Friday, May 1, 2009

Apples

I love apples!

This may come as a shock to my family because, if truth be told, I really don't like apples very much. I hate to bite into one and get the peel stuck in my front teeth. I hate not knowing if the latest Gala apple purchase is going to be juicy or mealy.

My dislike of apples goes back to my youth.

When I was growing up we lived next door to a parsonage. That sounds so grand and evokes visions of a English country setting with a rock house that has moss growing on it. But no, I grew up in the desert and the parsonage was a house in a normal city block, it just happened to be owned by a church. This parsonage had a few apple trees in the backyard. Every year when the apples were ripe, full of worms from non-care and falling to the ground my mommy would send us sneaking over the wall to 'steal' apples for "Apple Pie Day." As my mother was a saint (do all children think their mothers are saints?) I am sure she had permission from the Reverend, but to us kids the fun of 'stealing' and not getting caught was wonderful. We would each fill a bucket with apples for our own individual pie. Yes, that is right! Our own, individual pie. I am not talking a miniature version of the real thing, I am talking about a full scale pie. My mommy would peel, cut out the wormy parts and slice up enough apples for 6 full size pies. The counters were covered with flour and pie crust that had been rolled out using my great grandmothers rolling pin. The smell of cinnamon and sugar and apples was pure heaven. And on that early fall night, one time each year of my youth, my family would eat apple pie for dinner. No meat, no vegetable, just our own pie with a glass of milk and a slice of cheese for those who wanted it. Ahh the memory------- except for one thing----- I hated apples. I loved the pie. I loved the crust. I loved the cinnamon. I loved the sugar!!! It was just those pesky apples I could not stand. Don't get me wrong, I ate it. Are you kidding me, pass up dessert as your whole meal!!! It just didn't thrill my 'entire' soul like it did my siblings.

My mommy also used to make apple dumplings every once in a while. This entailed taking a whole apple, peeling and coring it, filling that hole with cinnamon, raisins and pecans, then encasing the apple in dough. Everyone loved this dessert. I would say 'No thank-you.' Please realize this was in a time when candy and soda were a huge treat, not an everyday occurrence as they are now. Passing up dessert was passing up your one chance of sugar for the day. A very big deal! But I was not allowed to only eat the dough, I had to eat ALL of the apple. Not worth it.

Now, I love apples.

I love Apple Brown Betty, apple cake and yes, apple pie. I am sitting here eating a piece of wonderful apple cake I made yesterday. A cup of coffee and apple cake for breakfast! I would take a picture to show you the cute daisy plate and mug set that I am eating it off of, but I am not that kind of blogger yet. Someday.....

So bring on the apple tree. I can deal with the worms just like my mother. Just don't ask me to eat one without crust or cinnamon and plenty of SUGAR.

Maybe I haven't changed at all.

2 comments:

  1. You should totally get an apple tree!!! And not horse apples... real apples! Do they grow in DFW?

    I've been thinking of doing apple pie day with my future family, only I don't really like apple pie either. Maybe cobbler night? Everyone gets their own fruit-of-choice cobbler? Still working out the details... :)

    Love the apple pizza at CiCis, by the way. Your apple cake sounds yummmm. But I actually do like apples (as much as I can like something that isn't chocolate) so that makes sense. :)

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  2. To Retired Mama,
    Good luck with your blog. While browsing the blogosphere hoping to increase my readership, I Googled "retired women bloggers" and found you. Your writing is beautiful and I enjoyed it all. We sound a bit alike, actually. I only have one very wonderful child - about to graduate from college, and I retired last year.

    http://whatareyoudoingnext.blogspot.com/

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