Cinnamon Candied Apples -- When the Season Gives You Something Sweet to Hold Onto

Morels Tuesday. Found a flush near the old oak. Worked at the construction company in Lexington this week. The body holds. Most days.

Connie at the vet clinic, four shifts this week. Her back is tired. She does not say so. I see it. Mama is 86. She is the toughest person I have ever known. She still cooks every day in the company house in Evarts.

Fried morels Tuesday. Egg wash, flour, hot pan. The brief season treasure.

Travis called Tuesday. The landscaping company is busy. He sounds tired in a good way. Amber called from Louisville. Hospital is busy. Floor nurse to charge nurse to nurse manager — she is the most successful Hensley alive.

I went to bed at nine. The wood stove still warm. The dog at the foot of the bed.

My back was tight after the wood-splitting Saturday. Took an Aleve. Slept eight hours. Got up.

Connie read aloud from a novel Tuesday evening while I worked on the bench. Some Appalachian writer she had picked up at the library in Whitesburg. The voice was the voice of where we live. We listened together.

The neighbor up the road — Old Roy, eighty-seven, lives alone — had a small heart scare. We took him soup beans Tuesday. Cornbread too. He cried a little when he ate. We all cry over soup beans eventually.

Drove to Pineville for parts Wednesday. The hardware store man knew me. We talked about the weather and the price of feed. Forty minutes for a five-minute errand. That is rural Kentucky.

I sat on the porch with bourbon at sundown Friday. The fog rolled into the hollow the way it has every fog of every year. The porch was the porch. The bourbon was the bourbon.

The dog — old Beau, fifteen years old — slept by the wood stove all afternoon Tuesday. He used to be a hunting dog. Now he is a heating pad with opinions.

Worked on a basement remodel job in Lexington. The work was good. The pay was good. The body is tired.

I went up to Earl's grave at the Evarts cemetery Saturday. Brought a beer. Drank half. Poured the rest on the dirt. Some traditions are mine alone.

I sat at the kitchen table Tuesday night working on the recipe project. Mama's soup beans. I cannot get the words right yet.

Read the paper at breakfast Tuesday. The county news is not great. The mines have not come back and they will not come back. The young people leave. The hollows empty. We stay.

Sunday service at Harlan First Baptist when we go. Pastor preached about Ruth and Boaz. The choir sang. Connie wore her gray dress.

Drove the truck to the dump Saturday afternoon. Saw three deer crossing the road on the way back. The mountains have been giving back this year.

I checked the truck oil Saturday. The mileage on this truck is criminal.

Amber sent the kids' school photos this week. Nadia is taller every year. Marcus has Amber's serious face. Little Betty has Mama's eyes.

Travis sent a photo of Earl Thomas riding on the mower with him at a job site. The boy is wearing a Hensley Landscaping T-shirt that's too big. Three generations on a mower. I saved the photo.

I split a half-cord of wood Saturday. Slowly. The back does not let me work fast anymore. It got done. The wood was for the smokehouse.

Connie made jam Saturday afternoon. Wild blackberries from the patch up the hollow. Twelve jars. The pantry is filling for winter.

The morels were the treasure of this week — egg wash, flour, hot pan, gone before you can blink — but the hollow gives in layers, and watching Connie fill twelve jars of wild blackberry jam Saturday afternoon put me in mind of the other sweet things we put up and hold close around here. Mama used to make candied apples in the fall the same way she did everything: plain ingredients, real heat, no shortcuts. These Cinnamon Candied Apples are that same spirit — the kind of thing you make when the season is being generous and you want to meet it halfway. It’s not a morel, but it’s honest, and in this hollow that counts for a great deal.

Cinnamon Candied Apples

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 6 medium apples (Granny Smith or Honeycrisp work best)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon red food coloring (optional)
• 6 wooden craft sticks or skewers
• Cooking spray or butter for the pan

Instructions

1. Prepare the apples. Wash and thoroughly dry each apple — any moisture will cause the candy coating to slide. Remove the stems and press a wooden stick firmly into the top of each apple through the stem end. Set aside on a greased baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
2. Make the candy syrup. Combine sugar, water, corn syrup, and cinnamon in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir just until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring entirely. If using food coloring, add it now.
3. Cook to hard crack stage. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Cook the syrup without stirring until it reaches 300°F (hard crack stage), about 15–20 minutes. Watch it closely once it passes 275°F — it moves fast at the end.
4. Dip each apple. Remove the pan from heat. Working quickly and carefully, tilt the pan and dip each apple into the hot syrup, rotating to coat all sides evenly. Lift out and let the excess syrup drip back into the pan for a few seconds.
5. Set and cool. Place each dipped apple upright on the greased parchment-lined sheet. Do not let them touch each other. Allow to cool completely at room temperature, about 15 minutes, until the coating is hard and glossy.
6. Serve. Best eaten the same day. If storing, keep at room temperature — refrigeration will cause the coating to weep.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 375 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 97g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 12mg