Hello my Foodie Friends!
Well it’s September and you know what that means? No, it’s not just John and Paula’s birthday month, it is Apple time in New York. Wow, apple pies, apple sauce, apple turnovers, apple juice and cider and simply - apples.
I was reminiscing with my wife the other day, remembering one special time, long ago in the month of September that my brothers and I had. It was the great army tent camp out and apple raid. We grew up in your typical baby boomer neighborhood of 4.7 kids per household. I was age 8 and my brothers were 7 and 6 respectively. We had just moved to the neighborhood and were hoping to make friends with the other kids. My dad who still had ties to his army buddies, went out and bought an army surplus tent. But this wasn’t just any tent, it was huge. It made the tents on the TV show Mash look tiny. So we begged our dad for a camp out and could we invite some of our new friends from the neighborhood. He said “sure” so we proceeded to invite every little boy in the neighborhood. But there was one requirement: you had to have a bike. One particular evening at about dusk, there was a convoy of little boys on bikes with their sleeping bags and pillows. My parents were a little overwhelmed when about 15 little boys of various ages ranging from 5 to 8 years old arrived at the Reardon household doorstep. My parents had to ask each little boy for their phone number to speak to their parents to make sure it was okay with them to spend the evening at our home. We all bunked in side by side in the tent and we fit with ease. I was the oldest by two months so my dad said “you’re in charge, and I don’t want any shenanigans from you kids.” Later, when my dad left, I looked at my army and said; “Oh boy are we going to have fun!” A half mile away was the biggest apple orchard in town. We waited until we knew everyone was asleep. You see, I had a plan. I told all of the boys to take the pillow cases off of their pillows and we were going on a raid to get apples. Now, some of the younger ones were very afraid so we said if you don’t want to go you can stay here and we will be back soon. We got on our bikes, wrapped our pillow cases around our necks, and headed out for the local orchard. When we got there, we all started quietly picking apples. We had our pillow cases about half full when one of the boys, I think it was Johnny Babbs or Karl Sobie, started yelling there was a dog and somebody was coming. Pillow cases started to get dropped and I yelled out “run for it, lets get to the bikes!” We urgently took off for home. I held on to my apples because I didn’t want to let them go. We giggled when we got back until we finally fell asleep. The next day, word of the apple raid got out. My mom demanded that Danny, Billy, and I return the apples and apologize to the owner of the apple orchard. It was the longest bike ride of our lives. We rode onto his farm and knocked on his door. An “old” man answered the door or at least I thought he was old, but he was probably 45. We told him that we were sorry and we returned the apples and that we meant no harm. He was not a happy farmer. He told us that this is how he fed his family and that when you took his apples you were taking from his family’s table. His dog came out to greet us also; it was a small dog but seemed big to us at the time. He let us go and said don’t do it again. To the rest of the kids in the neighborhood, we were heroes because they didn’t have to go back and apologize. The story of that raid is still told today when we get together.
So that leads to the fun gadgets that you can use for your apple pleasures. The first gadget is a simple corer and removes the core with a simple twisting motion. The next one is an apple corer/divider. In one motion, you can core and slice your apples into eight pieces. The last one is an apple peeling machine which is quick and easy to use. It works great with apples or potatoes. It can slice and core, or just peel. It is suction mounted and holds securely to smooth surfaces. This one is great if you have kids that have braces on their teeth so they can still enjoy apples. Stop by Compliments to the Chef located at 33 Railroad Place in Saratoga Springs for your assortment of apple cooking gadgets to help you with your family culinary creations.
Our children are the apples of our eyes. So let’s have fun picking apples and making beautiful family memories together. Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen!”
Take Care,
John & Paula
SAVE THE DATE: “Pasta Making: Past and Present”
Join us for a Pasta Making Demo at Compliments to the Chef on September 29 from 12-3 p.m. with Professor/Chef Rocco Verrigni.
