Gleaning

How I love working with Salem Harvest!  This time we gleaned apples, 15 different kinds!  And my kids, in my completely biased opinion, were the cutest kids out there picking apples.  That includes cute Callie, one of A1's friends who tagged along.  L2 even helped with the picking.

Now that I am a connoisseur of apples (based on my minutes and minutes of sampling 5 different kinds of apples), I will share what I have learned:

• Jonah Gold are by far the best apples in the entire world.
• Apple pies (and apple crisps) are best with 2, but preferably 3, different types of apples.
• My husband likes apple chutney (this was a shock to me).
• Granny Smith apples are good for pies, not so good for dehydrating into apple chips.
• It takes a lot longer to can apples than you would think.
• A1 will only eat apples if I peel and slice them, then force her to eat one.  A2, on the other hand, can take down 3 gigantic apples in one sitting.  L2 thinks applesauce is for babies and wants to eat tiny chunks of apples that have texture.  Who knew?!
• Apple pie is easier to make than you would think.
• I need to write down that apple crisp recipe that I have been tweaking into perfection for the past 10 years.  R thought I was still using the recipe in our little newlywed cookbook and tried to make it as a surprise for me while I was taking care of the kids.  I didn't realize how much I had changed it.
• Apples will keep for months in a cold area (like the garage or storage shed), but will turn mushy within a day once moved into the house.
• I am going to have to get a lot more organized if I am going to be dispatching 50 lbs of apples twice a year!