I learned at a young age the value of the wisdom which can only be gleaned by those who have lived a lifetime before us. My parents taught me to listen and they drove the lessons of my grandparents home through repetition and life application. These are things I was fortunate enough to be taught by example and I’ll just bet you have already been taught them, too. Still, it never hurts to have a few of them written out plainly all in one place.
So today, as I bring you an easy method to freeze apples which my mother learned from her step mother, I’m also bringing you a little bit of wisdom directly from the folks who came before us with hopes that you’ll be kind enough to share some of your life’s lessons at the end of this post as well. ~clears her throat and steps up to the black board~
First off, a help with perspective:
Troubles are temporary. So is life.
Decide which one you want to focus on.
This is an extension of “This too, shall pass”, which is a blessing and a curse. Most folks think of it in terms of hard times: hang on, this too shall pass, but it also works for good times and moments of joy.
Holding your newborn babe? This too, shall pass.
Spending an afternoon with your mother? This too shall pass.
Live in the moment, Focus on what is important. Don’t let that time with your mother pass with you living in the hardships instead of the joy. That’s not to say don’t worry about paying your bills but don’t spend all of your time in the presence of your loved ones seeing only your bills instead of their faces before you.
If you can’t say something nice…
This is a big one that most folks learn around preschool, but it seems in our modern era that a great many have either forgotten it or decided to ignore it. In the age of the internet where people get all trumped on a power trip of anonymity, it is even worse. Before we are quick to think ill of another, and most especially before we are quick to speak ill of another, we need to put ourselves in their shoes and realize that they are a person just like us. It never hurts to think of how our words will affect their family either. Remember, the trues test of character is who we are when no one is looking.
Just because someone has money doesn’t mean they’re better than you. Just because someone doesn’t have money, doesn’t mean you’re better than them.
Good people come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Don’t let the friend of your heart pass you by because you can’t see past one of these obstacles.
Wisdom doesn’t come automatically with age.
This is a very important one to me that I am always striving for. When I was a girl, I thought everyone older than me was automatically wiser than me. That rug gets pulled out from under your feet pretty quick! I’ve found that the folks who seem to have the most wisdom and understanding are those who have valued and sought it throughout their lives, using each situation to try to become a better person or to have a better understanding of others.
More often than not, doing the right thing won’t be easy and no one will even know you did it.
Your reward for being a good person is being a good person. Be glad you can sleep at night and get over it. You may not have a parade thrown in your honor but personal pride counts for something. Hold your head high and know your Mama would be proud of the person you have become. Honor, Integrity, and your good name cannot be bought or sold. They must work for and careful cultivated through a lifetime.
At the end of the day, there is always something to be grateful for.
To me, no one was a better teacher of this than my great grandmother, Lela. Most folks who consider themselves to have hard lives by today’s standards would change their thinking pretty quick were they to live just half a day in Lela’s shoes during her younger years. A sharecropper with four children to feed and take care of and a husband whose primary talent was taking what little money they acquired and spending it for his own entertainment purposes. She and her children worked from sun up til sun down, sometimes going to bed hungry because there simply wasn’t any food. They’d come in from a long days work in the fields and the kids would fall asleep wherever they sat first. Lela would walk around with a bowl of water and an old rag and wash the dirt off their feet.
But you know what? Lela always felt she had a lot to be grateful for. All four of her children were healthy. They had a roof over their heads, and though it was meager, they had food. Lela was wise enough to see these things as blessings rather than focus on their predicament as a curse. As a result of her attitude, we are now on our fifth generation of positive thinkers in this family and every single one of them have been happier and more fulfilled by growing up learning from her teachings of gratitude.
This is where you come in. What life’s lessons have you been taught by your elders that have guided you to be the person you are today? I’d love to hear them and a little about the person who loved you enough to teach them to you. I’m always talking about my grandparents, now it’s your turn!
Eventually, I get around to the tutorial so here are the apples we’re gonna freeze today.
This method works for any type of apples. Today I am freezing Jonagold and Fuji. If you’re going to be freezing them for a pie later, you might want to cut up a few granny smith and include some in each bag.
You’ll need about a gallon of water. First though, pour about a cup of that warm into a large bowl. Add about 1/4 of a cup of salt.
Stir until salt is dissolved.
Add the remaining water. This water should be cold.
Now we’re gonna peel our apples and slice them up one at a time.
Cut them however you prefer.
I usually do sections.
Be sure and remove the core.
There we go!
As you cut them, place all of the slices in the salt water.
I left the skins on some of mine because I prefer my fried apples to have the skin on.
Push them down in the water a bit and make sure they all get submerged good at some point.
After they have soaked for a few minutes, drain them in a colander.
Then place in freezer bags and label.
