Every year in September we take
the children to the local orchard to pick apples. It's always a treat and very
rewarding to the family unit. It's interesting to walk the rows and rows of
trees, inspecting each one for the most delicious of apples. It's also a
careful adventure, because not only are humans out there trying to "grab
the best", flying insects known as BEES are there, too. Talk about dodging
and weaving, it is at its best. This one particular bee just wouldn't leave us
alone. Everywhere we walked, it was there too. We'd go to a different tree,
there it would show up. We'd go to different rows. Hello! There it was. Now, I
know you're going to mention that they all look alike. I know that, BUT when
you watch a particular one to the point that you walk backwards so you don't
miss it, you get a bit annoyed and suspicious. Tara
started to become very uneasy with this "bee stalking". She'd watch
it carefully and walk slowly down the rows. She stopped one time, put her hands
on her hips and said very firmly, "You better leave me alone; I'm a lot
bigger than you and I have big feet." I asked her who she was talking to.
She replied, "Oh that stupid bee. I'm serious here, Grandma. I just might
do something to cause it a lot of pain!" The decision to end this reign of
terror was made. I told Tara to stand very
still, which at this time was a bit difficult since the bee was getting
"up close and personal". I reached up, picked an apple, took a big
bite out of it, and put it on the ground. We waited until the bee landed on the
apple. I carefully walked up to the apple, raised my foot and stomped. Sure
enough, I smashed the bee AND the apple. Tara
looked amazed, took my hand and said, "Great going, Grandma. You now have
bee guts applesauce!" Oh, that was nice to know since we had about 50
pounds of apples among the 3 of us, and I had plans to make applesauce with
most of them; apple crisp and apple breads were, also, on the list.
After a few hours of picking, dodging and weaving, and feeding the fish at the pond with the kids falling in trying to retrieve 3 pieces of pellet food, we went home discussing what we'd do with the apples. Well, y'all know what my plans were, but the kids had others. We were greeted at the door by our very happy-to-see-us, exuberant greyhound. One of the kids brought in their bag of apples and showed them to her. It was bowling for apples in the family room!!! The dog thought it was time to play "Roll and Bite" with the apples, and the kids were laughing too hard to put them back into the bag and bring them to the kitchen. I went in and started to retrieve them. Don't bend over to pick up apples in front of a crazy, exuberant greyhound. They immediately think you?re there to play "Poke ya in the buns"----it's a greyhound thing, folks. I was picking up as fast as I could---kids were weak laughing at the scene and no help----when she ran full-speed at my rear end, sending me sprawling full-eagle on top of the apples. I'm a big gal, old, and don't get up from a prone position on the floor quickly. Just when I thought I had my balance, an apple would roll and down I'd go again. Why is it this slap-stick is so funny to everyone but the fallen one? The dog continued to play "Poke ya in the buns" until I tossed an apple into the other room and she ran after it. Finally, I was able to get up. The kids said, "Grandma, that was the best show EVER!!!" 'Nothing like entertaining the children at my expense. One of them asked, "When are we going pumpkin pickin?" That is so much fun, too.? After the bee stalking, I know what lay ahead with the pumpkin picking. Sometimes there are snakes in the field. That's another story, folks.
APPLE LOAF
Makes 2 Loaves
4 cups diced, peeled apples
2 LARGE EGGS
2 cups plus 2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 sticks (1cup) butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1. Mix apples and 2 cups sugar in a large bowl. Leave at room temperature 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Heat over to 325 F. Grease two loaf pans...8 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.
3. Melt butter; let cool
4. Mix flour, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into apples. Stir in butter, eggs and vanilla. Pour half into each pan; sprinkle each with 1 tsp. sugar.
5. Bake 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until a wooden pick inserted in centers of loaves comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes before removing cakes to racks to cool completely.
6. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Then keep refrigerated.
After a few hours of picking, dodging and weaving, and feeding the fish at the pond with the kids falling in trying to retrieve 3 pieces of pellet food, we went home discussing what we'd do with the apples. Well, y'all know what my plans were, but the kids had others. We were greeted at the door by our very happy-to-see-us, exuberant greyhound. One of the kids brought in their bag of apples and showed them to her. It was bowling for apples in the family room!!! The dog thought it was time to play "Roll and Bite" with the apples, and the kids were laughing too hard to put them back into the bag and bring them to the kitchen. I went in and started to retrieve them. Don't bend over to pick up apples in front of a crazy, exuberant greyhound. They immediately think you?re there to play "Poke ya in the buns"----it's a greyhound thing, folks. I was picking up as fast as I could---kids were weak laughing at the scene and no help----when she ran full-speed at my rear end, sending me sprawling full-eagle on top of the apples. I'm a big gal, old, and don't get up from a prone position on the floor quickly. Just when I thought I had my balance, an apple would roll and down I'd go again. Why is it this slap-stick is so funny to everyone but the fallen one? The dog continued to play "Poke ya in the buns" until I tossed an apple into the other room and she ran after it. Finally, I was able to get up. The kids said, "Grandma, that was the best show EVER!!!" 'Nothing like entertaining the children at my expense. One of them asked, "When are we going pumpkin pickin?" That is so much fun, too.? After the bee stalking, I know what lay ahead with the pumpkin picking. Sometimes there are snakes in the field. That's another story, folks.
APPLE LOAF
Makes 2 Loaves
4 cups diced, peeled apples
2 LARGE EGGS
2 cups plus 2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 sticks (1cup) butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1. Mix apples and 2 cups sugar in a large bowl. Leave at room temperature 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Heat over to 325 F. Grease two loaf pans...8 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.
3. Melt butter; let cool
4. Mix flour, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into apples. Stir in butter, eggs and vanilla. Pour half into each pan; sprinkle each with 1 tsp. sugar.
5. Bake 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until a wooden pick inserted in centers of loaves comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes before removing cakes to racks to cool completely.
6. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Then keep refrigerated.
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