter as well
 |
| Love the sound of those lids popping! |
And of course it was my day for treats at Sunday School so...you guessed it Spiced Apple Bread! I took a chance on a recipe from the internet and wow was it good!
Click here for the recipe - it was moist and chock full of flavor. I have learned to always read the reviews on these recipes and the reviews on this were good! Now I agree with them!
 |
| A little butter and - heaven! |
I am a little over a third of the way through my apples and already have 9 pints of applesauce and one and a half quarts of sliced apples in medium syrup. Hubby and I will be eating applesauce with our pork chops this year. What is traditional with applesauce at your house?
And the best part of course, for my frugal soul (cheap may be more accurate) all this bounty for the price of a half a gallon of gas and an hour and a half of my time spent with a good friend in beautiful country! Can't beat that with a stick!!
Kathy, that was certainly a windfall :-) I love how you are using the apples and I must check out that Sliced Apple Bread recipe. I am such a beginner with preserving things and have a lot to learn from you girls in the US where preserving is such a part of your way of life due to the winters you have. We don't need to bother too much here in Australia as we can grow food all year round.
ReplyDeleteI never think of that - I guess I just assume there are cold winter areas in the southern part of Australia - am I thinking of New Zealand? I'm thinking of 'Lord of the Rings' maybe!? I lived in Southern California for many years and just pined for the 4 seasons I grew up with! Australia is on my bucket list though - someday!
DeleteI was going to say that in my part of Oz and Nanna Chel's it's just too warm to even grow apples.
ReplyDeleteI did score a bag of over-ripe tomatoes this morning and made a yummy 2 pints of pasta sauce...it smells so fresh.
Priscilla in Canada loves making apple sauce so I'll give her your Apple Bread Recipe to try. thanks for your lovely posts xx