Fresh Apple & Pear Salad

Daylight saving ended. The dark at six. 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.

Apple butter. All-day cook in the copper pot Connie's grandmother left her. Cinnamon, allspice, cloves.

Travis called Tuesday. The landscaping company is busy. He sounds tired in a good way. Amber called Sunday. Things are good. James sends his regards.

I sat on the porch with a bourbon at sundown. The fog was already settling in the hollow.

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

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

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.

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 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.

Connie cut my hair on the porch Tuesday afternoon. She has been cutting my hair for forty years. The barber in Pineville cannot do what Connie does, which is also love.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The creek was running clear Sunday afternoon. I watched a kingfisher work the riffle. Did not move for an hour. Some Sundays the watching is the worship.

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

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.

Mama’s copper pot had been going since early morning — the whole house smelling of cinnamon and allspice and cloves — and by afternoon there was nothing left to do but let the apple butter be what it was. While I waited, I put together this fresh apple and pear salad, something bright and easy to sit alongside supper, because when the air turns cold in the hollow and the pantry starts filling for winter, you want every bite of apple you can get. It felt right after a week like this one.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 medium apples (one sweet, one tart), cored and thinly sliced
2 medium ripe pears, cored and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, torn (optional)

Instructions

Prep the fruit. Core and thinly slice the apples and pears. Place them in a large bowl and toss immediately with the lemon juice to prevent browning.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, cinnamon, and ground ginger until combined.
Combine. Drizzle the honey dressing over the fruit and toss gently to coat evenly.
Add toppings. Scatter the chopped walnuts or pecans and the dried cranberries over the salad and toss once more lightly.
Finish and serve. Garnish with torn fresh mint if using. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to one hour before serving — the flavors settle nicely with a short rest.

Nutrition (per serving)

Fresh Apple & Pear Salad — The Copper Pot Was Already on the Stove