Thank goodness for Lodi, the improved yellow transparent apple. I grew up with apple trees in the backyard: yellow transparent, duchess, wolf river, greening, snow apple. The yellow transparent ripens months ahead of most apples, has a storage life of a few hours, and never gets very large. I still remember the odor of the sprays my dad applied to the apple trees, and the little gray spots of dried spray on the apples.
We don't spray, so we get worms and scab. In the fall we make cider but this time of year we don't press the Lodi. Yellow transparents make wonderful pies and applesauce. Earlier this week I took a kettle out to the Lodi tree along with a paring knife. Instead of gathering apples and paring the bad spots away, I chose the best windfalls and picked a few, cutting the good part of each and tossing them into the salted water in the kettle. The skin of the Lodi is thin, tender, cooks up nicely and adds flavor. Some of the apples were fully ripe, some almost ripe.
When the kettle was full, I poured out the salted water, rinsed them, nearly covered them, added a bit of sugar and started them to simmer. I covered the kettle. From time to time I checked and stirred, added a bit more sugar (doesn't take much), tossed in some dried currents and just a hint of allspice, cloves and cinnamon. I had my kettle of applesauce in short order. Heaven is previewed by pouring some of the applesauce over toast made with Barbara's homemade bread. The whole kettleful is gone--I'll be back under the Lodi tree today.
Life is good!
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Comments: 83
We always pick apples at a nearby orchard. Macs, I believe.
sea and other blues
I thoroughly enjoyed this!
We gather the many wild varieties, highbush cranberry, blueberry, black currant, Nagoon, knicknic and crowberries, and raise a domesticated /wild strawberry hybrid and raspberry. Everything is mixed with our abundant rhubarb so we end up with, say... rhuberry and blubarb jams. Outstanding with warm bread (yeah for Barbara!). Add a garden salad, goat cheese from the herd and fresh salmon w/basil and dill and we're talking died and gone to heaven!
Oh, but to raise an orchard... I love how you love your lifestyle John. Your enthusiasm is most contagious.
My brother has a cherry orchard and he grows some Rainers, talk about looking forward to something. Not that he share's I have to buy my own.
We used to have old apple trees in our garden in England, and despite my ability to kill nearly all food-bearing plants, they produced the most wonderful apples - such amazing scents and flavors that you'd never find in stores.
I have some apple sauce in the refrigerator. I think I'll have a bowl of it.
By the time they hit the ground they were mush.
I love saying the names of apples. I, too, had an apple orchard in my young life. Then it was burnt in favor of acres of tea roses. Still, I want both.
What a good idea to take the kettle to the tree. Early transparent, one of my very favorites - oh, that applesauce! You and Barbara are lucky in apples and toast.