Apple Season Keeps Kitchen Buzzing

“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.

Our Apple Guy

Earlier this year, a kind and generous member of our community reached out to us with an unexpected, creative idea. Joe Hodgson had learned about the work we are doing to cultivate community and alleviate hunger in Nashville and wanted to get involved.

Joe has a love for apples, particularly heirloom varieties of apples that are hard to find in grocery stores. As he nears retirement and prepares to turn over his landscape architecture business, Joe says he wants to put his love for apples and fresh food into action! He's in the process of purchasing land near the Cumberland Plateau, where he plans to plant an orchard and donate the apples to The Nashville Food Project.

But in the years leading up to the production of this orchard vision, Joe has made a commitment to visiting a local family orchard on the plateau and buying apples that he then donates to our kitchens, landing him the affectionate title of “our Apple Guy” around here. Joe’s generosity is extraordinary! Fresh fruit is one of the most expensive things that we regularly buy for our meals, and it is rarely donated. In both of our kitchens, we try to include fresh fruit with most of our meals.

Joe’s creative donation has brought more innovation into our kitchens! With just one recent donation, our volunteers have already made these delicious, nutritious treats:

Dehydrated Apple Slices

Apple Butter

Apple Sauce

Apple Pie

We send a big thanks to Joe, our Apple Guy, for the incredible, creative way he is supporting the work of The Nashville Food Project!