The Tastes of Home

 As a lot of you already know, I had the wonderful blessing of growing up in the mountains on 40 acres of the Sierra Nevada wilderness.  Where I lived, in addition the the wild blackberries and elderberries, we grew apples and pears which included several different varieties.  My grandpa planted these apple and pear trees when he was just a young man making the trees over 50 years old.  This past weekend I had the amazing experience of bringing my family back to where I grew up and picking apples and pears with them.  Not only was it my children's first experience with picking apples and pears, it was also my husband's as well.

 I think that if I were to look back through some old pictures I would find one very similar to this one where my brother and I, about the same age were riding in the trailer of the tractor.

 All three kids enjoyed themselves.  We are all apple and pear lovers so it was fun for the kids to see how they grew and where apples and pears came from.  Baby Boy especially loved the pears and as we picked he happily munched on the soft juicy fruit.

I feel so blessed to have been able to share this experience with my family.  Picking apples and pears has always been one of my most cherished memories of where I grew up.  These trees and this place has always and will forever hold a very special place in my heart.

Now time to get busy.  On the agenda for the next few days. . . 

canned pears

pear butter

pear jelly

crab-apple jelly

apple butter

apple sauce

and maybe apple jelly

and things just wouldn't be complete without making some of Nana's Applesauce Cake, a recipe that's been in our family for five generations.