What a FUN and informative article Sharon - thank you.

I kept thinking as I was reading, I sure hope she posted that recipe and if you hadn't, I was going to ask

I will be making your apple pan dowdy - it sounds YUMMY!

I have an apple salad recipe that is good and a favorite apple pie I make once a year or so. It has a crumb topping.

We eat lots of apples and have apple trees although we lost one in a storm on July 3 and the rest are very very old. They are so beautiful when in bloom

There are lots of apple orchards in this area.

Apples are good for your teeth too. They help remove plaque.

Thanks again for a wonderful story

Hiya Vic!

Trouble with this recipe is that it doesn't produce that smoky flavor that Ninna's old cookstove gave it.

So good that you have apple trees. There is one in my neighbor's yard that sort of hangs over into mine, but it got halved during the ice storm in 09, so it is a pitiful sight and I'm not sure how much longer it will last. It does produce a few apples though, just enough for a batch or two of something.

Let me know how you like the apple pan dowdy!
And thanks.

Sharon,

I truly enjoy your way with words, and as always this was a wonderful article! We don't have Apple trees around these parts; I don't think I've ever seen an Apple tree in Florida. Your article got my curiosity up so I googled and found some information for growing apples in the sunshine state! http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg073

I've always loved apples, especially Macintosh and Golden Delicious but my new favorite is the Ambrosia Apple that I've been finding at the supermarket this year. I did some research and learned that it's a fairly new variety from British Columbia. It's a really wonderful apple; not too tart, not too sweet ... just perfect!

I remember my grandmother making Apple Pan Dowdy when I was very young but I haven't had it in many, many years. I think I'll have to make some in the next day or so, but for now .... I'm going to eat an Ambrosia Apple!

Hi Lin, thank you! Somebody once told me I write like I talk. Don't know if that's good or bad.

I hope you make Apple pan dowdy, I haven't had it in a while either, mostly because I want to make it with those little green June apples and don't have any available right now. Granny Smith apples might do just as well. If I crave it long enough, that's what I'll use.

I've been hearing about the new Ambrosia apple, just the name sounds good!

Let us know how your APD turns out!

Loved the story, Sharon. The apple pan dowdy is on my list to do when we get to Florida next week! DH loves apple pie and I'm sure this will make a hit with him, too.

Thanks Jean!

Bet you are ready to be in warmer weather after all your storms! And I hope you enjoy the apple pan dowdy, too. It really is delicious.

I will be happy to get to a warmer place! I am surethe apple pan dowdy will be marvelous. I look forward to making it,

Another great article Sharon.I have never had Apple Pan Dowdy but your description of your smokey flavored one sounds just like I am setting at the table waiting for a piece.

Great grandfather farmed at the shores of Lake Ontario in the late 1800's.He grew a cash crop of apples ,many dont grow here any more but the names recall my childhood and my grandmother.I guess the old varieties just couldnt keep up with modern times.
apples :Russet, Baldwin
, Greening , Pound Sweet , Tallman ,Sweet Gold , Sweet Harvest , Sup no Further, Fall Pippin, Red Astrakhan, Twenty ounce , King Rennet, Crab apple, Duchess , Northern Spy Gravenstone , Snow apple.
Banana , Huberson, Strawberry Sweet , Wolf River , Spitzenberg.

Northern Spys are still harvested here in November.
That region along the lake is just beautiful in spring as there are fruit farms that go for miles.
Thanks again for memory lane.

Hey there Jean! I hope you bring some warmer weather on your return to Florida! When I went out at 6:15 this morning to get the newspaper the thermometer read 42º but I had the t.v. on channel 35 and they were reporting the temperature here in Daytona Beach at 38º. They supposedly take the reading at the airport which is about a mile north of where I live so I'm not sure how accurate it is. Our high today will be @ 58 but it's actually supposed to warm up and by the end of the week we'll be back @ 80º.

Jo Ann: mmmm, some of those apples you listed sound really scrumptious!

Hi Lin, looking forward to the warm temperatures in FL. Our coldest night here was down to 18! Not my cup of tea.

Russet and Baldwin are the only two names I recognize from your list, Jo Ann, but I know what you mean about memories. Sometimes just the mention of something will bring a nostalgia rush. I smelled cinnamon throughout the Christmas weeks, result of baking cookies I think, and that led me to apples. Now you just have to try Apple Pan Dowdy.

I hope your Christmas was great and your New Year will be beautiful.
Thanks, Jo.

A couple Septembers ago, my local big-box store had a couple apple trees fall out of their tubs overnight. The garden lady grabbed me on my way in the next morning, dragged me over to them and loaded them onto a wheeled-platform for me. She was NOT going to let me leave without those 2 6-ft trees. I didn't argue, of course, especially when they rang up for $3 each. The tags said golden delicious, but the 2 apples that grew on one of them this year were red. The deer got them before I did, unfortunately. Next year, I'll watch closer.

Growing up, we didn't have any fruit trees in our yard in the city, but Grandma and Grandpa had a crab-apple tree in their back yard, down in the coal-country part of Ohio. I well remember checking the crab-apples for worms, and the tart-sweet taste of them. They made great "grenades" too, if you were playing war with your cousins.

Glad you got your apple trees, Mary. It will be a surprise when you bite into the first one not knowing for sure what it is.

I had a gorgeous burgundy foliaged crabapple for about 20 years, but the massive ice storm smushed it to smithereens in '09. I had it for the birds, and now the birds miss it as much as I do.

Glad also that you have happy memories too.

Sharon, thank you for another wonderful article. Although we don't have any fruit trees on our property, I fondly remember picking apples from a local farmer's orchard in Wisconsin where my grandparents lived. I can't wait to try your recipe. I love some of the older varieties of apples and seek them out each year.

Thank you for sharing your memories and your recipe with us.

Linda

Apples and memories, they go together, don't they Linda?
Let me know how you like Apple Pan Dowdy! Bet you love it.

Sharon, maybe your old mountain tree was a yellow transparent. That old variety has early apples that ripen yellow and don't last long. They aren't keepers, but are great for cooking while they last. We have several old apple trees on our place, including a crabapple with yellowish blush skin, and another crabapple with pinker skin and stripes of red. I have no idea what varieties any of them are, but I suspect that they are very old because the trees look ancient. I can't reach my arms around the trunk of the largest one. A neighboring property has an old tree with tasty apples, growing in the fence line. We planted 3 young trees a few years ago, MacIntosh, Gravenstein, and Honeycrisp.

I might just have to make the Apple Pan Dowdy.

You might be right, Mary. They had a tart flavor, a distinctive flavor and were very small. But I don't know for sure what they were, I just know I'd recognize that flavor in a heartbeat.

Please do try the Apple Pan Dowdy. I think you'll love it.

Forgot to say earlier... as soon as I saw the title of the article, I started singing that Dinah Shore song. What little bit I know of it, anyway. Sharon, I also have a burgundy foliage crabapple that I planted in my side yard, for the birds. And an ornamental Japanese crab apple that seemed like a good idea when I impulsively grabbed it at the store. So far, my burgundy guy has only had leaves, but he's only been out there 3 years. I didn't think of pollination when I planted it, but there IS a crab apple in a neighbor's yard across the street, so I would hope between it and my 2 other apple trees, it can get pollinated. Not sure I've seen flowers on it yet, honestly.

You can't miss the flowers when they bloom, they cover the tree and will be gorgeous, a very light pink, I think. You should get pollination. Bees travel a long way and bees love the blooms.

Sharon said:You can't miss the flowers when they bloom, they cover the tree and will be gorgeous, a very light pink, I think. You should get pollination. Bees travel a long way and bees love the blooms.