The Harvest Month

October, for me, is the harvest month. My parents’ vegetable garden is long gone, but they still have a single apple tree in the front garden. These apples are perfect for appelmoes (apple sauce), I salvaged the apples which were not eaten by insects. My parents live in a region of The Netherlands called ‘Achterhoek’, which is predominantly agricultural.

Recipe for appelmoes: peel and cut the apples in small parts, boil them with half a cup of water and a little sugar, like 1 tablespoon, until they fall apart. I guess you can easily skip the sugar. I prefer to eat appelmoes cold with balkenbrij or captain’s dinner.

The basket is made of willow twigs according to an old tradition. Once a year or so I meet the artisan on a local market and buy one or two baskets. If you don’t get them too wet, they will last a very long time.