Vindication

I have been feeling a bit guilty that I spent $43.00 at Apple Annie's the other day. This fruity expenditure included 37 lbs. of end of season, Pick Your Own Cortlands that I only managed to get because I am 5'9". The entire time I was picking I was thinking of my grandmother saying to twelve-year-old me "Some day you'll appreciate being tall." and I would be all "Yeah, right.". I never believed her, especially since she was never taller than 4'10".
The rest of my purchase was 27 lbs. of what they call "sauce" apples. They are like seconds, small and maybe a bit imperfect. These are sold for .50 cents per lb and the PYO are .80 cents. So with my 64 lbs. of apples I am planning to make sauce, apple butter, misc. fall yummies like crisp and fried apples and also attempt to dry a significant amount for use during the winter when seasonal fruit does not exist in New England. I am going to try two drying methods. First I will see how it goes with a food dehydrator. At the bus stop one day, I noticed that my neighbor had one out with her trash. It was still in the box and she asked if I wanted it. Took it home and discovered it had never even been opened. Score! I will also string some up the old fashioned way and hang them above my newly drying jalapenos.
I wondered if I was crazy to lay out so much cash for apples, but on an emergency run to the dreaded Walmart tonight I saw the towering display of red, fall fruit by the door and the price was .79 cents per lb. When you average out the price of all my global goodies you get .64 cents per lb. Kiss my local, low spray ass Walmart!