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Roasted Apple Butter with Maple Syrup

Apple Butter on Toast

A Change of Seasons

You aren’t planning to start preserving? Well, why shouldn’t we?

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Fruit butter is this month’s Food in Jars Mastery Challenge. There were so many decisions, what fruit to use and then what method of cooking. I was so very tempted to try peach or nectarine butter but the gravitational pull of autumn was more than I could resist. We stopped by Gizdich Ranch and bought newly harvested apples. On the day we went they had tiny, tiny Gravensteins, Golden Grimes, Honeycrisp, Gala and Mutsu apples. After sampling them all I chose the tangy, green skinned Mutsu for apple butter and baking. A few Golden Grimes and Honeycrisp came home for afternoon snacking. Apple season is here and I’m planning on enjoying every crisp slice. READ MORE . . .

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Apple Butter Hand Pies for Max

Max Apple Butter Hand Pie

A Promise

“ A frightened sorrow has closed down over my heart. I wish I were child so I could cry. I’m too old to be afraid like this. And I’ve not felt such despair since a bird died in my hand by a flowing water long ago.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

There is a veil of dryness, a barren place that has burrowed into my winter. It doesn’t help that we’ve not had much rain. California is dry, crackling, soon to be on fire dry. But the urban lemons are ripe, dripping with juice. And yet they linger on the neighborhood trees. No one wants them. I stop by and pick another basket full and still more drop to the ground. Once, with great hope, someone planted a promise of lemons. Long forgotten, people moved on, life moved on. READ MORE . . .

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Apple Butter Ginger Hand Pies

Rolling out dough for hand pies

A Trip to the Orchard

“Look, Samuel, I mean to make a garden of my land. Remember my name is Adam. So far I’ve no Eden, let alone been driven out.” It’s the best reason I ever heard for making a garden, “ Samuel exclaimed. He chuckled. “Where will the orchard be?” Adam said, “I won’t plant apples. That would be looking for accidents.” “What does Eve say to that? She has a say, remember. And Eves delight in apples.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Autumn arrived. We felt it ease into our days. The bright late afternoon sun gave way to crisp nights and mornings. By the first week in November, the Indian summer was gone. A longing for apples, pumpkins, pears, and all manner of things warm and comforting replaced our sandals and juicy ripe tomatoes. Hazy thoughts of apple pie came into focus. Childhood memories of trips to the orchards of Pajaro Valley mingled with the remembered scent of ripe apples and the warmth of cinnamon. As a young child a bushel of apples seemed daunting to me. I knew I would be standing on a stool and peeling, until the box was empty! READ MORE . . .