Cinnamon Poached Apples -- The Side Dish That Belongs on Every Christmas Ham Table

Christmas 2031. Eighth in the house. The traditions hold: tree, ham ($23.49 — I've stopped keeping the tally and started keeping a memorial), cookies, gifts, family, food. The ham price is now a running joke in the blog comments — readers post their ham prices from across the country and we compare, commiserate, and make ham puns. ("The pig is up." "Hamflation." "Pork barrel spending." The internet is terrible and wonderful.)

The kids are getting big. Brayden is eleven and taller than Harper, who is almost nine and taller than she should be at nine (the Turner height is democratic — it distributes itself to all the children regardless of birth order). Wyatt is seven and still the shortest, but his hands are already painter's hands — long-fingered, precise, the hands of someone who will do delicate work. Three kids around the tree, three different people, three different versions of Turner-Moreland genetics: Brayden the social one, Harper the brilliant one, Wyatt the quiet one. All mine. All Dustin's. All exactly who they're supposed to be.

Cody brought something to Christmas dinner: a photo album. He'd been working on it for months — photos from the last ten years. The halfway house (yes, he photographed it — a single blurry photo of the building where he started over). The auto body shop. The wedding. The kids. The fishing trips with Brayden. The Thanksgiving tables. The Christmas hams. The lava cakes. The album is the recovery, made visible, organized chronologically, covered in a leather binding he bought at Hobby Lobby. He gave it to Mama. She held it for a long time before opening it. Then she opened it and looked at every page and didn't speak and the not-speaking was the loudest thing in the room.

Cody’s photo album—all those years pressed into leather binding from Hobby Lobby—reminded me that the quiet things are the ones worth holding onto. That’s exactly how I feel about these cinnamon poached apples: they’re not flashy, they don’t compete with the ham or the cookies or the chaos of eleven-year-olds and seven-year-olds and all the beautiful noise of a full house, but they show up every single year and they’re always exactly right. Sweet and warm and a little bit spiced, like Christmas itself—the kind of thing you don’t photograph but you always remember.

Cinnamon Poached Apples

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 6 medium apples (such as Honeycrisp or Fuji), peeled, cored, and halved
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup apple cider or apple juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 4 whole cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 strip orange zest (about 3 inches)
• Pinch of kosher salt

Instructions

1. Build the poaching liquid. In a wide, deep saucepan or Dutch oven, combine the water, apple cider, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, vanilla extract, orange zest, and salt. Stir to combine and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugars dissolve, about 3–4 minutes.
2. Add the apples. Nestle the apple halves cut-side down into the simmering liquid in a single layer. If your pan is small, work in two batches. The liquid should come at least halfway up the sides of the apples.
3. Poach gently. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 18–22 minutes, turning the apples once halfway through, until they are just tender when pierced with a paring knife but still hold their shape. Do not let the liquid boil aggressively or the apples may fall apart.
4. Rest and reduce. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the apples to a serving dish. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer the remaining liquid for 5–7 minutes until it reduces into a thin, fragrant syrup. Remove the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and orange zest.
5. Serve. Spoon the warm cinnamon syrup over the apples. Serve alongside Christmas ham or roasted pork, or on their own with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 165 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 43g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 28mg