Postscript

Oh I will close this post with what Mike the Miniature Schnauzer is up to – providing emotional support for more home remodeling projects (see his guest post Guest Blog Post: A Whole Lot of Remodeling Going On) by going on trips to home improvement stores.

Here is his photo from the other day when he went to pick up more supplies and it looks like he’s trying to give the humans some directions…

Apple Rescue

In 2016 I did a series of posts about “rescuing” neglected fruit from fruit trees in my neighborhood in these posts:

The Fruits of My Neighborhood

The Fruits of My Neighborhood, Part II

The Fruits of My Neighborhood, Part III

Several readers expressed concerns that even though the trees were neglected, technically I did not have permission from the home owners (even if some of the houses were empty) to pick the fruit from their trees. Although the fruit was falling to the ground and rotting and no one was picking it, I put these comments in the back of my mind and skipped “fruit rescuing” in 2017.

But recently I’ve noticed several apple trees in front of a business at the edge of my neighborhood where the apples are ripe and are just being allowed to fall to the ground and rot. I couldn’t take it anymore and decided it was time for APPLE RESCUE!

Terry the Quilting Husband (TTQH) felt like an intervention was needed also and helped me pick apples from the trees:

Until we had a bag full of apples:

Saved from just being left to rot on the ground

We took the home and washed them and ended up with a nice haul of apples:

2018-09-15_12-03-38_871 — Getting a bath

2018-09-15_17-37-16_644 — Freshly rescued apples all safe and cozy in a bowl

What to do with out apple haul? Make an apple pie of course!

I used this online recipe from Taste of Home: tasteofhome.com/recipes/apple-pie/

And TTQH helped peel the apples while watching Sunday football games:

His hard work peeling 6 cups worth of sliced apples and my pie assembly skills resulted in this yummy pie:

We used so many apples for the pie, we only have a little left (maybe it is time to return to those trees for more “apple rescuing”!):

These apples might need more of their friends rescued

Pre-Fall Cooking

In Fall I start making soups and stews and I have a couple favorites which include (recipes are linked):

Bean and Chicken Sausage Stew

Winter Vegetable Soup

Beer Stew with Beer and Paprika

But as the tierneycreates Beastie mentioned in yesterday’s guest blogger post,Guest Blogger: A Monster Needs Her Sweater, the weather has dipped from late summer weather to early Fall weather.

The cool weather makes me want to start making stews now!

So using the last of the kale and tomato harvest from my garden, I made Bean and Chicken Sausage Stew !

Oh just a note on the linked recipe I provided – the original recipe calls for cannellini beans but I used black beans instead. Also I like to sauté the kale first in the already sautéed sausage and garlic; and if I am using fresh tomatoes as I did this time – I sauté the tomatoes also, before adding the beans (and their liquid) and the broth.