Giggling, my four-year-old twin daughters raced through the apple orchard. Their sparkly sneakers leaving a sprinkling of glitter on the grassy path. My urbanite preschoolers were enjoying their excursion into the county to pick apples.
As they eyed the various types of apples, and stretched tall to reach them, I could tell they loved the experience. Excitedly, each told me which friends they were selecting delicious fruit for. Soon our bags were full and it was time to browse the property’s store to hunt down apple butter!
Apples have long been prominent in ancient mythology. From the golden apple of the Trojan War to the three golden apples Aphrodite gave to Melanion, a suitor of the huntress Atalanta, this fruit has a rich history.
My kids are not familiar with these myths just yet. But they certainly love the fairytale Snow White, which tells of a poisonous red apple. I try to downplay how the prince rescued the helpless sleeping princess. Rather we talk about how even though our fair maiden found herself in an unfortunate circumstance, she figured out a way to help herself. She used her skills to assist the dwarves, therefore securing shelter.
One afternoon, while my gals dressed up as Snow White and practiced arithmetic by counting the seven dwarves, I headed into the kitchen to make apple soup. When it was ready, we had a celebration fit for royalty. I hope you have a festive day!
Creamy Apple Soup
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
5 Granny Smith apples
1 3/4 cups vegetable stock
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons maple syrup (use 2 tablespoons if you want it less sweet)
First core, seed and dice the apples leaving the skin on. Put the vegetable stock, apples and butter into a pot and simmer uncovered on medium heat for 15 minutes, or until the apples are soft. Now let it cool down a bit. Then, in a blender, purée the apples and the stock. Next place the mixture back in the pot and add in the cream and the spices. Reheat on low and stirr in the honey and maple syrup.
This can be served either hot or cold. To serve chilled, put the mixture in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
To make it fancy, add a dollop if whipped cream on top of each bowl of soup. Then sprinkle on cinnamon and shelled pumpkin seeds.
Serves 2-3 (depending on the size of your bowls)
