Apples, Pears and Oh My

My canner and crock pot have become my best friends lately as we've taken care of apples picked at the orchard and our own pears from the 2 trees in our backyard. This year the squirrel took a lot of the pears down. But, thanks to Steve and Einstein (the dynamic duo) they chased the squirrels out of the backyard and helped to spare a 1/2 bushel of good pears. Yesterday I put up 11 jars of pear jam... it smelled yummy and I can't wait to try some on bisquits from the oven... or maybe some scones!
Here are the dried apples from our 1st orchard trip last Saturday. I tried some in our food dehydrator... they turned out yummy and fun to eat. The kids like them! My Dad has always loved Jonathon apples... and I have learned to enjoy Jonagolds, but Ginger Golds might be my new favorite. They are crisp like Jonathons, and sweet like Golden Delicious, but the texture is even better! We picked a bushel of apples - Cortlands, Macintosh and Ginger Golds - the first 2 are great for pies and sauce, the last are a new kind that we tried this year - they just might be a new favorite. . We shared 1/2 a bushel with some friends and made applesauce and 3 pie fillings out of the rest.

There will be more trips to the orchard this fall. We're after Empires and Jonagolds, and just some good old fashioned fun.