“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” - Carl Sagan
We love apple season. And we’re especially blessed to have a source who keeps us in apples throughout the fall.
As some of you know, Joe “Apple Joe” Hodgson started planting apples four years ago. He now has about 575 trees. “When I retired, we thought growing apples would be a good second occupation,” he said.
Mostly, though, he gives the apples away to us for our meals program, and we are so grateful!
Here are 3,200 Gala apples headed for our kitchens!
Other times, we happily receive Yellow Delicious, Pink Lady or Fujis.
We share many of Joe’s apples with meals as whole fruit, which means Joe often picks and culls them by asking himself this question: “If I were a 4th grader, would I want to bite into this apple?”
But even the imperfect ones get put to the highest, best use. The kitchen team often makes apple sauce— sometimes tossing in other fruits such as berries from the weekly Whole Foods donations or pears from a recent food drive. Fruits like plums even give it a pink hue.
We try to make our applesauce as low sugar as possible (or no sugar when using the sweetest varieties like Fuji). See recipe below.
Other times, though, apples give us reason for little something extra— like a cobbler for our friends at The Ark, apple cider or caramel apples.
Thank you for sharing your harvest with us, Joe!
Easy, Adaptable Applesauce (No Sugar Added)
Makes 8 servings
4 medium Fuji or Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored, and chopped in bite-size pieces (or a mix of apples with other fruits such as berries, peaches, plums or pears)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (more to taste)
2 teaspoon lemon juice (for preserving and keeping fresh longer)
In a medium saucepan combine apples and cinnamon. Cover and cook over medium heat until it simmers, then reduce heat to low, medium-low and continue cooking until the apples are tender and very slightly caramelized — about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Once cooked, add lemon juice and stir. Then use an immersion blender or the back of your spoon or a potato masher to mash into a loose sauce.
Serve fresh (warm or cooled) as a healthy side or spoon over ice cream, pancakes, yogurt or granola. Store leftovers, cooled, in the refrigerator up to 4-5 days, or in the freezer up to 1 month.
Recipe adapted from minimalistbaker.com.