Well, I got wet, I got covered in the green algae-type stuff that coats the apple tree's branches, I wobbled about on our little two-step step-ladder, I stretched and stretched, I tried to reach those apples (always the fattest and juiciest looking ones) that stubbornly remaind just out of reach, and I finally called it quits.
I suppose I managed to pick in approx. 50 more apples and out of those 10 had suspicious tunneling-maggot looking marks and / or bruising. The dodgy ones have been put to one side to be carefully cut up and either eaten as they are or, in the case of my rather delicious sausage and cider casserole last night, hurled into any savoury dish that might benefit from a touch of cooked apple. The rest have been wiped over with a kitchen towel, wrapped in newspaper and carefully laid in for winter storage in a lidded cardboard box. They're not large apples - probably best described as 'fun size' but they are incredibly sweet and juicy, and would be a lovely reminder of summer days in the depths of winter.
I'll be interested to see if a) they remain as crisp and juicy as they are now, and b) whether any passing rodent will sniff out the apple box in the kitchen and start gnawing their way through them - again!!
I think you should post the recipe for the casserole - sounds delicious!
Posted by: Alexx | 11/01/2009 at 07:53 PM