Mrs. Bread and I thought we might sit on her deck and chat… or, we might meet at the beach and walk. But in the end, she came to my garden in the afternoon, and brought me two perfect Fuji apples just picked from her tree.
She didn’t know I had baked an apple cake for us to eat with our tea, at the table in the back corner. Last week it would have been too hot there at that time of day, but today was mild. I had chopped Rome Beauty apples into the cake, because I think the Northern Spy keep a little better, so I will use the Romes up first. They are in the box at the bottom of the picture.
The whole of autumn so far has been the most appley of my life. I have dehydrated dozens of apples and eaten as many fresh and crisp out of hand. Last week two kind man-friends from church came over to help me peel Pippins for a couple of hours — after I gave them dinner and apple crisp, because it was that time of day — and when I had got about a gallon of applesauce into the fridge, I went to bed very late.
Now my freezer and pantry (My pantry is steel shelves in the garage.) are stocked up with sauce, dried apples, and leftover cake. I sent a wedge of cake home to Mr. Bread, and now must abstain for a bit, so I’ll be ready to test the other apple cake recipes that Mrs. Bread is going to send me. Below, you can also see the super-dehydrated banana slices in jars; they are addictive crunchy banana “candy.”
The Winter Banana apples I determined were best in their dried form. I probably don’t need to keep them in the freezer, but it looks appropriate to their name, doesn’t it?
My favorite apple ranch only has one more variety coming in this fall: Pink Lady. I might go back and get some of those — but maybe not 20 pounds — because I think they might dry nicely.
What else made today appley? This: Several weeks ago I had admired Mrs. Bread’s mint plant that was at the end of its flowering. She promised to give me a cutting, but I had forgotten. Today she surprised me with it, and it is an Apple Mint.
I wish you could smell how yummy it is!
As I was assembling my appley post this evening, what came into view on my computer but a picture from Pippin (Ha! It’s even the right nickname for today.) of Ivy who was evidently inspired by their harvest to read to her apples. I don’t know what variety they are, but their names I’m pretty sure are Appley, Dapply, and … I confess I don’t know the real names of the friends in the picture.
I hope that this fall finds you with plenty of appley friends and cakes.
Appley Dapply has little sharp eyes,
And Appley Dapply is so fond of pies.
Oh! I haven’t made a pie yet! I bet Northern Spy are good for that…
Gladsome Lights 
Coals to Newcastle are not always appreciated, but you had room for two more apples, and each variety is truly unique. Mr. Bread ate quite a bit of cake and thanks you.
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I truly appreciate having another variety! It’s those tendencies to extravagance…
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I sure would love a Fresh Gravenstein(spell check) right now. Haven’t had one in ages.
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The Gravensteins are long gone. They are the earliest apple around here, ripening in August and not keeping well. I didn’t get in on their season this year at all. But I can look forward to 2021!
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We have been making and eating so much apple cake over here (plus some pies, but mostly cake)! We got a decent little harvest off our trees, which was very exciting. I don’t know 8 of the varieties, but we have Granny Smith and if not a Gravenstein something that looks, smells, tastes, and feels like one.
Pink Lady is tied with Jonagold for my favorite eating apple. Love the flavor, love the crunch.
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You mean, you have more than eight varieties?? Do you have a dehydrator? If your trees are getting bigger still I can see one of those in your future!
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There were 10 smallish trees on the property when we bought it. Two died, two have gone wild and the Dearliest wants to try grafting onto them one of these years. The others were quite neglected but we’ve been working with them and they did much better this year! We planted a couple more in recent years, but those aren’t producing much yet.
My neighbor has an apple tree I would love to I.D. and get one myself. The fruit is the size of a small plum, wonderfully sweet, bright yellow. It makes the best applesauce!
For 5+ years our dehydrator ran pretty much all summer and a good chunk of the fall. It died this year sadly. The plan is to fix/ replace before next season, especially since the orchard seems to be gearing up at last.
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What a lot of apples to deal with!
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I love apples and baking with them — the kitchen smells so good! I posted my apple bread recipe and this weekend will probably make another batch to freeze. Maybe a pie….! Love all you are doing here. Enjoy the weekend.
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I’ve done nothing with apples this fall. But I’m enjoying all your apple talk!
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I don’t think anyone can have too many apples. There are so many delicious ways of using them up and any left can always be dehydrated. I like that Ivy reads to her apples.
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Yum! We missed apple picking this year – the apples came in early and then the harvest was shortened by fires. I would love to be taking an apple taste test right now…
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