a poem in my pocket

As children, we used to pick tart green apples from the lone fruit tree in our city backyard and peel using a paring knife…slow, careful, deliberate and then slice into chunks by hand to cook. Mom filled glass quart jars and vacuum sealed them in the pressure canner.

As adults, we pick ripe red apples from tree of choice in farm orchard and use a mechanical peeler…set apple on spikes to hold in place, turn handle quickly to create curls of peelings, then remove naked fruit, already sliced. We cut, cook, cool, and spoon into freezer containers.

Family comes together to make applesauce memories in season…working to process the produce, we’ll savor the flavor the rest of the year. Counting filled jars or quart containers is pure satisfaction.

cinnamon sugared
pick, peel, core, slice, cook slowly
chunky applesauce