Winter is Coming

"Marketplace" can be a great source of all things local. When Ted read this ad: Our own Fresh picked Apples at 431 waites rd Brighton. #1 spy apple 25.00 bushel #2 spy apple 20.00 bushel - Waite Farms Spy Apples - he remembered that last year we got some great apples from Mr. Waite. Sometimes you need reminders of good things.

Road trip to Dundonald.

That bushel of apples has been patiently waiting in the garage. They aren't the prettiest apples in the county, but they should taste good. Do you remember the old saying, "Spies make the best apple pies"? I was hoping they would make the best applesauce too.

While I listened to my favourite podcast, Cultivating Place, apples were washed, cored and quartered. Canning jars were brought up from the basement, washed and heated in the oven to sterilize them.

A bushel gets you slightly more than 4 of these bowls of quartered apples. And, there's my trusty applesauce mill.

For many years, we bought Wolf River apples, an old variety that were famously huge. The applesauce from Wolf River apples was gritty and delicious. Sadly, Mr. Hare cut down those two Wolf River trees a couple of decades ago. Since then, I've used Golden Delicious (love that applesauce), and other varieties, most of them ho-hum. A couple of years ago, we harvested grounder apples under an ancient orchard in Adolphustown. We mixed them all together and the result was an applesauce that will remain in my dreams forever. So good!

I was wondering how the spies would taste? They cooked down nicely with very little skin residue to discard. Absolutely no sugar was needed! This might be my new go-to for applesauce.