By Michelle Waltos
Librarian
Cool, crisp weather and bounteous apple trees ready for picking signal that autumn has arrived.
Whether you purchase local apples at a farmers market or plan to spend time with your family apple picking, you’ll likely enjoy eating many of them bite by bite. But what will you do with the remaining pounds and pounds of apples? The Northern Onondaga Public Library (NOPL) has some resources that can help:
“Great Pies & Tarts,” by Carol Walter
This book features classic, tried-and-true recipes such as Old Fashioned Apple Pie, as well as new takes on old favorites like the Apple Walnut Tart and Pumpkin-Apple Chiffon Pie. The author provides various crust recipes, as well as methods for handling and storing the dough and desserts.
“Crisps, Cobblers, Custards & Creams,” by Jean Anderson
Perhaps you’re up for trying something a little less well-known, such as an apple pudding, Apple Pandowdy or Apple Brown Betty, a favorite dessert of Ronald and Nancy Regan. Many of the desserts in this book were popular in the past, and have been updated for today’s bakers.
“The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves,” Linda Ziedrich
If baking isn’t your thing, you could try using your apples to make apple butter or a variety of apple jams or jellies. The author of this book gives a good primer in the beginning for anyone who is unfamiliar with preserving their own foods. Homemade jellies and jams make great gift items too!
Not to be overlooked are the thousands of recipes that have been printed in newspapers across the United States for decades. Such recipes can be found using a library database called Access Newspaper Archive available at nopl.org/databases.