Applesauce Happiness

One of our local neighborhood heroes is the children's librarian at the nearby branch of the Seattle Public Library.  Her name is Anna.  

My children adore "Miss Anna."  Her delightful way with the children and her super book recommendations have earned her high honor in their world. 

A few months ago, one of the books that found its way into our giant pile (limited now to a mere 50 books per the new policy) was Applesauce Season by Eden Ross Lipson.  The story tells of a family ritual of making apple sauce, in creative detail with a recipe at the last page of the book.   

Predictably, the kids had a great idea when we hit the produce isle during our  next shopping trip.  Let's make apple sauce!  Now, what mama can say no to such a request? Both kids were desperate to fill their own bag of apples, so we left the store with 12 pounds of apples.

Much to my surprise the recipe ran so smoothly that the children did almost all of the work: scrubbing, chopping and measuring.  The apples cooked while we ate our breakfast.  Both children  squealed with delight as they milled the apples and the mush started to look like "real" apple sauce.

Now, several batches later, the kids devised a new great plan: let's take applesauce to Miss Anna. So on Wednesday they again scrubbed, chopped, measured and milled.  That afternoon we presented a jar of still-warm applesauce for Miss Anna. She exclaimed that she loves applesauce and thanked the kids so profusely they both grinned from ear to ear.

I'm still glowing. I love the little moments in our homeschool day when we can give back to someone who has brought such richness to our lives. Sharing the love, still warm from our kitchen, is even better.