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Marie Hélène’s Apple Cake

Marie Helene's Apple Cake

The Season of Change

“Want to see a present I got for Lee? Look! She opened a little cardboard box. It’s a new kind of potato peeler. Takes off just the skin. It’s easy. I got it for Lee.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Apple season, a reminder, a wake up call, we are skidding along the ark of change. Soon it will be fall. There was a time that I dreaded apple season. It was long ago. Standing on a stool I was given a vegetable peeler and scraped and whacked away at the apples until the pile finally, mercifully grew smaller. Now I use a sharp knife to peel apples. In pastry school I learned to quarter the apples, remove the core and then swiftly peel away the skin of each quarter. Even though the work flow has changed there isn’t an apple that I peel that doesn’t bring back childhood memories. Doesn’t matter if it’s slicing an apple for a snack or making a cake, I vividly recall how overwhelmed I felt looking at the huge pile of apples. I don’t mind peeling apples anymore. I suppose its because I get to choose how many apples to peel. The cushion of time softens even the strongest of memories. READ MORE . . .

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Betty Pretzer’s Apple Coffee Cake with Sour Cream

Betty Pretzer's AppleCoffee Cake with Sour Cream

The season of apples and cinnamon

“The long Salinas Valley was part of the exploitation. Adam had seen and studied a fine color broadside which set forth the valley as that region which heaven unsuccessfully imitated. After reading the literature, anyone who did not want to settle in the Salinas Valley was crazy.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Way back when (I am not divulging any dates) I worked for woman who loved to bake. She was single and new to the area so all her baking adventures were shared at the office. She was fiercely independent, having taken this new job, with a new company, in a new community. One of my favorite bosses had just been promoted and she took his place. And she arrived, a feminist in a male dominated workplace. We worked at a factory and I had been able to move from the warehouse to the accounting office. It was a lateral transfer but I no longer had to wear a hardhat or alternate working day and swing shift. We got off to a rocky start. She wanted me to take accounting classes, I resisted, she insisted. In the end she won and I took the classes. READ MORE . . .

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The Three R’s of Salad: Romaine, Red Leaf and Radicchio

Three R Salad: Romaine, Red Leaf & Radicchio

A favorite salad

“Later Samuel and Adam walked down the oak-shadowed road to the entrance of the draw where they could look out at the Salinas Valley. Will you stay to dinner? Adam asked.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Need another salad recipe? I promise this one is worth sharing, it’s become a favorite. This salad has it all– crunchy, sweet, tangy, salty, smooth and bitter. I find myself making it several times a month. Two of us pretty much eat the entire bowl. Sometimes there is enough left for my lunch the next day. Besides, I wouldn’t want anyone to think I live on sweets! 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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Kale Salad with Apples and Cashews

Kale Apple Salad with Cashews

The Apple Orchard

“And if there’s a good apple–a crisp apple–bring that too.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Trees slouch with ripe apples; robust shadows lumber across the orchard. Loyal companions throughout the year. Stoic friends in the rain and cold, staunchly facing the summer sun, giggling and whispering in the wind, patient listeners as their leaves glisten in the fog. At the banquet of autumn apples are an unwavering delight at Everett Family Farm. Flush with fruit, the trees don’t seem to mind my photos as I capture a slice of life in the apple orchard. READ MORE . . .