Hello my Foodie Friends! Well it’s September and you know what that means?  No it’s not just John and Paula’s birthday month, it’s Apple time in New York! Wow, apple pies, apple sauce, apple turnovers, apple juice and cider and well apples! We at CTTC and I know you can’t see us right now, but we will have some great tools for you on October 1st! 

I was reminiscing with my wife the other day, remembering one special time, long ago in the month of September that my brothers and I had.  It was the great Army tent camp out and apple raid! We grew up in your typical baby boom neighborhood of 4.7 kids per household. I was age 8 and my brothers were 7 and 6 respectively. We had just moved to the neighborhood and were hoping to make friends with the other kids. My dad who still had ties to his army buddies, went out and bought an army surplus tent. But this wasn’t just any tent, it was huge. It made the tents on the TV show Mash look tiny! So we begged our dad for a camp out and could we invite some of our new friends from the neighborhood. He said “Sure” so we proceeded to invite every little boy in the neighborhood. But there was one requirement: you had to have a bike. So, at about dusk, there was a convoy of little boys on bikes with their sleeping bags and pillows. My parents were a little overwhelmed when about 15 little boys of various ages ranging from 5 to 8 years old. They had to ask each little boy for their phone number to speak to their parents to make sure it was okay with them. We all bunked in side by side in the tent and we fit with ease. I was the oldest by 2 months so my dad said “You’re in charge, and I don’t want any shenanigans from you kids.” So when my dad left, I looked at my army and said “Oh boy are we going to have fun!” A half mile away, was the biggest apple orchard in town. We waited until we knew everyone was asleep. You see, I had a plan! I told all of the boys to take the pillow cases off of their pillows and we were going on a raid to get apples! Now, some of the younger ones were very afraid so we said if you don’t want to go you can stay here and we will be back soon. We got on our bikes and wrapped our pillow cases around our necks and headed out for the orchard. When we got there, we all started quietly picking apples. We had our pillow cases about half full when one of the boys, I think it was Johnny Babbs or Karl Sobie, started yelling there was a dog and somebody was coming! So pillow cases started to get dropped and I yelled out “Run for it, lets get to the bikes!” And we took off for home. I held on to my apples because I didn’t want to let them go. We giggled when we got back until we finally fell asleep. The next day, word of the apple raid got out. My mom demanded that Danny, Billy, and me return the apples and apologize to the owner of the apple orchard. It was the longest bike ride of our lives. We rode onto his farm and knocked on his door. An old man answered the door or at least I thought he was old, but he was probably 45. We told him that we were sorry and we returned the apples and that we meant no harm. He was not a happy farmer. He told us that this is how he fed his family and that when you took his apples you are taking from his family’s table. His dog came out to greet us also; it was a small dog but seemed big to us at the time. He let us go and said don’t do it again. To the rest of the kids in the neighborhood, we were heroes because they didn’t have to go back and apologize. The story of that raid is still told when we get together. 

So that leads to the fun gadgets that you can use for your apple pleasures. The first gadget is a simple corer and removes the core with a simple twisting motion.  The next one is an apple corer/divider. In one motion, you can core and slice your apples into 8 pieces! The last one is an apple peeling machine which is quick and easy to use. It works great with apples or potatoes. It can slice and core, or just peel. It is suction mounted and holds securely to smooth surfaces. This one is great if you have kids that have braces on their teeth so they can still enjoy apples.

Our children are the apple of our eyes. So let’s have fun picking apples and making beautiful family memories together. Compliments to the Chef will reopen by October 1st. in our new location of 33 Railroad Place, in between The Bow-Tie Theatre and Price Chopper! Also, we will be right next door to our new friends at Greenhouse Salad Company in Saratoga Springs New York. So please keep in touch and read updates as we get closer to that date.

Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life happens in the kitchen!”

Take care,

John and Paula