Easy as Apple Pie

I'm busy these days.  Summer time is a very busy time anyway.  Somehow it is harder to get things done when the kids are at home.  They like to have me pay attention to them. 

It is taking Lorene more hours than we expected to get her CNA finished because they signed more people up for the class than usual, which means my "toddler free" hours are limited.  Zane is busy and demanding. 

I guess he's normal.

I like to can, and freeze, and bake up my produce.  And I like to make dinner for the family.  All that takes TIME!! 

I was going to say they also like clean clothes, but since all of them take care of that themselves, except Jim, I guess I can't complain about that.

This is one way I entertain Zane.  He can go a long time playing with measuring cups and water.  When he starts dumping it on the floor, it is time to find something else to do .

We picked apples the other day, (off the ground).  And Zane helped.  These are mostly green apples that blew down after a very windy storm. 

I remember we used a lot of green apples from the summer apple tree we had at home.  The ones that were ripe, fell, and were usually rotten on one side. We used those and every other piece of good apple that we had.  So, our applesauce had a little extra tang from the green apples.  I happen to like green-apple applesauce.  But, nobody else around here does, though, so I guess I'll use it for cooking. In a cake mix I use as much applesauce as the oil it calls for plus a tablespoon of oil. I also have a yummy applesauce cake recipe chock full of raisins.

I like to make applesauce since all you have to do with the apples is core and get the bad parts out.  Then I let them sit in salt water until I am ready to freeze or can or cook them. 

These I canned.

I have no idea what I'll do with the canned apples.  I have an idea that I could warm and make them into "fried apples" with sugar and cinnamon. or else boil them down for chunky applesauce.  Or maybe apple cake. I just wanted to try them.  I already have plenty in the freezer.

We have another apple tree with later apples, but several of those blew down, too. And I made pie out of these. It is such a lot of work that I'm not using all the apples I have. 

I'm ignoring the fact that I can't get it all done.  I'm focusing on all the things I do get done, even though cooking and cleaning and helping raise up Zane don't look nice on the canning shelves. 

And believe me, I can only get the basics done. At least we eat and can walk through the living room.  (My bathroom is always nice, NO MATTER WHAT!!)

Zane was helping me with these apples, too.

  

Homemade apple pie really is one of the best things to eat on this earth.  I especially like to make it out of my own apples from the back yard. 

I use my favorite pie crust recipe the one with egg and vinegar in it.  It makes a tender, forgiving crust. I always put this little design on the top crust.  It is a bush, I think.  My mom always did it. 

She did NOT however cut off the end of her roast.

Ready to bake. (My mom always sprinkled apple pies with sugar and cinnamon.)

And ready to eat.