Great for applesauce. Terrible keepers–three days at the max but only in the fridge, one to two on the counter. Mushy. Small. Once a big commercial variety, now very rare (with good reason) but if you want a cooked apple, they taste good.
And then I posted that on the ward chat.
One person responded, and she said that as a matter of fact she’d been thinking of making some applesauce; she’d love to bring her little boys and come pick apples, what a cool idea!
They were all hers.
I think, when she and her husband laid eyes on the tree, that they were maybe wishing they had some competition, but hey.
And so this young couple and two adorable little toddlers ages 1 and 3 were here this afternoon with their padded bag and together we picked those apples. I added a few Meyer lemons and newly-ripe plums, because I could.
The one-year-old picked up a Santa Rosa plum, took a bite, and tossed it.
I laughed and explained that if you pit them and blenderize them, the skins are tart but the interior is sweet and it makes an effect like tart cherry jam.
As they were leaving and I was thinking of all. those. little. apples. she was going to have to core and peel (they asked if I use the skins in apple sauce, and I said I do in apple butter) I stopped her going by my front door and asked her to wait just a moment.
I dashed inside, pulled out the electric apple peeler and asked if she’d like to borrow it for a week?
The relief in her voice as she said YES! Thank you!
–Yeah, I should have offered that from the get-go.