Red Mashems

Have I mentioned my backyard apple tree? And how blessed I am? Yeah, I thought so.

Well, it had lovely pink/white blooms in the spring, emitting the most wonderful fragrance. Then the flowers fell, and the tiny green orbs began their growth.

All summer long, the fruit grew and changed color. Some fell to the ground, their mission accomplished long before necessary. The worms and bugs had done their destruction. Other apples swelled with the good rains and warm sunshine.

The tree was beautiful! Branches hung heavy with plump red offerings. Each day some of them dropped and I, because I am here instead of traveling this autumn, picked them up. Each day since the middle of September, with a few exceptions, I made a "mess" of applesauce. It's really not a "mess". More of a "nectar". Have you ever had warm applesauce, pink and fragrant from the food mill? It's "to die for". As long as the preparer has used enough sugar, which I always do.

So, now I have disposable dishes with snap tops full of pink applesauce adorning my freezer. I have also used some this year for applesauce cake and applesauce bread and applesauce crisp. I wouldn't recommend the crisp. It's too mushy. But it is pink and tasty.

Now the tree has about 4 apples left on it. And all its leaves. I wonder if, as long as there are apples to nurture, the tree keeps all its life systems intact. And finally, after all the apples have fallen, it then shuts down and lets its leaves drop and gets ready to hibernate for the winter. I should find out in a few more days!