Laying them out flat like this when you freeze them will keep them from sticking together and allow them to thaw quicker.
Here is a bag of apples a few days later, frozen and still beautiful thanks to the wisdom from the “old folks”!
You can take these apples directly from frozen and use them fried, in muffins, cakes, or pies!
No, they won’t have a salty taste!:)
Freezing Apples Ingredients- Apples
- 1 Gallon water
- ¼ C Salt
- Freezer Bags
Instructions- Place one cup warm water in a large bowl. Stir in salt until dissolved. Add remaining water cold. Peel and slice apples (can leave skin on them if desired). Place each slice in salt water as you go along. When done with all apples, stir water a bit to make sure all have been submerged. Drain in a colander. Place immediately in freezer bags, label, and freeze.
- Apples
- 1 Gallon water
- ¼ C Salt
- Freezer Bags
- Place one cup warm water in a large bowl. Stir in salt until dissolved. Add remaining water cold. Peel and slice apples (can leave skin on them if desired). Place each slice in salt water as you go along. When done with all apples, stir water a bit to make sure all have been submerged. Drain in a colander. Place immediately in freezer bags, label, and freeze.
Some of my favorite Southern Plate apple recipes:
- Apple Dapple Cake
- Apple Skillet Cake
- Fried Apples
- Crock Pot Apple Butter
- Apple Flautas
- Apple Orchard Snack Cake
Live in the North Alabama area and looking for apples? Try Isom’s orchard in Athens, that is where these beauties came from!
“The wisest mind has something yet to learn.”
~George Santayana. To submit your quote, click here.
Please share a life lesson you were taught by your parents, grandparents, or just someone who came before you below. If you like, feel free to just use the space to brag on the good folks who raised you!
Yum 
Grandma always taught me to seek the humor in everything. We were always laughing.
Your grandma was one wise woman! I can’t imagine how dull life would be without a well honed sense of humor!
Gratefully,
Christy 🙂
I will be back later to share more in depth!!
And BTW Drop Biscuits=Yummy Everyone loved em!
I never knew you could freeze apples. Thank you so much Christy I will be starting on some apple recipes soon.
You’re so very welcome! Hope I get to see ya soon, too!
Hello, I thank you for the salt usage as I did not want the lemon flavor. My dad said this as all 13 of us were in the room “I guess we were poor, we just thought we didn’t have any money”. He was orphaned in south central Los Angeles at the age of 16 and when asked who helped him he said, “why would I need help, I was young strong and was taught how to work” this did not interfere with his care of his in-laws or aunts who he loved and never complained about.
Great wisdom and tutorial Christy 🙂 Thanks!
You are so sweet, Angie, thank YOU!!
Someone once said, “Character is what you do when no one is watching.” I am trying to impart that to my children so that they learn, no matter who is or isn’t watching, the most important thing is to do the right thing–ALL THE TIME.
Truer words were never spoken. So very true. So so very true!
My dad always said, think twice about what you are going to say before you say it. You don’t know who it will effect and how.
Does the texture of the apple change when you freeze it?
Smart dad! Excellent advice. I think we’re all gonna be a bit wiser from all of your comments!
I’ve always just used them to cook and bake with and the texture hasn’t changed. I’m not sure if you used them to just thaw and eat raw. I’ll have to go try that now!
Wow…ya’ll covered the bases pretty quick. I’ve got one that not everyone has heard, but I always use from George Bernard Shaw…
I want to be all used up when I die.
You know, Kris, I’ve never heard that one!!
BUT I LOVE IT!!!!
My Mamaw used to say,”You don’t usually mean to, but you have to mean not to”. and “Manners are a gift you give other people”. This is a big one in my house. My kids know that I am going to try my best to make them productive, God-lovin’, grateful people, but I always tell them if they end up being a derilict, they are going to be the most polite one. Basically – if you end up in jail, you will be the most polite inmate.
Very wise Mawmaw, I’ve never heard that saying but it was so well put, I think I’ll start repeating it to my brood!
I love your attitude towards manners and think I’ll adopt that, too!
It is similar to my attitude towards education. “You can be a ditch digger if you like but you’ll be the most educated ditch digger around!”
I had no idea apples could be frozen! Great to know!! Do you think this would work with pears, too? We have a pear tree and about this time each year we end up with more fruit than we can handle.
You know, Beth, I’ve never thought about freezing a pear because I never have any to freeze! lol I love pears but just buy one or two every now and then and eat them usually on the way home ~heehee~
I would certainly try it. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. You could always try it out with one and check on it the next day.
If you do, please report back and let us know!!
Gratefully,
Christy 🙂
Well… things look good! My pears looked great the 2nd & 3rd day after freezing. Now I’m not sure if this holds true for all pears, and I wish I knew what variety tree we had, but for what it’s worth my frozen pears are looking pretty awesome.
