We recently picked over 100 apples and hadn't really done anything with them. That changed today when I decided to make apple butter. As I stood at my kitchen sink peeling and coring the multitude of apples, I was reminded of my Grandma Martin or "Brim" as she was known to family and friends. I remember her standing at her kitchen sink, either cooking or canning, and always wearing an apron. I never heard her complain as she cared for her family and others in the community. From what I understand, Grandma's house was THE HOUSE to gather at and an invite was not necessary. I can see her plain as day as she'd weed her strawberry patch, pausing to wave if someone drove by, taking a break if someone stopped to chat.
The flood of memories spent at my Grandma's home helped the time at my sink fly by and I kept my focus on the task at hand. I continued to peel, core, dice and make periodic runs to the burn pile to dispose of cores and peels that filled my 'garbage' bowl. After I finished with the apples that were designated for today's recipe, I went ahead and took care of the remaining ones. Some were prepped for tomorrow's apple butter adventure while others were left whole for future use. Five hours later, all were taken care of and the canner was at the ready. As I lowered the jars into the boiling water, I thought of my Grandma once again. I had air conditioning as I worked against the heat that was rising in my kitchen. She did not, but continued with the tasks at hand. I also started cooking dinner on the only open burner available. This too, reminded me that my Grandma probably did something similar, but more importantly- she did what needed to be done.
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| Fruit of today's labor |
My Grandma passed away in 1979, however I felt her here with me today. She was motivating me to get the job done and instead of complaining about how much was left to do, focus on how much was accomplished. Seems family roots run as deep as that ole apple tree out back.
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