Apple Picking

My son picking apples.

In my family, fall wouldn’t be fall without apple picking. It just happens that the property I live on has a tiny old-growth apple orchard and this year the women in my family gathered to celebrate our favorite fall fruit. We picked one bushel of Golden Delicious apples and two bushels of Macintosh.  Watching my nieces and son pick apples with my mother reminded me of my childhood and I was overcome with nostalgia for my own grandmother who used to send me to the top of the ladder to get the apples she couldn’t reach.  As long as I can remember, picking apples and making deserts with them has been part of my harvest tradition.

My grandmother also passed down her recipe for apple pie filling which follows: 

 







A batch of apple pie filling done.

Apple Pie Filling

4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
10 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 drops yellow food coloring
6 pounds apples

Directions:

In a large pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and food coloring. Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water. Peel, core, and slice apples. Pack the sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Fill jars with hot syrup, and gently remove air bubbles with a knife. Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.





A bushel of Macintosh apples picked from my orchard.

Carmel apples for dessert.