Survival in Tough Times: And now, more than 60 years after my grandmother showed me how, I take special care when making an apple pie to slice the apples as thin as possible, and to be grateful for friends with orchards, and for their gift of fruit;

Dr. Bruce Smith , Bio and Archives--June 15, 2026

Cover Story | Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us

One of the first things I remember growing up in our family was learning that it was virtuous and healthy to eat lots of fruit. Moms in those days had grown up in the kitchens of their mothers who were born at the beginning of the 20th Century. Then they had all had their Home Economics classes in school. Kitchen skills and culinary knowledge using all the latest insights of science were second nature to them.

For snacks we were encouraged to have fruit or nuts. There were always apples about, or raisins, or citrus, or seasonal fruit like peaches and plums, and my own favorite, table grapes. It became a regular habit to accompany my mother to the supermarket on Thursdays. There I would be allowed to pick out the fruit that I wanted for snacking that week. To my way of thinking there was never such a thing as too many grapes. With luck during the week, I would end up eating all of them myself.

With all the women in our family adept in the kitchen, pies were a mainstay at our house, much anticipated and relished. We boys soon had our favorites. My oldest brother liked lemon meringue and peach while my middle brother always wanted cherry pie. I became an enthusiast for cherry, too, but there is no finer pie fruit than black raspberries. No better jelly, either. We really didn’t have orchards growing up. My grandparents had a transparent apple tree and a Wolf River, so we learned to appreciate their considerable gifts to us. One of the last summers before my grandmother passed she taught me how to slice the apples very thin to make a........

© Canada Free Press