Recipes and Tips for storing your produce
We offer the following tips for storing your produce and some easy, but delicious, recipes.
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Storing Apples
Freezing Apples
Easy and Delicious Apple Crisp
Microwave Applesauce
Baking one of our Frozen Fruit Pies
Baking one of our Frozen Pumpkin Pies
"Refreshing" a Previously-baked Pie
Freezing Apple Cider
Handling Raspberries
Freezing Raspberries
Tips for making Raspberry Jam
Raspberry Corn Muffins or Bread
Raspberry Applesauce
Storing Apples
The best place to store apples is in your refrigerator. Apples, and most fruits, require very cool temperatures if you desire long term storage. We keep our coolers as close to 32 degrees as possible. Also, apples need some air exchange when stored as they give off ethylene gas as they ripen. In a totally closed system, this has a cumulative effect and causes rapid ripening. However, the normal opening of any refrigerator door allows the gas to dissipate.
Golden Delicious apples are the only variety we offer that should be kept in air-tight, plastic bags when refrigerated to prevent excess drying and shriveling.
After October, excess apples can be stored in most garages. Keep them in a picnic cooler. This helps keep out the varmints and prevents freezing as the season goes on. If the temperature is forecast to go well under 20 degrees, throw a blanket over the cooler for added protection. Most of our customers have kept apples until April this way. Caution - this works best with late apples, not Macs, Macouns and Cortlands. These apples should be used up earlier.
Basements are not good to apples - they are too warm.
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Freezing Apples
The following method allows you to use your apples in any quantity you want and to create great baked goods all year long.
1. Peel, core, and slice the apples.
2. Dip the slices in "Fruit Fresh" or in a solution made of two vitamin C tablets dissolved in one quart of water. This prevents the slices from browning.
3. Drain the slices well and spread them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Freeze for several hours.
4. Pour the frozen slices into zip-loc bags or plastic containers with lids. Then return them to the freezer.
It is very easy to make pies with slices frozen this way. Simply pour them frozen into your pie shell. Add sugar, spice, & flour. Cover with a top crust and bake. (Pies actually cook better with frozen slices, as the apples do not tend to get mushy.)
You can also make applesauce and freeze it in zip-loc bags. They fill the voids in the freezer and can be sized to fit your needs. (See our recipe for microwave applesauce.)
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Easy and Delicious Apple Crisp
The following recipe comes highly recommended by all who have tried it. (From the "Apple Magic" cook book.)
4 cups pared sliced apples (any crisp variety)
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
1/3 cup butter or margarine (softened)
Pre-heat oven to 375ºF. Grease a square 8"x8"x2" pan. Place apple slices in pan. Mix other ingredients well, and sprinkle over apples. Bake 30 minutes, or until apples are tender and top is brown. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
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Microwave Applesauce
A microwave oven makes sensational applesauce. Just peel, core and slice 6-8 apples. Put them in a micowavable bowl with no water or sugar and loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap or waxed paper. Cook the apples slices for 7 to 8 minutes, or until soft enough to mash with a potato masher. (If the sauce does not mash easily, return it to the microwave and "nuke" it for another minute or two.) Add sugar, spice, raisins, and nuts or just enjoy as Mother Nature made it. Your kids (all ages) will probably enjoy this dinner addition more than broccoli. You can increase the quantity - just nuke for a longer period. A real plus to making applesauce this way ... if the phone rings, the sauce won't burn!
PS. You can skip peeling the apples, if you use a Foley food mill, instead of a potato masher, to make sauce.
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Baking one of our Frozen Fruit Pies
For best results, do not thaw pie prior to baking. Pre-heat the oven to 375º F. Lightly brush the pie's top crust with an egg-wash, made by combining one part beaten egg and two parts water or milk. Liberally dust crust with granulated sugar. This will give the cooked pie a tasty, lusciously colored crust. Bake a 10" pie for 45-60 minutes. (After 45 minutes, check the doneness of the fruit by probing with a cake tester or toothpick.) Bake a 6" pie for about 40 minutes.
