More Abundance

I shook my head. I mumbled under my breath…mostly, “why.” I worried it around in my head for days and finally, (I’m not known for ‘not’ speaking my mind) wondered out loud about all the cabbage my husband was planting. We usually planted eight cabbages and had more than enough to eat and give, give, give away. Ours is a small garden. We try to maximize every inch. It seemed such a waste of ground.

Cabbage isn’t for everyone, right? Myself, I didn’t like it as a child or a teen either, except as coleslaw, and only after learning the secret to cooking it, did I learn to love it.

And then, I had homegrown. Homegrown, cooked just right, is sweet and yummy. Smothered with black pepper and butter—heaven, but still, what were we going to do with twelve cabbages the size of an overweight basketball, heavier than a medicine ball. Even sharing it with family, that’s a lot of cabbage.

The late cabbage came on just as everything else in the garden was at peak production. We had chard, spinach, lettuce, zucchini, beans and cabbage. I juggled different vegetables every night, shuffled extra to sons, brother-in-laws and neighbors and finally, tucked a nice tight, heavy head of cabbage to the fridge downstairs.

It’s a sad thing to pull up the dying tomato vines, the dried up, battered bean plants and know fresh vegetables are gone for the year. Little did I know about the sweet rewards coming in the form of apples. Sweet, crisp apples. A wonderful quid per quo.

A large sack of red and yellow Delicious given to us by a brother-in-law and more…the culls—imperfect bruised, blemished apples. When my kids were small, and the place was my father-in-law’s, he’d let me gather all the culled apples from under the trees. My mom and I would wash them, cut the blemishes and bruises off and make apple juice. We didn’t even peel them, just tossed them into the juicer. What that mix of yellow and red Delicious produced was the most beautiful pink apple juice, so sweet all on its own that all these years later I still remember it.

I’m really not up to that anymore, but the culls do make wonderful apple pie filling for the freezer, tasty fried apples or rustic apple pie. And those beautiful, perfect apples? They're just right for snacking at the computer, juice running down my arm and all.
So, tonight there will be sautéed cabbage and Rustic apple pie. Talk about abundance. Next year, I will not shake my head, mumble, question or complain. I’ll dream about apple pie and abundance.

Sautéed Cabbage: Strip off outer leaves, wash, then cut in fourths and rinse the inside well. Slice very fine and place in a frying pan. Have a cup of water or chicken broth on the counter by the pan. Sauté on medium-low, turning often, so not to let any of the leaves burn. At first, there is enough moisture. Make sure there is always moisture in the bottom of the pan, but just a teaspoon or two using the water or chicken broth as needed until the cabbage is to your desired doneness. I like it tender-crisp.

When I have it, I’ll start out with a few teaspoons of olive oil and butter and slices of onion. I cook the onion until it’s translucent, then follow the recipe for the cabbage. Serve with black pepper and butter. It doesn’t need much. If you are using store bought cabbage, add a pinch of sugar to the liquid you are adding.

Rustic Apple Pie: 1 refrigerated piecrust, 3 Tbsp. sugar (I use brown sugar), ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg or cinnamon, I prefer cinnamon and I use just a touch more than called for-I love cinnamon, 3 golden Delicious apples-about 3 cups, give or take, 1 Tbsp. butter, cut into pieces.

Heat oven to 450º. Use an ungreased baking sheet. I put aluminum foil on the baking sheet. Easier clean up. Unroll the piecrust on baking sheet.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon. Peel and core the apples. Slice them ½ inch thick. I like the imperfect, rustic cut, but here you can arrange the slices prettily, if you’d like and sprinkle with the sugar mixture. I prefer to mix it into the apples, stirring until the juices start to flow and then let it sit for just a few minutes. Then I pour the mixture into the middle of the crust and fold the edges of the pastry over the apples, crimping the dough to fit. I like it to be rustic looking.

Bake 15 minutes, then reduce oven to 375º and bake 25 more minutes. I brush the crust with milk and sprinkle sugar on it for a pretty look before baking. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. My mother would serve with a slice of cheese, too.