I've never been a very good cooker, so when
all of a sudden our apple tree started bursting at the seams I began
developing a nervous twitch. I feel guilty if things go to waste,
and all of a sudden I had about a hundred billion shiney apples just
hanging there expecting me to do something with them.. So Gena,
being the best sister that she is, gave me her Super Duper DeLux
Apple/Peeler/Corer Gadget and *poof* — I'm now in Apple Heaven.
If you ever find yourself up to your eyeballs in apples, you should get
one of these.
Here's BoBo and Julia (gena's kid) in action with the wizardly thing
We could peel, core and slice the apples in about twenty seconds. No Joke.
Ta Dah! Is that not the prettiest pie ever assembled by an
Igarashi? I hate apple pie, but I actually found this one one
rather tasty. I also threw a bunch of apple slices in the
dehydrator that gena bought me for Christmas, and my kids *loved*
those. Everybody was amazed — me most of all.
My next trick will involve learning what to do with tomatoes. I
hate tomatoes. I would have never planted them if I would have known
they'd actually grow.
|
on July 13th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
Untitled Comment
That pie looks wonderful!!
“Can she bake an apple pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy. Can she bake an apple pie…”
Hmmm, tomatoes…mater sandwiches is all that comes to mind. How about stuffed tomatoes (like stuffed peppers). I also make a salad with cut up cukes, tomatoes, purple onion. Then, crumbled feta, oregano and the dressing is olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
I’m jealous…I blogged my container garden…oh, it’s pitiful….I can boil water, so there’s hope.
on July 13th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
Hey! I have one of those!
I bought one of those several years back. I could hardly keep us in enough apples for the children’s liking. They loved playing with that gadget. We made piles of dried apple slices too. Hmm. Wonder where that thing is now?
on July 13th, 2006 at 11:11 pm
Untitled Comment
Yep, those gadgets are the coolest. My family bought one on a trip from Canada to Cailfornia in the trusty brown station wagon. We stopped a a rest stop, clamped it to the table and had a nice snack.
I hate tomatoes too. Unless they’re cooked. But I love the way the plants smell. Weird.
Rebeca
on July 13th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
Untitled Comment
HOORAY! I am SO proud of you, Jenefer!
You are quite the homesteady-farm-ish type now. 🙂 That looks like a great pie– and if it’s still not the taste you like, top it with some vanilla ice cream…apple pie is always good that way. Oh and if you still have apples left, you can always make applesauce as well.
As far as what to do with the tomahto’s, I’ve got one word for you my friend– SALSA!!! Mmmmmmm… You Californeee types should be able to make some mighty fine salsa indeed.
Love,
Marshie
on July 14th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Untitled Comment
i have the same problem . i like to grow stuff i just don’t like to eat it.
on July 14th, 2006 at 12:05 am
Untitled Comment
THAT is a good looking pie. I’m impressed. Stunned and impressed, actually. By the way, thanks for sending half of it home with Paul tonight. YUMTIOUS.
Estabrooks invited us to an apple pressing party in October; he said to bring apples off the ground for his 100-year old press. So save all of them!!
on July 14th, 2006 at 2:12 am
Tomatos?
We use to grown them and dehydrate them. Then we would soak them in oilive oil and use in recipes. Love them! Yummy.
on July 14th, 2006 at 5:29 am
WOW
Looks delicious…I’m only making apple sauce out of our APPLES…(tons of em’) Making crust and baking a pie…will have to come later…. Applesauce is SO easy!!
Yes dh bought me one of those neat o’ Apple machines….much easier than the way I did the first batch!!!
Tomatos— crush em’ cook em’ can em’ and put them in chili, spaghetti etc… that’s what I do…very easy… If you are having a good day— make sauce!! We use tomato sauce on EVERYTHING!!!
Looks like everyone had a great time!!
mominpa
(my logon isn’t working again) 🙁
on July 14th, 2006 at 7:18 am
apples and tomatoes
Your tomatoes are growing? Mine still are alive, but no fruit yet. I wonder what’s up. Anyway, glad to hear about all the apples! We love apples. Unfortunately, our apple tree didn’t make it through this winter…too old it was.
on July 14th, 2006 at 7:19 am
Untitled Comment
I’ve always wanted one of those! I hate peeling things. So tedious and boring. I wonder if it will do potatoes too?
on July 14th, 2006 at 7:32 am
Jealous here
Oh man, you are making me want to move somewhere where gardens actually grow and produce! Doesn’t take long before the hot weather takes care of plants here!
I would love to take some of those tomatoes off your hands if I was close enough. Got any green ones? Fried tomatoes 🙂
June
on July 14th, 2006 at 8:10 am
<i>Untitled Comment</i>
All right, Jen. I've had my doubts about you, but have been willing to keep them to myself. But to now discover that you "hate apple pie?" What kind of twisted freak are you, anyway? Clearly some sort of shock treatment or home-lobotomy kit is called for here. Perhaps you could sponsor a contest where entries (entrants?) use haiku to convince you of the splendidity of apples. I'd enter purely out of charity and Christian concern, 'cuz that's just the kinda guy I am. In fact…
Oh yummy apple
Crunchy, delectable, you
Keep the doc away.
So now you see why I didn't enter the other poetry contests….
Edited by KimMurphy on Jul. 14, 2006 at 7:00 AM
on July 14th, 2006 at 8:30 am
Untitled Comment
Ok, so now you know I am gonna have to try to bake me an apple pie!!!!
