Apple Picking at Grandma Joy's

It is apple season again! I love to pick apples. There is something cathartic about harvesting and preparing food that you have raised. It always seems to taste just that much better.

Will Figgins and Jennifer Figgins - apple trees lining the lane.

When I was little my Grandma had a whole row of apple trees lining the lane to her house. She had a couple more up by the house, a red apple tree in front of the house and a huge green apple tree towards the North end of the house. My favorite to eat, by far, were the green apples. They were so tart that they would make your lips pucker! Okay, so I was an odd child. My favorite to climb, however, was the tree in front of the house. I was not very good at climbing trees and it had really low limbs!

Jennifer Figgins with Joe (the cat) - favorite climbing apple tree (left)

There is one year in particular I will never forget. We had picked all the apples from along the lane and from the tree in the front yard all that was left was the green apple tree. Grandma had a pretty big crew that year. We had picked all the apples that we could reach from the ground with the apple picker and it was decided that more were needed. Instead of finding a ladder to reach higher into the tree someone had the idea to pull my Uncle Maurice's old red and white pickup up under the tree so that we could stand in the bed of the truck and pick apples. Well, it turns out that the bed of the pickup didn't increase the apple picking opportunities like they first thought it would. So My Aunt Marie decided to climb up on top of the cab. This of course was much higher!

At this point my Grandma decided that it was okay for my aunt to climb up there, but we would just step back and supervise. Unfortunately the top of the pickup cab didn't allow them to reach the prime real-estate either... so they changed gears yet again and went to plan C.

The next thing we knew the pickup was pulling out and Uncle Maurice was pulling up to the tree in his tractor with the scoop attached. Now this was something to see! I wish I had a picture of it to share. I never knew my aunt was part Evel Knievel! She hopped up into the scoop with the apple picker in hand and up she went! My Uncle lifted her up in the bucket as high as it would go. I think We got every possible apple off the tree that year! 

Sadly apple picking just doesn't seem the same without a tractor and scoop. It is just not as exciting picking from the ground!

-Jennifer Figgins
daughter of Jesse Figgins and Mary Bryan


Marie Miller's Apple Crisp

Joy Miller's handwriting. Marie Miller's recipe

Ingredients: 

4 cups apples 

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup oatmeal

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1/3 cup oleo or butter

Spread apples in an even layer in the bottom of the baking dish.

Cover apples with the white sugar.

Mix the brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg, and oleo.

Sprinkle the oatmeal crumble mixture over the top of the apples.

Bake at moderate oven temperature.

Burnt Marshmallow Myth

Grandpa Miller always told me (with those wonderful, smiling, -more like laughing!- blue eyes of his), that burnt marshmallows would give me black curly hair. 

I tried and tried to get black curly hair by burning all my marshmallows when we had a picnic...it just didn't work! Dark brown, straight hair is just NOT the same, Grandpa! :-) 

I especially remember a picnic on the south side of Grandma's and Grandpa's house...I was getting up from the table to burn a marshmallow and the table tipped, because other people were sitting on the downhill side! Couldn't have been just me that stood up at the time, because I wasn't very old, and I used to be skinny! It was all those marshmallows and Wacky cakes!

-Donna Joy Hendrickson 
daughter of Maurice and Marie Miller