Whenever I complained about some minor problem, my mom would say, “I hope that’s the worst thing that ever happens to you.”
oh wow….those few words really have an impact, don’t they?
Thank you and again…wow!
Waste not-want not. This was one of my mom’s favorite sayings and I believe she learned it from her dad. I have written on here before how my mom could make a meal fit for a king out of very little and how we canned everything that came our way. She also did a lot of sewing and made many of our clothes as well as altering and remodeling items. Stain removal was a specialty of hers. In other words we made do, used it up, and saved wherever possible. I learned these things as well and they have served me well in lean times. Even when I became a little more comfortable financially, I still followed these principles. At times, my now adult children made fun of my miserly ways, but now that they have families to rear they are gaining an appreciation for frugality and now know that we were “green” long before it was a buzz word. I think the lesson is that if you save where you can there is money for other things you desire.
Elaine, you are so very right. I think in just about everything the “old ways” were better. Lucky are your children to have been raised that way and congratulations on them being able to see the wisdom in your effort and sacrifice today!!!
Love the apple tutorial and post, it is so heartwarming!, and I’d like to share a couple of many quotes that I still here in my head of loved one’s past.
A funny from my army Dad that was good for me, but doesn’t apply to anyone else, “Never marry a farmer!, you have to see the world anyway you can.”
My mother, “A child can’t help who their parents are, never ever judge a person by their family.”
A college professor, “Just because a teacher/professor/or other person of authority tells or teaches you something about a topic or yourself, doesn’t mean its true, question everything.”
Thank you! I’m learning so much from this post! I think I’ll have to use some of these on my end of post quotes, too.
Your family’s wisdom is truly a gift…thank you for letting me (and us) benefit from it as well.
I love it!
Not enough people listen to “old folks” these days. This is certainly apple freezing time!
AMEN and AMEN!!
My Mamma and Daddy taught us 5 kids by their own actions…we weren’t exactly told how to act, but by example, it was instilled in us to strive to be good kids and well behaved. We attended church a lot and the principle to not hurt or harm another person was also learned at an early age. Both my parents have passed and everyday I’m thankful that I have their bloodline running through my veins and am sure they would be grateful that I have blossomed into a respected and loved adult. For those who still are blessed to have their parents, grandparents and siblings still on this Earth, please treasure every moment you have with them…make wonderful memories to savor later. Thanks, Christy, for your heartfelt tribute to your folks. Blessings, Judy
Judy, you are such a wonderful blessing to all of us. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for being generous enough to share your heart.
Gratefully,
Christy
I know that a lot of time and effort went into composing this post. Thank you, Christy, for taking time to share. I know Katy and Brady need your time too.
My maternal Grandmama always taught (by example) to live life to the fullest and to have fun.
My Mama always inspired me & my brother that “we could become anything we wanted and the best one too!”
My sweet Daddy always finishes our mealtime prayer with “We love everybody” …and he does. I am grateful to be blessed with loving and kind parents/grandparents that always gave so much back to their church and community.
Terri,
Thank you so much for always seeing “behind the scenes” at what all it takes to get a post up! It’s kinda hard to juggle everything and still give the kids the time they need. I don’t think I’ll ever be as good a mother as they deserve but I’m always paddling as quickly as I can beneath the surface to get my work done and try my best! I’m partially ashamed to admit that as I write this I am sitting at the dinner table with them while they eat their after school snacks, trying to get a few comments responded to so I can get more work done later tonight! Oh, and I just flopped spaghetti on my keyboard..
Your folks sound wonderful but then again I know they must be in order to have raised a person with a heart such as yours.
Gratefully and sincerely,
Christy
I think every mama worries that they aren’t doing a good enough job but with how proud Brady is to be known as the son of Southern Plate and Katy not realizing cookies can be purchased at the store because her mama makes ’em I’d say you are doing a wonderful job.
AMEN, SISTER!!!! Wonderful wisdom that we all have heard but it bears repeating!!!!
P.S. I never knew you could freeze apples!! My granny always dried hers.
I LOVE to dry them but freezing is so easy and cool, too!!
Dried apples make the BEST fried pies!:)
Hey Christy! I love apples! Whenever I slice them, I make sure I add a bit of lemon juice to the water. It prevents them from turning brown.
Forgiveness is admitting to yourself that you cannot change the past.
I never thought to freeze apples before. Thanks!
When I’d complain about a situation in my life, my Mama always told me, “No matter how bad things are, somebody’s got it worse than you.” Then she’d hug me and tell me that things would work out, to be prayerful about it and to have faith.
Mama is going to have surgery @ UAB next week to have a pancreatic tumor removed as well as a tumor in her liver. Prayers are appreciated.
