"applesauce" news and stories

Just when you were wondering what to do with all those apples you picked over the weekend, Scott and I come to your rescue with a couple of yummy suggestions. We trekked out to Linvilla Orchards in Media, PA to pick a bushel of apples (literally) and then brought them back to my kitchen. We made a pot of applesauce, a recipe so easy that you don't really need a recipe at all and a pan of juicy, oatmeal topped apple crisp. So watch, enjoy and go eat an apple.

If you missed it, make sure to check out the first episode of Slashfood in the Kitchen that premiered last week where we made brussels sprouts and a couscous salad. If that doesn't satisfy your cravings for food video starring Scott and me, make sure to head over to Fork You where it all started.

Last fall I went apple picking with a friend at Linvilla Orchards, a u-pick farm in Media, PA that also offers hay rides, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, strolling clowns and a cluster of year-round carnival-type food stands. In addition to the u-pick options, they also have a farm market in which they sell produce, jams, jellies, candies and other homey goods.

Last year I picked up a small jar of Buckwheat Honey there. I didn't think much of it other than it was far darker than the other honey options and for some reason that appealed to me. When I got it home, I discovered that it had a deep flavor that was drastically different from your standard grocery store wildflower honey and I was totally hooked. I rationed that jar, making it last nearly nine months before I finally hit the bottom.

On Tuesday Scott and I went out to Linvilla once again, in order to pick apples and film the beginning to the next episode of Slashfood in the Kitchen. After two hours on the farm, we had picked a full bushel of apples and I had dragged him through the market so that I could get another jar of the Buckwheat Honey. I bought a larger jar this year and have already greatly enjoyed it drizzled on top of a bowl of yogurt and homemade apple sauce.

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During a chunk of my childhood, my family lived in a house that had once been owned by a botanist. She had planted all sorts of wonderful stuff on the property, including a small apple orchard way at the very back of long, sloping yard. I loved going down there with the dog after school in the fall. The air carried the smell of boozy, decomposing fruit and I felt like a pioneer girl, being able to pick all the apples I wanted.

My mom, driven by the desire not to be wasteful, would pick buckets of apples and make huge batches of applesauce that would get ladled into plastic quart-sized bags and frozen. I learned from her just how easy it is to whip up a pot of applesauce and what a rewarding activity it is. I don't have access to apple trees the way I once did, but I try to go apple picking at least once a fall at one of the local farms in my area. I always turn at least half my bounty into a large batch of applesauce. I save some to make applesauce cake and eat the rest by the bowlful. It tastes like pure fall.

My "recipe" for making applesauce is after the jump.

I'd never actually made my own applesauce before, but I'd purchased some fresh-made from the deli at my local grocery a few weeks back, which got the idea in my head. And I had a couple of apples that I hadn't felt like eating raw, and so I decided to attempt to make some applesauce of my own. I jumped into the project with a half-remembered recipe and only what I had in my own kitchen. And the results were pretty tastey, if I may say so myself -- though I'm likely to tweak the recipe when I try it again (too much sugar -- making it a better dessert topping than a snack).

Fruits and veggies, shellfish and such are best eaten in season. When it comes to bragging rights over who grows the best grapes, is privy to the best fishing banks, you will certainly have a food fight on your hands. In this case, I'm talking about peaches. Georgia, the peach state, grows a good peach. Alabama, too. But I'd like to turn you on to peaches grown in western Colorado, and the several varieties that have peaked or are at peak right now. Specifically, peaches grown around the rural town of Palisade, CO., are among the sweetest, if not the sweetest I've ever tasted (in particular the O'Henry and the Rising Star). Western and Southwestern Colorado also produce some of the finest cider and applesauce apples in the world.

As to peaches. Check out this recipe for Peach Delight that won grand prize at the Palisade Peach Festival a couple of weeks ago. I tried a variation that did not include the egg replacement (since it's not cooked, don't mess around with raw eggs these days: salmonella) and it was divine.

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