That looks soooo yummy! Great pics and great job!
on July 14th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Pie
That IS a beautiful pie! Mine always end up looking like a hairball my cat coughed up. I got one of those apple peelers a few years back when I had an apple tree going crazy. I made pies and aplesauce… I felt so domestic! I threw on a prairiesque dress (yes I DO have one) and cooked up a storm. Then my kiddos came in and called it like it is “Mom, are you pretending to be old fashioned again (aka a good wife and mother)?” “Yes darlings … but don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll be back to wearing jeans, eating twinkies and diet coke for lunch, and shopping online.” Oh, but for one day … I had arrived. ~K
on July 14th, 2006 at 11:14 am
neat!
My parents gave me one of those apple gadgets last year, but I still can’t for the life of me, figure out how to get the settings just right so it doesn’t mangle the apple. Right now when I try to use it, it just turns it into a huge apple mess. We have an apple tree too, that I would love to make my own pies with! You’ve insprired me to try my apple gadget out again!
Ali
on July 14th, 2006 at 11:31 am
Beautiful!
What a gorgeous pie! I’m very proud of you.
on July 14th, 2006 at 11:42 am
Untitled Comment
That is truly a perfect looking pie!
on July 14th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
Of apples, blessings, and tears
Nice pie! All those apples remind me of the year our little apple tree produced about thirty to forty bushels. I like apples, and this tree makes especially tasty ones, but I was torn between crying or hacking off a few branches. It was too much work! I tried to make a nice life lesson out of it: Productivity is a blessing…but blessings mean WORK. And this apple tree won’t always produce such abundance…there are seasons for apples AND for trees. Just like children. God says they’re a blessing…but they require WORK. And there’s a season during which I can receive these blessings, but that kind of fruitfulness has a natural end. It seems overwhelming now, during the producing stage, but I’ll be thankful for the harvest later…yada, yada, yada. I STILL wanted to hack a few branches, and I DID cry ’cause of all the work and mess (and yeah, we actually had *two* of those apple peeler/corer/slicers going), but hey, I tried to be spiritual.
Btw, I really enjoyed your article titled, “What to do when you think you’ve lost them.” You suck me in with your humor, then whack it to me and make me cry. Thanks bunches.
on July 14th, 2006 at 1:26 pm
Untitled Comment
We have one of those things! We like it!
My Dad makes really good apple pie!
on July 14th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
To answer your question…
Um, yeah, I help Nancy with the CO blog, so I received two issues via UPS Wednesday. Very nice perk–thank you. Great issue, too. Nice to see you highlight the Harris twins and their “Rebelution.” (Love that name.)
on July 14th, 2006 at 8:36 pm
That looks yummy!!!!
But did I miss something?! Gena is the BEST sister ever…when did this happen-LOL! Just kidding. I hope you saved me a piece of that apple pie while I wathch the video of you on the tire swing.
God Bless,
Amber
on July 14th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
Yummy
the pie looks sooo good. All it needs is a little vanilla ice cream. We’d be happy to take some of those apples of your hands by the way!!
on July 15th, 2006 at 12:50 am
Untitled Comment
This is a great tool! I love mine (and many other tools from the Pampered Chef)
on July 15th, 2006 at 1:34 am
Tomatoes???
To market… to market. How about taking them to a farmer’s market? That would make a great homeschool project!
~Connie
on July 15th, 2006 at 2:48 am
Send us the tomatoes!!
Too bad we can’t figure a way for you to send the tomatoes over here! The Germans are not huge fans of tomatoes, so they don’t grow them. The ones available on base have been shipped from the states and taste like plastic. Bleh. A toast-butter–cheese-“tomato colored plastic” sandwich is NOT what I want for my summer breakfasts.
on July 15th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
And with all those peeling strings….
you put those on a cookie sheet with cinnamon and sugar and just cook em up slightly, for a nice snack for the youngins!
From Nancy B.,
(those are awesome looking apples!)
on July 15th, 2006 at 8:32 pm
Hmmm…
You can can applesauce and it lasts for a while and it’s minimally fussy. And you can cut up and freeze tomatoes to cook with in the winter. I’m so sad that you don’t love homegrown tomatoes. I don’t think mine will ever ripen! Wanna mail your surplus up to Ohio?
on July 16th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
That is such a handy gadget!
I used to have one but it disappeared once when we moved and I suspect that I left it on the top shelp in a cupboard in the house we sold. I hope the new owner was blessed by it. I have missed it and hope to get another one some day when there is more need for it in my life. When I did have one, I used it for drying apples and it made the job so fast. I dried gallons of them and my children loved snacking on them all winter. To the person who hasn’t had success with it, your apples are probably too soft. It doesn’t work on soft apples and what you described is what does happen. Use firmer apples and it works like a breeze.
As far as tomatoes are concerned. When I used to have a garden and can, I found that you can just stuff them in jars (after dipping them in hot water for half a minute to slip the skins off) until the jar is full of just tomato, add a little salt and a bit of lemon juice and then water bath them the recommended time. The result – quarts of crushed tomatoes that are great in chili and all kinds of other things. The other thing I did with them was cut them up with onions, garlic, peppers, other garden produce, salt, sweetening, and spices and make spaghetti sauce. Then you can take the cooked stuff and either blend it before putting it in canning jars or you can put it through one of those squeezo-straino things that takes out the seeds and skins and produces sauce. I liked blending the stuff because it yielded more for the labor and you couldn’t tell there were seeds or skins after it was blended. Anyway, homemade spaghetti sauce is wonderful to have by the quart. Since it has other stuff in it besides tomatoes, it is better to pressure can it.
Love and shalom,
Serena
on July 20th, 2006 at 1:44 am
Untitled Comment
Good grief, you hate tomatoes?
Can them. Whole. Then make spaghetti sauce with them. It is yummy. Or- blanch and skin them, food process them with fresh basil and garlic and put it into freezer bags to freeze. Or- mail them to me. I am sure I won’t get but three from my tomato plant in a pot.
Susan