Dear Carol, I am sending up prayers for you and your Mama, as well as for all those who will be caring for your Mama, before, during and after surgery. The Lord is always faithful to those who trust Him. You are truly blessed to have such a precious Mama, and she is blessed to have you.
Thank you MaryC for your kind words and prayers. Our faith has seen us through a tough year.
My Mom would always say, “Stop and smell the flowers!”
After surgery for her pancreatic cancer, she was still drugged up when there was a knock on the door. I had just told her the cancer was not removable when she grabbed my hand to make me wait before getting the door. She then looked me square in the eye and said, “Right now, if they ask, tell them to flip the flowers!” She then winked at me and went back to sleep.
To this day when I’m having a bad day, I allow myself a few moments to “Flip the flowers” then I realize what all I really have to be thankful for.
Also, I will pray for your Mom and your family as you all face this surgery.
Thanks for your prayers and sharing your Mom’s story. There is no one in our lives quite as special as our Mamas.
I have found that putting apple slices in salt water will keep them for many days in the refrigerator all ready to snack on.
Christy, can this also be done with pears? I got a bag of pears from a friend’s farm and was wondering if they would freeze well.
Thanks.
My grandmother and mother always said, “pretty is as pretty does” and when my four kids start complaining that something isn’t fair they can recite what I’m going to come back with, “Life’s not fair. Learn it now and you’ll be better off in the long run.” Thanks for keeping us grounded Christy!
My precious namesake Granny who just died last Aug at 92 always said…..
#1 “Kissing dont last but cookin do”
#2 I like to shop so she always told me”stay out of the stores and you will not want for anything”
I never thought about freezing apples! I’m going to have to try that for sure. I may even make the husband buy me that deep freezer this weekend! I just do NOT have enough freezer room in my side-by-side.
My mama was big on the Golden Rule – Treat others how you want to be treated. But my husband made a good point once. A lot of people treat others the way they GET treated, instead of how they WANT to be treated. (Maybe he’s wiser ’cause he’s got an extra year on me!)
And my daddy is a carpenter and he always told me “Measure twice, cut once.” And truthfully, that really does apply to more things than just cutting wood. 🙂 I guess like double check yourself before you do something you can’t take back. You can’t uncut wood and you can’t unspeak words, you can’t un-do a lot once the damage is done.
I love this conversation! 😀 My granny was my hero….on the funny side, when we would pout or make faces she would tell us to stop that or it would get stuck like that. Also, she always told us we would never get us a husband unless we got our room cleaned! But the most important thing I learned from her was to keep your word! If you tell someone you are going to do something, DO IT!
This post has given me a hankering for some fried apples or some apples and dip! Yum! Thanks for a wonderful website, I look forward to reading it each day! 😀
You will learn a lot more with your mouth shut, rather than open.
Do at least one random act of kindness every day without letting anyone else know you did it.
Another sweet and heartfelt post…thank you for sharing again with us and gently “nudging” us to pause and remember how fortunate we are to have been taught many beautiful life lessons. The key now is to make sure we pass them on to our children. My Mom always said to me…”pretty is as pretty does”! Says a lot doesn’t it? My version to my sons is…”everything you do says something about who you are” (the pretty thing just doesn’t go over well with them!! 🙂
Bountiful Blessings!
Hello, Christy-
Nice post, and useful tutorial.
My Grandmother on my Dad’s side often said “The world is at the public library.”
My Grandmother on my Mom’s side said “Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.”
My favorite Great-Aunt said “Be kind, tell the truth, and it will work out.”
Lawrence
My mother’s mother used to tell us teenagers: There ain’t nobody out after midnight except drunks, druggies and drag-nasties.
I have come to realize that she was exactly right!
Along that line, that reminds me of what my Mother-in-Law was taught….”Nothing good ever happens after midnight”. Sort of another version of your quote. Love it!
If you hoot with the owls, you can’t soar with the eagles!
Mmmm. Valerie’s post about apples and dip sounds delicious! Anyone have some good ideas for a dip to use with apples?
My mother always insisted that I go to college–I am now in my 24th year of teaching and looking forward to retirement in 4 more years!–so I would never be in the position of having to depend on anyone for my support. My dad instilled in me a love for reading; he always said if you can read, you can do anything. Anytime I complained of boredom, my parents’ response was, “There’s plenty of work to do around the house” and they’d promptly give me some chore to do. I learned quickly how not to appear bored! Another gold nugget from my parents, “Always finish what you start.” And there are many more; you can bet I used everyone of them on my own three sons. 😉
My twin sons just made your chocolate cobbler tonight – it was so easy for them and just delicious.
My maternal grandmother used to say “Circumstances alters cases.” In other words, we can set our minds to doing one thing, but often things happen which can alter the course. My mother would say this to us growing up and it would help us to accept disappointment.