Ruhiyyih brought over three large bags of apples for table decorations at her wedding. We put an assortment of the yellow and red ones in vases. When the wedding was finished we collected all the vases, emptied the apples out, and all the apples were brought home so they would not be wasted. I got busy and did some home-canning.
Several different batches resulted in apples for crepes (a thickened brown sugar sauce); pie filling (white sugar and cinnamon with the corn starch); and slightly sweetened apples for yogurt.
I made about 16 quarts over several days. When I was finished it felt like quite an accomplishment, and I know we will thoroughly enjoy the pies, crepes and the cooked apples...but, as with EVERY canning event, it is something I say I'll never do again! Every year I find something more to can, just to save it - like this years' pickled vegetables and slaws. If people hadn't given me the food, I never would have done this. It is so labor intensive!
Often I think how women were so ready to give up this kind of thing, go into the workplace, and bring home pre-packaged quick food. Growing your own food, processing it, and serving simple meals built from scratch is a thing of the past. It is so labor intensive, so time-consuming, with hours spent in the kitchen putting food by for the winter. A few jars like mine are nothing compared to the volume prepared by women out on the farm 90 years ago.
Yesterday I watched "Food, Inc.", the film that spotlights the people who are working to reform an industry rife with monopolies, questionable interpretations of laws and subsidies, political ties and rising rates of E.coli outbreaks. The documentary explores the food industry's detrimental effect on our health and the environment. Barbara Kingsolver has taken the same position that I have, in her book "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral", that going back to the basics is worth the time and affords many long-forgotten pleasures.
I've used one of the jars of apples for apple crepes.
Open them, and you've got an omelette.
I also made several apple torts. The crust is part almond flour, part white flour, butter, egg and water.
I ate one of these tarts warm, then froze all the rest for taste thrills for coffee breaks. When Matt and Ruhiyyih drive over for Thanksgiving, I'll give them some of the pie filling, and show Ruhiyyih how to make an easy almond flour crust for tarts.
