All This Just For a Piece Of Apple Pie

Here's the final product of my trip to the mountains. I like to go up to North Carolina every year to get the apples. There are so many varieties and good prices in the stores nowadays, but I guess just going to the source helps get me in the mood, plus the chance to see some beautiful scenery.

As soon as it comes out of the oven, I sprinkle the top with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Another trickin making delicious apple pies from watching and learning from Mom. She used to let me poke the vent holes in the top. Being the kid that I still am, I put my initials , or something special, in the tip crust before baking.

Don't think I would bother making pies which I love so much (eating them not making them). When my Mom was still around and couldn't do it anymore, I made a couple with the crusts from scratch while she directed me. Sure made me appreciative of all the work she went through to please us for so many years. But it was an awful mess with flour everywhere plus I don't have much working area in my little kitchen.
Even comes now with a free spice packet. I didn't use this time as didn't know if I would like as much as my own. I also add a couple tablespoons of flour over the apples and a few pats of butter as Mom did and sometimes a skip the lemon juice. I use three varieities of apples, figuring at least one has to be to my liking. Up north we mostly had McIntosh to use for pies. I've tried them from the grocery stores sometimes, but they don't seem to be as I remember.
The glass jar that I keep filled with sugar and cinnamon mixture to sprinkle on the apple pies is from my childhood days. Amazing how a few things made it through all the moves and still serviceable after all these years.

When I went to Greenville the other day, I didn't know for sure I was going to head up to the mountains, but as my visit to the VA clinic was brief, just to check on a date, I proceeded up US 25 and sure was nice to cross the border into North Carolina again. When I first came here, everytime I went out for a ride and crossed the border into North Carolina, I had a sense of being back home in New York. Guess in those days I was more homesick then now, but the terrain there is so much more reminiscent of home then here in the Piedmont area, which I have also come to appreciate as my adopted home.


On route 25, as you enter North Carolina, you are greeted this time of year by a large planting of Winged Euonymus alata, Winged Euonymus shrubs in the medium along the highway, which are clothed in their brilliant scarlett fall leaves.The Name derives from the corky ridges that appear along the stems of this plant. I saw a lot of this shrub in this part of North Carolina, even seems to be one of the favorites planted at residential properties. I stopped in Hendersonville for my favorite pizza buffet at Mr. Gatti's and then just a short trip to Edneyville on Route 64 to the apple warehouse.


Jimmy Nix and Son's Apples
There are lots of places just along this route and in the environs of Edneyville selling apples and many a lot fancier, but I always seem to buy all or most from this place. Guess because they are friendly, offer a good price and all apples always fresh that I keep coming back. This year they were $6 for 1/2 apeck and $9 for a bushel. I got 3 half a pecks, but guess I should have got a bushel and a peck. It was cold, windy and sunny up there today. Think temps were in the 40s. At first it was just Jimmy Nix, now it is Jimmy Nix and Sons. I was told he was still getting along, but with all kinds if ailments. I remember as long as I have been going there he always had bad back problems.
Bought 3 varieties,. Now I'll have to get busy making some pies.Always bought some natural cider here, too, but because of the stomach problems I had I'm being extra careful for awhile.

P.S. The stomach seems to be all better. The Dr. has ruled for now that my problem was probably from parasites from contaminated muscadine grapes the I overlaoded on from the grape arbor at the Medieval Garden. Even though the tests were inconclusive from quick recovery when I started the anti-biotics and the circumstances that seemed to initiate the problem seemed the most likely conclusion.

After my purchases there was still time before setting off for home so visited about my favorite Main Street around anywhere in Hendersonville, North Carolina by heading back West on Route 64. You can see all the bears that are on Main Street besides the one here and see a photo tour on my picture site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisudave/

For bearing with me through this blog, I offer you here a special treat - a stress reliever sent to me via internet by my friend, Paul. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have. It really works. After clocking on the site, just run your cursor over the piccture. You don't have to click on anything.

http://www.nobodyhere.com/toren.hier

I made the big loop around the twisting, winding mountain roads soaking up the beautiful fall colors on my trek home. Sure glad I went that day as was planning to go todfay and it is prett wet and soggy out there today, not letting up at all. We surely need the rain in these parts.

Here is a sampling of what I saw:

We'll I think I got my money's worth on this trip. Now if the pie tastes as good as it looks coming out of the oven, I think I'm all set for a relaxing weekend of watching sports on TV and puttonmg a few more calories into my diet.

Since it is so close to the holiday and in case I don't get back on here again before that, Happy Halloween y'all. Take Care Until Next Time and Have a Happy, Dave