A crisp breeze whisks through the apple orchard, making the leaves on the apple trees dance. Round, red apples hang on the tree slightly swinging as the breeze pushes them back and forth. A withered hand reaches up, and plucks a juicy apple from the tree; sets it gently in a basket, then reaches for another one. Years of nurturing apple trees, helping them to thrive and produce quality apples, has taught these hands tenderness and care when harvesting the bounty. Apple after apple is plucked, and when the basket is full, another basket is picked up and filled.
Many baskets later, a couple baskets of apples are carried into a kitchen. The remaining baskets sit outside decorating the porch, where they will sit until the grandkids take them to a local fruit stand. Pictures of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren line the walls of this kitchen. Cards, colored pictures and scribbles, compliments of the grandkids and great grandkids, decorate the doors of the fridge in a festive manner. The baskets of apples are set on the counter, and a peeler and paring knife are pulled from the drawer. Grandma picks up a nice plump apple and begins to peel the skin off leaving nothing but crisp juicy goodness. She then cuts the apple in quarters, cuts the core out of each quarter, and slices the apple into thin slices. Apple after apple is peeled, cored, and sliced with care, until all the apples in the basket have disappeared.
The sliced apples are then placed in a large pot with cinnamon, nutmeg, a hint of lemon juice, cornstarch, and just a little bit of water. Every few minutes grandma stirs the mixture with a wooden spoon, keeping the apples from being scorched. Bubbles begin to form and pop, releasing wonderful aromas throughout the house. It continues to bubble until the mixture begins to thicken. Once it is thick enough to satisy grandma, she removes the pot from the burner, and begins to spoon it into warm glass canning jars. Jar after jar is filled, until she has seven jars filled with her delicious apple pie filling. The remaining filling is set aside and poured into a glass dish, to be topped with a crisp topping.
Tired hands then pull jar flats from boiling water and place them gently on top of each jar. Following that, a jar ring is placed over the flat, and screwed on tightly. Each jar is lifted carefully with a jar lifter and submerged in a canner of hot water. The water is then brought to a boil, and left to boil for twenty five minutes. As the jars boil in the canner, Grandma mixes oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, and some chopped pecans together. She then cuts a stick of butter into slices, and blends it into the flour mixture using a stainless steel pastry cutter until the butter has been reduced to pea sized chunks distributed evenly throughout the mixture.
She spreads the topping over the apple filling in the dish, and more pats of butter are placed on top. The pan is then popped in the oven to bake for fourty five minutes or until the topping turns a nice golden brown. Worn out grandma, sits down for a moment while she waits on her apple filling. It is not long before her head begins to nod, a tell tale sign she is thoroughly worn out. A timer beeps disturbing her much needed slumber. She rises from her chair, grabs her jar lifter , and pulls the bubbling jars of goodness from the boiling water. She sets them on a towel lined counter, to cool and seal. As they cool the sharp popping of the jars sealing, ring through the kitchen. It’s not long before the sharp beeping of the timer pierces the air once again, letting grandma know her apple crisp is done. Grandma dons a pair of oven mitts, and opens the oven. The topping has turned a golden brown, and the pie filling is bubbling heavily. She can’t help but breathe in deeply, and savour the smell of apples and cinnamon as she pulls the pan of warm goodness from the oven. A smile spreads across her face as she thinks of how tickled the kids will be when they come to visit her this evening. There’s nothing quite like grandma’s home baked treats to bring the family together.
Go to our recipes page for our Apple Crisp Recipe and other Fall Time Favorites.