My Grandmother's Apple Tree

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Every once a while I am minding my own business, caressing the produce at the local farmer's market and before you know it I am that little girl half way up the apple tree in my grandmother's backyard waving like crazy to NaNa yelling "Look at me! Look at me!"

It's those early days in the garden with my grandmother that etched a love for farm to table dining in my soul forever. My grandmother lived in a modest 1950's ranch that you entered through the side door and into the utility room. On the top of the dryer, she arranged the gnarly apples until the afternoon when she would make a pie. When I visited, I would climb the tree and pick the apples.

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They didn't resemble the apples you buy in the store today, really at all. I don't know if these misfit, sour apples had anything to do with the unique flavor of her apple pies but something made them truly amazing. Just ask anyone. It probably had more to do with the crust she painstakingly made from scratch with shortening.

 If I could wish one wish, it might be that I had just one more slice of Grandmother's apple pie or a recipe written in her own hand.

The closest thing I have found to a piece of my grandmother's apple pie are the fried pies you can buy at the local farmer's market. Sometimes they are still hot and many times they are sold out before I even get there. They come in three flavors ~ apple, peach and cherry. These ladies get up before the sun to bring the freshest baked goods possible to the morning market.

Last week, I saw these beets at the Farmer's Market and have to confess, I love to eat beets but have no idea how to prepare them. My favorite place to eat in Winston Salem is the Carving Board and one of my favorite things to order is the beet salad with blood oranges. It's no surprise that when a few friends and I had the chance opportunity to share a meal at our favorite local Southern bistro, Mozelle's, we ordered a glass of wine and the conversation turned to beets.

They suggested giving them just a little trim and wrapping them in foil with a little olive oil and roasting them for a bit. Forgive me, I didn't get specifics. I'll give it a whirl and get back to you with the details. Evidently, the skins will just peel right off after roasting and the beets are recipe ready.

I took these last few photos during open farm day for the Piedmont Land Conservancy. It's truly amazing to visit these farms that are right in our own backyard. I wish you could have heard the lambs ~ bah, bah, bahhh...

If you don't cook with your children and grandchildren, you should. I fear that the next generation is going to eat out for every meal and all the farmers are going to take up new trades and sell their farms to strip centers and subdivisions. I want the next generation to climb the apple trees, stand beside me and roll out the crust for the pie and eat sweet peas off the vine.

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