The Home Front
When I was a little girl, I loved going to my grandpa and granny’s house. Lonnie and Ilene Campbell did things in what was considered the old-fashioned way at the time. Now people are trying to go back to the way things were done then. You see, my Grandpa and Granny lived farm-to-table just like their ancestors did before them. Their parents had taught them to be self-sufficient just as they had done for many years. They grew a big family garden with everything from potatoes to peanuts to corn to tomatoes to okra. They had a cellar under their house to store the root vegetables as well as the vegetables they spent all summer long canning. They even had a corn crib in the barn. And if any barn cats had kittens, my sisters and I would crawl in there and cuddle those sweet little fur balls.
Granny Campbell worked her magic with her farm-raised apples. If we got to her house and found apples drying in the sun, it was a heavenly sight. We grandchildren would play in the yard and sneak us a dried apple or two when she wasn’t looking. Granny would gather her apples as they ripened from her apple trees. When she had a basket or two, she would wash, peel, and thinly slice them. Grandpa had an old piece of tin laid on two sawhorses and placed it where it would get a whole day’s sun. A clean cloth was spread across the tin and the apples were spread out on the cloth. The apples were placed in the sun daily until they were dried enough to store in a flour sack. At day’s end, my grandparents would take the apples inside. Sun-dried apples would be placed in gallon jugs for keeping so they could be used during the winter months. These days, we store them in a plastic bag and place them in the freezer. When Granny was going to fry up some apple pies, she would get about a double handful of the dried apples, put them in a saucepan, and cover them with about twice as much water as apples. She would get them to a boil, and then turn them to simmer until the apples absorbed the water and were soft. After adding sugar and a little cinnamon, the apples appeared dark and thick. To make her fried apple pies, Granny would make her regular biscuit dough, roll it out thin, and use a saucer to cut the dough for the pie, place a tablespoon of apple filling on the crust, fold it over, and press the edges of the crust together with a fork. After all the pies were made, Granny used an iron skillet with enough lard to fry them in. After frying one side, she turned them and fried the other. It was always a treat when Granny made her fried apple pies!
At peak apple season, a tart apple crisp, fried apples, or an apple cake just might make an appearance on the dinner table. Enjoy these delicious apple recipes from my family to yours.
-Danna Standridge
Author of Happiness is Homemade Y’all! and 2024 Sweet Grown Alabama Ambassador
Read her faith story here.
Join her in the kitchen on Facebook and YouTube.
Tart Apple Crisp
Ingredients:
- 6 tart apples, peeled and cut into eighths
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 stick butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions:
Place apples into a casserole dish. Cover with granulated sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon. Blend together butter, brown sugar, and flour till it resembles meal. Spread over apples. Bake at 350° degrees for one hour.
Mom’s Fried Apples
Ingredients:
- 4 Golden Delicious apples, sliced
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Dash of salt
- Cinnamon, if desired
Instructions:
In an iron skillet on top of stove, melt butter. Add sliced apples. Sprinkle with salt and cinnamon. Cook over medium heat. Sprinkle sugar over apples. As the apples cook, they become somewhat transparent. Test for doneness and adjust sugar before removing from heat. Good for any meal, especially breakfast.
Lonna’s Apple Cake
Cake Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 3 cups self-rising flour 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2 cups sugar
- 3 cups diced apples
- 2 eggs
Icing Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Cake Directions:
In a mixing bowl blend all the ingredients. The mixture will be thick. Bake in a 9″×13″ greased pan at 300° for 1 1/2 hours.
Icing Directions:
Bring all ingredients to a boil and pour over.
