[Ag-eq] Apples

[Tracy Carcione]

I have a bumper crop of apples this year.  They're not as big as 
store-bought, but they have a wonderful sweet-tart crispness that can't be 
beat.  The fruit drawer on my fridge is full of apples, and the harvest is 
just starting.
I just ordered a food mill from Amazon.  I'm hoping that it will make apple 
cooking easier.  Because the apples are small to medium-sized, and harder 
than store-bought, I don't think an ordinary apple-corer would do a good job 
on them.  Right now, if I want to cook some, I slice them and pare out the 
core, which takes a bit of time, since I need to fix several apples.  Then I 
saute them in a little butter for a minute, add a little water, cover and 
cook them for about 15 minutes, and get a delicious side-dish.  When my mill 
comes, I'm hoping to branch out into actual applesauce.
I've also gotten a lot of apple dessert recipes, but there's a limit to how 
much dessert we can eat without getting fat, which is too bad, because I 
enjoy baking.
Does anyone have any hints about apple storage or apple cooking prep?
Also, our method so far for harvest is to pick up what falls on the ground, 
keep the good ones, and chuck the damaged ones in the compost.  I've put 
nets on a few of the low-hanging fruits too keep them from falling, but 
there's too much to net them all. My neighbor talks about going up a ladder 
and picking apples off the tree, but I'm not keen on climbing a ladder every 
day to see if I find any ripe apples at the top. Any ideas about apple 
harvesting, better than picking up windfalls?
Tracy