Fall is apple time in Virginia.

Harvest festivals and events abound this month in the state’s 100-plus commercial orchards. Fortunately many are only a short drive from the Farmville area.

Apples grow best in areas blessed with warm days, cool nights and consistent rainfall. While the three-country area we call home may be deficit in those requirements, the Shenandoah Valley has all three.

Many Virginians make a trip to apple orchards in the fall — and I am one of them.

It’s a wonderful excuse for an outing, and in my case, it’s a trip down memory lane.

I grew up in the Midwest on my grandparent’s farm — Johnny Appleseed country. I can still see my grandmother smile as see told me, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!”
Our apple house was a cavernous building with a big oak-barreled cider press presiding in one corner. As the apple harvest progressed, row after row of shiny-skinned apples took their place in the cool semi-darkness.

Soon customers in battered pickups would line up behind others in sleek sedans. Rich, poor or in-between, no one was willing to chance keeping the doctor away with second-best apples!

While new varieties of apples have come along since those days, my favorite all-purpose apple is a Midwestern standby — Golden Delicious.

One of my favorite autumn chores is making apple butter — the easy way. Crockpot Apple Butter is simple (no standing over a kettle and stirring for hours), and as it simmers the air if filled with a delightful potpourri of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

If you are fortunate enough to own an old-fashioned canning gadget called a “Victoria” strainer, all you need to do is wash the apples, quarter and core them and toss them in a large pot to which two or three inches of apple juice has been added. Cover the pot and simmer until the apples are mushy, then run through the Victoria strainer.

If you don’t have a strainer, you can make the applesauce by peeling, coring and quartering the apples before adding them to the pot with the apple juice. When the apples are cooked and soft, mash them with a potato masher and your applesauce is ready to go.

To continues the process and make apple butter, put the applesauce into a crockpot, filling it to within about an inch and a half of the top (sometimes it takes two crockpots if you’re making a large batch). Then add (to each crockpot) a 1-pound box of dark brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger to taste (I usually start with about 1 to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon for a large crockpot and add the other spices a little at a time until the right combination is reached — a little ginger and cloves goes a long way). Stir the ingredients well to mix and turn on the crockpot, leaving the lid off.

Put the crockpot on high for 3 or 4 hours, then turn it down overnight (with the lid still off). If the crockpot is turned on in the afternoon, the apple butter should be done and ready to can by the next morning.

Once the apple butter reaches the desired consistency, sterilize pint or half-pint jars by simmering in a pot with about two inches of water for 10 minutes. Drain jars and fill with apple butter to within one-quarter inch of the top. Wipe jar rims with a paper towel dipped in hot water to clean, add canning lids which have been in the hot water 5 minutes and screw on jar rings. Process filled jars in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Another fall favorite is Grandma’s Favorite Mincemeat (contrary to the name, the recipe does not include meat).

It wouldn’t be fall without Harvest Apple Cake.

For information on local orchards visit www.virginia.org/fall/apples/

HARVEST APPLE CAKE

1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. nutmeg

2 c. sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. oil 1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs 1-1/2 c. walnuts

3 c. flour 1 c. raisins

4 c. diced apple 2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

Mix diced apple, sugar and nuts together, cover and let sit for 1 hour. Mix other ingredients and add to apple mixture. Pour into greased Bundt or tube pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until done. Cool before removing from pan.

GRANDMA’S FAVORITE MINCEMEAT

7 lbs. ripe apples 1 lemon

   2 lb. seedless raisins             6-3/4 c. sugar

1 c. vinegar 1 T. cloves

1 T. cinnamon 1 T. nutmeg

1 tsp. ginger

Peel, core and quarter apples. Quarter lemon, removing seeds. Process apples and lemon in food processer until coarsely chopped. Combine remaining ingredients in large kettle and add chopped fruit. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 40 minutes. Pack into hot pint jars to ½ inch of jar top. Add lids and rings and process in boiling water bath for 25 minutes. Makes 9 pints.