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If I knew then what I know now, I probably wouldn’t have undertaken this exercise in freezing apples. But this is how we learn, right? It started because I wasn’t of a mind to turn on the oven, so I decided to prep half my apples, freeze them and turn them into pie at some future date. (The rest of the apples became applesauce.)

I therefore set up my aging apple machine, peeled, cored and sliced the apples. I had to fuss a little, as the Lodi apples had deep seed husks and the meat wasn’t quite as firm as the peeler’s spring, so I had to jockey the blade arm a little so as not to remove most of the apple along with the peel. Plus, there was the darned, not entirely cooperative suction cup, whose face is more cracked and wrinkled than mine. Not that mine is, of course.

Ain’t it purty?

Anyway, I dropped the slices into water treated with a bit of citric acid, which is supposed to prevent browning.

Then I drained them, packed them into 1 pint freezer containers. (These really were 1 pint, I promise, aka 16 fluid ounces.) Then I stuck them in the freezer where they’ll remain until some time as I feel inclined to turn the oven on.

Learning from leftovers

I had a small quantity of slices left that wouldn’t fit in one of the three pints I filled and weren’t nearly enough to fill a fourth. I didn’t particularly care for the Lodi flavor raw, so I decided to make a mini apple crisp. It was delicious. In making it, however, I learned that Lodi apples turn to applesauce when baked, too. Which means, if I want an apple pie instead of an applesauce pie come fall, I’d better combine these with another kind of apple. Or, regarded another way, I could have made all the apples into applesauce and saved the peeling, coring and slicing for some other variety. No harm done. Lesson learned.

Apple crisp for one

• 1/2 cup-3/4 cup apple slices
• 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, softened or melted
• Cinnamon, to taste

1. Place apples in the bottom of a buttered individual casserole dish (ramekin).
2. Blend oats, brown sugar and butter, and distribute over apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste.
3. Cook 1 minute on high in microwave. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes in toaster oven. (Test with fork, knife or toothpick to make sure apples are done.) Cool, and serve. Makes 1 serving.

Note: I started the dish in the microwave because I feared the top might burn if I did the entire bake in the oven. If your toaster oven is taller inside than mine is, you might not need to do the microwave start.