"Johnny Appleseed Day"

When I found out that today was, "Johnny Appleseed Day", my mind took me back to childhood memories of seeing the story of Johnny Appleseed, as depcited by Disney Productions.  And then I thought about the saying, "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away".  Next my mind went on to thoughts of my Great Grandfather, who played William Tell in some sort of theatrical production.  And I couldn't leave out my experiences of growing apples myself, on my farm.

So I hope to share some of my thoughts on the subject of apples in general in this blog posting.

Let's begin with Johnny Appleseed, himself; since this a day to, presumably, celebrate his contributions: Johnny Appleseed, as he was called, was a real man named John Chapman.  He lived in the United States, from 1774 till 1845.  The common awareness of him is that as told in legend.   Most people who have heard that legend, believe him to be a simple man, who walked around the country spreading apple seeds as he went.  This is a misconception.  He was a nurseryman, who planted seedlings, making a livelihood doing so.   He was also what some might call, a vagabond.  He believed in a simple way of life; living by little means.  He was described as wearing ragged clothes and walking barefooted all the time, with a tin pot on his head for a hat.  Isn't it funny how some of the most eccentric people seem to become folk heroes?  But the truth of the matter is that his efforts in establishing apple nurseries, is probably why we have so many orchards around today.

As far as "An apple a day" is concerned; yes, the apple is a very nutritious food source.  And if you eat an apple each day, you will be contributing to your good health, and thus, keep the doctor away!

Let's move on to the William Tell story now. This fellow lived in Switzerland, around the 14 century.  He was made a folk hero, when his son declined to bow down in respect the emperor's hat on display.  The emperor condemned the boy to death, but allowed his father the opportunity to save him.  All he needed to do was to shoot an apple off of the boy's head with his crossbow.  Turns out, William was an excellant marksman.  He was able to shoot the apple without harming his son.
Now, I'm not real sure what my Great Grandfather had to do with this.  There was nobody in my family who could explain exactly how he came to portray William Tell.  I'm not sure if it was in a production of the Rossini opera or just some local lodge play.  (Looks like some of his performing genes were passed down to me!)

What's left?  Oh yeah, my growing apples in my orchard.  That was my first large-scale attempt at farming.  I had about 6 acres of apples in my orchard.  I grew them organically.  It probably made more work out of it for me, but the end result was a product that was worth the trouble!  I can understand why you pay more for organically grown produce at the supermarkets!

I would be short-changing everyone, if I didn't include a simple recipe today, to go along with this "Apple" theme.  So here is:

Farmer Boy Apple Brown Betty

Ingredients:

• 3 tart apples, peeled, cored, sliced
• 1 Cup of wunseasoned bread crumbs
•  3/4 Cup of graham cracker crumbs
• 6 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 Cups of brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice (separated)

Directions: In a bowl, combine the cracker & bread crumbs, along with the melted butter.  Divide into thirds.

In another bowl, mix the sugar & spices together.

Spread 1/3 of the crumb mixture into the bottom of an 8 inch square pan.

Place 1/2 of the sliced apples on top of that.

Sprinkle with 1 1/2 Tablespoons of the lemon juice and then 1/2 of the sugar/spice mix.

Cover that with another 1/3 of the crumb mixture, then the rest of the apples and then the rest of the sugar mixture and lemon juice.

Cover the whole thing with the remaining 1/3 of crumbs.  Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 40 - 45 minutes, at 350 degrees F.  Then uncover the pan and continue to bake at 400 degrees F, for another 15 minutes, till it is browned up.

Serve warm.  It is great topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

By the way, it wasn't an apple that Eve ate in the garden of Eden!  If it had been, she would have made this - it is so tempting to eat the whole pan yourself!  :)

I you make this recipe, please come back here and leave a comment.  Thanks. The Old Man in the Bib Overalls