The Mint Patch Monologue

Tag: recipe

  • We should talk about Apples

    On my walk this morning I noticed a very sturdy tree, yielding plump and blushing apples. As the leaves have thinned, the fruit has a real  chance to show off in the golden sunlight of mid morning. I thought to myself, how tempting… just one! And then I wondered, do people even eat apples anymore? Of course they do or the grocery stores wouldn’t have displays of those perfectly uniform products all lined up and waiting to be sold by the pound. But my question is more… curious, as always. At what rate do people still plant apple trees, in comparison to a different time. A time when you’d get a phone call from the people up the road and they’d say “ we got a bucket of apples here for ya’ll”. Or better yet, they’d just bring them on over and if coffee wasn’t already on, it would be. Then you’d have a gift on your  hands and what would come first but pies, of course. Apple butter, apple sauce, dried rings, even homemade hooch. If nothing else then a sweet, crunchy snack to bridge your midday slump. What’s better than finishing an apple and chucking the core into the woods as hard as you can throw? Once upon a time school children presented the teacher with an apple and everything fell into place. One of the last times I ever sat with my great granny she had a bowl of little green apples in her lap, peeling them with an old paring knife, the handle and the blade held together with tape.

    That tree I saw was a portal to the past, I thought about Johnny Appleseed,  the mission he embarked on of growing trees from seed and his passion for conservation. I imagine Johnny found his way into our region along his way, I wondered if that tree was a descendant of his life’s work.

    I thought about neighborliness, community, someone to hold the ladder while you reached for the top. I’ve never looked towards an oak tree and wondered ..”who must have planted this tree”… but I did about that apple tree and every other apple tree I’ve ever seen.

    What inspires one to plant an apple tree? Perhaps having grandkids, or just for the sake of watching something bring forth food, something out of nothing. Maybe it’s because we want something to root for, to cheer on and to celebrate, or it might just be to hold hands with something nostalgic. Who had an apple tree in their yard from your past?

    In my yard there is a peach tree. I planted it 7 years ago and we have had nearly a dozen cobblers throughout it’s best producing years. People will warn of bees and other pests, or stepping into rotting fruit but it has been worth every nuisance. Nothing in my garden is more beautiful than rosy peaches in the hot July sun.   

    I needed a plan for Saturday anyways so in the spirit of the past’s portal, I baked an apple pie. I studied the label on a roll-out pie crust from the store and just couldn’t do myself that way, so I cut cold butter into flour and made a delightful mess for the sake of homemade crust. I peeled and cut granny smiths, and decided to find a recipe in an old community spiral cookbook. There is something special about a recipe donated for local fundraising and I’ve collected many of what I call “church cookbooks.” The one I chose was from right here in my own county, a series of recipes compiled by the Extension Homemakers of Boyd County from 1988. I was delighted to discover that the contributor of this Dutch Apple pie recipe was a lady I’ve come to know in the community, she is in her 80s now and I run into her from time to time at the neighborhood grocery store. I cannot wait to see her next, and to share with her this funny story of following her directions 37 years later.  I decided to add a lattice top, picture perfect.  
     

    In case you’re interest has been sparked- apple trees can be planted in late fall or early spring, and I can promise the first yield of fruit will be worth every effort.

    It’s hard to say how much apple tree planting is still alive, but I was happy to see this one. In a perfect world we’d have fruit trees in public parks, everyone would help to keep the trees healthy, and we’d have pie every night together.     

    I hope you get a piece of pie soon.

    Thank you for reading and as always drop me a line, I DO love to chat!

    justicesarah67@yahoo.com

  • The Other Herbs

    There’s nothing that makes me feel more clever than using homegrown herbs. They grow lawlessly, and you can use them just the same. I don’t count, I don’t measure, I pinch hand fulls with my heart and by their nature, they grow fuller from giving. Anyone would benefit from modeling themselves after herbs.

    This year I have my first successful grown-from-seed basil, strong in stems and in scent. I would be happy to have buckets of pesto by September.  I was once a restaurant server at  CJ Maggie’s restaurant in town, famous for fried zucchini strips but also known for the variety of menu choices. On the pasta list was the “Green Meanie” a bowl of linguine smothered in thick alfredo sauce mixed with pesto and topped with grilled chicken.  I’ll try not to get ahead of myself over writing about pesto, July is the month to indulge the reader, and I’ll be sure to over do it then.

    The chives are shining this week, all of their purple blossoms are open like perfect little pom poms atop each long, green stem. They are always “juicy” when fresh cut and I think I probably underuse them, sadly. So this year I’m making chive blossom vinegar, soaking the little purples poms in a jar of white vinegar to be left alone for several weeks. This will yield a very flavorful sprinkler to use on just about anything. Splashing it over chicken, cooked any way, is reason enough to add this to my pantry.

    Lemon Balm is so much like mint, in that it spreads like little wild fires all over the yard if you let it, and trust that I do.

    The leaves when crushed between your fingers, smell of a bright and tart lemon scent, earthy and herby. There are lots of uses for lemon balm, somedays I venture out to steal a handful at a time just to simmer in a pot of water on the stovetop. Sometimes I add cinnamon sticks, lavender buds, orange rinds, or a chopped apple to fill the house with the smell of abundance, but lemon balm alone is enough joy itself for the senses.

    There’s more; an old creeping English thyme plant is thriving too, alongside a sage bush, and a little rosemary stem. The first sprouts are the best of the year, and pretty soon I’ll be trimming, giving, drying, chopping and steeping luscious piles of green. Thyme works well in potatoes, diced and roasted with olive oil and garlic powder; sage is good with any meats, laid over a chicken breast while it cooks, stuffed into a turkey, or chopped into sausage for added flavor. You can also toss a hand full of sage into the backyard firepit and wish good fortune to all of the neighbors lucky enough to smell the smoke.

    With a setting sun I will close here; just as the rotations of what we orbit and what orbits us, I make my own rounds about the house and garden. I will encourage you to stay curious, and to use your imagination. Acts of domesticity no longer beckon for rigidity but can be works of art, specific to your own domain and the ideas of your heart.

    Of course and as always, reach out to me because I do love to chat!

    justicesarah67@yahoo.com