September 26th is Johnny Appleseed Day. John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) was born in 1774. Johnny Appleseed was a great folk hero for America. I have his story in “Johnny Appleseed” by Eleanor Atkinson, published in 1943. It is a beautiful book, with illustrations and the dust jacket cover. It is rather uncommon to find, but not quite as rare as the original 1914 edition.
The book goes into much detail of why he grew seeds, planted them in groves, made seedlings to sell and barter with to settlers moving West, and moved out West himself.
I read another story that many of the apples were sour tasting apples. Those apples were used to make a whiskey that was popular. They would squeeze the juice and let it ferment into cider. Then, if left outside to freeze, the water would separate from the alcohol. Break away the ice, and you would have Applejack, a sixty proof drink. Johnny Appleseed knew what he was doing.
I have another book about apples. The is a rather rare book “The American Apple Orchard” by F.A. Waugh published in 1908 by the Orange Judd Company. This gave farmers all of the information they may need to plant, grow, and harvest apples. There was even a chapter on making apple barrels and crates for shipping. This is a great read for nineteenth century farming.
I recall in grade school, buying taffy apples for a fall fundraiser. We would get four-pack cardboard containers of Affy Tapple taffy apples. They were great to eat. Later, I was able to go on a tour of their shop about five miles north of Wrigley Field, still on Clark Street. Saw the assembly line, and could buy a round bar of their special caramel by itself or with nuts. It was heaven. About 20 or so years ago, they moved to Niles, and are still making Affy Tapple taffy apples.
Paul Newman died on September 26th 2008. As well as being an actor, and race car driver, Newman dabbled in cooking. He started Newman’s Own salad dressing, then spaghetti sauce, and then all sorts of natural items. I have a book about the company, along with recipes. It is “Newman’s Own Cookbook” compiled in 1985 by Ursal Hotchner (Newman’s Own Chef for operations) Nell Newman (Paul Newman’s daughter), and A.E. Hotchner (Paul Newman’s partner).
There are great recipes by the three authors and of course, by Paul Newman. There is the story how he first invented the salad dressing as a Christmas gift for friends, and then went through the processes of the Pure Food laws for selling food. The first year of selling, he gave away the profits. There are amazing stories of how and who would receive money.
The recipes are pretty good too. I have made the Cornish Hens recipe (in a dutch oven, camping!) and the Cologne Rouladen. With the extra zucchinis I have grown this year, I want to try the recipes for Zucchini crust pizza, and Joanne Woodward’s Zucchini bread.
Did you hear about the guy who tried to grow an apple tree without a seed? His efforts were fruitless.
What happens when you throw a green apple into the Red sea? It gets wet.
What’s is an Egyptian apple pie? The kind mummy used to make.
Why did the apple turn red in the fridge? Because it saw Paul Newman dressing.
Thanks for reading.
Librarytomes 