Yesterday and today, I was out in my yard foraging and harvesting what I have from my summer crops. A neat little tree (not little anymore), which was maybe 4 feet tall when I moved in five years ago is now over 10 feet, directly in my front garden. Engrafted with another tree-very strange-looks like a type of cherry tree, is a yellowish green apple tree. I got into this garden with alot of different plants, both these trees seem to be growing out of the exact same spot in the garden. I couldn't figure it out until I decided to study the bark on each tree and did see that they are different. If you don't keep an accurate diary of your gardens and plants, you are not going to remember from year to year what is happening in your gardens. I thought I took alot of notes, and the last couple of years have had alot going on in them, so I have not distinguished what these trees are and what they are producing for me to eat. Yesterday, I picked alot of these little apples off the tree, being tired, laid them on the dirt near the tree, and today, being dry out but very hot, all rotted. I had a nice bowl sized full. Disappointed I was and am, I began to pick more off of the tree.
I have been taking a course from Herbmentor.com and was studying wildweeds that can be eaten. While studying and watching videos tonight, I came across one on wild apples. My apples look better than wild (the ones I picked anyway), many on the tree look like crab apples. What I learned also is that no apple is a crab apple, just wild apples. Yes, I can make something with them. I think I will make an apple sauce and get them into the frig tonight just in case they do some funky type thing that the others did last night. I think the sun got to them today. There are worms in alot of them and many bumps and odd shapes on the tree. High up though, are more that I could pick but need a ladder and someone to watch me while I climb. I am getting up there in age you know.
Now my next lesson is how to prune apple trees seeing this is the third one I have in my yard and have not pruned, sprayed or done anything other than pick up the droppings and make apple sauce.
I would love to make apple butter but you need alot. At least with the apple sauce, I can make muffins and breads also.
I froze my apple sauce the last two years in zip lock baggies.
My recipe from Kathy---------
Harvest your apples,
Deworm if need be
Cut up in fourths
Throw in pot
add a bit of water
cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar if you like
slow cook
After softened, pour into a funnel type of colander, special for apples, and keep mushing with a neat wooden tool or spoon. Use a potatoe puree type tool, and get all of that nice apple mush away from the seeds and skins.
Mash the apples like you do mashed potatoes, let cool and put into gallon or small sized zip locks or can if you know how. If you want to can and give away, make sure your jars are cleaned in the dishwasher, ladle the applesauce into the jars, label and give away. Make sure you tell your family and friends to place in the frig and will last up to two weeks. The reason I like to freeze mine because I can store it for over a year. I still have apple sauce from last year. It is fun to compare the color of the sauce from year to year or batch to batch-rose colored, peach colored, light yellow in color.
Don't forget to write this in your recipe book and log the color of your sauce, and how many batches you made. Great for history!
Yes, it was hot and sticky again here in Massachusetts. Mid-afternoon came and I needed to decide what to make for supper. Finances are tough right now and I am using us what is left in my cupboards and freezer and trying to be creative with what foods are given to my family. My husband is a pastor and our church is suffering through the financial crisis. So, I decided to make chicken soup.
Here is my different chicken soup recipe that my Italian friend "Chris" gave to me years ago and my family loves it. The recipe can be changed if you only have certain ingredients.
1 roaster chicken
2 jars of Ragu
cellery
carrots
onion
chicken bouillon
spices-salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion salt, and any type of seasoning you prefer
garlic fresh if you have it (I used jar garlic about a good TBS of it)
rice or pasta
Put your washed roaster in a pot and add water to 3/4 filled pot.
Let boil and simmer till chicken is cooked and you have a stock. Add more water if it evaporates. Mine does. Remove your chicken to cool. Add cut up celery, carrots, and chopped onion. Add about 3-4 chicken bouillon, spices and fresh garlic. Now that your chicken is cooled, take it off of the bones, add it to the pot, add two jars of Ragu (I like this the best) and add quite a bit of salt and add pepper. You can boil rice or pasta in another pot, and then add to soup.
This soup does not take long except for the chicken to cook and the carrots and celery to tenderize. After that, it is nothing for the other items to be added. This soup tastes the best if you start it in the morn. Eat it with parmesian cheese and a loaf of Italian break, french bread or biscuits. Yum
