The Poison Apple

I know why wicked step mothers poisoned apples. I know why the forbidden fruit is often portrayed as an apple. Why do the Halloween psycho paths pick the apple to hide their razor blades? Because the fruit is just plain downright evil.

When we constructed our house Nate carefully preserved the last two apple trees that survived in the once-orchard where our home is now built. By the end of each fall I always wish that he had simply cut the malevolent things down. We are always inundated with apples.

We pick them off when they are little to increase the size and decrease the yield. All summer long our daughters are paid a dollar a 5-gallon bucket to pick up the windfalls. And still we have bushels of apples. We gave some away, we made quarts and quarts of apple sauce, we made pie filling, we made apple butter. Still we had more apples.

I want you all to know. Once again, this year, I have conquered the apple tree.

Armed with my Vitorio Strainer, boiling and bubbling stockpots and gleaming jars I have won. The sink may be full of the casualties of my apple canning, the floors may be sticky from their lifeblood, but the last box of apples off the apple tree has been canned.

I didn’t do it all alone this year. I had help from a few stalwart individuals who would not feint at the site of buckets and boxes of apples. On the last batch my best help was Gracie. She turned and turned the handle on the strainer, mashing mountains of apples to mounds of mush.

In my canning frenzy, and halfway through eating a can of jellied cranberry sauce (I guess it must be one of those pregnancy cravings) I decided to try something a little different. I threw in some of this and some of that, our last batch ended up being Cranberry-orange-apple butter. The recipe, as best as I can render it is listed below

Lots of Apples

Couple cans of Cranberry Sauce (each containing over 600 Calories)

Orange zest

Orange Juice

Cinnamon

Cloves

Quarter apples and boil for 20 minutes. Remove from pot and press through strainer. Return to the stock pot and add all other ingredient to taste. Let simmer stir every few minutes for the next 2 hours or until the most of the liquid has evaporated. Pour in to jars and process for 20 minutes.