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Baking one of our Frozen Pumpkin Pies
Pre-heat oven to 425º F. Bake frozen pie for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350º F and bake for 45 minutes longer, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
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"Refreshing" a Previously-baked Pie
A pie that is a day or two old, may be re-crisped in the following manner:
Pre-heat oven to 225º F. Warm pie in oven for 10-15 minutes.
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Freezing Apple Cider
Cider can easily be frozen and thawed to taste just like fresh pressed. The secret is in the process after it comes from the freezer. Thaw it out overnight on the counter, then place in the refrigerator for 48 hours. It will taste "fresh pressed". The storage allows the juice to return to its normal thickness, and will not be watery. We sell many cases of ½ gallons at the end of the season to repeat customers who are delighted with the results. There are two schools of opinion on removing a ½ cup per ½ gallon prior to freezing. The plastic jugs will expand nicely most of the time, but we do suggest if you don't remove any cider, then freeze the jugs standing up and in a container till frozen. As a matter of fact, this is a good procedure even if you do take some out. The plastic can crack even after freezing, so thaw standing in a pan. We have never experienced any leak problems, but prevention beats a cure!
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Handling Raspberries
Raspberries are a very tender, soft fruit that requires careful handling for maximum enjoyment.
1. Start by handling the berries gently while harvesting them. Avoid picking any damaged or over-ripe fruit.
2. We provide pint containers to pick into so that the berries are not layered too deeply. This avoids crushing.
3. Do not leave picked berries in the car for any longer than necessary. Heat is their worst enemy. Get them home and into the refrigerator as soon as possible. This removes the "field heat" and prolongs their shelf life.
4. Berries that come from our farm have no pesticide residues to be concerned about.
NEVER WASH RASPBERRIES, unless you are going to eat them immediately. Even in the refrigerator, wet raspberries can go moldy within hours.
5. Fresh berries should not be stored for more than a couple of days. Plan to eat, process, and/or freeze them as soon as possible. The quality will be higher and the flavor will be more intense.
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Freezing Raspberries
The following method allows you to use your berries in any quantity you want. They can be poured over cereal, etc.
1. Cull through the fruit to be frozen, removing any bad berries or picking debris.
2. Spread loosely on a cookie sheet and freeze for several hours.
3. Pour the frozen berries into zip-loc bags or plastic containers with lids. Then return them to the freezer.
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Tips for making Raspberry Jam
If you'd like to make jam, but don't have a large block of time, the process can be broken into 2 smaller steps.
1. Cook down the berries with the sugar required by your favorite jam recipe, but without adding the pectin.
2. Refrigerate the mixture until it is convenient for you to continue, then re-heat (adding the pectin). Finish the process, following your recipe's instructions.
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Raspberry Corn Muffins or Bread
This is an easy and delicious way to create tasty muffins or bread.
Just prepare your favorite corn muffin mix or recipe and prior to putting the batter into muffin tins or a pan, gently fold in some raspberries (either fresh or frozen). If frozen berries are used allow a minute or two of extra cooking time.
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Raspberry Applesauce
This recipe follows two paths depending on whether you use a Foley food mill to remove the skins of the apples and the seeds of the berries. If you have a food mill, simply cook the apples and raspberries together and then process through the mill. If not, you will need to cook the berries separately with a little water. Then remove the seeds by pushing the pulp thru a sieve. Cook the apples till nearly done, add the berry pulp, and finish cooking. With either process, when the sauce is ready, you may add sugar, spices, and other ingredients such as nuts. The amount of berries to add is dependent on personal preferences and how many berries are left after the family attacked them. This applesauce can also be made in a microwave. Four to six cored and sliced apples will take about 6-7 minutes to cook in a microwave. If you are using a food mill, add the raspberries about halfway thru the cooking. Make a lot, because this sauce won't last.
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