Did you know...

...that you can freeze apples? I went apple picking last Thursday, courtesy of a fellow freecycler who had too many apples. I picked a huge bin (rubbermaid storage type) of apples and pears. I gave some to my friend Ali (hi Ali!), and gave some to my friend Steffi. I gave even more to my friend Lori. But I STILL had a lot. And although we have been eating apples like crazy (and pears, too, as she had a pear tree that was ripe for picking), one can only eat so many apples before their healthy effect takes over, lol!

So...what to do with those apples that were delicious, yet going to rot in the bin? Many had the apple picker marks on them (scratches from the picker, which looks like a small basket with a rake on one edge), so they were kind of icky.

I peeled them and sliced them as though I was making a pie. I put them in a bowl and coated them with orange juice and lemon juice, placed them on a cookie sheet (covered in plastic wrap first) in a single layer, then put a sheet of plastic over them. Stuck them in the freezer for about 2 hours, then took the frozen apples and placed them in a zipper bag.

Of course, one can't just EAT these, but they will be perfectly fine for apple cobbler, pie, brown betty, apple sauce, or apple bread! I'll share these recipes later!


And here's another picture for Carmi's "Nature" thematic photographic.

The kids found this bug hanging, they thought he was in a spider's web. But he was hanging on his own thread, though completely unseen. Scotty's first comment? "mommy, he's making an "S" for ME!"