It's Apple Time

I read a post a few days ago about apple picking and it sent waves and waves of warm memories flowing through me.

My dad made killer apple pies! They were loaded with apples, lots of cinnamon & sugar, and usually a handful or two of raisins. Warm from the oven with ice cream ... didn't get any better than that. Unless, of course, he was making his lemon meringue pies. He was the king! Marie Callender, eat your heart out. No one has ever come close!

I thought about my mother-in-law and her empanadas (the mexican version of a tart or turnover). Everything was made from scratch and the aromas in her house were wonderful. Grandma made empanadas stuffed with everything from apples to beans to chili. Apple empanadas & wine, it was some goooood eating!

Before my husband took sick, we had a neighbor who would go to visit a friend in the mountains about this time of year and come home with bushels of apples. Originally, I'd peel, core, slice, season and bake them but when he retired (my husband, not the neighbor) it became a joint effort. I bought him one of those gadgets that peel/slice/core all at the same time while you crank the handle and that became his job. Then I'd make applesauces and apple butters, pies, breads, muffins, brown bettys, empanadas, and freeze apple slices for later. The house smelled nummy for days and we had a freezer full of Christmas gifts ready to go. The fact that by the time we were done neither of us could stand the sight or smell of an apple for the next month was a small price to pay. Oh yeah, it was also his job to clean all the sticky off the kitchen floor. It was a lot of fun and we shared a lot of laughter; we had a good time working together in the kitchen turning all those apples into marvelous treats that lasted us until almost the same time the following year.

All the places you go, the trips you take, the things you buy and do and isn't it funny where the warmest memories are?!